LESSON OF THE DAY 967

Ayahs of the Day:
You will surely suffer the painful punishment, but you will not be repaid but for what you have done, except the sincere servants of God; for them there is a determined provision, fruits; and they will be honored in gardens of felicity, on divans facing each other, while a cup from a fountain is passed around to them, pure water, a delight to those who drink, with no intoxication in it, so they don't become inebriated from it. And with them there will be demure women with large eyes, delicate, chaste; [37: 38 to 49]

Hadith of the Day:
Fear Allah wherever you are and follow up an evil deed with a good action which will wipe it out. Treat people well. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Bear in mind that those who carry others' secrets to you might bear yours to others. Do not give such tactless people any chance to learn even the smallest details of your private concerns. [Fethullah Gulen]

Guidance of the Day:
There is no one who is so far from God that he or she cannot succeed. Sometimes things come easily in life, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes we are given the gift of growth, and sometimes we have to work for it and earn it. When the wind is not blowing----row! The people who succeed are the ones who are willing to hold fast to their dream, even in the face of apparent or temporary failure.

There are going to be rewarding days and there are going to be days when you just want to quit. They are all part of the job. On the tough days, just keep plugging away. Look at the job from a broader perspective----and that will make a difference. Character is the ability to follow through on a project long after the mood has passed. Often, we must stick to a task even if the goal does not seem to be at hand. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Don't grieve over the vicissitudes of your existence--------you cannot escape hardship. Be at peace, for after poverty comes wealth, after thirst comes drink, after separation comes a joyous meeting, and after sleeplessness comes sound rest.

LESSON OF THE DAY 966

Ayahs of the Day:
We have adorned the sky of the world with the ornament of the stars, and to guard against every rebellious devil, so they cannot eavesdrop on the supreme council, but will be ousted from every side, repelled and consigned to lasting torment; except one grabbing a snatch----then a piercing fire pursues him. [37: 6 to 10]

Hadith of the Day:
Faith wears out in the heart of anyone of you just as clothes wear out, so ask Allah to renew the faith in your heart. [Tabarani]

Wise Quote of the Day:
He made the Hereafter an abode to reward his believing servants only because this world cannot contain what He wishes to bestow upon them and because He deemed their worth too high to reward them in a world without permanence. [Ibn Ata'Allah]

Guidance of the Day:
Be not deluded and blinded by the small thinking of men. Their goals are as foolish as the paths they take to reach them. You are living in a world of erroneous thinking. You must break out of the patterns of thought that blind men to themselves. Begin your liberation with a few changes in your thought, and you mark for yourselves the right to walk the entire kingdom.

We must push on relentlessly toward our goal, no matter what thoughts of unworthiness or failure attempt to dissuade us. Never allow yourself to feel that your spiritual work, your striving, or your discipline is not paying off. Even if you did not see the results immediately, or if you are not acknowledged by others, your actions are never for nought. If you are chopping down a tree, you may hack away for hundreds of blows and not see the tree move a millimeter. It is only when you make the final cut that the tree falls. Although you saw no apparent progress, each and every one of those blows was equally necessary to accomplish your goal. A saint is a sinner who never gave up. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Determination can overcome unsurmountable barriers. Determination is the fuel that propels one to higher virtues. Higher goals are not achieved through dreaming or fantasizing, they can only be reached through dedication and commitment.

Pearls of Wisdom 7

1. Much may be done with those little shreds and patches of time which everyday produces, and which most men throw away.

2. Minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars and each moment is a day.

3. Until you value yourself; you won't value time, until you value time; you will not do anything with it.

4. Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.

5. To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom, and he who increases his riches increases his cares, but a contented mind is a treasure hidden.

6. Patience is the companion of wisdom.

7. In seeking wisdom you are wise, in imagining that you have attained it, you are a fool.

8. Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.

9. We are made wise not by the recollection of our past but by the responsibility of our future.

10. The art of wisdom is the art of knowing what to overlook.

LESSON OF THE DAY 965

Ayahs of the Day:
By those who stand together, side by side, and so are forbidding defenders, and who recited revelation, your God is actually One, Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between, and Lord of all points of the sunrise. [37: 1 to 5]

Hadith of the Day:
Rights will be given to those whom they are owed on the Day of Judgment, even the hornless sheep will have retaliation from the horned sheep. [Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
To deem that Allah is with one every moment is the greatest expression of faith. [Othman radi Allah anhu]

Guidance of the Day:
You, within whom greatness lies dormant like a sleeping saint, arise to your hidden splendor! We do not ask you to be world leaders or heroes, but to do what you have been given to do, with loving care and your best ability. There is much, much more that you may know, that you may do, and that you may be. Seek out your highest calling and respond with your all. Do a little if you wish, but do it well.

Seek not greatness in the eyes of the world, for the world loves its own, and would have you be a part of it. When you serve God, you serve the world, for the world knows not how to serve itself. It believes it can serve itself, but only encumbers itself with thicker delusion. Seek worth in the eyes of God, who would have you be great through humility. Meekness is the refuge of the mighty which the arrogant cannot enter. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for the Day:
Just as we cannot see our own faces without looking into a mirror, we cannot know ourselves without looking into our soul. Reflect on the fact that you are much more than the physical being you see in the mirror. Stop judging and become perfectly imperfect human being.

Pearls of Wisdom 6

1. Science investigates, religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power, religion gives man wisdom which is control.

2. Winners never quit and quitters never win.

3. It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

4. I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

5. Try not to be a man of success, but rather try to become a man of values.

6. Failure is a success if we learn from it.

7. No man succeeds without a good woman behind him. Wife or mother, if it is both, he is twice blessed indeed.

8. The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing to get along with people.

9. Let him know who would enjoy a good future, waste none of his present.

10. Men talk about killing time, while time is quietly killing them.

Pearls of Wisdom 5

1. Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other.

2. Love does not dominate, it cultivates. Do all things with love.

3. The ultimate test of a relationship is to disagree, but hold hands.

4. We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.

5. If you judge people, you have no time to love.

6. What counts in making a happy relationships is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.

7. Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.

8. We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.

9. The saddest part of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than it gathers wisdom.

10. Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.

LESSON OF THE DAY 964

Ayahs of the Day:
Isn't the One who created the heavens and the earth able to create their like? Certainly, being absolute creator, the omniscient one, whose only command when willing a thing is to say to it "Be," and it is. So glory to the One who holds sovereignty over all things, and to whom you will be returned. [36: 81,82,83]

Hadith of the Day:
It is sin enough for a man that he neglects someone whom he is supposed to feed. [Abu Dawud]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Man's greatest achievement is in possessing those qualities that make him truly human. These qualities are enshrined in the eternal names of Allah, the greatest manifestations of which are to be seen in the Prophet (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him). [Shaykh Abdul Mabud]

Guidance of the Day:
We can always do a little more than we think we can. We must continually apply this truth, or else we cease to be alive and grow. Accept limitations, and they confirm themselves. Challenge them, and they disappear. Greatness is not in popularity, wealth, or long life, as most people believe. Real greatness is in simplicity and supportive words. It is in firm encouragement and gentle patience. It is in finding God in the midst of the turmoil of the marketplace, and remembering His goodness during hardship.

Greatness is not always found in those whom the world calls its heroes, but in the unheard of saints who unselfishly serve their families, lend a kind ear to a friend in despair, and lovingly see the Best in those who have become too accustomed to seeing themselves as mediocre. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though limits to our abilities do not exist. No one knows what he can do until he tries. The work will teach you how to do it.

LESSON OF THE DAY 963

Ayahs of the Day:
Hasn't man seen that We created him from a drop? For behold, he is an open disputer! As he applies similes to Us, he forgets his own creation, saying, "Who could enliven bones that have rotted?" Say, "The one who first created them will bring them to life, knowing all about every creature, the One Who produced fire for you from the green tree, from which you then kindle fire. [36: 77 to 80]

Hadith of the Day:
Do not consider anything correct insignificant, even meeting your brother with a happy face. [Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The body by its nature burns in fire except those whose souls have been infused into their bodies, and their bodies became souls during this life. Those are the ones who love God and who live for God and who die before dying. [Imam Birgivi]

Guidance of the Day:
There are very few people in the world who think originally. Most people act like puppets, mimicking the latest trends in fashion, voicing the popular opinions, and catching the same diseases, thinking, at the slightest sniffle, "I must be coming down with the flu that's going around." The few people who do think originally and have the courage to act on their inspiration are hailed as geniuses, trend setters, and saints.

