Great Person?

I was reflecting the other day that there is really no such thing as a great person. Whoever each person becomes was their within their potential anyhow. That was their mandate, their chance, their place in the scheme of things.

It is no greatness to be who you are -- it is exactness and circumspection. Therefore a person who is truly noble is not one that is rising above or expanding beyond their natural space (and different people have different natural spaces), but the one who restrains themselves exactly to their natural space. This makes them 'disappear' in a sense for they are part of the same fabric that everyone else and everything else is a part of, too. Thus by way of being part of the same, we become invisible to each other. Visibility, then, is akin to the visibility of a wart on a flawless skin -- it garners immediate attention. But it is truly great?

This brings me to the case where we seek greatness by way of extending beyond ourselves. First, we must note, that a thing or a person may be stretched beyond themselves temporarily, as some kind of structural adjustment. This is not desirable and it points to something that is not working somewhere, yet it happens. It is not, sometimes, a deliberate decision. The kind of extension-to-greatness that is to be warned of is.... seeking significance. Being 'great' by being more than oneself, handling more than one can honestly deliver, consuming others' space to be, to work, to exist.

This is, oddly, considered noble. There is nothing noble about it. It may be something that arises out of a deliberate need to be a giant, or out of an inability to make decisions and keep life in perspective, or sheer ignorance of one's scope and limitations. In any case, this is tiresome. It also costs one's relationships, drains one's world, and, even, cost the planet in tangible terms. For instance, such a person would be traveling all over the town doing 3 jobs, one of which they can give up if they so choose.

It is said in Islam, which is the way I subscribe to, that true greatness only belongs to Allah: Allah being All-That-Is. Allah is not just greater or the greatest. Allah is Great.

What does this mean? It means that there is a gestalt of being. That the whole is larger than the sum of its parts, that it has an energy of its own that cannot be accounted for by the sum of parts. It is that which is great, truly more, truly creative, truly the Source. It is the creator of potential.

A human being -- or any other kind of being -- is not. It is only itself: good, bad, ugly, or beautiful -- anything, but not great.

~ra

Triangulation -- a poem

Triangulation

You hear

What I say

You say

And I hear

You are

And I see

You see

Who I am

You know

And I know.

I know.

I know.

When I know

And I know,

Why

this triangulation?

Why

When I say

You hear

You repeat

So they hear

What you say

Why

When I see

Who you are

Then you show

So they see

Will they see?

If they could

hear and see

then they would

hear and see

Why speak?

I am

And You are.

Let this be.

Let this be.

~ ramla

January 07, 2010

At the writer's desk

Believer's Refuge

"Take refuge in the Cave
God will spread Hu's* grace over you, and will endow you -
whatever your outward condition -
with all that your soul may need."

-Qur'an, Chapter Al-Kahf (The Cave), verse 16

...And so, because this verse has affected me deeply, I remain hidden, in my refuge, in the proverbial cave... until times are rendered anew. Until I am ready to emerge, as WHO I AM.

* "His"

Last Sermon: a haiku

Last sermon asserts/  
Equality of human/ 
Submission to Hu! 


by RA
aka The Prophecy


Today is the Day of Arafat. It is a day on which the last Prophet, Muhammad peace be upon him, spoke from the mountaintop of Arafat, and delivered to the people a sermon to be transmitted to all humanity to come. Known as the Last Sermon, it asserted in 632 AD, a full 1376 years before USA elected Obama to mark a historical victory for a black man, that "a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over a white - except by piety and good action."

That women have some rights over men just as men have some rights over women.

And that every person is their brother's keeper.

This oral constitution for humanity is a living tradition that ought to be understood and followed by all humans - Muslims in particular - for it ends the supremacy of one human over another and instead, subjugates us all to our Creator.

Look Within Your Heart!

My dear woman,

Neither in the tomes ancient,
Nor in words of women and men wise -
Neither in the prayers of the kind,
Nor even in the warm embrace of lovers...

At some time, not even in the spirit that protects you
lies God within.

When you come so far,
Then no further shall you go.

For now there is no going back or forth,
North or South, East or West.
Stop and look now within your heart,
Where always, ever God does rest.

---

Dear Prophecy:

You feel dismay? But of course! Enjoy the feeling, and surrender to it, so it shall reveal its secret. It tells you that you indeed shall not get anything from anyone at this moment. It tells you, in other words - there are always, ever, other benevolent words we grasp hardly - it tells you that you have reached the point where you must now find the remedy within you!

You won't see anything if you look around, for it is the moment to look within.

Look within your heart, my dejected self, look within your heart! Celebrate your dejection - it is a sign post! Look! Look! Look Who's coming to stay within!

Surrender!

****

You

Ya Allah!

Give my heart the strength I need, and wary me not with distraction.

_Prophecy

A Disappointing Woman

Allah:

You know me, and I trust you. What is it with my prayer for Your Love to increase for me, and the world turning its back upon me?

But to be honest, I finally, really could not care less. I do not care what they think of me, or what they say. I ask You for You; and when I perceive You, I cannot care what flaws, handicap, or imperfections I have. An appraisal of my defections is not just a life-long distraction by default, it also entirely is a statement of ingratitude.

Allah, I do not have a printed certificate from You that declares who I am or what my existence means, that I can present to the world. None such oddity exists either. Nor do I bother!

You created as many ways to reach You as there are hearts in human chests. So I tell You what my way is - regardless of any other way: my way is the way of not concentrating upon my "flaws" but to love You. I see how Beautiful You are, and any other contemplation is a waste. I have had enough of occupying myself with my errors. I do not care! I have no time to dwell upon myself in Your Presence!
In order to accept You, I accept me! That is it! I accept who I am! I accept where I am!

You love me!
I love You!

I will not explain this to anyone! I will not explain how I am sheltered in my homelessness, well in my sickness, and submitting in my 'sin.'

I am, to them, a disappointing woman. A woman who comes up to no expectation, a good-for-nothing, morally-challenged woman who needs supervision. Most think the same, and a few behold me in awe. Neither matter, for I am tired of blame or praise, and I am with You.

And if this all means that my prayer for Your Love is accepted, then witness when I say: I love You. I disappoint all else. And so be it.