The Reader

Reading Matters:A visit to Belgravia Books, London

Frequent visitors to this blog will know my penchant for visiting book stores in far flung places and writing about them here. But occasionally I like to showcase some of the more interesting shops in London, and for that reason I visited Belgravia Books, a longish stroll from Hyde Park Corner, for a bit of a look around today.

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Let me share this blog's posting about a bookshop in London.I have not been here yet but I have been to a few to Books Etc, Blackwell, Foyle and others.The Blackwell of Oxford really shocked me with three miles of bookshelves!

During my travels,two places I will always look:cafes and bookshop.The first time I saw a bookshop with a cafe built-in was when I visited Melbourne some time in early 90's.Now bookcafes are every where..

When my wife and me go shopping at shopping complexes,and if she could not find me or lost me and could not contact me via mobile phone,she will know where to go and look for me.Most likely she will find me in the bookshop.Below is a photo of me when I got lost among 100,000 books in a bookshop in Wales..

 

By the way,what is your best bookshop and which one do you visit every week or every month?

Below is my photo with George taken by Awang Goneng when we were visiting Paris many,many moons back....

 

 

Water bottles(2)

This is my favourite water bottle.It is made of steel and used by Swiss army.I use it when I go cycling.It also can store hot drink as well.Owing to its wear and tear,now it does not look nice any more.My wife told me not to use it but for me it has character of its own with a few dents when I dropped it.To me,it looks rugged but my wife thinks differently.Thank God we are not the same;-)

By the way,my mother has her own bottles.

Malaysian gondolas?

This is an alternative to godolas in Venice.However ,please donot compare to Umai Cafe with a cafe at St Marks Square in Venice.It is not as romantic as the real one but boleh lah in Malaysia...

PIPR #14:3072 Riders!

Congratulations to Organisers and Riders!I think this is the biggest turnout so far and I am proud to be a  member of the Organising Committee.On complaints about the service at the registration counters,I will bring up to the Committee for discussion and improvement at the next ride.Thanks you all for your continous support and participation.

I am a morning person

I started to become a morning person when my age approached 50~about 10 years ago.I woke up about 30 minutes before fajr time(subuh) so that I have time to prepare myself to attend the solat at our masjid.It started with once a week and slowly one year later after my Haj,I wake at 4:30am every morning.Now, there is a bilological clock embedded in my body that I feel sleepy at 10pm and wakes up at 4:30am almost daily.

By waking up at 4:30am I have head start of 2 hours  compared to those who wake at 6:30am.I have two solid hours to myself which I use for my ibadat,reading and even paperwork for my business.After more than two decades of working life,I came to realise that I am active and alert during morning hours and it deteriorates after 2pm.It may be due to my age.When I was younger,any day and any time is a good time!

By the way,our personal time is very personal.Some people are morning persons,and some people are afternoon persons and many of my younger friends are night persons.It is our choice but the most important thing is what we do with the available time that we are alert and active?

Since 2008,I became active in walking and cyling during my weekend mornings.However,I also cycle at night with my friends to avoid the hot morning sun but then I do feel sleepy while riding my bikes.On riding nights,I must sleep in the afternoon.Talking about sleep,more and more people are sleeping less.A few had died due to lack of sleep..

One advantage of early risers is we do get to see beautiful morning sun rise...Below is one of them.

 

The burden of knowledge!

It is no wonder the saying goes: Ignorance is bliss!

Let me share this note.Those with knowledge-Beware!

Sharing Truth
Al-Imran (The House of Imran) Sura 3: Verses 187

 "Recall that God took an agreement from those who received previous revelation. They were (supposed to make the message of God) clearly evident to people and not to hide it, but they threw it away behind their backs and made a little profit off of it. What a despicable bargain they made!"

Ibn Kathir writes: In this verse there is a warning to the scholars that they ought not conceal religious knowledge from the people. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has said, "Whosoever was asked about a piece of knowledge and he concealed it, shall have a rein of fire in his mouth on the Day of Resurrection."

It is said that when Zuhri had given up narrating hadith, Hasan bin Ammara went up to him and asked him to relate some hadith. Zuhri told him of his resolve. Hasan told him: "Either you narrate or I will." Zuhri said: "Alright. You do." Hasan narrated Ali's (may Allah be pleased with them) words: "Allah did not make it obligatory upon the ignorant to ask before He had made it obligatory upon the scholars to teach." Hearing this Zuhri narrated forty hadith to Hasan (Qurtubi).

Yusuf Ali adds: "Truth - Allah's Message - comes to any man or nation as a matter of sacred trust. It should be broadcast and published and taught and made clear to all within reach. Privileged priesthood at once erects a barrier. But worse, when such priesthood tampers with the truth, taking what suits it and ignoring the rest, it has sold Allah's gift for a miserable ephemeral profit."

Compiled From:
"The Holy Quran: Guidance for Life" - Yahiya Emerick, p. 60
"Tafsir Ishraq Al-Ma'ani" - Syed Iqbal Zaheer, vol. 2, pp. 169, 170

Cheap things are no good;but good things are not cheap!

I think this is the cleanest side lane I have ever seen in Malaysia.It is at Putrajaya.

Special book gift

Yesterday afternoon, I was as happy as a child when his father bought him a new toy from Hamleys ,London. I was smiling from ear to ear and thanked my mentor for a special book gift as shown in the picture. The book is actually a collector's item.It is a special edition limited only to 1500 copies and mine is No: 561.Now,this book is the oldest book on my bookshelf(the second oldest is The Jungle Book,printed in 1951). It is printed by John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd,London,1928! The edges are jagged and the paper is quite thick and I think it feels like pure raw pulp.The book was bought last week at Bosorne Books,St Just,Cornwall.Thank you Tan Sri for your kindness and generousity. The book is entitled Three Gifts,An Arab Love Story.It was translated by Sir frank Swettenham(sounds familiar) into English from the French version : Tangu et Felime by Monsieur De La Harpe,published in paris in 1780.The book has Marillier's five illustrations reproduced from the French edition. Verily, I love every page of the book!

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This month I received two books as gifts.One is on tajwid and the other is an old novel-The Doomsday.Thank you my relative and my friend.I think giving books as gifts is great!

As early adopter of new web technology,I joined Google+ some time ago but I did not use it as often as I use Facebook to share and communicate with my friends.Currently I created a few 'circles' for my hobbies and professional interests.Since only a few of my Malaysian friends are active here,I only share some with international groups like photography and management.
A few days ago,a close friend of mine asked me about it.Here is a video I sent to him and I posted here the link so that my readers can watch it.Yes,Facebook is the king of the social network apps but I prefer to have another one for specific purpose and different ecosystem.
What matters most is what works for us.