We are all geniuses, through God's wisdom. We can each set a trend toward God in our own lives, even if no other person ever follows (and probably they will follow if we are sincere in our own striving). And a saint is nothing other than an ordinary person, have no special dispensation; their portion of God is no greater than your or mine. They just recognize the God within, and live without. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Faith without works is nothing worth,
As dead as door-nail unless deeds follow.
Workless faith God never regards,
Faithless work God never regards.

Pearls of Wisdom 4

1. The only way to have a friend is to be one.

2. Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

3. It's not what you look at matters, it's what you see.

4. Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.

5. The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

6. Life is like a coin, you can spend it any way you wish, but you can only spend it once.

7. It is not the length of life, but the depth of life that matters.

8. The great use of life is to spend it for something that will out last it.

9. Life is not a sum of what we are but what we yearn to be.

10. Live everyday as if it were your last, because one of these days it will be.

LESSON OF THE DAY 962

Ayahs of the Day:
Haven't they seen that We made livestock for them, from the products of Our handicraft, so they have control over them, as We subjected the beasts to them, so some are their mounts, and from some they get food; and their are other benefits in livestock for them, including beverages; aren't they therefore grateful? [36: 71,72,73]

Hadith of the Day:
Through a person's charitable giving, God takes away arrogance and vanity. [Fiqh us Sunna]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Turn away from vanity and seek Him in the recesses of your heart and soul. Show patience in adversity and be content in His will that you may attain proximity to God. [Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani]

Guidance of the Day:
Enlightenment is not something that we can acquire through an action. It is a deep inner knowing from which successful action proceed. Rituals, which are very powerful and necessary, can also be misunderstood, and function as a distraction. We all have a potential for succeeding at the game of finding inner peace; we need only to go of the idea that there is something that we need to do first to be peaceful. The way to be peaceful is to be peaceful.

We can never find peace through war or strife; it just doesn't work that way. The only way it works is to start out where we want to end up, to begin by knowing that we have already arrived, and to recognize all as wholely Divine. When we realize that God is every where, it becomes easy to see and love Him in all that we do. Every word becomes a prayer, every action a spiritual ceremony, and every morning a Holyday. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to it. What you see is what you get. Your attitude determines what you see, so always look on the bright side. The choice is yours. See through the eyes of an optimist today and observe what direction your life takes. Optimists live longer, healthier lives than pessimists.

Pearls of Wisdom 3

1. "I can forgive but I cannot forget," is only one way of saying, "I will not forgive."

2. Forgiveness aught to be like a canceled note, torn into two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.

3. The glory of Islam is to conquer by forgiveness.

4. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does change the future.

5. Life is an adventure in forgiveness. You are never so strong as when you forgive.

6. He who cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself, for every man has the need to be forgiven.

7. As long as you don't forgive, who and whatever will occupy rent free space in your mind.

8. To err is human, to forgive is divine.

9. Forgive all who have offended you, not for them but for yourself.

LESSON OF THE DAY 961

Ayahs of the Day:
Whoever We grant long life, We reverse in natural capacities; don't they realize? We didn't teach him poetry, as it isn't necessary for him; this is just a reminder and a clear Recital, to warn whoever is alive, and that the testimony against those who scoff prove true. [36: 68,69,70]

Hadith of the Day:
When you find excuses to escape from fighting in defense of religion, in the conduct of your business, or gathering your harvest, God will bring upon you such poverty, disgrace, and contempt that you will not be relieved from it until you repent and do what God obliges you to do. [Abu Dawud]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Neither poverty nor wealth will carry any weight on the Day of Reckoning. Only patience and thankfulness will be weighed. [Yahya bin Mu'adh]

Guidance of the Day:
We tend to live on the periphery of our beings, seeking outside solutions for inside problems. When we believe that a degree, a raise, or a house can clinch our security, we sooner or later find there is no more----or less-----security outside than there is inside.

Most of the dramas that we create over things in our lives are disguised attempts to feel spiritual peace; we have confused things with Spirit, and mistakenly equated acts with Love. But because we are spiritual beings, nothing less than spirit will satisfy us. When we learn that God is everywhere, that love fills all space, and that Truth is the very ground of our being, we may surely release the little to embrace the All. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Laughter is an external manifestation of an internal gift. When you laugh you are changing your internal chemistry and creating a healthy environment. Laughter not only produces pleasant feelings and images for you and others, but it also alters your body chemistry. Choose to find things to laugh about. You will change, and so will all the people you meet. You will not burn out when you can laugh at life, on the other hand you will live a longer and healthier life.

LESSON OF THE DAY 960

Ayahs of the Day:
That day We'll seal their mouths, while their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will testify to what they did. Yet if We wished We would have erased their eyesight; then even if they raced for the path, how could they see? And if We wished, We would have transmuted them right where they were, so they could neither go on nor go back. [36: 65,66,67]

Hadith of the Day:
Whoever has the means to carry himself to the House of God in Mecca and does not perform the obligatory pilgrimage is indistinguishable from a Jew or a Christian when he leaves this world. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Everything you do in this world with the intention of acquiring worldly gain is reproachable, every deed discharged with the purpose of gaining in the Hereafter does not belong to this world. [Abu Sufyan al Re'einy]

Guidance of the Day:
Do not invest your happiness in the outside world, which is constantly changing and can never bring you real peace. Why not place your happiness in God, the unchanging, Who will never let you down? Though we may not be physically paralyzed, we paralyze ourselves with mad ideas of experiences, people, and objects that we believe we need to keep us happy, and then we 'lean out' on them in a false dependence that only keeps us sedated into believing that we are less than we are

All life has in it the potential to bring suffering; when we give up craving, or attachment, then and only then does the pain stop. We must be brutally honest with ourselves in assessing what brings happiness and what brings sadness in our lives. We must clearly discern between fleeting happiness and real happiness. People, objects, and experiences can make us "high," but the high is not whole, because we believe that it is the thing that has given it to us. We would give God's power to a thing. If we believe that someone or something can give us God from outside, we have denied that He is already inside. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Don't hurry, don't worry. You are only here for a short visit. Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.

LESSON OF THE DAY 959

Ayahs of the Day:
"And stand aside today, you who are sinners: Did I not charge you, O children of Adam, not to serve Satan, for he is an open enemy for you, and to serve Me? This is a straight path. He has already lead a great many of you astray; didn't you realize? This is hell, of which you were warned. Burn in it today, since you used to scoff." [36: 59 to 64]

Hadith of the Day:
You should remember the reality that brings an end to all worldly joys and pleasures, namely, death. [Fiqh us Sunnah]

Wise Quote of the Day:
This life is the wine of Satan, whoever is intoxicated by it only awakens amid the hoards of the dead, lamenting amongst the losers. [Yahya bin Mu'az]

Guidance of the Day:
Confidence in God's ability to meet our needs is returned with Providence that laughs at chance. There is a much bigger scheme to life than most people see. We must listen with our hearts and not with our ears. We must have confidence. Once we align ourselves with a direction from within, no one in the world can convince us otherwise, for our source of acknowledgement is far more powerful than any that the world could offer or any challenge the world could pose.

Our learned limitations are our shadows, we can rid ourselves of them only by facing them with a little light. Each of us must ultimately conquer our own shadows. Until them, our Divine Self remains penned in a little corner of a frightening world while we are acting happy, but really knowing that there is more, for we are more. Once we begin to see that we can be anything we want to be. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Don't be afraid of darkness. The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. You can decide to focus on the darkness or use it to appreciate that your life contains light too. You would never appreciate the light if you didn't have the darkness. Let the Director show you the way! Go inside, discover your own black hole, and emerge with new energy and true light of awareness.

LESSON OF THE DAY 958

Ayahs of the Day:
As for the inhabitants of the garden, they will be merry at work that day; they and their mates will be in the shade, reclining on couches; there they will have fruit, and what ever they request. "Peace"------a word from a merciful Lord. [36: 55 to 58]

Hadith of the Day:
Help the ones who need help, save the ones who are tyrannized, show the way to the ones who are lost. [Abu Dawud]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Certainty calls one to cut short expectation for worldly fulfillment, cutting short this expectation calls one to renunciation, renunciation bequeaths wisdom, and wisdom bequeaths the discernment of the outcome. [Dhun nun al Misri]

Guidance of the Day:
Most people are sleepwalking. Many wander through life in a sort of semiconscious state, having some idea of what they do, but not really sure why they are doing it. Mostly, we do what other people do, for we have made gods of popular opinions, beliefs, and actions. We worship the masses instead of God. This kind of unchosen living doesn't work. When we live in an attempt to fulfill the dreams and desires of others, we may (for a while) succeed in convincing ourselves that we are happy, but sooner or later we must admit that we have our own calling in life.

