I am merely a guest born in this world,
to know the secrets that lie beyond it.
“Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”
“What I “discovered” was that happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not something that money can buy or power command. It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy.”
By his good character a believer will attain the degree of one who prays during the night and fasts during the day.
Whoever does not thank people, does not thank God.
Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.
[Surat Al-e-Imran 3:185]
This is such a powerful verse from the Quran. “Every soul will taste death” - really sends shivers down my spine.
God will never change the condition of a people until they change that which is within themselves.
— The Holy Quran, 13:11
On the Day of Judgment, We shall set up scales of justice so that no one will be dealt with unjustly in any way; even if someone has an act as small as a grain of a mustard seed, We will bring it to account, and sufficient are We to settle the accounts.
— The Holy Quran, 21:47
Time is really more valuable than we think it is.
Pakistan’s Bad Rep or Bad Reaction?
Too many times I hear people saying “Pakistan has such a bad reputation in the world because of media”. Sure media might have something to do with it - something to do with promoting/displaying the tortuous crimes that happen, etc; but why is this always taken so negatively? I came across a blog post on Dawn.com (http://dawn.com/2012/04/16/acid-attacks-and-pakistani-schizophrenia/) saying that the Oscar award winning documentary Saving Face shouldn’t have only focused on Pakistan experiencing acid attacks, and should have brought up that these happen in other countries as well. It’s such a shock to me that even a good deed merely depicting a harsh truth about Pakistan receives negative views. Is it really the bad reputation of Pakistan that bothers people, or is it simply that they don’t know how to react?
Portraying Pakistan in a negative way through this documentary shouldn’t even be such a concern. What matters is that this documentary brought more awareness throughout the world of a subject that needs to be addressed. I feel that the Pakistani culture focuses too much on reputation, whether it’s reputation of people or the country itself. If you care too much about reputation, change is unlikely to happen because of the borders you are boxed in. Without change, how can you improve? Without change, how can you better yourself or a country? You can’t. As much as people love to show their patriotic pride, setting aside that and focusing on more important issues like reforming a nation would better serve their time.
Telling media to include positive news about Pakistan isn’t going to help the country improve its conditions.
We’re far from home
It’s for the better
What we dream, it’s all that matters
We’re on our way, united
Shake hands and rancor will disappear. Give presents to each other and love each other, and enmity will disappear.
— Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
If you could see into the future,
would you do it different now?
Taking Mom out to a painting class. It’s the small things that count.
