Peer-e-Kamil/پیر کامل Quotes

“‗In life, at sometime or another we come to a point where all relationships cease—where there is only us and Allah. There are no parents, brother or sister, or any friend. Then we realise that there is no earth under us nor is there sky above, but only Allah who is supporting us in this emptiness. Then we realise our worth – it is not more than a grain of sand or the leaf of a plant. Then we realise our existence is only confined to our being. Our demise makes not a whit of difference to the world around us, nor to the scheme of things.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer-e-Kamil/پیر کامل

“What is next to ecstasy?"
"Pain."
"What is next to pain?"
"Nothingness."
"What is next to nothingness?"
"Hell.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“The most difficult dilemma for a person is perhaps when his heart testifies to an inevitable reality yet his tongue will not proclaim it, when his mind screams in acceptance of truth but he cant bring himself to state it.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“To him who begs for a drop,
You grant the seas.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“Forget her."
"How can anyone forget breathing?”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“She is beyond me, but my love is pure, not base desire
To her alone I belonged, I belong - even if mine she may not be.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“زندگی میں ھم کبھی نہ کبھی اس مقام پر آجاتے ہيں جہاں سارے رشتے ختم ہو جاتے ہيں. وہاں صرف ھم ہوتے ہيں اور اللہ ہوتا ہے. کوئ ماں باپ کوئ بہن بھائ کوئ دوست نہيں ھوتا. پھر ہمیں پتا چلتا ہے کہ ھمارے پیروں کے نيچے زمين ہے نہ ھمارے سر کے اوپر کوئ آسمان، بس صرف ايک اللہ ہے جو ہميں اس خلا ميں بھی تھامے ہوۓ ہے . پھر پتا چلتا ہے ہم زمين پر پڑی مٹی کے ڈھير ميں ايک زرے يا درخت پر لگے ہوۓ پتے سے زيادہ کی وقعت نہيں رکھتے. پھر پتا چلتا ہے کہ ہمارے ہونے يا نہ ہونے سے صرف ہميں فرق پڑتا ہے. صرف ہمارا کردار ختم ہو جاتا ہے. کاينات ميں کوئ تبديلی نہيں آتی . کسی چيز پر کوئ اثر نہيں پڑتا”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer-e-Kamil/پیر کامل

“You have been my saviour in my loneliness.
Were it not for you, I would have been dead.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“Imama looked at the black sweater and the white collar peeking out of it. She put her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest. She inhaled the soft cologne he was using. Salar was absolutely still as if he could not believe what was happening. Then, gently, he embraced her. "I am honoured," she heard him say.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“When darkness, layer by layer, descends on the soul,
Your light then does with greater brilliance glow.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“My life is but a separation, though in my heart she lives,
So close, so near to every pulse, yet so distant from my yearning eyes.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“Be it the peak of Sinai or the hour of reckoning, I'll endure the wait
To meet my beloved somewhere, anywhere, whenever, wherever.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“If I stand tall today, it is your mercy.
For your support does not let me waver.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“Insensitive to the point of cruelty.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“Imama had in her palm a tiny firefly of guidance, and in the burst of its light, she had made her way through every dark alley of life without ever stumbling.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“Your admirer asks nothing from the kings,
For the dust of your tracks is my greatest reward.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“The fragrance of the Prophet (pbuh) lingers on my fingers, my lips,
So often did I write and kiss his blessed name.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“Undaunted, they cross the darkness
Whose brows are illumined by your brilliance.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“Imama: Accha mai ek arab likh deti to kya krte
Salar: To ek arab bhi de deta
Imama: Kahan se dete? Fraud krte?
Salar: Kyu krta? Kama kar deta
İmama: Sari umar kamate hi rehte fir ?
Salar: Accha hota sari umar tumhara karzdar rehta.”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer-e-Kamil/پیر کامل

“If you study Islam with understanding, you’ll realize its scope—how open it is. It is not a faith subscribing to narrow-mindedness and meanness; there’s no place for these in Islam. It begins with I and moves on to we—from the individual to the community. Islam does not expect you to sit on a prayer mat all day, a cap on your head and a rosary in your hands, doing nothing but praying and preaching. In fact, it asks you to make your life an example of fair dealing, devotion, honesty and diligence. It asks for sincerity and steadfastness. A good Muslim convinces others not by his words but his deeds.”
― Umera Ahmed, Pir-E-Kamil: The Perfect Mentor

“Look, what you call an attempted suicide is not what I intended—I just
wanted to know the pain of dying…how it feels”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer e Kamil

“The most trivial of their needs would be on their nerves and they would be slaves to whoever could fulfill their needs.”
― Umera Ahmed, Pir-E-Kamil: The Perfect Mentor