God did not intend for any of us to be crippled. It is we who cripple ourselves with small thinking, ideas of limitation, and fear. Neither can the physical body bind us, unless we let it. Lack of physical energy is a lack of mental enthusiasm. Nor has money ever stopped anyone from doing anything. If our intention is clear and our faith strong, the money will come. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Your weakness is no excuse: "He gives power to the faint." For the victory of battle stands not in the multitude; but strength comes from heaven. Nothing is so strong as gentleness: nothing is so gentle as real strength. These three things deplete man's strength: fear, travel, and sin.

LESSON OF THE DAY 957

Ayahs of the Day:
It will be but a single blast, and lo-----they will all be brought before Us. Then that day no soul will be wronged in respect to anything, as you will not be recompensed but for what you have done. [36: 53,54]

Hadith of the Day:
Greet people who greet you, lead people to right and prevent them from going astray. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The knowledge which results in renunciation consists of the realization that what is renounced is of little value in comparison with what is received. [Imam al Ghazali]

Guidance of the Day:
The time for all of us is of course, now. There is no need for anyone to wither in an unfulfilling and mechanical patterns of life. Routines cannot bind us unless we believe in them. Patterns were given to serve us------not for us to live for them.

Habits have been given for your strengthening, but they cease to be purposeful when you become subservient to them. Be masterful in approaching your activities. Consciously decide for free ways of being. No one is a master who is a slave to his own inventions. No more can you rely on forms for your strength. The time has come for you to rely on God and God alone. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. The aim of life is appreciation, there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.

LESSON OF THE DAY 956

Ayahs of the Day:
when they are told to mind what is before them and what is after them, so that they may receive mercy, still whenever a sign of their Lord comes to them, they turn away from it. [36: 45,46]

Hadith of the Day:
Avoid observing things that are unlawful and immoral. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The penalty of evil comes in many unexpected ways, for evil is against nature. [Abdullah Yusuf Ali]

Guidance of the Day:
To live------to really be alive-------we must allow ourselves to flow with the people and events around us. We cannot afford to confine ourselves to any rigid picture of who we are, or how things should be done. We stuff ourselves into little habitual ways of doing things in a certain way, and then if we do not get to do it our way, or if someone comes along who wants to do it a little differently, we get irritable and we become nuisance to ourselves and those around us.

The way to be really free is to find out what your molds are, and then break them, drive to work by way of a different street one day, wear a new hairstyle, rearrange the furniture in your room; do anything you can to keep from getting stagnant. We are all free spirits and we are bound to anything unless we think we are. We need to consider whether it is life that is penning us in, or we who confine ourselves with small thinking. Our happy realization is that we cannot be tied to anything, and that the only way we can be bound is with our own thoughts. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Who seeks a faultless friend remains friendless. The best rule of friendship is to keep your heart a little softer than your head. Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other's little failings. To be social is to be forgiving.

LESSON OF THE DAY 955

Ayahs of the Day:
And a sign for them is the fact that We carried their race on the loaded Ark; and WE made its like for them, in which they travel, though We could drown them if We wished, and they'd have no one to help them, and they would not be rescued, except as a mercy from Us, a temporary indulgence. [Surah Yaseen 36: 41 to 44]

Hadith of the Day:
Be friends with the faithful, share your food with the ones who love and fear God. [Abu Dawud]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Turn to God and seek forgiveness if you wish to prevail. Listen to your heart and not your ego. Your ego prompts you to boast of vain assertions to obtain the glory of this world. [Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani]

Guidance of the Day:
Live for all that you would live for. Search your hearts for your purest ideals, and set your life around your noblest vision. In the years to come, when the institutions that you know crumble around you, only your deepest aspirations will carry you through outer change. Live now for your heart's ambition.

Think, and think clearly. What do you truly want from your life? Why, in all earnestness, have you come to earth? Who do you now live for? Are you beholden to the misdirected vanities of the world, or do you respect your inclinations from a source resonating deep within your self? Answer these questions for yourself, and live the answers you find.

Time has been given you for a purpose. Learn to use it for your benefit, but do not be a slave to it. Make it work for you. In your awareness of the purpose of time is your mastery of it. Set your priorities. Do not delay that which is most important. You know God now, but you can never know Him tomorrow. Your enlightenment is the one thing that you cannot post pone. God is now. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
We, ignorant of ourselves, beg often our own harms, which the Wise Powerful denies us for our own good. God alone fully understands what each of us needs; we make mistakes continually and pray for things which would be harmful to us if we received them. Afterwards we see our mistakes and realize that God is good and wise in not giving us these things, even though we plead ever so earnestly for them.

LESSON OF THE DAY 954

Ayahs of the Day:
Glory to the One who created mates, all of them, from what the earth produces, and from their own selves, and from what they don't know. And a sign for them is the night; We end the day with it, and lo----they steeped in darkness. And the sun runs its course, that is determined by the Almighty, the Omniscient; and for the moon We have determined phases, until it returns to a tiny crescent. The sun is not to overtake the moon, and the night does not outstrip the day, and each swims in an orbit. [36: 36 to 40]

Hadith of the Day:
Beware of company you keep, because a person is considered to be of the same belief and religion as the company he keeps. [Abu Dawud]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Although today, we find ourselves without a Khalifah, this is not the cause of our troubles; rather we as an Umma have become neglectful of our Din and have become preoccupied with this life. [Aftab Ahmad Malik]

Guidance of the Day:
Every moment of life is precious. We never really know how much time we have to do what we want to do. We act as if we have a hundred years, when we may have but a minute. If we ponder on these sobering thoughts, they must lead us to but one conclusion: Now is our only moment to live.

If God takes care of the grass, which is here one day and gone the next, will He not all the more care for you. Just do what you need to do for today, and tomorrow will take care of itself. Too many dreams are cast by the wayside in deference to opinions and tradition. Too many ambitions have been postponed for the wrong reasons. Too many lives have been lived for a tomorrow which never came. Ask yourself now, "If I had only a few months to live, what would I be doing?" Do not dwell on fear, but consider your opportunities! Then do it. Can any of us afford to throw away one moment of life? [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Death sets a limit on our time in this life and urges us to do what we need to do in the time we are given. Death is a friendly but invisible companion, reminding us to live our lives and not just exist. Awareness of our mortality will facilitate important shifts in our priorities and values.

LESSON OF THE DAY 953

Ayahs of the Day:
A sign for them is the earth when dead; We revive it, and produce grain from it, of which they partake. And We have put orchards of dates and grapes thereon, and caused springs to flow on it, that they may eat of its fruit, though they did not make it themselves; so will they not be grateful? [36: 33,34,35]

Hadith of the Day:
A bad friend is like someone who is stoking a fire. If you come close to someone who is stoking a fire, you may get burned; at least you will get on you the bad smell of smoke. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The heart has four defenses against evil: binding the heart to God; renouncing what is other than God; looking not with your eyes upon what God has forbidden; and moving not your feet where you do not expect God's reward. [Shaykh Abul Hasan Al Shadhili]

Guidance of the Day:
You are heirs to the riches of the universe. It is God's good pleasure to give you His good gifts. Thoughts of lack are empty musings, expressive not of the Truth, but of a limited consciousness which you have outgrown. Hold fearlessly to thoughts of fullness, and so shall your experience be confirmed as whole. Take care of God's business and He will take care of yours.

Remember that you are worthy of abundance. Know your spiritual riches, and material good shall be yours as well. There is a right amount for you. Trust the Creator to uphold and support you in your material life. He will not abandon you. This is the promise proven by your willingness to trust. Stand with open arms to receive His riches. Extend you hands, as well, to allow blessings to flow forth in service to a waiting world. Be a comforter to your brethren. Uphold your thoughts of emptiness, but hold fast to your meditation upon the source of all. When you see all as full, you see all as God created it. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind. The measure of a happy life is not from the fewer or more suns we behold, the fewer or more breaths we draw, or meals we repeat, but from having once lived well, acted our part handsomely, and made our exit cheerfully.

