Under the clearest darkest northern sky, at a train station 300 miles away from some troubled loved ones, I wondered what I can do for them anyway, even when I’m close by in London, walking distance….

I concluded that I can only ever be there, as present and attuned as I can be.

Tonight, I prayed for them to find solace. Then I wrote down part of a Surah from the Qur’an, At-Tur (The Mountain),

“Verily, He is the most Subtle, Kind, Courteous, and Generous, the Most Merciful.”

I tried to distil the significance for my loved ones in pain. I sought comfort in the certainty and gentleness of the words.

Subtle – there are things unseen, less immediate, less run-of-the-mill, and in these things is relief for the afflicted…

Kind – a transcendent benevolent force at work, bigger than all those things plaguing my loved ones.

Courteous – a polite invitation to faith, a letting go.

Generous – the call to faith is not a limited one. While the pressures of the material world are finite, the beneficence is infinite, stretching on forever, deeper and broader than we can conceive; timelessness, depth and breadth matched within us.

Most Merciful – unlimited, far beyond human mercy. This is what I wanted for all my kith & kin; soothing balm bestowed from a higher power…that they might catch a moment of grace to transmute pain to faith. A glimpse that would infuse faith & strength so much greater than the crude efforts of their antagonists and afflictions.

Searching, I found and wrote down a quote from the Yoga-Vasishtha,

“He is brighter than the brightest, more obscure than the darkest thing; He is the substratum of all substance, and the furthest from all sides of the compass.”

& I let go of the urgency in my desire to help. I rested, allowed my mind to empty for some moments of ease, taking comfort in spiritual abstractions and ready to see things vividly, even if not happily.

The Bradford sky was a vast black canvas, stars scattered.

by Talib

For a, a, h, i, l, m, m, o, & r. 

(photo by TC)