“It was not I who gave her a place in my emotions, in my heart—it was You who put her there. Why have You so filled my heart with love for her that even though I stand in Your presence, I miss her? Why have You made me so helpless that I have no power over my existence? I am that being who was created with all these failings. I am that being who has no guide but You. And that woman—she stands at every turn that my life takes, preventing me from making any move, going ahead. Either completely erase all thought of her from my heart, take away my love for her, or grant her to me. If I cannot have her, my entire life will be wasted mourning for her. If she should be mine then my tears will only be for You— grant that purity to my tears.”
― Umera Ahmed, "Pir-E-Kamil," a novel by Umera Ahmed in English

“We also believe in the prophethood of Jesus and that the Bible is a divine book, so does that make us Christians? And we believe in the prophets Moses and David too…are we Jews?’ Tehreem queried in a mocking tone. ‘Our faith is Islam and we are the followers of the Holy Prophet, and though we respect other prophets and their teachings, we remain followers of Islam. we are not followers of their faiths. Similarly, you follow your prophet thereby denying the finality of the prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) but yet you insist that your faith is also a sect of Islam. Your prophet and the leaders of your community claim that whoever denies Mirza as a prophet is not a true Muslim—in effect, we’ve all been thrown out of Islam.”
― Umera Ahmed, Pir-E-Kamil: The Perfect Mentor

“پاکستان کے دس پندرہ بڑے شہروں سے نکل جائیں تو احساس ہوتا ہے کہ چھوٹے شہروں میں رہنے والے لوگ تیسری دنیا میں نہیں دسویں بارھویں دنیا میں رہتے ہیں۔وہاں تو لوگوں کے پاس نہ روزگار ہے، نہ سہولتیں۔ وہ اپنی آدھی زندگی خواہش میں گزارتے ہیں اور آدھی حسرت میں مبتلا ہو کر۔ کون سی اخلاقیات سکھا سکتے ہیں آپ اُس شخص کو جس کا دن سوکھی روٹی سے شروع ہوتا ہے اور فاقے پر ختم ہو جاتا ہے اور ہم۔۔۔۔۔۔ہم لوگوں کی بھوک مٹانے کے بجائے مسجدوں پر مسجدیں تعمیر کرتے ہیں۔عالی شان مسجدیں، پرشکوہ مسجدیں، ماربل سے آرستہ مسجدیں۔ بعض دفعہ تو ایک ہی سڑک پہ دس دس مسجدیں کھڑی ہوتی ہیں۔ نمازیوں سے خالی مسجدیں۔
اس ملک میں اِتنی مسجدیں ہوچکی ہیں کہ اگر پورا پاکستان ایک وقت کی نماز کے کے لئے مسجدوں میں اکھٹا ہوجاۓ تو بھی بہت سی مسجدیں خالی رہ جائیں گی۔ میں مسجدیں بنانے پر یقین نہیں رکھتا جہاں لوگ بھوک سے خودکشیاں کرتے پھر رہے ہوں جہاں کچھ خاص طبقوں کی پوری پوری نسل جہالت کی اندھیروں میں بھٹکتی پھر رہی ہو وہاں مسجد کے بجائے مدرسے کی ضرورت ہے۔اسکول کی ضرورت ہے،تعلیم اور شعور ہوگا اور رزق کمانے کے مواقع تو اللہ سے محبت ہوگی ورنہ صرف شکوہ ہی ہوگا۔”
― Umera Ahmed, Peer-e-Kamil/پیر کامل

“Your messengers and prophets stood at this spot and prayed to you. There's a world of difference between my prayers and theirs.' He was pleading. 'I am no prophet to pray the way they do. I am an ordinary human being with very human failings. My desires and my aspirations are all very ordinary. No one must have stood here and wept for a woman—how lower can my position, my debasement be, that standing in this pristine and sacred place, I should beg and plead for a woman? But I have no control over my heart nor over my tears. It was not I who gave her a place in my emotions, in my heart—it was You who put her there. Why have You so filled my heart with love for her that even though I stand in Your presence, I miss her? Why have You made me so helpless that I have no power over my existence? I am that being who was created with all these failings. I am that being who has no guide but You. And that woman—she stands at every turn that my life takes, preventing me from making any move, going ahead. Either completely erase all thought of her from my heart, take away my love for her, or grant her to me. If I cannot have her, my entire life will be wasted mourning for her. If she should be mine then my tears will only be for You— grant that purity to my tears. Standing here, I beg you to grant me one of the pure and noble women—I ask for Imama Hashim. For my coming generations, I ask for that woman who cannot include anyone in her love and reverence for your Prophet (PBUH), who left all the ease and comforts of her life for the love of the Prophet. If ever I have done any good in my life,then in return I ask for Imama Hashim. If You wish, it is possible—even now. Please lift this misery from me! Make my life easy. Please release me from the anguish that has gripped me since the last eight years. O Allah, please have mercy on Salar Sikandar once again, for mercy is the highest of Your attributes.' Head bowed, he wept for a long time, standing at the very spot where he had seen himself in his dream—but Imama was not standing behind him now.”
― Umera Ahmed, "Pir-E-Kamil," a novel by Umera Ahmed in English