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There is no compulsion in religion. The right way stands clearly distinguished from the wrong. Hence he who rejects evil and believes in Allah has indeed taken hold of the firm, unbreakable handle. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

Category: Literature

  • Let the days go forth as they will (Imam Shafi)

    Let the days go forth as they will (Imam Shafi)

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    Veronica

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    Here is my translation of a very nice poem by Imam Shafi’ the respected founder of one of the four schools of Islamic Law in Sunni Islam.  In it he gives some advice about how we should live.  Poetry and eloquence has a high place in Arabic culture. دَعِ الأَيّامَ تَفعَلُ ما تَشاءُ              وَطِب نَفساً إِذا…

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  • Does bad language make for bad religion?

    Does bad language make for bad religion?

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    Veronica

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    بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم   In the name of Allah, the All-Compassionate and the All-Merciful, who created the human from a thing that clings and taught him eloquence and the use of the pen; peace be upon the unlettered Prophet whose speech was like a string of pearls. In this article, by bad language, I…

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  • Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

    Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

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    Veronica

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    I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said – “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which…

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  • Limited by Carl Sandburg

    Limited by Carl Sandburg

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    Veronica

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    I am riding on a limited express, one of the crack trains of the nation. Hurtling across the prairie into blue haze and dark air go fifteen all-steel coaches holding a thousand people. (All the coaches shall be scrap and rust and all the men and women laughing in the diners and sleepers shall pass…

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  • On association: not all exchanges are equal

    On association: not all exchanges are equal

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    Veronica

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    When water mixes with soil, it revives it, but when soil mixes with water, it contaminates it. When light mixes with dust, the dust glitters, but when dust mixes with light, it clouds it. When tea mixes with milk, it stains it, but when milk mixes with tea, it takes away its bitterness. Rose petals…

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  • Matthew Arnold on loss of faith and the darkness of modernity

    Matthew Arnold on loss of faith and the darkness of modernity

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    Veronica

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    Writing around the middle of the 19th Century, just before the seismic shock waves of the Origin of the Species and Das Kapital, in a society still confident in its faith, the sensitive seer Matthew Arnold has detected a turn in the tide. This is another treasure from English literature which will resonate with a…

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  • What John Donne foresaw in his poem, The Anatomy of the World

    What John Donne foresaw in his poem, The Anatomy of the World

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    Veronica

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    Wisdom is the lost property of every Muslim, and for this reason it is a pleasure to share a gem of wisdom found in the treasury of English literature.  John Donne was a metaphysical poet, and as such, he speaks to our times which needs his metaphysics as physic (medicine) for the sickness of materialism…

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  • Remembering God – and a beautiful reminder

    Remembering God – and a beautiful reminder

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    Veronica

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    In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.  All praise is for Him who made pitch, harmony and discord, sound and silence, and peace and blessings be upon his messenger who taught us how to pray and to remember Allah. This life is full of alarms and attractions which grab our attention, making us …

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  • Prayer for Life

    Prayer for Life

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    Veronica

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    Don’t let me get to Ninety-three, Just to discern my life to be Wasted in futility. Don’t let me say when it’s too late, “I should have shut that stable gate. If I knew then what I know now I’d choose a new furrow to plough.”   Lord, don’t let me shut my eyes To…

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  • The Repentance of Abu Nawas

    The Repentance of Abu Nawas

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    Veronica

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      From the Repentance of Abu Nawas Abu Nawas was a brilliant poet who was also famous for living the life of a profligate and reprobate, doing many things forbidden by Islam and writing about them.  However, towards the end of his life, he wrote a beautiful poem of repentance which surely must touch the…

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  • Nasruddin and the Miserable Man

    Nasruddin and the Miserable Man

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    Veronica

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    One day, Nasruddin began talking to a man from another town. The man lamented, “I am rich, but I am also sad and miserable. I have taken my money and gone travelling in search of joy-but alas, I have yet to find it.” As the man continued speaking, Nasruddin grabbed the man’s bag and ran…

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