In a manner beyond all expectation

وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ
…And unto everyone who is conscious of God, He [always] grants a way out [of unhappiness]. and provides for him in a manner beyond all expectation; and for everyone who places his trust in God He [alone] is enough…
[65:2-3]

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Potential

From the still shivering earth where
the softening shadows of the urgent trees
don’t yet claim the light, snow drops
insist on their time in the sun.

Age after age they rise, green winged

phoenix through the grey ash of autumns

apparent failure putting to shame our

reluctance to love; to risk again that surge

towards the heat of another’s being; to break

the chilled crust of unsuccessful loving.

Do snow drops remember the sun.

Do they quiver in anticipation of

that moment of breaking through;

that pushing aside the weight of the past

to bloom again in a new spring.

-Phillip Pritchard [survivorspoetry.com]

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Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.
-Imam Al-Ghazali

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Petals

Even when you tear its petals off one after another,
the rose keeps laughing and doesn’t bend in pain.
“Why should I be afflicted because of a thorn?
It is the thorn which taught me how to laugh.”
Whatever you lost through fate,
be certain that it saved you from pain.
A Sheikh was asked: “What is Sufism?”
He said: “To feel joy in the heart when sorrow appears.”

-Rumi

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The likeness of this world

The likeness of this world is that of a river, one of its shores being the Hereafter, and the boat for crossing over is built from Taqwa.
[Abu Ayub bin Ishaq]

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Solitude

The contemplative believer who remembers God will begin to enjoy solitude and places of seclusion where voices and movements are hushed… There he will find strength of heart and will, and he will no longer be worried or depressed… Then he will begin to taste the sweetness of worship, of which he cannot have enough. In it, he will find abundance of pleasure and comfort – more than what he used to find in diversion and play, or in the satisfaction of wordly desires…When he experiences this state, many of the wordly concerns will disappear, as he is in a completely different world from the rest of humanity.

-Ibn Al Qayyim, Madaarij As_Salikeen

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O Allah!

I take refuge with you

from appearing to the public

to be better than I am

while my inner mind

is repulsive to You

for what it conceals,

preventing the people

from lamenting over me

for all that You know of me,

for I would be showing the people

a fine exterior

while informing You

of the evil of my actions

drawing near to mortals

while distancing myself

from Your favour.

- Ali bin Abi Talib

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For those who..

For those who make

their inner thoughts wholesome,

Allah will make

their outward manifestations wholesome.

For those who work

on Allah’s religion,

Allah will assure them

of sufficiency in their worldly affairs.

And for those who do right

in their relationship with Allah,

Allah will improve their relationships with other people.

- Ali bin Abi Talib

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