Shems Saif

“Why does Allah compare the Quran to water?
Besides the fact that the Quran came down from the sky, it also brings dead hearts back to life, like water brings life to the dead earth. Similarly as to how water is completely pure, the Quran is pure and purifies everything else. We are completely incapable of creating water ourselves yet benefit from what it produces in the earth, the same way the Quran is not and cannot be the work of a human being but we can extract benefit from the guidance it offers.”
― Nouman Ali Khan

“The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set --
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink --
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.”
― Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

“For we were not always burdened by debt, dependent on foreign aid and handouts; in the stories we tell of ourselves we were not the crazed and destitute radicals you see on your television channels but rather saints and poets and — yes — conquering kings. We built the Royal Mosque and the Shalimar Gardens in this city, and we built the Lahore Fort with its mighty walls and wide ramp for our battle-elephants. And we did these things when your country was still a collection of thirteen small colonies, gnawing away at the edge of a continent.”
― Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist

“لعَمْرُكَ، ما الدّنيا بدارِ بَقَاءِ؛ كَفَاكَ بدارِ المَوْتِ دارَ فَنَاءِ
فلا تَعشَقِ الدّنْيا، أُخيَّ، فإنّما يُرَى عاشِقُ الدُّنيَا بجُهْدِ بَلاَءِ
حَلاَوَتُهَا ممزَوجَة ٌ بمرارة ٍ ورَاحتُهَا ممزوجَة ٌ بِعَناءِ
فَلا تَمشِ يَوْماً في ثِيابِ مَخيلَة ٍ فإنَّكَ من طينٍ خلقتَ ومَاءِ
لَقَلّ امرُؤٌ تَلقاهُ لله شاكِراً؛ وقلَّ امرؤٌ يرضَى لهُ بقضَاءِ
وللّهِ نَعْمَاءٌ عَلَينا عَظيمَة ٌ، وللهِ إحسانٌ وفضلُ عطاءِ
ومَا الدهرُ يوماً واحداً في اختِلاَفِهِ ومَا كُلُّ أيامِ الفتى بسَوَاءِ
ومَا هُوَ إلاَّ يومُ بؤسٍ وشدة ٍ ويومُ سُرورٍ مرَّة ً ورخاءِ
وما كلّ ما لم أرْجُ أُحرَمُ نَفْعَهُ؛ وما كلّ ما أرْجوهُ أهلُ رَجاءِ
أيَا عجبَا للدهرِ لاَ بَلْ لريبِهِ يخرِّمُ رَيْبُ الدَّهْرِ كُلَّ إخَاءِ
وشَتّتَ رَيبُ الدّهرِ كلَّ جَماعَة ٍ وكَدّرَ رَيبُ الدّهرِ كُلَّ صَفَاءِ
إذا ما خَليلي حَلّ في بَرْزَخِ البِلى ، فَحَسْبِي بهِ نأْياً وبُعْدَ لِقَاءِ
أزُورُ قبورَ المترفينَ فَلا أرَى بَهاءً، وكانوا، قَبلُ،أهل بهاءِ
وكلُّ زَمانٍ واصِلٌ بصَريمَة ٍ، وكلُّ زَمانٍ مُلطَفٌ بجَفَاءِ
يعِزُّ دفاعُ الموتِ عن كُلِّ حيلة ٍ ويَعْيَا بداءِ المَوْتِ كلُّ دَواءِ
ونفسُ الفَتَى مسرورَة ٌ بنمائِهَا وللنقْصِ تنْمُو كُلُّ ذاتِ نمَاءِ
وكم من مُفدًّى ماتَ لم يَرَ أهْلَهُ حَبَوْهُ، ولا جادُوا لهُ بفِداءِ
أمامَكَ، يا نَوْمانُ، دارُ سَعادَة ٍ يَدومُ البَقَا فيها، ودارُ شَقاءِ
خُلقتَ لإحدى الغايَتينِ، فلا تنمْ، وكُنْ بينَ خوفٍ منهُمَا ورَجَاءُ
وفي النّاسِ شرٌّ لوْ بَدا ما تَعاشَرُوا ولكِنْ كَسَاهُ اللهُ ثوبَ غِطَاءِ”
― أبو العتاهية