Du'a; The Best Dawa

My Lord, cover my eyes with Mercy so that i see not the 'lone' in lonely, but the 'one'.

Ameen

My-croscope

To live is to love

To love is to give

To live is to give

iss hi liye shukriya ka behtareen jawab meherbani hay

Make My Heart Home

Love, these seeds You planted

Sprouted Love forgetful souls took for granted

Now a heart wanders your earth disenchanted

On these stretches of land haunted

Love, these seeds your Hands plant

Even the un-worded prayer you grant

Tonight uncontrollably i chant

I want to stop, but i can't

I want to stop, but i can't

All because of what Loving Hands plant

Never A Dull Moment With ESL Students: Farewell

"I want to go say hello, see you".

Never A Dull Moment With ESL Students: Hit-me.

"SOOO OUCHHHH!!!".

Munn-dane

Dedicated to Koo, Nabila, Marnel, Ghandi, Iqbal, Abu, and myself.

"How vain is it to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live".

Henry David Thoreau

Zubermann

"...no bubblegum, but a little candy never hurt anyone".

haha.

*reference "Munn-dane: Marriage and Bubblegum Relationships".

Favorite Line From The End Half of Umrao Jaan

Never - and i stress on the never - did i think i'd like old Bolly wood movies let alone fall in love with the combination of large, dark rooms with an old bolly wood movie playing. Urdu has a lot to do with it i should add.

tujh ko rusawaa naa kiyaa, khud bhee pashemaan na Huye

Ishq kee rasm ko, is tarah nibhaayaa hum ne

- To be completed -

Ami & Mother Teresa: Proof That Mothers Know Best

I pray that i can say i lived my life this way:

"Doosra jo bhi karay, apna dil saaf rakho"

Ami Zaman a.k.a baybay a.k.a mothery

"People are often unreasonable and self centered: forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives: be kind anyways. If you're successful, you'll win some false friends and some true enemies: succeed anyway. If you're honest and frank, people may cheat you: but be honest anyway. What you spend years building, someone can destroy overnight: build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous: be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow: do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough: give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, its between you and God, it was never between you and them anyway . . ."

Mother Teresa

Touche Mr. Dickens

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.

“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

(From one of Charles Dickens' books)

One of My Favorite Lyrics

"Those who forget will be destined to remember".

Nothing Man -Pearl Jam

My-croscope: Wonder Years

Love kills logic

My-croscope: Wonder Years

Takes the fragments of a broken boy to piece together a man.

Munn-Dane: Marriage & BubbleGum Relationships

From the other side of the phone, he's yelling over the background noise advising me to get married. It's not a bad idea at all is my first thought and this comes as quite a shock even to me!

I'm ready to recite the 'Qabool-hai' formula, but for now it's back to waiting - waiting for the next encounter with the woman of my dreams even though right now the woman of my dreams can sadly only be found...... in my dreams. I've recognized her twice, disguised as reality, but they say the third time's the charm. And so the next time, i'm not letting her escape insh'Allah. For now i'll continue waiting and in the meantime, no more bubblegum relationships.

First Conversation With A Cousin In 3 Years: Go Figure:S

Kanwal: helllo? you there?

Omar: heyhey

Kanwal ok..just a short question..

i'm watch 3 idiots

Omar: yea

Kanwal: watching*

Omar: and?

Kanwal: what's mootar? they're translatung iut as pee/piss

is that correct? i thougt it was cum. (sorry for the weirdness of the question). there's no other desi person online

Omar: lol yes

mootar is pee

Kanwal: ohhh i really thought it was cum. ohhh i remember that's mtth right?

mutth

Omar: hahaha. muthh is sperm:)

it comes from muthi (no pun intended) which is your 'grab' i suppose..

Kanwal: as in fist?

Omar: yea, fist

Kanwal: i seee

Omar: coz guys use their 'muthi' to jack off so it's called 'muth'

Kanwal: acha thanks. back to movie now

later

Omar:no worries. take care, much love.

