I have seen three of the most beautiful sites in the world and nothing will ever compare.

Going in the sequence that I saw them:

1. Masjid-e-Nabwi (Mosque of the Prophet Mohammad -sm-):

The first time I saw this mosque was from a bus window from far off. My first view was that of a huge, huge mosque lighted up like I have never seen a building light up. I just looked and I looked for I was seeing the most beautiful site I had ever set my eyes on in my entire life. I have been around the world, yet I had never seen a place as beautiful as this mosque. For it was not lights … it was noor that was emanating from that mosque.

I was stunned … a thought crossed my mind … should pray for something. What could I pray for? I was so stunned that my mind was blank. How could I think of anything to pray when I was faced with the most beautiful, the most stunning site, I had ever seen?

Masjid-e-Nabwi is calm and peace and noor. It is where the last Prophet of God is and it is one of the two most protected places on Earth, for it is protected by Allah himself.

2. Ka’aba (House of Allah):

I kept my eyes lowered throughout the mosque until I reached the stairs that led to the ‘Sahan’ (area around Ka’aba) of Ka’aba. I then raised my eyes and was met by a site, the likes of which I have never seen before. I wish I could describe Ka’aba but the words to describe its beauty do not exist in any known language. It cannot be described … it can only be seen with the naked eye, it can only be felt by your heart.

If anyone needs proof of Allah’s existence, they need only look at Ka’abah and they will wonder no more. For it is proof enuff … it is Allah’s ‘noor’ and his ‘jalal’ emanating from the heavens above. If an atheist were to look upon it, they could not deny Allah’s existence, if a non muslim were to even glance at it they would convert to Islam. But Allah asks for blind faith first so no non muslim can enter Mecca.

One may wonder how a square building made of bricks and covered with a black cloth have so much impact. But this square building exudes a power the likes of which do not exist anywhere else on Earth. For it is right above the Ka’aba that Allah’s ‘arsh’ (throne) lies.

For years I saw Ka’aba on TV and in photos but there isn’t a camera in the world that can capture its beauty. What you see on TV and in photos isn’t even 1% of what Ka’aba is … you have to see it in person to understand its power … Allah’s power.

If I could go to one place, any place in the world right now … it is Ka’bah that my heart desires. For Ka’bah is peace, the ultimate peace man can know on this earth. The one place on earth you can ask for anything in the world, everything in the world and you don’t want to ask for a thing … for all you could ever want is right in front of your eyes and all you want to do is sit and look at it forever.

I had never felt this strong a need to go to Ka’aba … but now that is all I want to do. For before I had not known what I was missing out on … now I do.

3. The Sunset at Arafat:

I have seen beautiful sunsets but now I can say I have seen the most beautiful sunset ever. I can go around the world but no sky anywhere will ever have a sunset that gorgeous.

It is at Arafat at sunset time that sins are forgiven, it is at sunset time that Allah comes down to 7th heaven and proudly tells his Angels that this is my creation who has never seen me and yet here they are. It is the sky at Arafat and Arafat only that sees Allah so close to Earth.

There is something about the sky that day … something that escapes definition. It is as if a layer of Noor has been painted over the sky .. it is smooth and calm and a layer of color never seen before, never to be seen again but only at Arafat on the day of Hajj.

I can go on forever, yet I know someone who has not seen these with their own eyes will dismiss them or at most think ‘yah, that’s nice’. But someone who has been there … you can see their eyes light up and say … yes I have seen , I have known, I have understood … yes, I have been blessed for my eyes have seen what so many never will and my heart has known the peace so many never will.

Dear Diary,

Just the other day I was thinking, the world is so much smaller now. There are no more new worlds to discover, no more new inventions that can awe us and make us think that this must be magic. We have imagined everything there is to imagine and nothing can shock us anymore.

That makes it a sad world … no more great discoveries to be made … at least not of the magnitude that was possible before. We had the whole world to discover. Now we know what the whole world is like.

But what if we haven’t discovered the whole world … what if there are still places to discover? But just not in the physical world that we see. A world beyond a world … a layer beneath a layer. Like the seven heavens layered on top of each other, the seven earths layered on top of each other … perhaps occupying the same space. But what of the laws of physics? May be we just don’t know them all. May be there is still so much more to discover and amaze us.

And may be just may be I’ve watched too much science fiction

But I know one thing … anything is possible!

Dear Diary,

Yesterday we went to a wedding. Sat for a while, had dinner and then we got ready to leave. When we got out of the gate one of our family friends were just leaving in their car.

They stopped by us…with horrified faces, “Someone broke into our car! We didn’t even notice the broken window. But the seat was pushed forward and our CD changer and stereo was stolen!”

“Ouch!” I thought
“Well you can at least claim insurance.” Piped in my mom.
“Errr we don’t have any!” Went the family friend.
“What?? Not even third party.” Mom replied, horrified.
“No!” Came the sad reply.
“Well, we better hurry and check our car, too.” Mom said.

And we said our goodbyes to our worried friends and started walking towards our car.

“Don’t tell me!! You are kidding me, right?” I said.

And there was our car with the smaller triangular window at the back smashed. Little pieces of glass were lying all over the back seat. And we didn’t even have to look inside to know that we had suffered a similiar fate.

“But our CD changer had brackets. It was bolted.” I said, trying to comprehend how they got it out.
“Well they pulled it out, anyway.” Dad replied.

So much for hoping that our CD changer might have been spared because of that reason.

My sister pushed the glass pieces to one side and we both sat in the back seat crammed to one side while cursing the guys who were responsible.

All the cars were parked on the main road outside the house. While leaving we saw another car which had a broken window. So at least 3 cars that we know of had been targeted and they were all civics and parked the farthest from the house. Makes me wonder how many other civics had broken windows and missing stereos.

Seems this wedding turned out to be a bit expensive to visit.

Dear Diary,

Its 6:18 in the morning and here I am sitting writing about … errrrrr … nothing. Recently it seems I just randomly babble to myself. I would say empty walls but there don’t seem to be any in cyber space. My fellow blogger seems to be asleep, too. So its pretty much Me alone here. Is someone getting the message?

Anyone here? Or am I just banging my head against the non-existent cyber space walls?

There … I’m done ranting.

Dear Diary,

One very important lesson learnt today - hard work gives me a headache!! No not the actual work but thinking about it. So the strategy from now on is to NOT think and start working Nothing achieved out of overwhelming yourself with the enormity of a task.

My resolution of the day is to get on the treadmill for at least 20 minutes everyday, starting today. The deed for the day has been done … let’s see how it goes tomorrow. The problem is that I cannot find a time in the day when it has been at least 2 hours since I last ate. Ok I admit to snacking and snacking and … errr you get the point.

So I have found the compromise … as soon as I wake up. Let me assure you this is not a fun proposition for me as breakfast is the most important meal of the day for me. And I have to painstakingly drag myself on to the treadmill and away from that yummmy breakfast.

So like I said … lets see how it goes