Salaam and Greetings of Peace:
An old American Muslim lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Qur’an.
His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read the Qur’an just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand, I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Qur’an do?”
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.” (A coal basket is also called a scuttle, which is just a metal basket for carrying coal, with holes in the sides and bottom so the coal dust can be shaken out before it is carried.) The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house.
The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home.
Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket with holes, and he went to get a regular bucket instead. The old man said, “I don’t want a regular bucket of water; I want a coal basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.
Out of breath, he said, “See Grandpa, it’s useless!”
“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the coal basket was indeed different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.
“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Qur’an. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will over time be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Allah in our lives.”
“And We sent down the Qur`an as a healer and a mercy for those who believe…” – Al-Isra’ 17:82
Ya Haqq!
Posted by darvish 
Darvish 
Poetry Monday – In the Arms of Midnight, by Jafar Alam
February 27, 2012Chocolate girl
Your hair looks
Un-beweavable
Don’t give up on tomorrow
It’s already praisin’
Today
You aint a regular
Earth dweller
Sweet heart
There’s only one caste system…
That’s the human race
And Karma
She’s a trip
She’s got their names
In her book
You deserve a love
That makes you a priority
Not an option hun
Don’t run away from your problems
Lest you start avoiding mirrors
Chocolate girl
You’re the realist fairytale
Don’t try explaining yourself
To them
How you explain sunshine
To a blind man?
You are the joy of the world
Yeeeup!
So act like it
Gwan!
Gwan!
Don’t be some fools
Baby mama
Boilin’ milk over a stove
With lost dreams
These boys
These days
They be fallin’ in love
Without love
Don’t be so consumed
With the world around you
That you neglect the world
Within you
Start your journey
If they ask for you
Tell em
They can find you
Waiting in the dimple of the moon
In the arms of midnight
Dancing
To the whistle
Of the wind
– Jafar Alam, from Almond Eyes Hears the Dove’s Cries which is also available as an Ebook HERE.