بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Above all, I'm indebted to her for her friendship. In all honesty, I don't think she'll ever consider me a true friend to her, but in a time when we were both far removed from friends and family, we spent much of our time together. We were classmates, housemates, and travel companions whenever possible. I do wish that I am able to write about our time together, but all my attempts thus far have come to naught.
There was one occasion,
during our walk home, when she picked a flower for me from a blanket of purple flowers that adorned the side of the street. Though my heart sank at the thought that I would soon witness the flower's demise, I carried it carefully as we continued our walk. It was a beautiful flower that I treasured very much. [Hmmm...It seems a peculiar repeat that I'm enchanted by one flower that is picked on impulse by a friend made in foreign lands.]
I kept the flower on my bedside table without water or any particular comfort except for my occasional attention. It survived, quite surprisingly, for at least eight days after which I placed it in a flower bed to breath its last. My friend was slightly amused by my care for the flower's end, and in fact expected it to have wilted before arriving home the day she picked it. Such was the fate of flowers of the same type that she had picked previously.
As I reflect on the life of an endearing flower, I consider the impact that care plays in the lives of all living organisms. Flowers require sun and rain to survive. We require food, water, and shelter. But that does not, in the least, optimize our existence. They are the incumbents, or the faraidh if I can say. I don't believe that we were created for only that, the bare minimum. Beyond the essentials, we beautify our existence by acts of goodness, much like the sunan, and through them Allah favours us with His graces as He wills.
If this world and all its inhabitants can be likened to a flower-filled garden, how might it look?
اللهم اهدنا الصراط المستقيم... آمين
There was one occasion,
during our walk home, when she picked a flower for me from a blanket of purple flowers that adorned the side of the street. Though my heart sank at the thought that I would soon witness the flower's demise, I carried it carefully as we continued our walk. It was a beautiful flower that I treasured very much. [Hmmm...It seems a peculiar repeat that I'm enchanted by one flower that is picked on impulse by a friend made in foreign lands.]I kept the flower on my bedside table without water or any particular comfort except for my occasional attention. It survived, quite surprisingly, for at least eight days after which I placed it in a flower bed to breath its last. My friend was slightly amused by my care for the flower's end, and in fact expected it to have wilted before arriving home the day she picked it. Such was the fate of flowers of the same type that she had picked previously.
As I reflect on the life of an endearing flower, I consider the impact that care plays in the lives of all living organisms. Flowers require sun and rain to survive. We require food, water, and shelter. But that does not, in the least, optimize our existence. They are the incumbents, or the faraidh if I can say. I don't believe that we were created for only that, the bare minimum. Beyond the essentials, we beautify our existence by acts of goodness, much like the sunan, and through them Allah favours us with His graces as He wills.
If this world and all its inhabitants can be likened to a flower-filled garden, how might it look?
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