The Reader

On anxiety..

Let me share this Hadith:

This world should not be the main concern of the Muslim. Worry about his provision should not find any room in his heart or mind, lest that make his sickness and his anxiety worse. 

It was narrated that Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever is mainly concerned about the Hereafter, Allaah will make him feel independent of others and will make him focused and content, and his worldly affairs will fall into place. But whoever is mainly concerned with this world, Allaah will make him feel in constant need of others and will make him distracted and unfocused, and he will get nothing of this world except what is decreed for him.”

(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2389; classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 6510). 

Here are a few words of wisdom from Manuscript Found in Accra:

Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind.And since we will never be able to master it,we will have to learn to live with it-just as we have to learn to live with the storm.

For those who cannot learn to do so,life will be a nightmare.

Therefore,although anxiety is part of life ,NEVER let it control.

It(Anxiety) will never disappear, but the great wisdom of life is to realize that we the masters of the things that try to enslave us.

 

 

Fishy sketch

Sent from my iPad

Help us to know that..

Let me share one sentence that make me ponder on my life from Manuscript Found in Accra:

Help us to know that when our legs are tired,we can keep walking,thanks to the strength in our hearts,and that when our hearts are tired,we can still carry on,thanks to the strength of our Faith.

On elegance..

Elegance never fails to fascinate me..May be it is owing to its simplicity,the most difficult thing to do compared to something more complex.That is the irony of it!

Elegance is not in the clothes we wear,it is how we wear them.In late April last year(2012),I rode a hired bicycle with a few tourists in Amsterdam.We roamed all over Amsterdam and I love seeing the Dutch people riding their bicycles.The bicycles are so natural to them and I saw the harmony of the people,their bicycles and their environment.That is elegance!

It is not the bicycle she rode or the dress she wore,but more on the way she dressed up and cycled among the moving crowd that left me dumb founded for a few minutes.I sipped my coffee slowly so that I had more time to stay in the warm cafe and watch people cycling by,especially beautiful ladies..

Let me share a few lines from Manuscript Found in Accra:

Elegance is not an outer quality but a part of the soul that is visible to others.

Elegance is achieved when,having discarded all superfluous things,we discover simplicity and concentration.The simpler the pose the better,the more sober the more beautiful.

And what is simplicity?It is the coming together the true values of life.

The simplest things in life are the most extraordinary.Let them reveal themselves.

 

On friendship..

It will take years to know who your real friends are...My friend has just retired from civil service in JKR.I called him a week ago and told him in a few months time,he will know who are his actual friends;many will leave him because he is not in position of power over their projects.This is what I categorised as 'contract friends'-friendship for business only.

In my case,I experienced two times-the first when I resigned from JKR as Assistant Director(1984) and the second when I resigned from TDM Berhad as CEO(1989).Now, I know who are my real friends when I am doing business on my own.

Let me qoute from Paulo Coelho from his book Manuscript Found in Accra:

Frienship is like a river,it flows around rocks,adapts itself to valleys and mountains,occasionally turns into a pool until the hollow in the ground is full and it can continue on its way.Just as the river never forget that its goal is the sea,so friendship never forgets that its  only reason for existing is to love other people.

At my age,I am very selective who I want to make friends and be their friends.Bad experience taught  me to be more careful with friends than with strangers.Yes indeed,friendship is like a river-it keeps flowing all the time...

Cycling at Taman Saujana Hijau,Presint 11,Putrajaya

Not many people like to cycle from Umai Cafe to Taman Saujana Hijau(TSH).One main reason was the long uphill climb from Taman Wetland.Yesterday,Tajuddin changed the route and we had nine PUR members with us cycling from Umai Cafe via Presint 10(PM Residence) all the way to TSH.

When we arrived at the elevated garden some five-storey high,we stopped and enjoyed the views and took photos with the colourful flowers.One friend said it is like in Amsterdam.And that reminds me of our PUR cycling group members who are on their way to ride in Holland.

To my fellow Malaysians and visitors,please take some time to visit many beautiful gardens in Putrajaya.You can go with your cars and walk there or ride your bicycles like we do every week.It is good for the body and the soul.