LESSON OF THE DAY 952

Ayahs of the Day:
Alas for mortals----no messenger ever comes to them but they ridicule him. Haven't they seen how many generations We destroyed before them, that they won't return to them? But every one will be brought before Us when all are gathered together. [36: 30,31,32]

Hadith of the Day:
A good friend is like someone who is carrying a load of musk, if you are close to the one who is carrying the load of musk, he may give you or sell you musk; or at least you will smell the perfume coming from him. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
He who knows God comtemplates Him in everything. He who is extenguished by Him is absent from everything. He who loves Him prefers nothing to Him. [Ibn Ata'Illah]

Guidance of the Day:
When we see life in clear focus, it is always giving us enough. We have to get our minds tuned into contentment, even work at it a little bit, to win at the game of living. It's not so much what we do counts, but what we think about what we do. We can take any seeming failure, and find some way to turn it into success. When we dig deeply enough into our own lot, we find that we are well taken care of. We must learn to distinguish between needs and desires. Our needs are so simple. How free are the birds who need so little and yet soar so high. It is only when we think that we need more than we do that we lose sight of our aspirations.

We have ideas, concepts, and opinions about how things would be better if we had this or that, or if we were there instead of here. Often, however, our ticket to satisfaction is in mastering the job at hand. If we do well with what we have, we do not need to figure out how to advance; God, the best manager of all, will take care of us. It does not matter what you do. What does matter is that you do it the best. If you are a street sweeper, then be the best street sweeper that there ever was. Do your work with pride, and do it with dignity, and in so doing it, you will be doing it with greatness! [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
Sometimes we have guides and teachers that help keep us on the path. At other times people and events lead us astray. But ultimately we all need to live like the horse and know our own way home. Where is your home? If you were a horse, and someone let go of your reins, where would you head?

LESSON OF THE DAY 951

Ayahs of the Day:
You can only warn those who follow the Reminder and fear the Benevolent One, albeit unseen: so give them good news of forgiveness, and a generous reward. For We will revive the dead, and We record what they have sent before and what they have left after them; and We have accounted for everything in an illustrative book of examples. [36: 11,12]

Hadith of the Day:
Whoever believes in God and the Judgment Day cannot cause pain to his neighbor. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
There is no nourishment in food for the spirit, for it sustains physical forms. But the sustenance of the spirit and the heart is the remembrance of God, the Knower of the Invisible. [Ibn Ata'Allah]

Guidance of the Day:
There are two groups of people-----those who practice contentment, and those who do not. Contentment is an experience that we can cultivate through practice. Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. Like gratefulness and positivity, contentment is not usually handed to us as a gift, although it is always ours for the asking. We need only to align our thoughts with appreciation, for contentment is not much a state of affairs as it is a state of mind.

If money could make us happy, millionaires would rest complete after their first million. If power were the source of peace, heads of state would be the happiest people in the world. But we all know that persons with much money, or power are not the happiest; in fact they are often among the most unhappy. Why? Because anyone in a state of seeking can never be happy. Only those who are constantly finding are fulfilled. And finding is not something that happens to us-------it is something we do. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
There is only one person with whom you can profitably compare yourself; and this person is your yesterday self; YOU. Every day is a new beginning. Without change, we could not exist.

LESSON OF THE DAY 950

Ayah of the Day:
If God punished people as they deserved, that would not leave a single living creature in its wake; however, God lets them stay for a certain term. Then when their term is up, it turns out God has been watching all creatures. [35: 45]

Hadith of the Day:
The ones who will enter the Paradise first are the workers who were loyal and obedient to God and their employers. [Tabarani]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Look at this: Inspite of all the word's bitterness, you are passionately and shamelessly attached to it. Know that bitter tribulation is a mercy! [Mawlana Rumi]

Guidance of the Day:
Genius is God's gift to all, though it is accepted by few. Within you lie riches and talents for greater than you have recognized and expressed. The ackowledgement of your capabilities bears a double blessing. As you grow into your own evolution, you serve the world. There is no limitation upon what you can do.

Look at your lives with open eyes. If you see closed avenues, it is because you are looking with closed eyes. Do not be distracted by the small-mindedness of men. The child of man sees mountains where the child of God sees skies. Choose your goal, and allow God to succeed through you. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore}

Food for Thought:
Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worth while. It is a tremendous joy in giving. It is a very important part of the joy of living. To pursue joy is to lose it. The only way to get it is to follow steadily the path of duty without thinking of joy, and then, it comes most surely.

LESSON OF THE DAY 949

Ayah of the Day:
Haven't they traveled on earth and seen how those before them ended up, even though they had been more powerful than they are? God is not to be thwarted by anything in the heavens or on earth, for God is omniscient, all-powerful. [35: 44]

Hadith of the Day:
God's compassion does not descend upon a people among whom there are persons who have cut their connections with their relations. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Rely on the All-Merciful in all your affairs; One who relies on Him is never at loss. [Shihab]

Guidance of the Day:
The aspect of human beings that sets us off from all other creatures is that of imaginative wisdom. Animals see things as they are, but we see them as they can be. We have been given the Divine ability to transform. Nothing gives a person more energy as he or she is working to bring a vision into reality. People forsake their sleep, food, and comfort for the sake of a project that they love. There is something holy about a human being dedicated to a purpose, something more precious than I can attempt to put into words. It is the miracle of creation.

It is exactly this miracle which enables us to transcend circumstances. Any circumstance is a good starting point for God. The alchemical power to activate Divinity is always speaking to us, if we are but willing to listen and do. It is none other than the Voice of God, beckoning to us to acknowledge the Divine Spark and to draw it into expression, that it may be shared by all. [Cohen, The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore]

Food for Thought:
The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up. Happiness is the by-product of an effort to make someone else happy. In about the same degree as you are helpful, you will be happy. Only a life lived for others is a life worth while. When you live for others they will live for you.

LESSON OF THE DAY 948

Ayah of the Day:
God holds up the skies and the earth lest they fail; and if they should fail, no one else will hold them up: God is indeed most clement, most forgiving. [35: 41]

Hadith of the Day:
God may delay the punishment of some major sins until Judgment Day, but not the punishment of one's sins against one's parents. People will suffer for those very quickly, and in this life. [Tabarani]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Be so tolerant that your chest becomes wide like the ocean. [Fethullan Gulen]

Guidance of the Day:
You are holding a passport in your hands right now, with valid visas to higher levels of consciousness and more abundant living. But it is not enough just to have a passport. You must make the journey. Be confident. Do not be afraid. Have courage. Take it one step at a time. Make the journey. A life well invested has few regrets. A life lived richly has few apologies to make. Find the rhythm in life. As you begin to experience the power of the rhythm of life----help others discover the rhythm of life.

"Let your light shine." The legends, heroes, leaders, champions, and saints, who fill the pages of our history books, are just symbols of the goodness and greatness within us all. Do not let your life be like a shooting star that lights up the sky for only a brief moment. Let your life be like the sun, which always burns brightly in the heavens, bringing light and warmth to all those on earth. Live the life you were born to live! Let your light shine! [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. LOVE THEM ANYWAY.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. DO GOOD ANYWAY.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. SUCCEED ANYWAY.
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow. DO GOOD ANYWAY.

LESSON OF THE DAY 947

Ayahs of the Day:
God is the one who knows the secret of the heavens and the earth, thoroughly knowing what is in hearts. God is the one who made you deputies on earth; so whoever scoffs is responsible for his own ingratitude; and the ingratitude of the scoffers only makes them more odious to their Lord; and the ingratitude of the scoffers only increases their loss. [35: 38,39]

Hadith of the Day:
Give the sadaqa without delay for it stands in the way of calamity. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Treat miserliness by realizing that those who achieved affluence did so only by exhausting themselves over long periods of time, thus finally accumulating what they sought. Meanwhile, just as they approach the height of (earthly) splendor, death suddenly assails them. [Imam al Muwlud]

Guidance of the Day:
So what are we waiting for? We get only one shot at life. Isn't it time for a little soul-searching? Visit a quiet place. Take a walk in the park. Turn off the television and talk to your children. Keep a promise. Tell your mom you love her. Make friends with your neighbors. Say yes instead of maybe. Watch a sunset. Say sorry. Make peace with God.

