Beauty on a Saturday Afternoon

It is truly amazing the things that man can create. Allah ta'ala gave man an intellect with which he can invent and realize whatever he can imagine. It is interesting that man may make something as practical as a building, but will still desire to put an element of beauty into it. There is an inherent desire to display beauty whenever one has the ability.

This, however, becomes a problem when that beauty that Allah ta'ala has gifted one with is a physical beauty. Men, and especially women, love to display their beauty and to have their beauty appreciated. This is obviously problematic as Allah ta'ala requires from us a certain level of modesty which is legislated within the shari'ah.

Allah ta'ala says in the Holy Qur'an, "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands..." (24:31).

This desired level of haya (modesty) is not what I saw while downtown this past Saturday. I do not know what was going on in Chicago that necessitated women to walk around dressed in the way they did. It is difficult enough for a young Muslim as myself to live in this society while not being married, but it becomes exponentially more difficult when confronted with situations such as that. It is more difficult then the picture to the left from Cirque Shanghai at Navy Pier (which was AMAZING! Full size here.). May Allah ta'ala grant us the patient and tawfiq to survive in the times that we live and grant us wives who will be the coolness of our eyes and a protection in these difficult times.

On a separate note, I saw a guy wearing a kilt.

Freckles...

كَلِفَ يَكْلَفُ كَلْفًأ (kaaf, laam, faa')
- to be/become freckled
- to like (ب something)
- to be very fond/attached (ب with something)
- to fall in love (ب with someone)

I'm a big fan of freckles, and this verb just seemed very fitting since it means both to have freckles and also to fall in love with someone. Draw your own conclusions...

Strangeness is the indispensable condiment of all beauty. - Charles Baudelaire

Taken from here:

Very important!

The texting number has changed. You can now text anything to 630.517.2525. Also, supposedly you can call this number and leave a message which I will receive in text form. Interesting...

Travel...

http://muttscomics.com

Glow Little Glow Worm

Late at night during my recent spree of staying up far too late (until fajr), I opened my basement door and saw a slight glimmer on the floor. At first I thought it was just some random piece of metal reflecting some light, but determined that could not be the case as all of the lights were off. Upon further exploration, I discovered it to be a little caterpillar.

Now there is nothing quite remarkable about this pretty looking bug, but once I turned out the lights, the thing glowed like nothing I've ever seen. I freaked out and looked all over for someone to share this amazing moment with. Unfortunately, my parents were fast asleep and no one else lives here. I proceeded to turn on and off the light and watch the beautiful glow.

I then decided the best way to immortalize this moment and share it with someone would be to take some pictures of the beautiful creature of Allah. I took many pictures though most did not turn out that well. The ones that did were taken using a thirty second exposure in almost complete darkness. Many thanks to my parents for giving me my amazing camera with which I took these pictures (Nikon D3000).

Now the last thing we wanted was for someone to accidentally step on this incredible proof of Allah's creation during their late night excursions, so my dad was nice enough to put up this sign:

P.S. It's lilac time again!