Caruso (English) Lyrics by Lucio Dalla

Here where the sea sparkles
And the wind blows hard
On an old terrace
In front of the Gulf of Sorrento
A man embraces a young woman
After she has cried
He steadies his voice
And recommences his song
I wish you well with all my heart
But I know so very, very well
That it's now a chain
That releases the blood in my veins
He saw the lights in the middle of the sea
He thought of the nights in America
But they were only the lights from the boat
And the white wake of a propeller
He felt the sadness in the music
And got up from the piano
But when he saw the moon emerge from behind a cloud
To him even death seemed sweeter
He looked into the eyes of the young woman
Those eyes, green like the sea
She suddenly shed a tear
And he thought he was drowning
I wish you well with all my heart
But I know so very, very well
That it's now a chain
That releases the blood in my veins

La donna é mobile" - Rigoletto

La donna é mobile The women are unsettled
Qual piuma al vento, As feathers in the wind,
Muto d’accento - e di pensiero. Each moment changes their minds.
Sempre un'amabile In tears, or even smiles,
Leggiadro viso, Yes, women's lovely face,
In pianto o in riso - e menzogner. Forever beguiles us!
Esempre misero The men that is so mad
Chi a lei s’affida, To trust a women's heart
Chi le confida - mal cauto il cor! Forever must be sad.
Pur mai non sentesi But still there is no bliss,
Felice appieno Upon this earth compared
Chi su quel seno - Non liba amor! To that of a sweet kiss!

Good Deeds

Be unremitting in the doing of good deeds.
Do them with all your might and by every possible means.

Keep the mind free of impurity. That alone is the practice of virtue.
All else is nothing but empty display.

The article is taken from Ihya ul Uloom ud Din by Imam Gazali

You should know and be sure that debates which are designed for the purpose of overcoming and silencing an opponent as well as for displaying one's excellence and honour, bragging before men, or for the sake of winning popular favour, are the source of all traits which are blameworthy before Allah and praiseworthy before His enemy, the Devil. The following evils arise out of modern debates.
1. One is envy. The Prophet said, "Envy consumes good deeds as fire consumes fuels." (Abu Dawood). A debater is never free from envy and hatred because at times he overcomes his adversary and other times he himself is overcome. At times his words are praised and at other times those of his opponent are applauded. This will cause envy in the heart of the debater. Ibn Abbas (razi Allah o tala anho) said, "Acquire knowledge wherever it is found and don't obey those who are inclined to disputes."
2. Another is pride. A debater persists in exalting himself above his equals and peers and claiming for himself a station higher than his worth to the extent that he and his colleagues fight over their seats in assembly hall. They would justify it on the ground that they are thereby maintaining the dignity of knowledge because the believers has been charged not to object himself. They thus consider humility, which Allah and his prophets commended and regard pride, which is reprehensible to Allah. Thus by the alteration of the words they cheat people.
3. Another is rancour. A debater is seldom free from the evil of rancour. The Prophet said: "A believer is free from rancour." Yet we do not know of a debater who is capable of entertaining no rancour against anyone who would nod his head in approval of the words of his adversary.
4. Another is backbiting which is likened by Allah to the eating of carrion (49:12). The debater persists in eating carrion and is continually referring to the words of his opponent and traducing him. Because he endeavours to be right in what he says about his opponent, he inevitably cites only what shows the weaknesses of his opponent's argument and flaws his excellence. He ascribes to his opponent foolishness, ignorance and stupidity.
5. Declaration of Self-Purity: Allah says, "Don't attribute purity of yourself. He knows best who fears Him." (53:33). A debater is never free from praising himself from boasting of his power, triumph, and excellence over his peers. In the course of a debate he would repeatedly say, "I am fully aware of all such things," and "I am well versed in the knowledge of traditions" and many other assertions sometimes out of arrogance and at other times out of the need to render his word convincing which are by law (Shariah) and reason condemned.
6. Another is spying and prying into the secrets of adversary. Allah says: Pry not (49:12). The debater always seeks to uncover the errors of his peers and continually pries into the private affairs of their opponents in order to expose and disgrace him whenever the need should arise.
7. Another is hatred, which exist between them like that which exists between fellow-wives. For them sight of his adversary is like of a mighty devil or a hungry lion. Their hearts are devoid of companionship and friendliness which used to exist between the learned men of Islam.
8. Another is hypocrisy. A debater expresses his friendship for his adversary outwardly but he cherishes hatred for him inwardly. The Prophet said, "When the learned men do not translate their learning into action, when they profess love for one another with their tongue and nurse hatred in their hearts, when they sever the ties of relationship, Allah sends curse upon them, makes their tongues mute and their eyes blind." (Tabarani).
9. Another is to turn away from truth: The most hateful thing to a debater is to see the truth revealed to his adversary and thus he takes to deception and deceit. He would do his best to refute and deny it and exert his utmost in deception, trickery to disprove his adversary until contention becomes his second nature. This habit will derive him to dispute the truths of Quran and Hadeeth. Despite the fact that the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) has prohibited dispute even in opposing wrong. He said, "If a man in error gives up disputation a garden will be built for him in Paradise. If a man abjure disputation while he was right a house will be built up for him in the highest Paradise. Allah said, "Who is more wrongful that he who lies against Allah and treats the truth when it comes to him as a lie." (39:33).
10. Another fault of debate is show and flattering the people in an effort to win their favour and to mislead them. Hypocrisy is the greatest disease with which a debater is attacked and it is a major sin.
These ten evils are the secret major sins arising out of debates and disputations. Besides these major offences, there arise many other vices out these includes fights, snobbines, greed, desire to seek money and power, blows, exalting the wealthy and those in authority as well as frequenting there places and partaking of their unlawful riches, showing contempt to people by being vain and ostentatious, talkativeness, the disappearance of awe, fear, absent mindedness to an extent that the worshipper would be no longer aware of what he had prayer or read.
These are the consequences of disputation and debate, which are found even in the most religious and wisest among those who are involved in this activity. People consider it as the most honoured disciples of the day and numbered among the best meritorious works (Qarubat); nevertheless they were among the taboos at the time of the Companions. A true debater should behave like Hatim AlSamm who said, "I rejoice when my adversary is right, grieve when he is wrong, and endeavour not to act foolishly towards him."

