~ Thin line between Calm & Panic

Asalam alaikum,

At times it so happens that we get besieged by situations seeminlgy taking control over us.

Thoughts are overwhelmed by fear, senses numbed, and actions simply falling apart.

This can happen virtually any where, any time, & at any place; a small unexpected event can trigger a surge of fear inside us, and if not addressed properly could precipitate a panic attack.

A tough question from the audience and phoof! all the points to present are gone!

An unforced error, and suddenly the seasoned player starts acting like a novice!

A slight variation in waves and the experienced swimmer finds himself haplessly helpless, a few poor performances and the batsman looses his touch.

A famous tennis star who just won her first set with a 40-love & a triple set point; a small unforced error took the best of her & she got so overwhelmed that there followed a trail of errors & the situation worsened till her defeat.

Panic reduced a giant of tennis star into a naive novice.

A world champion swimmer once got caught in the current just as he swam beyond the surf, he found himself being pulled out into the sea & started fighting the water..

It was then he realized recalling the basic rule that if he keeps his calm he could just float..

& he did exactly that saving his energies & ultimately his life..

Sometimes life's testing tides are to be kept as such.. just let them pass, keeping your calm & your patience.

Once the panic sets in, therez only Allah's help to bring you back.

In testing times just bank_on_the_instincts and move_back_to_basics.

Basic idea of the subject in question will give a clue to the presenter stuck with blanks.

Well, easier said than done.. specially when i've to conduct & present a mind storming 4 hour long bla bla tomorrow.

baaah!!

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Dust is my Bed

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

Lets value life & all the blessings Allah has blessed us with as human beings...

Nasheed 'Dust is my bed' by Mishary Al-Arada.

Translation;
Dust is my bed, embracing me & is my cover now,
The sand surrounds me, enveloping me from over & above.

And the grave presents darkness in its isolation,
And the Guidance was elucidated in His Book
but I forgot my meeting with Him……
oh I forgot my meeting with Him……

And the family.. where is their sympathy?
they sold my loyalty..
And the companions..where is their companionship?
they relinquished my brotherhood..oh my brotherhood

And the wealth.. where is its joy?
it was left behind
oh it was left behind..
And the reputation..where is its shine?
between praises

This is my end..this is my bed..

-Repeats-
oh I forgot my meeting with Him……

And love farewells its longing..my eulogizing wailed
And the tears went dry after the crying.
oh the tears went dry..

The universe became narrow in its expanse and so was my space,
The grave became my earth and my sky.

This is my end..
Dust is my bed

-Repeats-
oh I forgot my meeting with Him……

Fear fills my estrangement and grief is my ailment
I hope firmness and I swear it’s my cure

And to Allah i call faithfully; You are my hope !
Allah! I desire heaven, in it is bliss

And to Allah i call faithfully; You are my hope !
Allah! I desire heaven, in it is bliss

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Simply put

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

Qari Mishary Rashid Al Afasy's Nasheed.
"Ana Al-'Abd" meaning "I am the Slave".
Poetry by Ibn 'Abdil Qawiyy.
Translated & subtitled by Awakening Visions Productions.

Positively beautiful containing a beneficial theme for all of us, inshaAllah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OMXWrI8Nd4

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ All Roads Lead to Madinah

SallaLLahu alehi wa alihi wassalam..

O beloved !..
I'm hesitant to say something lest it should cross the limits..
and am unable to hold back what words fail me to express..

Lowing lamps flicker;

entire galaxies

madly float

in hearts brimming

with adulation.

tears spill in the Garden

oh that they mingle

where his blessed tears

fell as raindrops

where his wise counseling

was a melodious river

where his numinous light

still illuminates even the most wretched

where scent still rises

from his every footprint

where pillars still yearn

for his embrace

where the earth still sighs

from the touch of his muddied forehead

where his smile still dances in the air

where his stroke

subdued the wildest ego

snuffed the flames of disbelief

united warring fractions

and harmony was finally defined

Praised and Praiseworthy..

Muhammed - salaLLAhu alehi  wa alihi wassalam

our darood & our salaams

are meek compared to your esteem

our salutations

sullied

within a darkened stupor

our only hope

is the hope from Allah's Mercy

that dazzles

from yearning to drink

from your hands

on Kauthar

- inshAllah

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

"Allah sends His Salat (Graces, Honours, Blessings, Mercy) on the Prophet (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), and also His angels (ask Allah to bless and forgive him). O you who believe! Send your Salat on (ask Allah to bless) him, and greet (salute) him with the Islamic way of greeting (i.e. As-Salamu 'Alaikum )."

