Concealed in words

An Iranian Prince once composed a verse of poetry...

"A black and white pearl is rare indeed"

He tried his best to add a second verse to this, but failed. He requested a number of other poets to help, but none of them succeeded. In desperation, he wrote to the King of Delhi, requesting for a second verse to be sent to him. The poets of Delhi were also unsuccessful. Zaibunisa Makhfi, the daughter of Alamgir Aurangzeb, was one day applying antimony and a teardrop fell from her eyes. Immediately, she composed the second verse:

"A black and white pearl is rare indeed,
Except in the surma mingled teardrop that falls from the eyes of the beloved"

The king sent the verses to the Iranian prince. After reading them, he requested that the poet be sent to him. Zaibunnisa wrote back with her answer in poetic verses:

"As the fragrance is concealed in the petals, I am concealed in my words.
Whoever desires to see me should read my verses"

~ A righteous and intellegent woman realises that her beauty is not to be subjected to the lustful glances of all and sundry. ~

-Khawatine Islam ke Iman Waqi'at, p230
as quoted in "Pearls from the Path", compiled by Moulana Afzal Ismail, Vol 2

Take Care of Today

"The beautiful day is the day on which we have control of our affairs and our affairs do not control us. It is the day on which we control our desires and we are not controlled by them like slaves.

Some of these days I can remember an will never forget.

Every day on which I managed to save myself from the vicious cycle of worrying about what I can and cannot do in this wonderful day.

How wonderful is the day on which I was hesitating whether to do a deed for which people would praise me or a deed for which no one would praise me, and no one would know about it, so i forsook the praise of people and was content to do an action which I will remember for as long as I live, but which no one will hear about.

How wonderful is the day on which I felt my pockets were filling with money but my conscience was devoid of dignity, so i decided that I would rather be penniless and have a clear conscience.

These days are wonderful, and the most wonderful thing about them is that my worldly gain on these days is very small, but the fact that I gained self respect from my actions far outweighs that and what I gained on such days is great, praise be to Allah, The Exalted, The Merciful. "

-Extract from my favourite book, the oft quoted book on this site, "You Can be the Happiest Woman In The World", Dr A'id Al Qarni

Desert Echo Daff School

www.thedaffschool.com

^ Institution for the promotion of the traditional beat.

Daff classes for women and children accross the UK.