Gunong Stong Revisited : Prayer of the Cicadas...

This past weekend I revisited Gunong Stong yet again.
No ! At this present age of mine, I don't 'collect' mountains anymore. Just went there to re-listen to the cadence of the forest, the songs of the birds and bees. In the quietness of night and early dawn at Camp Baha, some 400 metres above sea level, with the background of the fall, I tried to decipher the symphony of beauty within the 'inhabitants' of the forest :

Subhanallah,
Alhamdullillah,
Walailahaillallah huwallahuakbar
Walahaula wala kuwwatailla billa hil alliyyil azhim
echoed the cicadas.
Muhammadarasullallah,
chirped in the birds.

"Allah! There is no God save Him,
the Alive, the Eternal.
Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him.
Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth.
Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave?
He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them,
while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will.
His throne includeth the heavens and the earth,
and He is never weary of preserving them.
He is the Sublime, the Tremendous."
The wind, the trees and the cascading water seemed to reverberate in synchrony.

Ya Fatah, ya Razak, ya Wahab ya Ghoni, ya Mughni
ya Khadim, ya Daim, ya Ahad, ya Wahid, ya Samad.
The cicadas sang in unison, in increasing crescendo.

Ya Rahman, ya Rahim, ya Hayyu, ya Qayyum
ya Rabb,ya Zaljala li walikram.
the birds retorted, now, in total frenzy.

"Then, even after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks,
or worse than rocks, for hardness.
For indeed there are rocks from out which rivers gush,
and indeed there are rocks which split asunder so that water floweth from them.
And indeed there are rocks which fall down for the fear of Allah.
Allah is not unaware of what ye do."
The whole mountain echoed back......

Waking me up from my deep slumber just in time for the dawn prayer !
"None punisheth as He will punish on that day!
None bindeth as He then will bind.
But ah! thou soul at peace!
Return unto thy Lord, content in His good pleasure!
Enter thou among My bondmen!
Enter thou My Garden!".

What amazing grace ! These creatures of HIS blessed with 'nafsul muthmainnah'.



Related articles in the blog:
Off the beaten track click here
Shaykh Hussien Yee on STRESS, click here
Longevity, A Muslim's Perspective
click here

[ Camp Baha Adventure Team boys could be contacted at : 0199591020, Lod, Rizal, Ed, Sid and the rest ]