O son, know that I rushed home to catch up with you on this space which serves as my escape from the worldly madness. I was at a uni campus blessed with abundant greeneries, a uni in Kedah (a state in North Malaysia). It was serenely green that Khidr came to mind the moment I passed through the main entrance. Khidr, the mysterious being who is associated with the color green (deriving from Arabic khadir), whose being represents the elixir of life; whose presence is like mushkil gusha - one who evades troubles; whose barakah could make a barren land sprout vegetation and a dull life turns vibrant just like the dead fish which regained its life and swam into the sea, as narrated in Surah al-Kahfi.
To escape to a divine space which we often yearn for requires effort but it's worthwhile. It demands an awakening like the fish who became alive and rushed to its home. The verse in at-Talaq gives a clue. If you want a way out, have taqwa. And we want a way out from so many things, from difficulties, from a restless mind, from ignorance, from loneliness, from a knotty relationship, you name it.
So I cherished the break I had yesterday, walking around the green campus in the rain; to be 500 km away and out of the hustle and bustle of the capital city; walking up 144 flights of staircase only to be welcomed by the uni's tranquil masjid atop the hill. Alhamdulillah for the joy of escaping to the house of Allah, escaping to Him. Maybe it's not an escape but rather a homecoming, coming home to a divine consciousness that He exists and is always waiting for souls who tend to wander from its eternal resting place.
144 steps leading to the entrance of Masjid Sultan Badlishah
Universiti Utara Malaysia
p/s Thanks Prof for showing me around, for lunch and everything.
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