Jinns

6:100, Al Anam
Created out of fire, species of living beings, may believe or disbelieve, accept or reject guidance, enjoy certain amount of free will and will be called into account.

15:27, Al Hijr
Created before man from fire

34:41, Saba
Angels will say that man worshipped Jinns, dark forces of evil.

46:29, Al Ahqaf
Jinns listened to Qu'ran, when finished returned to their people and said that a book revealed after Moses guides to the true and straight path.

55:15, Al Rahman
Created Jinns from fire free of smoke

72:1-5, Al Jinn
Same as Al Ahqaf explanation

Chirac-Saddam 

The Aspirant

Fortress
1. Solitude
2. Silence
3. Hunger
4. Sleepnessness

Barriers between the aspirant and truth
1. Wealth
2. Status
3. Imitation.
4. Sin

Wives of the Prophet

Umm Habiba,Ramla bint Abi Sufyan - married the Prophet(SA) and emigrated to Abyssinia
Umm Salama,Hind Bint Abi Umaya Al Qurahiya - married the Prophet(SA) and emigrated to Abyssinia
Maymuna bint Al Harith - married the Prophet(SA)
Aisha bint Abi Bakr- married the Prophet(SA)- revolt of Talha and Zubayr against Caliph Ali (RA)
Hafsa bint Umar ibn al Khattab - married the Prophet(SA)

Qur'an Verses for Prayers

103:1-3, Al Asr
By (the token of) time(through the ages)
Verily Man is in loss
Except such as have faith and do righteous deeds and join together,
in the mutualteaching of truth and of practice and constancy

11:114, Hud
Establish regular prayers at two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night.
"Zulafun" plural of Zulfatun,
Three approaches of night
Asr
Maghrib
Isha
Two approaches of the day
Fajr
Zuhr

17:78-79, Al Isra
1. Sun's decline till darkness of night
2. Morning prayer and read Qu'ran
3. Small watches of the morning, additional prayer- Tahajjud

20:120, Ta Ha
Praise the lord
1. Before the rising of the sun- Fajr
2. Before its setting- Asr
3. Part of the hours of the night; Maghrib (early night, just after sunset)
Isha(Before going to bed)
4. and at the sides, 'Taraf" indefinite side or middle of the day.

30:17-18, Al Rum
Pray- 1. Evening-Maghrib
2. Morning-Fajr
3. Late afternoon- Juhr
4. When the day begins to decline-Asr

Beautiful Sayings

Everything which does not bring you to God can only bring you to destruction.

