Partnerships

Bismillah.

One reputable emcee at the wedding I attended last weekend made some very good points. I would vote him the best wedding emcee anytime. He recited some cleverly composed poetry - poetic and romantic yet loaded with wisdom.

He succinctly defined the partnership of Prophet Muhammad salallah alaihi wasalam with Saidatina Khadijah and Ai'shah; Yusuf and Zulaikha; Sulaiman and Balqis.

He reminded the audience not to dream for extraordinary wife or husband because we are people of akhiru zaman. We should just be more concerned about being a soleh and solehah ourselves and not harbour too high an expectation on our partner.

I left the wedding with a lovely gift and this line etched in mind: "if you are not a woman of strength like Siti Hajar, then don't hope for a husband as brave and as patient as Ibrahim."

And this, I think, describes a good partnership:

"We're sufficiently similar to understand each other easily, 

and sufficiently different to surprise each other."

- Daniel Kahneman 

[on his sparring partner and sidekick Amos Tversky in 'Thinking, Fast and Slow']

In keeping with the love theme, I wish to quote an Indonesian song. Apologies to the non-Malay readers, I will not translate it line by line, lest its beauty dissipates.

Sorry about this mushy stuff tonight. Al-Wadud abound!

Gapai semua jemariku 

rangkul aku dalam bahagia mu

ku ingin bersama berdua selamanya

Jika aku buka mata ini

ku ingin selalu ada dirimu

dalam kelemahan hati ini

bersama mu aku tegar