I Sit and Think

The winter has really dragged on this year in the UK. The clocks go forward by one hour this weekend marking the beginning of British Summer Time (BST) and we are yet to see spring! It is still quite cold and the trees and leafless...so i thought it was appropriate to include a poem by J.R.R Tolkien called "I Sit and Think".


I Sit and Think

I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall never see.

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.

J.R.R Tolkien

Anyway, that's enough about the long, hard UK winter we've been enduring...let's get back to the lofty words of our Prophet ( صلى الله عليه وسلم). I thought for today's post I'd just mention how fortunate we are in the UK that we can benefit from such a scholar of hadeeth as Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq and learn the words and teachings of our noble Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in a traditional manner with an authentic chain. In the Book of Knowledge, we covered a hadeeth (Lesson 31) about how ilm will be taken away.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-Aas ( رضى الله عنه): " I heard Allah's messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) saying, "Allah does not take away ilm by taking it away from the hearts of the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remain, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead people astray" [Hadeeth 86, al Tajrid al Sarih]

May Allah protect us from such a time when no scholars remain. Ameen.

Please remember me in your duas.

Wasalaam.