change

ever wished to stretch time? make is 28, 36 hours? never got enough of it???

ever felt like time is crawling? it was 8:30 last you checked it ages ago and it is only 8:36....

ever craved for winter to come and it is only june 23rd?

or have you ever longed for the summer and its nostalgic long days???

you've got some silver and wished for a gold?

else you've a band but longed for some bling on your finger?

you saw a sad face but wanted a smile from your beloved?

a full moon is all you have wanted in the sky...

yet you see it setting...20, 27

getting ready for another rise, a new crescent.

time is ticking, season is changing, the moon is rising and setting

and where you at? still gazing at what you don't have???

"whats your name"

“Hikmet uh? Do you know what it means?”

I nod. “It means wisdom.”

A satisfied look for at least this girl, in front of them, knows the meaning of the word. And when I first came here to Canada, people found it hard to say my name correctly.

“Hik-met, like a hic-cup.”

I roll my eyes and decide “if that makes it easy.”

My name has raised so many brows before and continues to do so. It started during my brief stay in the East. The Afghani community there never heard of such a thing—a girl with a man’s name. My boss though found it interesting, so he started calling me “Hikmatullah”. Then I would tell people to “just call me Hikma” if that is easy. I forgot now when it is that I stopped doing that. “My name is Hikmet” I assert.

Now that I think about my name, I don’t even know who named me it. May be mom, dad, but for sure it wasn’t my great-grandma who gave a special name for my elder sister: she called her “Nurhan”.

Of course there are those who are convinced that ‘Hikmet’ isn’t at all my name, or that I am Ethiopian. And there are a few who found it imperative to teach me about language and culture, who the name belongs to.

“No sister, Hikmat is a Persian name. It doesn’t mean wisdom…”

“So what does it mean, the way you’ve learned it?”

“In my country we’ve so many heroes named Hikmat. It means umm, goodness, it means ummm….”

Then the Turkish say Hikmat is a Turkish name. And of course one can imagine what the Arabs would say.

“Ahh, yeah. It is my country name.” People make a point as though, being Ethiopian, a woman and ‘Hikmet’ is all a wrong permutation.

If you’re still wondering then “Hikmet” comes from an Arabic word meaning “wisdom”.

I don’t know much about how feminine or masculine the word can be though. That I will leave for all the different cultures and societies.

I know one thing for sure: my name is Hikmet, and there is much to live up to.

“pikmek?”

“no honey, say ‘hikmet’”

“pikmek..” her eyes wide open hand stretched out for another round of game.

“Asle” she now pokes her chest with those little fingers and tells me her name.

“Yes, Asle…you’re Asle. My sweet little friend.” I give up teaching her how to say my name right and start another round of game. I repeat in my heart, “pikmek” there is nothing like kids. :D

Peace & Blessings

to the ones my heart is upon,
to the real tomorrow where my meeting awaits,
to the goods and the bads that unfold in His Wisdom,
to the mornings I awake refreshed,
to the days I'm blessed with Rizq,
to the restless and sleepless nights,
to the mystifying being I'm,
to my struggles to uphold Iman,
to the peace and contentment I seek-
in a flux and fleeting world...

Ya Allah, I ask your guidance in everything in my Life...
I seek refuge in Your Holy Names...that
they remind me of my Being as I should be...
and Your greatness as You always ARE... ... ...

Ya Salam, Salimnna Bi Salam

patience

what to think of
i do not know any-more
the sun stricken face of mine
is still gazing on the moon and its shadow.

counting the hours every day and every moment
prayers in my heart for my tongue can never bear
the chanting of your presence and
my hal as I'm.

SO, I keep moving on
dragging myself day in day out
yet tired and impatient am I growing
looking for peace in everything that is coming to be.

To find meaning I must hang on
to faith and my Lord
seeking respite as I call unto His name,
Ya Sabbar I implore-

The Sacred Months: Part II

time is flying people!! January felt like it was a month ago or something...and guess what, it is already July! (feels like July-uary, eh?!)
For some reason, what dad always used to say to me is stuck in my head "it is when you don't do what you're looking to do that you complain about time..". In any case here is some food for thought, a Hadith we all read, heard about:

"Get a hold of five things before five things happen:

• your YOUTH before your old age
• your HEALTH before your sickness
• your MONEY before your poverty
• your FREE_TIME before your life
• your LIFE before your death

(Narrated in Tirmidhi)
Salla'Allahu Aleyhi Wa'Salam

When I look back at this Hadith, it reminds me of what all the Prophets and messengers were sent to do:the preservation of five things. All the Prophets and Messengers may Allah raise their rank shared the following as a common ground in their rules:

1. preserving one's honor.
2. preserving the mind.
3. preserving money.
4. preserving lineage.
5. preserving oneself.

The above five have their unique implications in shaping laws that were ordained to each Ummah that preceded us, including ours. Looking at each will give one an understanding of why the Shari'a rules are the way they are, and further more enables one to have an appreciation and love for this deen.

May Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala give us Barak in everything that we intend to do, and may He make us beneficiaries of whatever bounty He has bestowed upon us. (Ameen)

Rabi Isharhli Sadri, Wa Yasirli Amri, Wahlul Uqdatan min Lisani Yafqahu Qawli; Rabi Zidni Ilma

"O my Lord! open for me my chest and ease my task for me; and loose the knot from my tongue, that they understand my speech. My Lord! Increase me in knowledge."

Ameen