Kanwal: you tooo..ciao ciao

In Awe of You

I see you every day. Every day without exception. Yet i do not recognize you. That is why today was special. Today, i saw your reflection and it bewildered a troubled mind. Every thought, insecurity, concern, fear - all rendered static. Your Beauty silenced me and in silence i recognized you.

O You Who is a dream disguised as reality.

I recognized you today.

You Who's veil is Light

I recognized you today

Won't you please make my eyes Your Home?

Home is Bleeding.

and i don't know what we can do.

Rest In Peace inshAllah the martyrs will, but how do we live in peace?

Euphoria

Finally!!!!

Like a song who's name i could not remember, the words to which i could not recall, and the melody of which i could not sing for others to identify! 3 years its been been stuck in my head - constantly on replay - 3 years!

Today i have rediscovered it:

Calvin Klein: Euphoria

-Let the sweet breeze blow-

Vintage Z.

Me: Time kya ho gaya hay?

Z: Time to get a watch brother!

Nasha

Did you know?

Air that has touched your skin is intoxicating.

Twinklings From The Stars

"woh tum na thay ik khayaal tha

meri soch ka hi kamaal tha

woh muhobatain woh chahatain

meri uljhano ka hi jaal tha

meray dil may theen jo ronaqain

wo tera hi husn-o-jamal tha

jawaab jis ka mila nahin

woh aisa hi ik sawaal tha

woh aaj mila tau yun laga

yehi hay jis ka intezaar tha

usay yaad kaisae na karay koiee

usay bhoolna bhi mahaal tha!

ab us ki kya may misaal duun

woh tau apni misaal aap tha"

Song Draft: Khamoshi

kehna jo tha woh keh na saka

khamoshi mein munn ghut-ta raha

karnay ko tau hazaaron baatein theen

laakhon khaamoshian kuon chubti raheen

zameen nay aisa kya keh diya

jo chaand nay moo phair liya?

aisa bhee kya hum nay kar dia

jo tu hum se naaraaz raha?

koiee ghalati huee tau bata

yay kiss khata ki hay saza?

laakhon taaray falak par magar

hum ko tau hay buss aik ki khabar

laakhon taaray falak par magar

hum ko tau hay buss aik ki khabar

-fades-

hum ko tau hay buss aik ki khabar

hum ko tau hay buss aik ki khabar

Leaving Home

Her mother would ask her: Are you homesick? It was always a no.

Always.

Why?

Because She'd found warmth in her.

Because she'd found a sanctuary in her.

Her laughter is home.

Her laughter was home

But like her tears now

she too is homeless.

She too is homeless.

Du'a: Maa Aur Maasoom

Maa ki du'a jannat ki hawa

aur maasoom ki bad du'a?

jahannam ki saza

Fool and 3das

I wash my dishes with cold water now.

'Adas turned out to be the fool.

'Adas turned out to be the fool.

The kind of fool that is hard to digest.

Revelation: The World of Dreams

I am not lost. I'm displaced.

Space Ship: The World of Dreams

I can't call her the past because she is ever-present. She is distant, but always within sight. Today a cool breeze breathed some of her perfume and - for a while - the distance evaporated. The addictive fragrance gently stroked a sleeping dream out of hibernation. This particularly beautiful dream had been resting on the other side of the barzakh in the vast ocean of my memory; the barzakh which did not allow the sweet and salt water to mix - that barzakh.

This dream was beautiful because she was his first. Before anything else, he had always wanted to be an astronaut. Pakistan didn't have a space program though and he didn't have a spaceship. His instincts would whisper to him and tell him the stars were a map. A map to what or where he didn't know. But that's why he needed his spaceship and one day, just like that, he found one.

A journey into the heavens.

Does a journey to the heavens have to be a fight against gravity?

A dream unable to escape the pull of reality.

The return. A vessel catches fire as it re-enters the realm it tried to escape.

A crash landing in sweet water.

A tidal wave of sweet water

A reminder:

Reality, too, is but a forgotten dream.

Reality, too, is but the forgotten dream.