i'll look after you;

dad loves sending me photos of his boys. these days i often get ones which involves him and his 'new' bestfriend, azhar.

just as i was about to doze off, a message came through and he typed ' alhamdulillah, all present ! '

a picture of them together at their weekly ta'lim with habib ali at masjid muadz ibn jabal, setiawangsa.

it feels awkwardly comforting most times. to look back and smile at what took place. i've always wanted to have a partner i could discuss with. someone i could totally be myself with, and perhaps act all silly with. i've ticked the first one on the list. the other two i have yet to find out.

" i am joining danny today inshaAllah, and i brought my notebook with me this time, "

i chuckled reading his text. the last time he went to a talk empty handed, i got upset.

mashaAllah, he had no idea how big of a deal that was to me, meeting my own Sheikh Abd Aziz Fredericks, in person, sitting at such close range, listening to him, and not writing things down. azhar can have a memory of a goldfish sometimes ( im much worst, so i guess we're sort of meant to be ? ), but alhamdulillah, he managed to gather his findings, and shared with me anyway.

i guess i got upset because since i started taking lessons with my weekly circle with Imam Afroz on the Etiquette's of a Seeker , a text by Imam Zarnuji, he stressed the importance of taking down notes in a lesson. Always, always take down notes. it increases memory, and it acts as a good reference for reflection in studying.

like how azhar shares with me, i share my lessons with him in turn, to reciprocate.

thinking about it again made both of us laugh. its relieving to know that the things we get upset about are on texts, or sharings. things that we feel strongly about. and knowing we should both know better now that we are actively seeking, inshaAllah.

i believe we all owe it to Him to be constantly looking for Him. to know more about Him, to strengthen our claim of love for Him. afterall, how do we actually love something we don't know.

and subhanallah, the more i learn, the more i feel like i don't know.

i pray that Allah grant us all the ability and willingness to know, to seek, and His Blessings in our intention to love Him and know Him with each breath we are given today.

may Allah ease your dealings, strengthen your souls, and place love inside your heart towards things that pleases Him. and may He make it easy for you to accept the things that pleases Him, and the things that doesn't.