HEALTHY PARKS,HEALTHY PEOPLE...

Morning walk at Taman Botani,Putrajaya

Previously,I parked my car at the entrance to Taman Botani but yesterday I changed my routine to park my car at Pusat Rekreasi Air.My wife and me walked all the way to Restoran Seafood where we fed the fish in the lake with some biscuits.

It was about 8am and the sun was shining but we walked under the shade of leafy trees all the way.As we walked ,we talked about the serenity and the beauty of the trees,the leaves and stopped to smell the flowers.As usual I took some photos..

I love Bunga Kenanga as shown below.The sweet smell made me plucked a few to bring home and I put these flowers on my pillow-just like what my mother did in the 60's.

Along the way I saw some beautiful trees and flowers.Below is a nice big yellow hibiscus flower staring at us:

After feeding the fish,my wife befriended  one of the gardeners and he taught my wife  how to plant and take care of orchids.Here are a few photos of orchids found around Taman Botani,Putrajaya,Malaysia.

We had great time together and I planned to do a photowalk with my friends next month.The walk took about 1.5 hours and the distance covered was about 5km.Good for the body,mind and the soul..

Anyone interested,you can send email to:abedib@gmail.com and let me know your contact phono numbers.

Here is a link to my previous posting on Taman Botani.

Lessons from sketching flowers

I love beautiful flowers and to appreciate more I took photos of them and lately I began sketching.Taking photos let me have the beautiful images that I could keep and see them whenever I want.The outputs are images that were processed by my camera after I tweak with it.However, sketching flowers  made me appreciate more the beauty of Allah's creations.In many cases,I just could not draw what I saw-the colours,the softness of texture,the intricate arrangement and fine details are beyond my limited knowledge and skills.Allah created all these in 3-D and I can't even copy the iamage of these flowers in 2-D.

Drawing the details of the flowers need a lot of patience which I don't have enough.So I cut short.Now,I appreciate artists more for their efforts..Here is my humble sketch of a flower..Have a good weekend folks!

Sebaran fitnah

PRU #13 hampir tiba dan setiap hari kita membaca atau terbaca pelbagai berita dan cerita di media cetak dan elekronik.Berikut ialah satu ayat untuk peringatan kita semua.

Dan apabila mereka mendengar perkataan yang sia-sia, mereka berpaling daripadanya sambil berkata: "Bagi kami amal kami dan bagi kamu pula amal kamu; selamat tinggalah kamu; kami tidak ingin berdamping dengan orang-orang yang jahil". (Al-Qasas 28:55) | <Embed> | English Translation 

Dengan bantuan teknologi maklumat terkini,kita di hujani pelbagai maklumat yang banyak terdapat penipuan dan kepalsuan.Kita perlu ilmu untuk membezakan yang haq dan yang batil.Kita perlu berhati-hati supaya minda dan hati kita tidak di kotori olih manusia jahil dan jahat.Sama-sama kita mendampingi orang-orang yang benar-benar berilmu.

Pesan saya untuk diri saya dan para pembaca blog ini: Jangan kita pula jadi penyebar ajaran sesat,maklumat palsu dan fitnah.Kalau tidak pasti,diam lebih baik!

Book: Manuscript Found in Accra

This is the latest novel I bought.It was written by Paulo Coelho and like his other novels are thought provoking and page turner for me.Like The Flowing River is my favourite that made me bought two copies-one for my sister and one for me.This Manuscript Found in Accra costs me RM49.90.It is a bit expensive for a 190 pages of novel but the measure in not in numbers of pages but more in the essence of the contents.To me,it is worth every sen.

Let me post a qoute here:

Ask a flower in the field: "Do you feel useful? After all you do nothing but produce the same flowers over and over." And the flower will answer: "I am beautiful, and beauty is my reason fro living." Ask the river: "Do you feel useful, given that all you do is keep flowing in the same direction?" And the river will answer: "I'm not trying to be useful; I'm trying to be a river." Nothing in this world is useless in the eyes of God.

Happy reading..

By the way,what book are you reading now?