Do not waste your life, because life is there------all you have to do is reach out and embrace it. Anything is possible. Whatever your dream is, make it happen. Have courage. Start today. You will be amazed what life will give you in return for a little bit of courage. Courage is choice. Be certain of one thing: The measure of your life will be the measure of your courage. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
Good temper, like a sunny day, sheds a ray of brightness over everything! We cannot control the tongues of others, but a good life enables us to disregard them.

LESSON OF THE DAY 946

Ayahs of the Day:
And for those who scoffed, they will have fire of hell, without it ever being decreed that they should pass away, and without its agony ever being lightened for them. Thus do We repay every ingrate. And they will beg for help in there: "Our Lord, release us, and we will do right, not what we used to do." But didn't We Grant you long enough life for those who were receptive to take a lesson, especially since a warner came to you? So suffer, for there is no savior for those who do wrong. [35:36,37]

Hadith of the Day:
Keep yourself clean from urine, much of the suffering of the grave falls upon people who were unclean. [Bazzar]

Wise Quote of the Day:
He who guides you to this world has cheated you; but he who guides you to Allah has truly counseled you. [Shykh Abul Hasan al Shadhili]

Guidance of the Day
Have you ever been awakened in the morning by the alarm clock in the middle of a wonderful dream? What happens? You try to go back to sleep, but what doesn't happen? The dream doesn't return. Life is that dream. If you knew you were going to die one year from today, what would you do with the next year of your life? Do those things. Go home tonight and make a list. Then set about making those things happen. Revisit that list every day, check on your progress, and renew your resolution. Because life is short and you are dead an awful long time. Live life passionately. Laugh often, love always, cultivate soul, don't be afraid to dream big dreams, embrace your God.

Our world is changing so quickly. It can be a little frightening at times. It is easy to become so busy worrying about the future that we forget to live our dreams. There is something wonderful about a dream. It is not the achievement of the dream that matters most, but rather the pursuit of those dreams that are born from deep within us. The pursuit of the dream is life; it does something mysterious to us, fills us with hope, passion, and enthusiasm, and expands our capacities as a human person in every way. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
Everything is predictable. Yet, we have no idea what will happen. That is the curious paradox of our world. We all know we are going to die, but none of us knows just how or when or where.

LESSON OF THE DAY 945

Ayahs of the Day:
There are gardens of eternity they will enter, wearing there bracelets of gold and pearls, their clothes therein of silk: And they will say, "Praise God, who has caused sorrow to leave us; for our Lord is indeed most forgiving, most appreciative, the One who has permitted us the abode of the resurrection, out of divine grace, where hardship will not touch us and weariness will not afflict us." [35: 33,34,35]

Hadith of the Day:
Do not drink water in one breath like a camel. Recite the Name of God, breathe in and out to take three sips, and thank God. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
If you intend to reach Him, see yourself as insignificant at the door of God and be sincere in your deeds. [Bayazid al Bustami]

Guidance of the Day:
Take a moment to wander through the pages of history--------your family's history, your nation's history, human history------and extract from those pages the men and women you most admire. What would they be without courage? Nothing worthwhile in history has been achieved without courage. Courage is the father of every great moment and movement in history. Courage is learning to recognize and master that single moment. That moment is a prelude-----a prelude to courage or a prelude to fear. So much can be accomplished in one moment of courage. And so much can be lost to one moment of fear.

No one is born with courage. It is an acquired virtue. You learn to ride a bicycle by riding a bicycle. You learn to play football by playing football. Courage is acquired by practicing courage. And like most qualities of character, with practice our courage becomes stronger and more readily accessible with every passing day. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
No one is happy or free who lives only for himself. Joy in living comes from immersion in something one recognizes to be bigger, better, worthier, more enduring than he himself is. True happiness and true freedom come from squandering one's self for a purpose.

LESSON OF THE DAY 944

Ayahs of the Day:
And what We have revealed to you by inspiration from the Book is the truth, verifying what preceded it; for God knows and sees everyone. We bequeathed scripture to those of Our servants We chose; but some of them oppress their own souls, while some of them are moderate, and some of them are in the forefront in good deeds, by God's leave; that is the great blessing. [35: 31,32]

Hadith of the Day:
It is sufficient to eat enough to enable you to stand on your feet. If you feel obliged to eat more, reserve one third of your stomach for food, one third for water, and one third for air. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The hypocrite looks for faults of others; the believer looks for excuses. [Imam al Ghazali]

Guidance of the Day:
The most dominant emotion today in our modern society is fear. We are afraid. Afraid of losing the things we have worked hard to buy, afraid of rejection and failure, afraid of certain parts of town, afraid of certain types of people, afraid of criticism, afraid of suffering and heartache, afraid of change, afraid to tell people how we really feel. . . We are afraid of so many things. We are even afraid to be ourselves.

Some of these fears we are consciously aware of, while others exist subconsciously. But these fears can play a very large role in directing the actions and activities of our lives. Fear has a tendency to imprison us. Fear stops more people from doing something with their lives than lack of ability, contacts, resources, or any other single variable. Fear paralyzes the human spirit.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the acquired ability to move beyond fear. Each day we must pass through the jungles of doubt and cross the valley of fear. For it is only then that we can live in the high places------on the peaks of courage. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
The one important thing to be understood is the difference between taking one's work seriously, and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second is disastrous.

LESSON OF THE DAY 943

Ayahs of the Day:
As for those who recite the Book of God and celebrate prayer and give of what We have provided them, secretly and openly, then intend an exchange that will not be fruitless, as God will pay them their due and more, from the bounty divine, for God is most forgiving, more appreciative. [35: 29,30]

Hadith of the Day:
The one who gambles is revolting against God and His messenger. It is as if his hands are covered by the guts and blood of swine. [Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Make mankind's looking at you disappear by being content with God's looking at you! Slip away from their approach to you by contemplating His approach to you! [Ibn Ata'Illah]

Guidance of the Day:
Rhythm or no rhythm, life isn't always easy. Sometimes I find myself desirously happy. Life isn't always lived on the mountain tops of the world. Sometimes we find ourselves in the valleys of fear and doubt or in the abyss of suffering and loneliness. At those times it is easy to become discouraged, to abandon the way, to let the critics get you down.

Everything in life requires courage. Whether it is playing football or coaching football; starting a new business, battling a potentially fatal disease, getting married, struggling to overcome an addiction, or coming humbly before your God in prayer----life takes courage. Courage is essential to the human experience. Courage animates us, brings us to life, and makes everything else possible. Yet courage is the rarest quality in a human person. Be certain of one thing: The measure of your life will be the measure of your courage. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
The decision to do right lives fresh and fragrant in our memory. It is a story we will be proud to tell our friends and grandchildren. When deed speaks, words are nothing. A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.

LESSON OF THE DAY 942

Ayahs of the Day:
Haven't they seen that God sends rain from the sky? We then produce thereby fruits of various colors. And in the mountains are streaks of white and red, varying in their hue, and deepest black. And among humans, and the creatures that crawl, and animals-----they differ in their colors, in the same way. The one's among God's servants who are in awe of God are the knowledgeable; for God is almighty, forgiving. [35: 27,28]

Hadith of the Day:
Do not frighten your brother in faith in any way. To cause stress for your brother incurs serious blame. [Tabarani]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Be fearful lest the existence of His generosity towards you and the permanence of your bad behavior towards Him not lead you step by step to ruin. [Ibn Ata'Allah]

Guidance of the Day:
What holds our lives together? Rhythm. Rest and pauses are as important in great lives as activity. It is natural for us to want a better world for our children to grow up in. We must recognize that achieving great change for the common good takes a long time. Those working for the good are not in a hurry. They are patient, they are wise. They do all they can to bring on this good without losing the rhythm of life themselves. They never sacrifice the rhythm.

You must find the rhythm, your rhythm. The rhythm that connects you with the rest of creation in harmony and peace. The rhythm that most effectively allows the grace of God to work within your life. The rhythm that allows you to find that sacred balance that gives you strength, courage, and confidence to be yourself. The rhythm that leads you along the path of growth and perfection. The rhythm of life that unveils and fulfills you legitimate needs. The rhythm of life is a powerful thing. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
There is only one way to bring up a child in a way he should go, and that is to travel that way yourself. It is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.

