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 The
passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive young
woman with the white cane made her way carefully up the steps. She paid
the driver and, using her hands to feel the location of the seats,
walked down the aisle and found the seat he had told her was empty.
Then she settled in, placed her briefcase on her lap and rested her
cane against her leg.
It had been a year since Safiya, thirty-four, became blind. Due to a
medical misdiagnosis she had been rendered sightless, and she was
suddenly thrown into a world of darkness, anger,
frustration and self-pity. Once a fiercely independent woman, Safiya
now felt condemned by this terrible twist of fate to become a
powerless, helpless burden on everyone around her.
"How could this have happened to me?" she would plead, her heart
knotted with anger. But no matter how much she cried or ranted, she
knew the painful truth her sight was never going to return. A cloud of
depression hung over Safiya's once optimistic spirit. Just getting
through each day was an exercise in frustration and exhaustion. And all
she had to cling to was her husband Meraj.
Meraj was an Air Force officer and he loved Safiya with all of his
heart. When she first lost her sight, he watched her sink into despair
and was determined to help his wife gain the strength and confidence
she needed to become independent again. Meraj's military background had
trained him well to deal with sensitive situations, and yet he knew
this was the most difficult battle he would ever face.
Finally, Safiya felt ready to return to her job, but how would she
get there? She used to take the bus, but was now too frightened to get
around the city by herself. Meraj volunteered to drive her to work each
day, even though they worked at opposite ends of the city.
At first, this comforted Safiya and fulfilled Meraj's need to
protect his sightless wife who was so insecure about performing the
slightest task. Soon, however, Meraj realized that this arrangement was
not working - it was hectic, and costly. Safiya is going to have to
start taking the bus again, he admitted to himself. But just the
thought of mentioning it to her made him cringe. She was still so
fragile, so angry. How would she react?
Just as Meraj predicted, Safiya was horrified at the idea of taking
the bus again. "I am blind!" she responded bitterly. "How am I supposed
to know where I am going? I feel like you are abandoning me."
Meraj's heart broke to hear these words, but he knew what had to be
done. Meraj promised Safiya that each morning and evening he would ride
the bus with her, for as long as it took, until she got the hang of it.
And that is exactly what happened. For two solid weeks, Meraj, military
uniform and all, accompanied Safiya to and from work each day. Meraj
taught her how to rely on her other senses, specifically her hearing,
to determine where she was and how to adapt to her new environment.
Meraj helped her befriend the bus drivers who could watch out for
her and save her a seat. Meraj made her laugh, even on those
not-so-good days when she would trip exiting the bus or drop her
briefcase. Each morning they made the journey together and Meraj would
take a cab back to his office. Although this routine was even more
costly and exhausting than the previous one, Meraj knew it was only a
matter of time before Safiya would be able to ride the bus on her own.
Meraj believed in her, in the Safiya he used to know before she would
lost her sight, who was not afraid of any challenge and who would
never, ever quit.
 Finally,
Safiya decided that she was ready to try the trip on her own. Monday
morning arrived, and before she left, she threw her arms around Meraj,
her temporary bus riding companion, her husband, and her best friend.
Her eyes filled with tears of gratitude for his loyalty, his patience,
his love. Safiya said good-bye, and for the first time, they went their
separate ways.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... Each day on her own went
perfectly and Safiya had never felt better. Safiya was doing it! She
was going to work all by herself!
On Friday morning, Safiya took the bus to work as usual. As she was
paying for her fare to exit the bus, the driver said, "Sister, I sure envy you."
Safiya was not sure if the driver was speaking to her or not. After
all, who on earth would ever envy a blind woman who had struggled just
to find the courage to live for the past year? Curious, she asked the
driver, "Why do you say that you envy me?"
The driver responded, "It must feel so good to be taken care of and protected like you are."
Safiya had no idea what the driver was talking about, and asked again, "What do you mean?"
The driver answered, "You know, every morning for the past week, a
fine looking gentleman in a military uniform has been standing across
the corner watching you when you get off the bus. He makes sure you
cross the street safely and he watches you until you enter your office
building. Then he blows you a kiss, gives you a little salute and walks
away. You are one lucky woman."
Tears of happiness poured down Safiya's cheeks. For although she
could not physically see him, she had always felt Meraj's presence.
Safiya was lucky, so lucky, for he had given her a gift more powerful
than sight, a gift she did not need to see to believe - Gift of Love that can bring light where there had been darkness ... |
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| Surely Noble Qur'an says: "The
Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin
what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers,
practice regular charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger. On them
will Allah pour His mercy: for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise." Tawba
(9:71) Love (Hubb) in Islam |
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One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.
A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.
 There was not a mark or a flaw in it.
Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen.
The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, "Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine."
The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was
beating strongly ... but full of scars. It had places where pieces had
been removed and other pieces put in ... but they didn't fit quite
right and there were several jagged edges.
In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.
The people starred ... how could he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought?
The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and
laughed. "You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine
... mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."
 "Yes,"
said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking ... but I would never trade
with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given
my love ..... I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them ...
and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty
place in my heart ... but because the pieces aren't exact, I have some
rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we
shared.
Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away ... and the other
person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty
gouges ... giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are
painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these
people too ... and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I
have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He
walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful
heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with
trembling hands.
The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took
a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the
young man's heart.
It fit .... but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.
The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more
beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into
his.
They embraced and walked away side by side. |
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 There
was a blind girl who hated herself just because she's blind. She hated
everyone, except her loving fiance. He is always there for her. Blind
girl said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her
fiance.
One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to the blind girl and then she can see everything, including her fiance.
Her fiance asked her, "now that you can see the world, will you
marry me?" The girl was shocked when she saw that her fiance is blind
too, and refused to marry him.
Her fiance walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to girl saying. "Just take care of my eyes dear."
Moral: This is how human brain changes when the status
changed. Only few remember what life was before, and who's always been
there even in the most painful situations.
Never take someone for granted, Hold every person close to your
Heart because you might wake up one day and realize that you have lost
a diamond while you were too busy collecting stones. Remember this
always in life!
"You learn to love, not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." |
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A woman came out of her house and
saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She
did not recognize them. She said "I don't think I know you, but you
must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."
 "Is the man of the house home?", they asked.
"No", she replied. "He's out."
"Then we cannot come in", they replied.
In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened.
"Go tell them I am home and invite them in!"
The woman went out and invited the men in.
"We do not go into a House together," they replied.
"Why is that?" she asked.
One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing
to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is
Success, and I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with
your husband which one of us you want in your home?"
The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband
was overjoyed. "How nice!", he said. "Since that is the case, let us
invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!"
His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?"
Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the
house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better
to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"
"Let us heed our daughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his wife.
"Go out and invite Love to be our guest."
The woman went out and asked the three old men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest."
Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two old
men also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and
Success: "I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?"
The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success,
the other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love,
wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also
Wealth and Success!!!" |
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 Inspirational Sayings for Teenagers (Heart Hardening):
Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace be upon him)
has said: "Do not speak excessively without the remembrance of Allah
(SWT), since verily excessive speaking without the remembrance of Allah
(SWT) makes the heart hard."
 Allah revealed to Prophet Musa / Moses (peace be upon him):
"(O Musa!) Do not have long desires or hopes for the world since this
will make your heart hard and the one whose heart is hard far away from
Me!"
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "The eyes do not dry (tears are
not stopped) except due to the heart becoming hard. And the heart does
not become hard except due to increase in sins."
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "Looking at a stingy person makes the heart hard."
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "An abundance of wealth corrupts the religion and hardens the heart." |
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