Abû Hurayrah relates that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Islam began strange, and it will become strange again just like it was at the beginning, so blessed are the strangers.” [Sahîh Muslim (1/130)]

Monday, November 9, 2015

Waiting for the Perfect Day

This time I dedicated my column to a free flow writing process, by transferring my thought directly from mind to type with little editing in between. What comes out may be garbled but may contain some notion or two of minor significance.  

It wasn't until recently that I realized that I will spend much of my life waiting for the perfect day. The daily grind of work, the ebb and flow of extracurricular stuff that also assumes the garb of work, the needs and demands of family, all tug me in this direction or that.

Sometimes I wonder whether much of the control I exert in my life is on things that will eventually exert their control over me. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. We may be free at times from external control but we are never free from our responsibilities. We are defined by our responsibilities.

Executing responsibilities leaves me with a degree of satisfaction of a job well done. Once it becomes habitual though, the satisfaction is dulled and I look to build on this with something new. The responsibilities it seems will never end, but with each new one, I feel I gain something.

Men are defined by their ambitions, this is something I have believed for a long time. The world is our oyster, and we try and make whatever mark we can before we become dust and return to our Lord. However, I have noticed that no matter how lofty the ambition may be, it requires us asking some question from the Dunya, and seeking a response.

So the perfect day I wait for is when all responsibilities are fulfilled and every question from the Dunya is answered and I no longer need anything from it nor does it need me very much. Then I can know the true feeling of roaming through this world as if one were a traveler.

The perfect day would start with me waking up without my first thought being what are my plans for the day. The perfect day would continue with time with family and friends that is leisurely and without any refrain to gadgets or office work. The perfect day would have three meals of mild but filling proportions. The perfect day would have sunshine but light rain, a lovely combo. The perfect day would be long enough that each part of the day would feel like a chapter to a novel, with its own twists and turns, and of sufficient length to merit reflection. The perfect day would include a nice cup of tea with a intellectually challenging book of choice. And the perfect day would end with the eyes drooping slightly with a slight slumber, before surrendering to the night.

Sometimes I think that life should be spent trying to gain enough points to earn a perfect day. But maybe in between some perfect days slip by unnoticed.