When choosing favourite verses from the Qur'an, mine was a verse from Surah Takwir [81:26] and it goes like this: "So where are you going?" and that's it. It's as simple as that, and I think compared to a lot of the verses that I'd heard from my peers, this one seemed entirely basic. They had all chosen verses that spoke volumes about the of the grandiosity of God, His mercy, the amazing way in which the Earth was created, and the intricacies of this world.
So many conflicting things all at once, and yet, none of them at all. It seems more a cacophony of a degree of emotions rather than any one emotion itself and my dears, I think we’ll all agree the spare hours in a lifetime are too far and few in between to even begin to unpack and address these.
This journey to one’s own reality is never an easy one. It weighs down heavily upon your bones and if you aren’t prepared, it will threaten to break you. But, you are not made of glass, and you will not break.
In my heart of hearts I knew that in this moment, the greatest guidance can only come from Allah, and the best way to access this guidance is through His words in the Qur’an.
When I feel myself straying, even the tiniest amount, this verse catches me out and it's a gentle, but pressing, reminder that simply asks me: where are you going?
In keeping with my theme of gratitude and reflection during this month, I have accumulated 24 lessons to share before I turn 24. I hope that they will be as insightful to you as they have been for me (in hindsight anyway).
The days are dark, and the light seems as though it will never shine upon us, but we’re going to power through anyway and hold on to the most powerful thing we have, hope. The tides will inevitably change, and our paths will too often stray from the linear one we’d hoped for it to stay on, but that isn’t always a bad thing; sometimes what we need is different to what we want and it is in the right timing and situation that all which is right for us will align and make its self apparent.
On the good days and the bad, I reached out for my comfort book and read it cover to cover until my little brain pleaded with me to change it up a bit and read something new. But, my goodness, that book changed me.
And that’s the biggest difference in this new year of life. For so long I have lived for everyone else that I forgot that I’m a person too, and I deserve to be cared for by me.
On some mornings I still stand in front of the mirror for a minute too long and have to fight the urge to knock all of these products off the sink, but I have to take a moment to remind myself that this is for me. It hasn't always been for me, but it is now. I owe it to myself to be kind to my body, mind, and soul.
