The City

I swear by this city [Makkah]
And you, [O Mohmmad], are free of restriction in this city-
And [by] the father [Adam] and that which was born [of him],
We have certainly created man into hardship.
Does he think that never will anyone overcome him?

He says, "I have spent wealth in abundance."
Does he think that no one has seen him?
Have we not made for him two eyes?
And a tongue and two lips?
And have shown him the two ways?

But he has not broken through the difficult pass.
And what can make you know what is the difficult pass?
It is the freeing of a slave
Or feeding on a day of severe hunger
An orphan of near relationship
Or a needy person in misery

And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and compassion.
Those are the companions of the right.
But they who disbelieved in Our signs - those are the companions of the left.
Over them will be fire closed in.

Ramadan

excerpt of "Ramadan" by Rumi:

The lips of the Master are parched
from calling the Beloved.
The sound of your call resounds
through the horn of your empty belly. 

Let nothing be inside of you.
Be empty: give your lips the lips of the reed.
When like a reed you fill with His breath,
then you'll taste sweetness

Existence

Look at yourself, trembling, afraid of nonexistence:
Know that nonexistence
is also afraid
that God might bring it into existence.
If you grasp at worldly dignities,
it's from fear, too.
Everything, except love of the Most Beautiful,
is really agony. It's agony
to move towards death and not drink the water of life.

-Rumi
Mathnwai I, 3684-3687

Surah Al-Isra 

verses 85-87:

They ask you about the Spirit.
Say: "The Spirit is of my Lord's command, and of knowledge you have been given but little."
And if We willed We could certainly take away that which We have revealed to you;
then you should find none to plead with Us on your behalf.
(All that you have received) is nothing but grace from your Lord.
Indeed his favor to you is great. 

verses 94-95:

And what prevented the people from believing when guidance came to them except that they said, "Has Allah sent a human messenger?"
Say, "Had angels settled on the Earth and moved about in peace, We would certainly have sent an angel as a Messenger to them." 

Light

God is the light
of the heavens and the earth.
The Simile of God's light
is like a niche in which is a lamp,
the lamp in a globe of glass,
the globe of glass as if it were a shining star,
lit from a blessed olive tree
neither of the East nor of the West,
its light nearly luminous
even if fire did not touch it.
Light upon light!
God guides to this light
whomever God will:
and God gives people examples;
and God knows all things.

Surah Al-Noor: verse 35

Yuppie Athletics

Adrenaline rushing at the start, Decked out with nike shoes, SmartWool socks, and a moisture wicking jersey. GPS location and heart beat monitoring watch strapped on. Game face on, talking big like you're a pro - lined up at the neighborhood 5k between a 70 year old women donning a gardening hat and her ten year old grandson reppin' his elementary school shirt. 

"Every soul will taste of death, ..., And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion."

2 : 185

"All that is on Earth will perish, And there will remain the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor"     

55 : 26-27