LESSON OF THE DAY 941

Ayahs of the Day:
You are only a warner; for We sent you with the truth, as a herald and a warner. And there was never a people among whom a warner never passed. [35: 23,24]

Hadith of the Day:
The beauty of Islam shows in the face of one who keeps silent about things he does not know and that do not concern him. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Pondering over the Qur'an, du'a at the time of dawn and abstention from sins is the key for reviving the heart. [Allama Ibn al-Qayyim]

Guidance of the Day:
Tell me what you love and I will tell you who you are. What you fall in love with determines everything. Our desire to love and be loved never rests. Though we may sleep, our desire to love never does. It is as constant as our very breathing-------and as necessary. Our true identity is deeply intertwined with this desire and ability to love.

We cannot live without love. Without love there is no joy, excitement, passion, or satisfaction in life. You cannot live without love for yourself. You cannot live without love for your God. You cannot live without love for your neighbor. You can try, but you will end up bitter and miserable. And the bitterness and misery will kill you in the end. You will appear to be alive, but in truth you will be dying. You cannot live without love. Love or perish; there is no other choice. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
What lies before us and what lies beyond us is tiny compared to what lies within us. The more faithfully we listen to the voice within us, the better we will hear what is sounding outside. Only he who listens can speak.

LESSON OF THE DAY 940

Ayahs of the Day:
The blind and the seeing are not equal, nor are the darknesses and the light, nor are the cool and the heat. And the living and the dead are not the same: God may cause anyone to hear, at will, but you cannot cause those in the tombs to hear. [35: 19 to 22]

Hadith of the Day:
The fall one takes when one's tongue slips is much worse than the fall one takes when one's foot slips. [Bayhaqi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Perfecting one's intellect causes one to speak less, and those words spoken will be adorned with wisdom. [Ali radi Allah anhu]

Guidance of the Day:
The people you love will not always be near you. Love them. Seize the opportunity. The most wonderful thing about love is that it is highly contagious. Love demands a response. Love determines the response. Love begets love. Here's a simple example. If you are walking down the street and you smile at someone coming in the opposite direction, what will happen? Usually he smiles back. But in the event he does not smile back, and the next day you see him again and smile again, then what happens? Eventually he smiles back. Love demands a response. Your love sets off a reaction, a ripple effect. Love begets love.

If you have bought into the modern definition of success---------"getting what you want out of life"------you have probably alienated yourself from the most important reality and truth of life. Love is a free gift. We sacrifice love for so-called progress. We sacrifice love for so-called success. We sacrifice love for so-called more important things-----no such things exist. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

LESSON OF THE DAY 939

Ayah of the Day:
No one can bear the burden of another; even if one weighed down calls for help with his burden, nothing will be lifted from him, even be he a close relative. You can only warn those who inwardly fear their Lord and regularly pray. Yet whoever purifies himself purifies himself for his own soul alone; and the destination is to God. [35: 18]

Hadith of the Day:
The best of you are those who are slow to anger and swift to cool down. Beware of anger, for it is a live coal on the heart of the descendents of Adam. [Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Your desire that people know your particular distinction is a proof of insincerity in your servanthood. [Ibn Ataillah]

Guidance of the Day:
The question is, "What do we love?"
You can choose not to love the right things, but you cannot choose not to love. We all love-------we cannot help but love, for that is what we were created for. Love is what gives meaning to our lives. Love is the direction of our lives. What you love and what captivates your imagination determines how you live your life. Love is our greatest desire, our greatest need, our greatest talent, and our greatest yearning. Love is our identity. Until we love, we never truly know who we are. Love is natural, original, and spontaneous. Love is power.

If you could only love enough, you could be the most powerful person in the world. We hold back the infinite power of love because when it is released---------although it achieves all the good in the world-------it also makes us vulnerable and ushers in the possibility of suffering. We waste opportunities to love. To love deeply, you must let go of those illusions of perfection, that pretense of being completely in control, and open yourself to that mysterious gift, pleasure, power, and grace we call love. That surrender and openness creates a radical vulnerability. Love is to step beyond the comfort zone. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
The doors of wisdom are never shut. The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is the knowledge of our own ignorance. Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.

LESSON OF THE DAY 938

Ayahs of the Day:
O humanity, you are in need of God, but God is independent of needs, worthy of all praise. If God willed, God would get rid of you and produce a new creation; and that would not be hard for God. [35: 15,26,17]

Hadith of the Day:
Accept the apology of your fellow Muslim if you wish to drink from the fountain of kawthar when you are thirsty on the Day of Judgment. [Tabarani]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Persevere, have faith in His benevolence. Through afflictions God only tests your faith; He is completely aware of your condition. Have patience and wait for the divine decree. [Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani]

Guidance of the Day:
Life comes down to two simple realities. People were made to be loved, and things were made to be used. Your problems, my problems, and indeed all the world's problems come from our misunderstanding of these two simple principles. You see . . . we love things and we use people. It would not be too much to dedicate one's whole life to the reversal of these simple realities.

Love is our great desire------to love and to be loved. We know how to love, because we know how we wish to be loved. It is the central precept and principle of every major religion. It is the answer to every question. It is the solution to every problem. The answer is never to love less. The answer is always to love more. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
Every now and again take a good look at something not made with hands----a mountain, a star, the turn of stream. There will come to you wisdom and patience and solace and, above all, the assurance that you are not alone in the world.

LESSON OF THE DAY 937

Ayah of the Day:
God makes the night enter the day, and makes the day enter the night; and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running for a definite term. That is God for you, your Lord, to whom the dominion belongs; and those others to whom you pray instead haven't the slightest power. [35: 13]

Hadith of the Day:
I forbid you to wish for death when a catastrophe befalls you. If you are totally desperate, pray not for death, but ask Allah to make you live as long as He esteems it is good for you and to take you to Himself when it is best for you. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Fight against the ego with the four swords of training: eat little, sleep little, speak little, and be patient when people harm you. Then the ego will walk the paths of obedience, like a fleeting horseman in the field of battle. [Yahya ibn Mu'adh al Razi]

Guidance of the Day:
They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn. But the darkest hour gives birth to the greatest children of light. From the dark hours of history are born legends, heroes, champions, prophets, sages, leaders, stars, great teachers, and saints. The future will be what we make of it. Leadership is not an elite class. It is a role each of us is born into. It is a position of influence. Granted, some people exert more influence than others, but all of us exert some, and by our influence, people's lives are touched. People hear what you say, and they listen, and they are affected. People watch how you live, and they learn, and they are influenced.

Do not be afraid. Dare to live the life most people only fantasize about! Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Life is not a popularity contest. Those who wish to be free from criticism inevitably end up doing nothing worthwhile. Do the very best you know how-------the best you can; and mean to keep doing so until the end. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
The real essence of work is concentrated energy. Do whatever you do intensely. The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through.
Concentrate on finding your goal, then concentrate on reaching it.

Just a beautiful reminder for a very blessed eid!

Mothers

From Surah al-Rahman are the glorious words of our Creator: "Then which of the favors of your Lord will your deny?"

Yet how often we deny the greatest of favors that the Bestower has granted us. This favor, in the form of a woman......

A woman who carried us within her for almost a whole year of her short life in this world, bearing every hardship and discomfort to protect and nurture our frail being as the Fashioner gently prepared us to come into this worldly realm....

A woman who braved death's door, embracing pain unimaginable to even the most stalwart of warriors, that our tiny form may chance to take its first breath, open its eyes to the light of a new home, and feel her warm, soft caress, as she forgets all that she went through, to make comfortable our awakening into a new world....

A woman who had forsaken rest, slumber, and dreams for far too many nights; to rise instead, and answer the pitiful wail of a helpless creature that always new she would be there to answer its plaintive cry, even as the whole world slumbered on into the dead of the night......

A woman who bore weakness to give forth from her being, a pure and heavenly nectar to nourish our growing bodies and our thirsty souls with sustenance to define our humanity ever onward......

A woman who watered and pruned our character with all the patience and care of a master gardener turning a wild shrub into a beautiful tree.......

A woman who was always there for us, no matter how many backs were turned to us, no matter how many doors closed in our face, to give us a shoulder to cry on, an ear to heed our complaint, a comforting bosom to embrace when there was no other.......

A woman who, even after all of our blunders, all of our impudence, all of our ungrateful gestures and insolent remarks, will not hesitate to say I forgive you when no one else in the world will....

A woman who we call Mother.

If we only knew her lofty station in the sight of He whose mercy is endless, a single portion of which He showered upon the world and it manifested itself as the undying compassion of the mother to her child.

"THEN WHICH OF THE FAVORS OF YOUR LORD DO YOU DENY?"

