Zain Bhikha's "Our World"

Our world

Every morning on every news flash
I hear the sorrow of the world
It seems like everybody's lost and scared
Trying to make sense of it all

And as I travel to and fro,
so many faces pass me by
I see lonely hearts living lonely lives
just biding their time
And while we call ourselves civilized,

many people living empty lives
As they drone their way through day and night

# Chorus

I pray for our world,

I pray for every child
I pray for our world

to be filled with smiles
Like the colours of a rainbow

and not just black and white
I pray for our world

to be filled with light
I pray for all of us, to choose the path that's right
Believe in Allah every day of our lives

In the evening on the TV news,

I see images of war.
I see brother killing brother

with no consequence at all.

And while those who claim to be leaders,

sell us tales of deceit.
But Allah alone knows in their hearts

what they reveal and conceal.

And while we call ourselves civilized,
We go on killing human lives
Too caught up in our own web of lies

Chorus
I pray for our world,

I pray for every child
I pray for our world

to be filled with smiles
Like the colours of a rainbow

and not just black and white
I pray for our world

to be filled with light
I pray for all of us, to choose the path that's right
Believe in Allah every day of our lives

Every mother, every father,

every daughter, every son
Don't you see, that the answer lies

only with the One

Repeat chorus

Artist: Zain Bhikha,

Album: Our World, 2003

Umi No Hi

"A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching."

-Anonymous



It's public holiday in Japan today - umi no hi. "Hari Laut" in Bahasa. Wikipedia refers to it as Marine day, probably because Ocean Day or Sea's Day doesn't sound as good.

Below are some shots taken at the not-so-beautiful Kannonzaki beach in Kanagawa prefecture which we visited during Golden Week holiday last May.

By the by, there's this one nasyid, Secerah Pawana, that keeps playing in my mind whenever I visit a beach. Probably because it began with the sound of waves crashing on the shore. It's an old nasyid, sung by The Zikr, the group which later became known as Raihan. This was back in the days when they were still donning big serbans, colorful jubah and wore celak on their album cover, when the album itself could be bought for less than RM10. Mestica includes a new version of Secerah Pawana in their Layar Keinsafan album, but I still prefer the one done by The Zikr.

Secerah Pawana
Seindah sedamai pantai melambai gemalai
begitulah hati merindu kasih yang padu
bagaikan pepasir basah disimbah lautan
begitulah perjuangan ini
biar basah dengan iman dan ukhuwwah



kita ingin segalanya indah
sebersih pasir pantai memutih
seindah dan secerah pawana
berseri ukhuwwah dipupuk kasih



kita ingin segala terlerai
dengki dan dendam kesumat musnah
biar keikhlasan berbicara
di dada hati luas saujana



Seindah sedamai pantai melambai gemalai
begitulah hati merindu kasih yang padu
bagaikan pepasir basah di simbah lautan
begitulah perjuangan ini
biar basah dengan iman dan ukhuwwah

On being thankful...

There’s this particular nasyid that has been played and replayed again and again in my car for the last couple of weeks. The tune is catchy, but more importantly, the message is touching. (Yes, I know, admitting that I actually like UNIC’s song is rather lame for someone in my age group – but who cares, anyway?)

Since this nasyid talks about the meaning of being thankful and grateful to the Creator – it suits exactly how I feel today as I hit the big 3-0.

Erti Syukur

Lafazkan kalimah syukur
Lafazkan kalimah itu
Alhamdulillah...

Segalanya yang ku kecapi
Adalah milikMu Ilahi
(Tuhan Maha Pemurah)
Takkan terbalas walaupun sebesar zarah

Kenikmatan yang bertandang
Terkadang tidak dihiraukan
(Lepas dari pandangan)
Dan bila hilang barulah dikesalkan

Adakalanya aku hanyut
Adakalanya aku terlupa
Adakala aku leka
Ampunilah...

Kerana ku manusia
Lemah dan tidak berdaya di sisiMu
Seringkali terlupa nikmatMu
Datang tiada jemu

Bila terhimpit mulalah
Mencari dan menyebut namaMu
Barulah merasai makna sebenar erti syukur
Syukur atas rahmatMu

Rap: Adakala ku hanyut
Adakala ku lupa
Adakala ku leka dan adakala ku alpa
Kerana ku manusia
Lemah dan tak berdaya
Seringkali terlupa nikmat yang Kau kurnia
Ku bersyukur ya Tuhan
Segala pemberian
Walau luas lautan
Bukanlah perbandingan
Ku tingkat keimanan
Ku gilap ketaqwaan
Sebagai perlambangan
Terima kasih ku Tuhan

Onak duri kehidupan
Jatuh bangun sendirian
Ada hikmah yang tersimpan
Yang menguji iman

Bersyukurlah selalu
Sentiasalah redha dan menerima
Tiap ujian tiba bukan diminta
Sebaliknya Allah Maha Mengetahui

Kan ku bertasbih selalu
Bertahmid berzikir padaMu
Sebagai tanda ku nilai
RahmatMu Tuhan

Aku bersyukur Ya Allah
Segala pemberianMu padaku
Seluas lautan pun bukanlah jadi ukurannya
Memang tiada bandingan

