Travels of Ibn Jubayr

Went to MPH sales in Kelana Jaya last Saturday and bought a few books. Two I should mentioned are Travels of Ibn Jubayr and if I can remember correctly, Islamic Medicine. It is per chance that I should buy the first one. My friend Riza, who arrives earlier at the sale, mentioned the book to me and only a few days earlier, I was thinking of another book : Mekka in the Latter Part of the 19th Century by C. Snouck Hurgronje.

While I have not finished Ibn Jubayr, Hurgronje talks about Makkah and its people around 1894/95, especially those from Nusantara due to the Dutch and Indonesia conflict at the time. Which is really interesting since, for people like me who can't read Jawi and not Pondok oriented, we do not know much about the legacy of our wise elders. But Hurgronje talks about them and describes how some of them are comparable to other Alims in Masjidil Haram. Makes you blush with pride.

Back to Ibn Jubayr, his travels starts in 1183 from Granada to Mecca, Baghdad, Damsyik and back to Spain. Will write more later.

Kawan Saya

Saya ada sorang kawan. Nama dia Riza Samad. Baca la blog dia kat r1z4.blogspot.com . Kawan kawan ni aku rasa macam Yin and Yang. We need them to sometimes show us the way in life, to share with us. Ingat lagi kata kata Jerry McGuire masa dalam lift tu, 'you complete me'. Even though dia cakap tu kat awek dia la kan. But then, bahasa Melayu kita ni ada kurang sikit. If Greeks can have 4 different words for love : Agape, Philia, Storge, & Eros, tapi kita tak ada that fine distinction between our kasih, sayang, cinta; semua maksud lebih kurang kot. Bahasa Arab aku tak tau la pulak.

But back to friendship, if Frodo has his friends, so is our Master Jalaludin Rumi with Shams of Tabriz, Cumi dan Ciki, and finally our hope for intecession on the final day, our guide and most beloved of our creator, Sayyidina Rasul with his companions esp. Sayyidina Abu Bakar.