To deny is to show ingratitude. To show ingratitude is to lose one's blessings......like sand flowing through one's fingers.

To show ingratitude to the all Merciful is to show ingratitude to the means He creates out of His endless mercy. WHAT OF THE MEANS WHICH BROUGHT US INTO THE WORLD?

If one's mother is alive, then cry out of thankfulness to Allah, go to her, sit at her feet, kiss her on the forehead, look her in the eyes and tell her how blessed you are for someone like her......

Tell her how much you love her.....

And never forget the immortal words of our beloved Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):

"Paradise is under the feet of the mother...."

From,
a son

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LESSON OF THE DAY 936

Ayah of the Day:
Even the two bodies of water are not the same: one is fresh, sweet, and palatable, while the other is salty and bitter. Yet you eat fresh flesh from both, and you extract ornaments that you wear; and you see the ships thereon ploughing the waves so you may seek of God's bounty, and so that you may be grateful. [35: 12]

Hadith of the Day:
If someone succeeds in taking something that does not belong to him away from another believer, by swearing it is his, God closes the doors of Paradise for him and makes it lawful for Hell to take him. [Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Sufism is a war with the self in which there is no peace. The Sufi is like the earth-----every kind of abomination is thrown upon it, but every kind of goodness grows from it. [al-Junayd]

Guidance of the Day:
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. First do what is necessary, then what is possible, and before long you will be doing the impossible. The good we do is never lost; it never dies. In other people, in other places, in other times------the good we do lives on forever. Be the difference that makes the difference!

The future belongs to the men and women of vision, courage, persistence, confidence, generosity, conscience, integrity, creativity, enthusiasm, character, and virtue. They have the extraordinary ability to ignore the chaos, confusion, troubles, and difficulties that surround them and to remain focused on the task at hand. They have the awe inspiring and profound ability to pierce through time into the future and envision how they wish, think, or believe, the future should be. Then they turn to the here and now and work tirelessly to make their vision a reality. Against all odds, doubts, and criticisms they are able to trust, follow, nurture, and share the goodness within them. They are the leaders. You rarely see them criticizing anything or anyone, because they are too busy getting the job done, ushering movement in history. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and a happy purchase. Contentment consists not in adding more fuel, but in taking away some fire; not in multiplying of wealth, but in subtracting of desires.

LESSON OF THE DAY 935

Ayah of the Day:
God made you from dust, then from a drop, then made you in pairs. No female conceives or delivers except with God's knowledge. And no one whose life is prolonged is granted long life, or has his life shortened but is in a Writ; and that is easy for God. [35: 11]

Hadith of the Day:
There will come a time when there will be Muslim nations who will discuss their worldly affairs in mosques. God does not need them to enter His holy houses. [Ibn Hibban]

Wise Quote of the Day:
To be a Sufi means to abide continuously in God and to live at peace with men: whoever abides in God and deals rightly with men treating them with unfailing kindness, is a Sufi. [Imam al-Ghazali]

Guidance of the Day:
The enemies of making a difference are doubt, fear, discouragement, and selfishness. Some people never try to make a difference because they doubt they can. Some people fear to try in case they fail. Some people start to make a difference but compare the good they are doing with all the evil they can imagine in the world and become disabled by discouragement. Some people are so absorbed in themselves that they never think of anyone's needs but their own.

On the other hand, some people trust that they were put here on this earth to make a difference in some way, large or small. Those same people know the fear of failure as much as anyone, but they face that fear, immerse themselves in that emotion, and move forward bravely. They fight off discouragement by keeping things in perspective. When things get tough, they take life just one day at a time. When things get really tough, they take life one hour at a time. And when things get unbearably difficult------they take heart, hold firm, and take life moment by moment. One by one. Little by little. They are not strangers to doubt, but they find a focus in their lives and commit to that focus. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
To be yourself, to use your own God given talent, and to stand up for what is right even in the midst of uncertainty, pain, fear, and persecution is the only true way to live. It's not how long a man lives, but how well he uses the time allotted to him.

May all our disputes come to an end this Ramadan

The Foundation for Eliminating Disputes

Disputes, in whatever manner they appear, should be resolved immediately. Human life being what it is, there is no guarantee as to who will be carried into the grave first. At the occasion of death, friends, enemies, all gather to mourn anyway. It is best that one’s heart be cleansed of all grudges regarding all Muslims. Soothe another’s angry heart and see how tranquil life becomes. The weightiness in one’s own heart is removed.Always act towards mending relationships. As a result, one will attain barakah in one’s time and provision.

Admission

The primary act which ends a dispute is admitting one’s fault. If it is your fault then admit it and take account of your faults. It is essential to recognize the excesses one has taken to transgress upon others. Ultimately, the greatest reality of life is recognition of one’s faults. The secret of all forms of betterment in life lies in this recognition, because man always errs. If he does not recognize his faults, then there is no other course for his betterment. Recognition is the door to all successes, but seldom it is that man is willing to subject himself to it. When such an occasion arises, it becomes a matter of ego. Instead of admitting his fault, he attempts to cover it up. The result is that this fault of his continues to grow unchecked.

Making Excuses and Reconciling

Regardless of whose fault it is, when a dispute occurs, you will always share its blame to a certain extent. This being the case, you should rise to the occasion and apologize for that which is of your own doing. Consequently, the one with whom your are disputing will soften his attitude towards you. You should always have a positive attitude towards others. Keep a goodly opinion regarding others. A misunderstanding should be clarified by discussing it as soon as possible.Establish an attitude of selflessness and sacrifice. Save yourself from stubbornness and obstinacy. Suppress your anger. Adopt a manner which always seeks reconciliation. Pray for your friends, family, and those with whom you have disputes.

Shaytan struggles tirelessly to create disputes between Muslims. Truly the greatest weapon he wields to destroy this Ummah is to make Muslims fight each other over any excuse. Remember that non-Muslims CANNOT overcome Muslims under any circumstance. Thus, we are made to fight each other.

Leave behind obedience and slavery to Shaytan! Attain firmness in the virtues of admitting one’s faults, asking forgiveness, and forgiving!

Above and beyond this, strive to make peace between two Muslims, for this is a tremendous act of worship indeed!

By Muhammad Bashir Jumah(An excerpt from his work in Urdu, The Journey to Success on the Road of Life)

LESSON OF THE DAY 934

Ayahs of the Day:
If anyone wants power, well, all power belongs to God, to whom ascends the good word, and who exalts the act of integrity. As for those who connive evil, there is a severe punishment for them, and their conniving is in vain. [35: 10]

Hadith of the Day:
A person who cannot be quiet and attentive while the sermon is delivered on Fridays is like a donkey carrying books on his back. As for the one who asks him to be quiet, his congregational prayer is imperfectly done. [Ahmad]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Act towards this world as if it were not, and towards the world to come as if it would never cease to be. He is a wise man who regards this world as nothing, and so regarding it, seeks the other world. [Hasan al Basri]

Guidance of the Day:
As time goes by, you realize that many of the things you once thought you needed, you don't really need. With this realization of your own abundance, you are able to give more. Have you noticed that although God is always giving. He is never without? God is not lack or limitation-------God is abundance. Let the giving become like breathing for you and for me, and our lives will be full of excitement, passion, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment.

Finding our place in the world, finding our place in our local community, and making a difference in our own way all give meaning, purpose, and a deep, deep sense of fulfillment to our lives. We must not only find it for ourselves, but help every individual to find the same. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can to praise God for and be glad about. What we steadily, consciously, habitually think we are, that we tend to become.

LESSON OF THE DAY 933

Ayah of the Day:
God is the one who sends the winds that raise the clouds: then We drive them to a land that is dead, and revive the earth thereby after its death. That is how the resurrection will be. [35: 9]

Hadith of the Day:
Whoever shames his brother in faith and exposes his faults risks God's showing his own secret faults. Even if he hides in his house, he will be exposed-----disgraced and scorned by the world. [Abu Dawud]

Wise Quote of the Day:
You ought to know yourself as you really are, so that you may understand of what nature you are and whence you have come to this world and for what purpose you were created and in what your happiness and misery consist. [Imam al Ghazali]

Guidance of the Day:
Give of your time, give of your talents, and give of your resources to make a difference in other people's lives. It is the way of greatness. This is the way of God. It is the way of legends, heroes, stars, champions, leaders, and saints. I hope and pray that it becomes your way, and mine.