Segalanya yang ku kecapi
Adalah milikMu Ilahi
(Tuhan Maha Permurah)
Bukan milikku pinjaman sementara
Syukur Alhamdulillah

Rap: Sesungguhnya solatku,
Amalku, hidupku, matiku
Kerna Allah yang satu
Kuserahkan segala harta jiwa dan raga
Sebagai tanda cinta
KepadaMu Yang Esa

Lyric: Lukhman S
Song: Manis Helma (Hijjaz Records)
Performed by: UNIC – Satu Tekad, 2005

What marriage is all about

While I must admit that I am kinda a fan of most InTeam's songs, my hubby is not a big fan at all. "Jiwang sangat." He prefers Hijjaz, Raihan or Nowseeheart - to him, their songs make more sense while carrying the universal message of Islam. Still, there's one or two InTeam songs with lyrics that could make him stop and ponder (and even sang along to) like this one below, which talks about what marriage is all about... Okay, maybe not quite "all", but the essence of it is there anyway... So, this one goes out to newly-married couples, not-so-newly married couples and to-be-married couples... Kasihmu Amanahku (In Team - Damba Kasih, 2003) Pernikahan menyingkap tabir rahsia suami isteri inginkan keluarga yang bahagia dan mengharapkan sebuah bahtera indah untuk bersama belayar ke muara Pernikahan, menginsafkan kita perlunya iman dan takwa, meniti sabar dan redha bila masa senang syukuri nikmat Tuhan susah mendatang tempuhi dengan tabah Isteri janji telah dipateri diijab kabulkan dan dirahmati detik pertemuan dan pernikahan yang dihujani air mata kasih demi syurga Ilahi Suami jangan menagih setia umpama Hajar dan setianya Zulaikha terimalah seadanya yang terindah di lubuk hatimu isteri adalah amanah buatmu Pernikahan mengajar tanggungjawab bersama suami dan isteri Isteri hamparan dunia Suami langit penaungnya Isteri ladang tanaman Suamilah pemagarnya Isteri bagai kejora Suami menjadi purnama Tika isteri beri hempedu Suami tabah menelannya Tika suami terteguk racun Isteri carilah penawarnya Sungguh isteri rusuk yang rapuh berhati-hatilah meluruskannya Lagu & Lirik : Abai Os (Hijjaz Records Sdn. Bhd.)

Berita Kepada Kawan

Got this Indonesian song lyric via e-mail and thought it's kinda interesting - in the wake of the recent tsunami disaster... Berita Kepada Kawan Oleh: Ebiet G. Ade Perjalanan ini terasa sangat menyedihkan Sayang, engkau tak duduk di sampingku kawan Banyak cerita yang mestinya kau saksikan Di tanah kering berbatuan Tubuh ku terguncang di hempas batu jalanan Hati tergetar menampak kering rerumputan Perjalanan ini pun seperti jadi saksi Gembala kecil menangis sedih Kawan coba dengar apa jawabnya Ketika ia ku tanya "Mengapa?" Bapak ibunya telah lama mati Ditelan bencana tanah ini Sesampainya di laut ku khabarkan semuanya Kepada karang, kepada ombak, kepada matahari Tetapi semua diam, tetapi semua bisu Tinggal aku sendiri terpaku menatap langit Barangkali di sana ada jawabnya Mengapa di tanahku terjadi bencana Mungkin Tuhan mulai bosan melihat tingkah kita Yang selalu salah dan bangga dengan dosa-dosa Atau alam mulai enggan bersahabat dengan kita Coba kita bertanya pada rumput yang bergoyang

Sekai Ni Hitotsu Dake No Hana

I fumbled badly during my Mambusho a.k.a Manbukagakusho scholarship interview today. I prepared for it, practised answering some expected questions with Mak, made some mental notes on this and that - and when the time came for me to give my best shot - I fumbled. Weng sungguh lah!

The 'weng' effect lasted all day long and I found myself grappling for words to fill this blog this evening. So, I'm reverting to the old trick an English teacher taught me once a long time ago - "when nothing else works, you can even write down your favorite song's lyric in your journal..."

Here goes:

Sekai Ni Hitotsu Dake No Hana - translation
- performed by SMAP (the Japanese group with Kimutaku, not the school in Labu), 2003)

You don't have to be number one
You're the only one who's just like you

I was looking at a lot of flowers
Lined up in front of a flower shop
Everybody has a favorite flower
But all of them are pretty, aren't they?
In the bucket they're proudly standing
Tall and straight, with confidence

In spite of that, why do we people
Want to compare ourselves this way?
Eventhough each of us is different,
Does everybody want to be number one?

That's right, each of us is
The only flower of our kind in all the world
Each of us has a different seed
Just do your best to make your own flower bloom

There's a person who's having trouble deciding
Laughing while looking upset
But all the flowers that worked so hard to bloom are beautiful
So it can't be helped
After a while, that person came out of the store,
Holding a bouquet of colorful flowers
With a happy-looking profile

I didn't know that person's name
But that day, they smiled at me
It was like finding a flower blooming
in a place no one else had noticed

That's right, each of us is
The only flower of our kind in all the world
Each of us has a different seed
Just do your best to make your own flower bloom

Small flowers and big flowers
They're not all the same
You don't have to be number one
You're the only one who's just like you

(note: found this on the net some time last year but can't exactly remember who did the translation)