Vandalism in the name of development
I was introduced to this photo taken by Khanpride by Jami Sirhandi. His plea was to stand up to the ‘development mafia’ and stop…
O Beloved, Be Like That to Me
The flames that dance with love – O Beloved, be like that to me. The burning heat within the fire – O Beloved, be…
The secret of life, in brief – Sindhi poems
Selected verse of poems by Tanveer Abbasi, a Sindhi poet of great poet translated by Dr Farrukh Malik- Blowing wind has crossed the iron…
Pakistan diaspora and the politics of the Hijab
The suggestion of violent disputes between a 16-year-old girl in Mississauga and her father over her desire to show her hair and live a…
West Bengal in turmoil – end of an era?
The gruesome Nandigram murders, the death of Rizwanul who married an upper caste Muslim girl and Taslima Nasreen’s expulsion from West Bengal are all…
A paranoid, abhorrent obsession
It was a pleasure to have read Pankaj Mishra in the Guardian: Last week Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-Dutch polemicist, spoke to a gathering…
Guennol Lioness from ancient Mesopotamia
The piece above has been described as “one of the oldest, rarest and most beautiful works of art from the ancient world.” Described by…
Nahaj ul Balagha – Looking back to Get Ahead
Fahmida Riaz is Pakistan’s premier female poet. She became a sensation in the early 1970s when her bold, feminist poetry created a stir in…
Chimp beats students at computer game
“….humans made a mental trade-off as they diverged from their common ancestor with chimps some 5 to 6 million years ago. In gaining brawnier…
Hazrat Ali’s letter on governance and citizenship
The common stories about Islam or Muslims have to do with the chopping of arms and killing of infidels. We are told that Muslims…
The Other Half – divided hearts meet in Kashmir
Thanks to Beena Sarwar’s updates, I read this moving account, THE OTHER HALF – in ‘Srinagar diary’ by Kalpana Sharma. … the Indo-Pak peace…
Hassan Massoudy’s calligraphy: Raza et Rumi
“The gestures of the calligrapher become an open space, welcoming the words of the poet and the imagination of the onlooker”. Discovered this image…
What goes around…No more saviours please
Now that the wheel has turned its back yet again, there is much to ponder. There are many who are saying that this is…
A World with No Boundaries
With every breath the sound of love surrounds us, and we are bound for the depths of space, without distraction. We’ve been in orbit…
The Veil – Attar
By Farid al-Din ‘Attar (1142-1220) 1 We are the Magians of old, Islam is not the faith we hold; In irreligion is our fame,…
Makhdoom a people’s poet – a poem
Found this poem and its translation by Makhdoom Mohiuddin Our city is strange – it whispers in the nights when you walk on roads…
Of ignorance and knowledge – thinking of Professor Aghajari
I am a child whose teacher is love. surely my master won’t let me grow to be a fool* I have been told that…
Effective Expression of Solidarity
TPS published this interesting post by Dan Tow “As I have viewed recent events in Pakistan from the safety of my home in the…
The Post Office, Murree – an old image
General Post Office sits at the top of the commercial Murree Mall. The Post Office in Murree provided mail services to the British troops…
Coffee and Sufism – the ancient links
Thanks to Zainab, I came across this article on the Superluminal blog that traces the links rather well. Most modern coffee-drinkers are probably unaware…