Whatever you give to another will return to you ten times. You get what you give. When you refuse to give, holding on tightly to everything you have, you live in the realm of lack of limitation. When you give, you perform a significant and vital attitude change. By giving, you express abundance------and what you express in thought, word, and action will become reality of your life. Here, veiled mysteriously by the act of giving, we discover the abundant life. When you give to assist in someone else's need, you learn very quickly that the satisfaction of giving is greater than the satisfaction of having. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival. Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing, if you want to be remembered after your death.

LESSON OF THE DAY 932

Ayah of the Day:
For those who scoffed there is intense agony, while for those who believed and did good works there is forgiveness and tremendous reward. [35: 7]

Hadith of the Day:
If you see only the faults and errors of people and tell them harshly to their faces, even if your intentions are to free them of their faults, you may easily lead them deeper into mischief and sedition. [Abu Dawud]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Allah's grace and mercy are always first, but His justice and wrath will seize those who defy His law. So, while we denounce sins openly, let us be gentle and kind, and adore and serve our Lord all our lives. [Abdullah Yusuf Ali]

Guidance of the Day:
Ideas change the world. Good ideas change it for the better. Bad ideas change it for the worse. Men and women share their ideas through their words and actions. What ideas are you sharing with the world? Honesty, integrity, and goodness are more important to a person's happiness than money. Ideas change the world of today and form the world of tomorrow. Ideas are contagious. Make a difference. It is not that hard. Make a habit of making another person's day. Every day.

Spiritually, we strive to be patient because God is patient, we seek to be kind because God is kind, we try to be humble and gentle because they are the ways of God, we seek to love and be loved because God is love. Yet above everything else, beyond everything else, before everything else, after everything else, and during everything else------God is a giver. God always gives. He never takes. He only gives. Always giving. For God, giving is the perpetual motion of His being. That is why giving is an act of greatness. It is an act of greatness because it emerges from God. If all our actions could be performed with this disposition, we would be living life to the fullest. There is no faster, surer way to share in life, the power, and infinite joy than to give. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity. The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

LESSON OF THE DAY 931

Ayahs of the Day:
O humanity, the promise of God is true, so don't let the life of the world deceive you, don't let illusion deceive you about God. For Satan is an enemy to you, so regard him as an enemy, who only calls to his partisans, to become inmates of the inferno. [35: 5,6]

Hadith of the Day:
There are palaces in Paradise for the one's who sweeten their tongues and talk kindly and beautifully, feed the hungry, and spend the nights praying while everyone else is sleeping. [Tabarani]

Wise Quote of the Day:
To take the Messenger as a model means to emulate him, follow his sunna, and abandon opposition to him in either word or action. [Muhammad ibn Ali al Tirmidhi]

Guidance of the Day:
There is no greater satisfaction than lying your head on the pillow at night and knowing you have touched another person's life, made his burden lighter, taught him some infinite wisdom, made him laugh, allowed him to cry on your shoulder, lent him an understanding ear. . . made a difference. " And so shines a good deed in a weary world." This is what our world needs. It is what makes the world a joy to live in. It is what fills with a tangible sense of our own worth and wealth.

Our every action is an opportunity to carry the torch of hope to an often weary world. Each day is filled with endless possibilities to make a difference. It doesn't take much, for it really is a weary world for so many people. It is a world full of people desperately hungry for sincerity, honesty, and goodness.. Most of them are men and women just like you and me. They don't have the power to change the world single-handedly, so they think change must be someone else's responsibility. The truth is, no one has the power to change the world single-handedly, but each of us has the power to make a difference. {Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
Knowledge is learning something everyday. Wisdom is letting go of something everyday. It's not how you live, it's whose life you change in the wake hours. If you must raise your voice, do it to cheer someone.

LESSON OF THE DAY 930

Ayah of the Day:
O humanity, remember God's blessings on you. Is there a creator other than God who provides for you from the sky or the earth? There is no deity; so how is it you are deceived? [35: 3]

Hadith of the Day:
The best of the people are those who influence people to do good, prevent them from doing wrong, whose hearts are full of compassion and who fear God. [Muslim]

Wise Quote of the Day:
The greatest miracle is to succeed in bringing back to the true path one who has strayed from that path. Those who die for the salvation of mankind do not really die. [Shaykh Muzaffar Ozak]

Guidance of the Day:
What do all great men and women in history have in common? What raises a person beyond success, achievement, and excellence to the realm of greatness? Greatness is attained beyond the pursuit of our own fulfillment. True greatness is achieved by making a difference in other people's lives. What moves a person from success to significance? Making a difference in the lives of other people. History is full of examples of great men and women, but we must be careful not to confuse greatness with fame or fortune. Fame and fortune are external qualities of a person's life. Greatness is an internal quality of a person's character, which emerges in his or her actions.

Most of the people who have developed and mastered this greatness of which we speak are not public figures or celebrities. They are mothers and fathers, teachers and doctors, preachers. . . .They are people from all walks of life who turn their talents, efforts, and energies toward people's lives. When you meet such a person, you see a certain calm in his/her eyes and he/she seems to be unusually happy. He/She is quietly confident and occupied with a serene satisfaction. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
The Devil comes where money is; where it is not he comes twice. The Devil does not tempt unbelievers and sinners who are already his own. The Devil has three children: pride, falsehood and envy. If the Devil catch a man idle, he will set him at work. All the works of our evil nature are the work of the Devil.

LESSON OF THE DAY 929

Ayah of the Day:
Whatever God grants people out of mercy, none can withhold; and whatever God withholds, no one can deliver, for God is the almighty, the epitome of wisdom. [35: 2]

Hadith of the Day:
Help the one in need, and help him by asking for help for him. God will reward you for both your efforts. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Television is a hellish vision because it robs us of the sense of truth. [Abdul Hakeem Murad]

Guidance of the Day:
Uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering---------waiting, waiting, waiting for the station. Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is in the trip. The station is only and illusion. It constantly outdistances us.

Relish the moment in a good motto. "This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us the today. So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough. [Kelly, The Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
Great opportunities come to all, but many do not know they have met them. The only preparation to take advantage of them is simply fidelity to watch what each day brings. The word is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck. No great man ever complains of want of opportunities.

LESSON OF THE DAY 928

Ayahs of the Day:
Say, "Truth has arrived; and the false neither creates nor restores." Say, "If I am mistaken, I just err on my own; while if I am guided, it is by what my Lord reveals to me by inspiration, and God is listening, nearby." [34: 49,50]

Hadith of the Day:
The ones who will be considered the lowest of the low on the Day of Judgment are the two-faced who say one thing to one person and another to someone else. [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:
All human beings are essentially helpless. However, they discover an extraordinary competence by depending on the Infinite Powerful One, for this dependence transforms them from a drop into a waterfall, a particle into a sun, and a beggar to a king. [Fethullah Gulen]

Guidance of the Day:
Often, we are distracted by the past and the future. Those distractions rob us of our lives. The past is history. The future is a mirage. The past was the present. The future will be present. The only reality is now. The other way that failing manifests itself is in our tendency to put off important matters. Each activity has its own priority and place in our lives, whether it is work, prayer, leisure, exercise, or friendship. The rhythm of life helps us to give each activity its own place-----everyday-----and immerses us in the abundant life.

Life is a journey. Enjoy the journey. Whether you are setting out to become a legend, a hero, a champion, a star, a leader, or a saint------enjoy the journey. If you do not enjoy life, you will be no good to anybody. The destination, the victory, the achievement------these last only a moment, and then they fade like the morning dew from the grass into little more than pleasant memories. Success is not a destination--------it is a journey.

The secret of life is enjoying the passing of time. The joy is not in the destination; the joy is in the journey. If you cannot find peace in the journey, you will not find peace in the destination. Our passion, enthusiasm, and excitement should be for the journey. Don't put off important things using a destination, or an achievement, as an excuse. Take it easy. Slow and steady. Let things have their place. Be present in your life. It is an amazing and rare gift. [Kelly, Rhythm of Life]

Food for Thought:
The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it. Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment. It is not so much where you live, as how you live, and whether good flows from you through your neighborhood.

The Lord Almighty ordained, "Find leisure for My service and I shall fill your hearts with peace and enrich you in bounty,"[al Hadith al Qudsi]

For previous lessons visit the following link:LESSONS OF THE DAYhttp://lessonsoftheday.blogspot.com/
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