The heart is ruined when fear departs from it even for one moment.

The sign of predition is th edrying up of tears.

The friends of God are sated with God's love and thus feel no hunger.

When should I speak,
Whenever you wish to remain silent
When should I be silent,
Whenever you wish to speak

Epistemological Hijab

The barrier between women and Islamic sources - has fundamentally rendered the articulation and enforcement of Islamic laws undemocratic. This undemocratic tradition privileges men and exploits women. Its reconstitution is important and more so now than before.

Relationship with Jews and Christians

5:82 Al Maidah
Strongest among men in enmity
to the believers will thou
Find the Jews and the Pagans
And nearest among them in Love
to thebelievers wilt thou
find those who say,
we are Christians'
Because amongst thse are
men devoted to learning
and men who have renounced
the world and they
are not arrogant.

THE BELIEVER IS BESET WITH FIVE AFFLICTIONS

1. A believer who envies him
2. A hypocrite who hates him
3. An unbeliever who makes war on him
4. A devil who misguides him.
5. A soul which struggles against him

TRAILER PARK BOYS

Who watches this stuff?

EmanRush

EmanRush \ee-man-rsh\ noun (2003):
1. faith accelerated
2. a rush of blood to the mind and heart, causing tears, warm whispers of repentance, hair to stand and an overwhelming urge to prostrate to Allah; sweet.

Rumi Poem

God created suffering and heartache so that
joyful-heartedness might appear through its opposite.
Hence hidden things become manifest through
opposites. But since God has no opposite, He remains hidden.
For the sight falls first upon light, then upon
color: Opposites are made manifest through opposites, like white and black.
So you have come to know light through light's
opposite: Opposites display opposites within the breast.
God's light has no opposite within existence,
that through its opposite it might be made manifest.
Therefore our "eyes comprehend Him not, but He
comprehends the eyes" (Koran VI 104): Learn this from Moses at Mount Sinai*.
Know that form springs from meaning as the
lion from the thicket, or as voice and speech from thought.
Form was born from speech and then died.
It took its wave back to the sea.
Form comes out from Formlessness: Then it
returns, for "unto Him we are returning" (Koran II 156).

-- Mathnavi I, 1130-34
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

* Rumi alludes here to Moses' words in the Koran: "Oh
my Lord, show me, that I may behold Thee!" The verse
continues, "Said He, `Thou shalt not see Me; but behold
the mountain – if it stays fast in its place, then thou shalt
see Me.' And when his Lord revealed His theophany to
the mountain, He made it crumble to dust; and Moses fell
down swooning" (Koran VII 143).

KNOWLEDGE

“The Spiritual Way is that Knowledge become Vision”
Shaykh Abdurrahman Al-Shaghouri

DIFFERENCE OF OPINION

Allah's Prophet (peace be upon him) called "IKHTILAFO UMMATI RAHMAH", "The intellectual difference of opinion in my Ummah is a blessing".

Some Sayings of The Salaf

In accordance with your fear of Allah the creation will fear you, and in
accordance with your love of Him the creation will love you,
and in accordance with your preoccupation with Allah the creation will be occupied in carrying out that which you are preoccupied from. [By Ibn Rajab
Al-Hanbali]

THOUGHTS

"Thoughts & words are like arrows;
once released, they strike their mark.
Guard them well for one day you may be your own victim."
{a Navjo quote}

