The Journey of a Sufi (Part 2: The Light Touch of Breeze)

Me & my cousin in front of Jami' Umawi Saghir in Hama, Syria


Remember I told you about the instinct that struck me telling me to choose the road to Syria? Okay let me start from there and how it all happened.

I have a cousin named Hafiz (above picture) studying in UIA, and one day during the mid-sem break, he and his mother came to my house in Perlis to pay a visit. He informed me and my parents that he would go and study Arabic language in Syria. That’s not all, he also eagerly invited me to come with him. I thought it was just a joke. But looking into his eyes, I could sense it was for real. At that time, as I told you, middle-east countries were hardly my choice of travel route. I would rather go to Japan acquiring skill of Japanese language and Aikido. I had always had dispute with my umi on this, where she having a strong faith, would impose a condition that requires me to go and study Arabic and religion in the middle-east if ever I wanted to go to Japan. Like I was the truth and she ‘s the evil, I always didn’t meet her in the eye and said no. So coming back to my cousin’s invitation, I politely said to him that I wasn’t interested. That didn’t hurt him because his purpose visiting me was to ask for help for some donation to at least relief his burden.

So time passed by and reached the semester break and I was home once again. This was the moment, when the revelation came down on me. It was when performing night prayer that I felt the hatred concerning middle-east perished suddenly. My heart had softened a bit and I thought I should give it a try. I told myself this may be a guidance from God that He wanted to show me to the right path. So soon after, I decided to tell my umi and ask her whether she would allow me to go to Syria or not. To my surprise, her eyes shining and said ‘Of course you can, I would be happy if you do so’.

So what I wanted to say is that, a mother is like an angel sent down by God and what she says or order you to do is like the word of Him. So if you just empty your mind and do as she says, you’re just on the right track while you don’t notice it. My umi sacrificed a sum of lots of money to pay for my journey though it’s just for a period of two months. And I hope that the tiny little changes in me that I brought back home are worth what she had paid for. May God make her a dweller of Heaven in the Hereafter.

It’s a wonder when we think about how the heart can abruptly switch from hatred to love, and from anger to rest, without our consent. To give an analogy, it’s like a traveler stumbling in the middle of a desert feeling extremely exhausted for the heat, but suddenly the land before his eyes gradually falls to see a steep canyon down bellow and he’s now standing with awe of seeing such a beautiful scenery. And lightly breeze starts touching his whole body and embraces him till it penetrates into his heart and consoles it.

So I’d like to thank my cousin for the ceaseless invitation. May God place him with the righteous men.

-ali-