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| Aaja marhoom |
Counsels of a wise, old woman
(Some words of my great grandmother, our Aaja. In her memory. Khudabiyamurza (RIP))
"No time cometh on you but is followed by a worse." (A Hadith)
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“The invisible, the ignored---the "worthless" things in this world----are often the richest sources of meaning in life.”
“One’s character is defined by the way one uses one’s eyes, ears and mouth. The more a person uses the first two of the three, the greater the chances are of him or her becoming a better, wiser person.”
“Observe the world more than talk about it. And do the same for people, too.”
“Always get your priorities right in this world: never confuse the essential in life with the accidental, and vice versa. You can gain this discriminatory intellectual/spiritual skill by always remembering one and only one thing: death.”
“Make sure to pay a weekly visit to the graveyard, preferably on Thursdays. There is nothing in this world that can make a man humble, cleanse his soul and soften his hardened heart than the sight of an old, dilapidated grave and the thought of death.”
For more, please click: On Simplicity, On Noise and Solitude
“Kibr destroyed the first transgressor Iblis (the Devil/Shaitan) and the haughty pharaohs; it eventually destroys every forgetful and heedless man, too. Observe the worst form of kibr in a heedless man especially when he sits down to eat. ”
(Kibr, in Arabic and other Islamic languages, means: ingratitude, arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, feelings of superiority)
“If a man complains about food and always finds fault with food that is served to him, he is not really hungry. A hungry man finds everything delicious.”
“Never leave the dastarkhwan (the dining or table cloth, the dinner table or the entire meal setting) with a full stomach. Most, if not all, sins have their roots in overeating and/or gluttony.”
“The wise man is a healthy man because for him, wisdom means to know when to eat and, more importantly, when to stop eating.”
“A natural appetite for fruit and yogurt is a sign of good health.”
“A weakness for food and eating is a sure sign of an inferior man.”
“Nobody ever washes the face of a lion in the jungle.”
“True happiness is never talked about, is never sought, and it is always qualitative in nature. It is not about what or how many and how much you have; happiness is not about filling up some void, but it is about remembering and keeping pure the natural, primordial void in us.”
“Happiness that result from insignificant things and acts---small happiness(es)---are long lasting.”
(Kibr, in Arabic and other Islamic languages, means: ingratitude, arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, feelings of superiority)
“If a man complains about food and always finds fault with food that is served to him, he is not really hungry. A hungry man finds everything delicious.”
“Never leave the dastarkhwan (the dining or table cloth, the dinner table or the entire meal setting) with a full stomach. Most, if not all, sins have their roots in overeating and/or gluttony.”
“The wise man is a healthy man because for him, wisdom means to know when to eat and, more importantly, when to stop eating.”
“A natural appetite for fruit and yogurt is a sign of good health.”
“A weakness for food and eating is a sure sign of an inferior man.”
“Nobody ever washes the face of a lion in the jungle.”
“True happiness is never talked about, is never sought, and it is always qualitative in nature. It is not about what or how many and how much you have; happiness is not about filling up some void, but it is about remembering and keeping pure the natural, primordial void in us.”
“Happiness that result from insignificant things and acts---small happiness(es)---are long lasting.”
"The difference between a simple person (سادہ) and a simpleton (احمق) is that the former knows that a tree is both roots and branches; the simpleton sees only branches and leaves, that which is visible to the eye but which totally depends on, is only alive because of that which is hidden and invisible, like all real things in life and in nature. So, be simple but not a simpleton. God loves simple people because they cling firmly to one virtue that trumps every other: sincerity."
“One’s character is defined by the way one uses one’s eyes, ears and mouth. The more a person uses the first two of the three, the greater the chances are of him or her becoming a better, wiser person.”
“Observe the world more than talk about it. And do the same for people, too.”
“Always get your priorities right in this world: never confuse the essential in life with the accidental, and vice versa. You can gain this discriminatory intellectual/spiritual skill by always remembering one and only one thing: death.”
“Make sure to pay a weekly visit to the graveyard, preferably on Thursdays. There is nothing in this world that can make a man humble, cleanse his soul and soften his hardened heart than the sight of an old, dilapidated grave and the thought of death.”
For more, please click: On Simplicity, On Noise and Solitude
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