THE INSOMNIAC

I argue thee that love is life. And life hath immortality.
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.
A spoon does not know the taste of soup, nor a learned fool the taste of wisdom.
People are much more willing to lend you books than bookcases.When millions applaud you seriously ask yourself what harm you have done and when they disapprove you, what good.
The calmest husbands make the stormiest wives.
There are moments when everything goes well, but don't be frightened.
A coward is incapable of exhibiting love it is the prerogative of the brave.I am a winner each and every time I go into the ring.
There is always some frivolity in excellent minds they have wings to rise, but also stray.
The Gateway to Christianity is not through an intricate labyrinth of dogma, but by a simple belief in the person of Christ.
No pressure, no diamonds.
Liberty has no crueler enemy than license.
Brotherhood is not just a Bible word. Out of comradeship can come and will come the happy life for all.
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
An idea is the only level which moves the world.
The aim of education should be to convert the mind into living fountain, and not a reservoir.Genius, like truth, has a shabby and neglected mien.
Work harder on yourself than you do on your job. It is an axiom, enforced by all the experience of the ages, that they who rule industrially will rule politically.
We all end up in a single bed sooner or later.
Never be the only one, except, possibly, in your own home.
The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.
Honor is the reward of virtue.
The only way for a rich man to be healthy is by exercise and abstinence, to live as if he were poor.
Experience is a comb that life gives you after you lose your hair.
Commerce is a game of skill which everyone cannot play and few can play well.
We are armed with language adequate to describe each leaf of the filed, but not to describe human character.
You can never lose anything that really belongs to you, and you can't keep that which belongs to someone else.
Constant repetition carries conviction.
A good memory and a tongue tied in the middle is a combination which gives immortality to conversation.
Every age has a keyhole to which its eye is pasted.
We find what we expect to find, and we receive what we ask for.
I was born at the age of twelve on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot. To fall into a habit is to begin to cease to be.Courage without conscience is a wild beast.
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
Mighty things from small beginnings grow.
Our dreams drench us in senses, and senses steps us again in dreams.
Decisiveness is often the art of timely cruelty.
The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.
I'm not out there just to be dancing around. I expect to win every time I tee up.
As a man handles his troubles during the day, so he goes to bed at night a General, Captain, or Private.
Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates.
Feelings are everywhere -- be gentle.
I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard, learn to live, and by her busy ways, reform thy own.
The best audience is one that is intelligent, well-educated, and a little drunk.
Men who accomplish great things in the industrial world are the ones who have faith in the money producing power of ideas. For its merit I will knight it, and then it will be Sir-Loin.
Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.
True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.
The finest eloquence is that which gets things done the worst is that which delays them.
I don't like to write like God. It is only because you never do it, though, that the critics think you can't do it.
Comment is free but facts are sacred.
Simple solutions seldom are. It takes a very unusual mind to undertake analysis of the obvious.
More people are troubled by what is plain in Scripture than by what is obscure.
Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down. Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.
The squeaking wheel doesn't always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.
When one realizes that his life is worthless he either commits suicide or travels.
Paris is the cafT of Europe.
Happiness is the light on the water. The water is cold and dark and deep.
Let us do or die.
But in his duty prompt at every call, he watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all.
There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust.Always laugh heartily at the jokes your boss tells, it maybe a loyalty test.
I am not a glutton -- I am an explorer of food.
Undeservedly you will atone for the sins of your fathers.
The highest art is always the most religious, and the greatest artist is always a devout person.
Of course drugs were fun.
There is no such thing as a moral dress. It's people who are moral or immoral.

Saudi Arabia

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is run exclusively by a royal family that allows no public dissent or independent press. Those who dare challenge the regime or its policies are punished severely. Shielded by their willingness to supply the United States with cheap oil, to subsidize the American arms industry with major weapons purchases and to make lucrative deals with major U.S. corporate interests, the United States has allowed this family dictatorship to get away with its practices.

The royal family, the House of Saud are from the Nejd area and its rule depends on a special application of force, terror through the Mutawa'a, the internal religious police.

The rise of Al Saud is closely linked with Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab. To understand the significance of Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab's doctrines, we must first consider his upbringing. He grew up in Uyaynah, an oasis in southern Najd, where he studied with his grandfather Hanbali Islamic law. Around this place was the Shia practice of visiting shrines, reverence of Imams even after their death and asking favors of the Imams buried there. Such beliefs were particularly disturbing to Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab. In the late 1730s he returned to the Najdi town of Huraymila and began to write and preach against both Shia and local popular practices. His students began to refer to themselves as "Wahhabis"-or later on Salafi’s. Later he came in contact with Muhammad ibn Saud, the leader in Ad Diriyah at the time. With a bond of friendship the later generations of the Saud family viz. Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Faysal ibn Turki ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad Al Sa'ud) was able to take Riyadh from the Rashidi family (On Jan. 15, 1902, with a select body of only 15 warriors, he scaled the walls of the Mismak fort and took over the power) and Mecca from the Sharif family. Some historians say there was an absolute blood bath and massacre of people who opposed Wahhabism at that time but no one acknowledges the truth. One of the practices of Wahhabism is absolute intolarence to other views. Now with western pressure and influence only Allah Subhana ta'Ala knows what's going to happen.

The following tradition is from the Book of the Prayer of Rain of Sahih Al Bukhari. Narrated by Ibn' Umar: The Prophet (SAW) said, "O Allah! Bless our Sham and our Yemen." Some people around said, "Our Nejd as well." The Prophet again said, "O Allah! Bless our Sham and Yemen." They said again, "Our Nejd as well." On that the Prophet (SAW) said, "There will appear earthquakes and afflictions, and from there will come out the side of the head of Satan."

