A poem by my dad, who has the warmest and wisest heart of anyone I've ever known.
As I stroll across the road on a “zebra-crossing”
At the speeds below what comfort will allow
I slow down to a virtual crawl
Holding her soft hand no longer firm, no longer strong
I recall crossing the road on a “zebra-crossing”
At the speeds below what comfort would allow
She would slow her walk to a crawl
Holding my soft child-hand, hers strong and firm
I feel tightness in my throat
Tears force there way to the corners of my eyes
The quickly-moving and decisive woman has changed
The strong and firm hands are no longer what they were
I look at her and see her smile
Familiar smile, though a bit timid, altered by time
One that encouraged with love then
Now filled with gratitude and love
I want to say so much to her
But I just smile
Smile filled with gratitude for then
Filled with encouragement for now
Always with love
“There glances said ‘that she had played her part in life, that what they now saw was not her whole self, that we must all come to the same extremity one day, and that they were glad to give way to her, to forebear for the sake of this poor creature, once so dear, once as full of life as ourselves, now so pitiful.’ Only the really heartless and stupid members of the household, and the little ones, failed to understand this, and kept away from her.” (Leo Tolstoy – War & Peace)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
"Photographing People's Relationship with the Unseen"
What a gift for this community, mashaAllah! OMAR MULLICK's exhibition in New York is called Can't Take It With You, "a selection of photographs from seven years of documenting American Muslims." I wish I could see.
His artist's statement, words to move you:
The irony is not lost on me that I am driven to photograph people's relationships with the unseen, and I've gone around the country and this particular community in that effort. Photographers have pointed a camera at every thing -- I am acutely aware of that. I suppose then I am interested in nudging a photograph to breaking point in its capacity to address a person's relationship with something intangible, some thing that cannot be held. I joked with a subject once when I gave them a print and said 'here you go - here's the proof.' And we did not articulate it beyond that. It got a small laugh, and I liked that. But seriously, it must fail, the effort to articulate something of this breadth. That does not mean it's not worth it. I think of a Beckett quote I love: 'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.' I don't know what it is that moves me about photography and this violence of light on a piece of film. I know it is something to do with when the results intimate something beyond the frame, something that provokes awe. And when that happens there is little else that seems more worthwhile than that.
His artist's statement, words to move you:
The irony is not lost on me that I am driven to photograph people's relationships with the unseen, and I've gone around the country and this particular community in that effort. Photographers have pointed a camera at every thing -- I am acutely aware of that. I suppose then I am interested in nudging a photograph to breaking point in its capacity to address a person's relationship with something intangible, some thing that cannot be held. I joked with a subject once when I gave them a print and said 'here you go - here's the proof.' And we did not articulate it beyond that. It got a small laugh, and I liked that. But seriously, it must fail, the effort to articulate something of this breadth. That does not mean it's not worth it. I think of a Beckett quote I love: 'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.' I don't know what it is that moves me about photography and this violence of light on a piece of film. I know it is something to do with when the results intimate something beyond the frame, something that provokes awe. And when that happens there is little else that seems more worthwhile than that.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Elderly Immigrants in America
This is a heart-wrenching piece to read in the NYT, about elderly immigrants in the US, called Invisible Immigrants, Old and Left With ‘Nobody to Talk To’.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Hadith No. 157 of Fasting
Oh God, please put mercy in my heart, like the mercy of the Prophet, may please and blessings of God be upon him! Ameen!
While we were sitting with the Prophet a man came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have been ruined." Allah's Apostle asked what was the matter with him. He replied "I had sexual intercourse with my wife while I was fasting." Allah's Apostle asked him, "Can you afford to manumit a slave?" He replied in the negative. Allah's Apostle asked him, "Can you fast for two successive months?" He replied in the negative. The Prophet asked him, "Can you afford to feed sixty poor persons?" He replied in the negative. The Prophet kept silent and while we were in that state, a big basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet . He asked, "Where is the questioner?" He replied, "I (am here)." The Prophet said (to him), "Take this (basket of dates) and give it in charity." The man said, "Should I give it to a person poorer than I? By Allah; there is no family between its (i.e. Medina's) two mountains who are poorer than I." The Prophet smiled till his pre-molar teeth became visible and then said, 'Feed your family with it."
[bukhari]
While we were sitting with the Prophet a man came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have been ruined." Allah's Apostle asked what was the matter with him. He replied "I had sexual intercourse with my wife while I was fasting." Allah's Apostle asked him, "Can you afford to manumit a slave?" He replied in the negative. Allah's Apostle asked him, "Can you fast for two successive months?" He replied in the negative. The Prophet asked him, "Can you afford to feed sixty poor persons?" He replied in the negative. The Prophet kept silent and while we were in that state, a big basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet . He asked, "Where is the questioner?" He replied, "I (am here)." The Prophet said (to him), "Take this (basket of dates) and give it in charity." The man said, "Should I give it to a person poorer than I? By Allah; there is no family between its (i.e. Medina's) two mountains who are poorer than I." The Prophet smiled till his pre-molar teeth became visible and then said, 'Feed your family with it."
[bukhari]
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