(سورہ الاحزاب; The Coalition, Chapter 33: Ayah 56-57)

... All roads lead to Madinah

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Search Again

Salam alaikum,

"I worked on a similar kind of shiite during my Ph.D., & trust me no one's gonna read it except yourself & your poor poor supervisor.
Just so you know..
oh btw, its been more than a decade & was until recently still trying to solve 'that bit' i wrote in my thesis.. until i gave up all hope!"

I was left breathless.. well almost.

Research is pretty much a whole new search of virtually anything you're interested in - as long as you have enough time & funds for that matter :)

And if you're ready to do it without time or funds; then your research morphs into passion.
Much like the case with my brazilian professor, who was still solving a problem 11 years down the line.. & curiously he still smiles :p

The research strategy has usually three main pillars. Together they create an environment which ensures that good ideas can pass as rapidly as possible from a lab to a stage where they are of real social (or economic) benefit.


The first pillar is the basic and fundamental research.
It takes place in dark dedicated dungeons (err..labs) inside concrete campuses, behind closed doors & up in our heads somewhere..

~ 8 Gates

Asalam alaikum,

After 500 interviews & some 7 long years, he presented his results by churning down a 2 hour presentation into a lil over 3 minutes tidbit here.

The outline:

~ Passion - do it for love, money will come anyway.
~ Work - don't be a workaholic, be a 'workafrolic'.
~ Good - practice practice practice.
~ Focus - on one thing at a time.
~ Push - thanks Allah who made mothers :) & then spouses.
~ Serve - "Best Muslim is who benefits his brother"
~ Ideas - be curious, a good listener & a good observer
~ Persist - thru failiure, thru crap.

Pretty neat.. eh?

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Shift Happens the Paradigm way

Salam alaikum,

It snowed furiously the night before I left over for my new found love.

It was mid-November, so the snow was wet and slushy, not dry enough to stick. But the moisture stained the soft soil at the trailhead a dove gray, and spiced the air with the scent of ponderosa pine.

On the proviso that I would return sooner, my grey-headed professor lemme go. But then the condition wasn't much of a *my way or the highway* sort, so i changed my mind & stayed instead.

Just a wee while ago, someone asked me - again - why i came over to reside here? And I started recapitulating the almost natural move.

The work environment back there was cool & so were the...

~ The Dithering Dichotomy

Salam alaikum,

Years ago someone told me that he never learned algebra & has never had a need for it.
But I’ve learned algebra and used it constantly.
It’s a lucky thing I was the one who learned algebra since I ended up needing it.
But of course it’s not 'being lucky' per se, since I'd not have had any use for it either, had I not learned it :/

Broadly speaking there are two types of thinking processes;
The straight thinking & the lateral thinking. [more on it laterz inshAllah]

Just like that there are two types of learning behaviors we can spot in our daily lives out there;
First one, is the more traditional school based learning approach. We learn something with a hope that it'll be needed in future someday; this is to learn just_in_case.

The other one, is learning only when we need to learn; thats just_in_time learning.

Its a perfect dichotomy i dare say, & we all have our own experiences of both types of learnings..



In general, we learn things in school just...

~ The Configurable Cognizant

Asalam alaikum,

So, are you in your elements?
Yeah, you ! the one reading this :p

First, he gave a tedster talk back in 06' that led to his writing 'The Element'.

Ken Robinson’s catch phrase pretty much is;

"Don’t standardize education, personalize it."




Here are a couple quotes from his book concerning standardized education..

~ حافظ صاحب اور ہم

"
اللہ کا شُکر ہے میری تو تیاری ہو گئ ہے۔ ۔ کوئ سوال مُشکل ہو تو مجھے بھی بلا لینا ۔ ۔ ویسے تاش ہے؟ ۔ ۔ کھیلیں "؟

یہ حافظ صاحب بھی کمال ہی تھے۔ ۔

ہم لوگ امتحان سے ایک رات پہلے سخت ٹینشن میں پڑھ رہے ہوتے تھے۔

اور حافط صاحب کہیں سے سیٹی بجاتے نمودار ہوتے، تو ہماری سڑ جاتی کہ ایک ہم ہیں اور ایک یہ حافط ہے۔

وقت کی مُنصفانہ تقسیم کے اتنے پابند ہیں؛

کہ امتحان کے دن بھی انکے ناول پڑھنے کا ٹایم نہیں بدلے گا ۔

one of the best time managers i've...