So you can always expect bad leaders rising from North of Saudi Arabia. Many false Prophets appeared after the death of our Prophet (SAW). Well-known among them were Musailama in Yamama; Tulaiha Asadi in Nejd; Laqait bin Malik in Oman; and Aswad Ansi in Yemen. Among those who killed Musailma was Wahshi, the negro slave who had killed Hamza, the uncle of our Prophet (SAW) at Ohud. He had done this to win his freedom. Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, had promised to buy him his freedom if he slew Hamza. After the fall of Mecca, Wahshi became a Muslim. Our Prophet (SAW) forgave him but said, "Please Wahshi, keep out of my sight. You remind me of my dear uncle."

Torture 

Shaikh Hamza Yusuf

Meat is not a necessity in Shari'ah, and in the old days most Muslims used to eat meat, if they were wealthy, like middle class—once a week on Friday. If they were poor—on the Eids." "So traditionally Muslims were semi-vegetarians. The Prophet was, I mean, technically, the Prophet (SAWS) was in that category. He was not a meat-eater. Most of his meals did not have meat in them. And the proof of that is clearly in the Muwatta—when Sayyidina Umar says, 'Beware of meat, because it has an addiction like the addiction of wine.' And the other hadith in the Muwatta—there is a chapter called 'Bab al-Laham,' the chapter of laham, the chapter of meat. Both are from Sayyidina Umar. And Umar, during his khilafa, prohibited people from eating meat two days in a row. He only allowed them to eat [it] every other day. And the khalifa has that right to do that. He did not let people eat meat every day … he saw one man eating meat every day, and he said to him, 'Every time you get hungry you go out and buy meat? Right? In other words, every time your nafs wants meat, you go out and buy it?' He said, 'Yeah, Amir al-Mumineen, ana qaram,' which in Arabic, 'qaram' means 'I love meat'—he's a carnivore, he loves meat. And Sayyidina Umar said, 'It would be better for you to roll up your tummy a little bit so that other people can eat.'" "Now Umar, if there was a prophet after the Prophet, it would have been Umar. And that is really verging on prophecy, that statement. Because if you study the modern meat industry, you will find out that a lot of the famine in the world is a direct result of the overconsumption of meat in countries like the United States and Canada and Europe, because the amount of grain needed to produce 1 pound of meat, right, is much greater than the amount you need to produce grain itself. And beef in particular—I really recommend Rifkin's book Beyond Beef. It's an extraordinary book. And it's interesting 'Baqara' is also a chapter of the Qur'an ('kill the cow'), because beef-eating societies just have massive impact on the environment, on natural resources, on all these things. And traditionally the Muslims were not cow-eaters, they were sheep and lamb [-eaters] when they did eat meat."

The city on the bends of the Euphrates

“"The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honor. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our
administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our imperial record and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are today not far from a disaster. Our unfortunate troops, Indian and British, under hard conditions of climate and supply are policing an immense
area, paying dearly every day in lives for the willfully wrong policy of the civil administration in Baghdad but the responsibility, in this case, is not on the army which has acted only upon the request of the civil authorities." T.E. Lawrence, The Sunday Times, August 1920

There is a small City on one of the bends of the Euphrates that sticks out into the great Syrian Desert. It’s on an ancient trade route linking the oasis towns of the Nejd province of what is today Saudi Arabia with the great cities of Aleppo and Mosul to the north. It also is on the desert highway between Baghdad
and Amman. This city is a crossroads. For millennia people have been going up and down that north-south desert highway. The city is like a seaport on that great desert, a place that binds together people in what are today Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Jordan. People in the city are linked by tribe, family or marriage to people in all these places.

This town also is the place where in the spring of 1920, before T. E. Lawrence wrote the above passage, the British discerned civil unrest.

The British sent a renowned explorer and a senior colonial officer who had quelled unrest in the corners of their empire, Lt. Col. Gerald Leachman, to master this unruly corner of Iraq. Leachman was killed in an altercation with a local leader named Shaykh Dhari. His death sparked a war that ended up costing
the lives of 10,000 Iraqis and more than 1,000 British and Indian troops. To restore Iraq to their control, the British used massive air power, bombing indiscriminately. That city is now called Fallujah.