I seek refuge in Allah!

In Surah Al Jathiyah, Allah azza wa jall says

أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَٰهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِهِ غِشَاوَةً فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ اللَّهِ ۚ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ

Have you seen him who takes his own lust (vain desires) as his ilah (god), and Allah knowing (him as such), left him astray, and sealed his hearing and his heart, and put a cover on his sight. Who then will guide him after Allah? Will you not then remember?

Astaghfirullah. Astaghfirullah. Oh Allah forgive me! There is no god but Allah and I am truly among the wrongdoers. Oh, Turner of Hearts, turn and keep my heart fixed firmly on Your beautiful religion, Ameen.

Unboxing William Kline’s ‘New York’

William Kline’s Life is Good and Good For You in New York Trance Witness Revels is one of those low print run, long out of print, wildly expensive, classic photobooks that pop up in discussions from time to time. I don’t recall what brought it to mind for me, but I went hunting and was able to find the Errata Editions reprint (Books on Books #5) for a song. Continue reading “Unboxing William Kline’s ‘New York’”

Call Your Mother!

A reminder to myself, first…

Aisha, RadhiAllahu ‘anha said

زَوْجِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ “‏ الرَّحِمُ شِجْنَةٌ، فَمَنْ وَصَلَهَا وَصَلْتُهُ، وَمَنْ قَطَعَهَا قَطَعْتُهُ ‏”‏‏

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The word ‘Ar-Rahm’ (womb) derives its name from ‘Ar- Rahman’ (i.e. Allah). So whosoever keeps good relations with it (womb i.e. Kith and kin), Allah will keep good relations with him, and whosoever will sever it (i.e. severs his bonds of Kith and kin) Allah too will sever His relations with him.

Aoothu Billah.

Call your mother! Continue reading “Call Your Mother!”

The C.L.A.M. could be anywhere…

When my darling, adorable wife and I returned from vacation, the FM3a still had 5/6th of a roll of film in it. I carried it around for a few days, took a few random shots, and then decided to burn the rest of it playing around with the C.L.A.M. I don’t play with it often, and really haven’t figured out how to use it, though I know it’s incapable of producing what I hoped to get out of it.

The bit of play I did with a few frames of Ektar didn’t yield anything much, and unless I put in some time and really explore it, I should probably scrap it and try again with some other ideas I have. There are a couple of things I see in these that may make good jumping off points for other explorations, but only if I keep them in mind, take my time, and shoot the C.L.A.M. with some intent. Continue reading “The C.L.A.M. could be anywhere…”

Gossagesque seeing, maybe

I received the Gossage and Cole books about a week before Hana and I left on vacation, and I spent a good part of that trip trying to see like they would see, maybe, though I’m not at all sure I really “get” their way of seeing at all.

This is my most successful attempt.

Anyone out there that understand’s Gossage’s work, his project, his… seeing: how did I do?

Rohingya Solidarity Rally

As reported by Nu’man bin Bashir, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said

The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever.

مثل المؤمنين في توادهم وتراحمهم وتعاطفهم، مثل الجسد إذا اشتكى منه عضو تداعى له سائر الجسد بالسهر والحمى

Continue reading “Rohingya Solidarity Rally”