Of civilisations

pardon me for recycling my posts. this is taken from my journal written sometime 2 years ago when i was in Dhaka. I was thinking about dinosaurs and the theory of evolution when my sisters and I started talking about great civilisations before us.

"about a year and a half ago, a bengoli couple( Miraj and Shumona) who were acquainted to Dad came to Malaysia for their honeymoon and I somehow became their tour guide in Kuala Lumpur. Bengoli people are generally very big-hearted and hospitable so if they are fond of you, they make sure you know it. I try not to say this and perhaps I would never in a million years let myself think this even with people close to me, but this couple is very fond of me. I did after all spend a week bringing them all around KL. It's human nature to have a strong sense of gratitude towards people's help and hospitability. So even though we met only that time in Malaysia, I became like family to them. 
They would always email me to come visit them here, and here I am finally. So today, they came over and decided to take me to out. We ended up going to Shumona's Dad's house which was extremely awkard for me cause I'm like "The Guest of the House" and I'm just a kid. It would have been different if my parents had followed, then I'd just be the daughter of "The Guests". Shumona's dad(perhaps a man slightly older than my dad) came out to entertain me. He was a bewitching learned man so we had a lot to talk about. He started telling me about the Egyptian civilization and continued expressing his fascination and admiration for History which led to us talking about the nature and destiny of a civilization. He said, Alexandria was called the Lost City because part of the city is now lost underwater. C'est la vie. The world will turn upside down to end a civilization. Like the nation of Lot (Prophet Luth, PBUH). That is the cycle. 
With the flash floods, mudslides, tsunamis, scientifically speaking, the physicality of the world may indicate a mark for the end of our civilization. Looking back into history, even thousands of years before the birth of Christ(PBUH), this seems relevant. Untill now, noone has yet to discover the technology behind the construction of the Pyramids and the mummification process. Untill now you can't find anyone comparable to avicenna and the likes. We are no more advanced than those civilizations before us. Only our modernity and technological convenience led us to think we are. This does not go to say that our civilization is a weak one. In contrary to that, this is highlighting that every single civilization has had its profound achievements. However, the lessons behind the decadence and fall of all the different civilizations made me think, noone, no nation, no society, can escape their fate. No nation is too profound for collapse. We will have to face what is already written whether we like it or not. 
I love this thought. The thought of being a part of a civilization instead of individualism. 
Anyway, do I really think our civilization will come to an end soon? I have no answer for that. If soon is 50 years away, then perhaps yes. I have forgotten what is the point of this post "

the Theory of Self Interest

"Our society right now is in a crisis, but a lot of the crisis is a direct result of misguided priorities of people that put everything into themselves and forgot about others. When you begin to give up self interest, and think about the common wheel, God will take care of your self interest.  When you focus on your self interest and forget about and the common wheel, God will cause you to even forget your self interest. They forgot God so God caused them to forget themselves."

We've got clear moral guidance so who cares whether Adam Smith was right or wrong.

nineteen hundred and nineteen

Come let us mock at the great
That had such burdens on the mind
And toiled so hard and late
 To leave some monument behind,
Nor thought of the levelling wind.

 Come let us mock at the wise;
With all those calendars whereon
They fixed old aching eyes,
They never saw how seasons run,
And now but gape at the sun.
 Come let us mock at the good
That fancied goodness might be gay,
And sick of solitude
Might proclaim a holiday:
Wind shrieked— and where are they?

 Mock mockers after that
That would not lift a hand maybe
To help good, wise or great
To bar that foul storm out, for we
Traffic in mockery.

 William Butler Yeats Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen

Addicted

to this

sometimes it's not about forgiving and forgetting. knowing the adverse inner thoughts a person has about you and which the same person has shared with various different people in his or her circle of acquaintances, is the only reason you need to stay away. albeit situations may have changed, perceptions may have been altered, the past has been forgotten, some things remain embedded in our minds like the engraved stones in the cemetery. it's not as simple as that but it sure is easier to feel this way.

having encountered exceptionally wonderful people, who are so different in the most extraordinary way, I begin to realise the unimaginable possibilities that exist in this world, albeit temporary. I'd love for this sort of amazement to continue, but I too one day hope that I would amaze someone I meet myself.

Memento Mori

"Central bankers need to be considered mortal because monetary policy has its limits. Those limits are now being reached, or at the very least approached, in some economies."

Green Grass of Tunnel

Would you meet me by the water baby?

Kapow!

The truth is, I can't relate to humans because I am not human. Kapow!

The Playground

One of my favorite quotes is "there is no such thing as idle time". I tried searching for the source but can't find it somehow. If I can recall correctly it was said by Imam Al-Ghazali. The story goes,  he was at the playground with a group of other kids. When asked why wasn't he playing like the rest,  he replied "I am not like the other kids"

True to his words, he became one of the most influential people in the history of Islam. His philosophy is so profound that it takes a great deal of patience and intelligence to read his books. 

2 07

Oh, we shared some ideas
All obsessed with fame
Says we're all the same


Oh, I don't see it that way
I don't see it that way

How different are you from other kids at the playground?

The chase

"We would like to take credit for a lot of what we do and who we are but so much of it involves other things that have nothing to do with us. It's pure circumstance" Hamza Yusuf

Going back to 2 nights ago when I came home a lil later than usual because I got caught up with work. I started to wonder, why am I doing this? am I learning all these new things because I am chasing after something or am I chasing to learn?
If it's the former, have I considered the materiality of what I'm chasing and if it's the latter, have I defined the end game?

When it comes to defining success, perhaps I am way more conservative than I'd like to acknowledge.
I truly believe that success, whatever it may be, comes from blessings and that quote up there illustrates reality because all my life I am convinced that I have been blessed with things I don't deserve. Until when am I going to depend on all that spillover blessings? There is a dire need to purify my intention and my purpose in everything (especially work right now as it occupies so much of my time)


P/s- Don't forget to stay unassuming