Nuthatches are the birds to watch out for, it is tremendously satisfying to sight a Nuthatch, and the bird doesn’t disappoint. A small active bird that is slaty blue and chestnut below these are dexterous climbers, like Woodpecker they are able to climb the bark of the tree but without any support of tail. They achieve this feat as they have highly developed hind toe while the front one is dwarfed, it makes them enormously agile than any other bird i know about. It goes about the business like a motorised mouse, sideways, upwards, upside down...a restless bird indeed. And though this bird was few feet away from me (which was an amazing stroke of luck since they prefer taller and older tree, sightings are rare) i found it exceedingly difficult to take pictures. Gosh this one did check my wits, mostly i was trying to focus refocus and checking where exactly the bird has vanished! The pressure of rare sighting and taking a picture did take its toll and i could only manage these. Disappointing but not really a bad effort, the fun was definitely watching these exquisite species. It did make my day and i shouldn’t be complaining. Al Ma’arri: An amazing Arabic poet philosopher
But some hope a divine leader with prophetic voice
Will rise amid the gazing silent ranks.
An idle thought! There's none to lead but reason,
To point the morning and the evening ways
Al Ma’arri (973-1058) was a Syrian Arabic poet, a rationalist who questioned religious dogmas. It is interesting since despite being blind (he lost his eyesight due to smallpox) he could see what the world couldn’t.
The Prophets and the Priests
The Prophets, too, among us come to teach,
Are one with those who from the pulpit preach;
They pray, and slay, and pass away, and yet
Our ills are as the pebbles on the beach.
Islam does not have a monopoly on truth:
The blogger will add that what is true for Islam is also true to all religions. No religion can have a monopoly on truth. Al M
a’ari rejected claims of any divine revelations. He was a philosopher and ascetic, for whom reason provided moral guide, and virtue reward. "Men of acute mind call me an ascetic, but they are wrong in their diagnosis. Although I disciplined my desires, I only abandoned worldly pleasures because the best of these withdrew themselves from me." He saw religion as human institution invented as a source of power and income for its founders and priesthood, who pursued worldly ends with forged documents attributed to divine inspiration. Here is a small gem of a line (amazing since it is as true even after thousand years)
The Scoundrel’s Plea
Make not, when you work a deed of shame,
The scoundrel's plea, "My forbears did the same"
Al-Ma'arri believed in the sanctity of life, urging that no living creature should be harmed. He became a vegetarian and opposed all killing of animals, and the use of animal skins for clothing. Read these poems and experience how immense the man was. With the rise of fundamentalism and intolerance these poems stand out as beacons of sanity even after thousand years. Al Ma’ari is someone who should be read by all, he should be part of school curriculum.
Fools Awake!
O fools, awake! The rites ye sacred hold
Are but a cheat contrived by men of old
Who lusted after wealth and gained their lust
And died in baseness-and their law is dust.
A Little Doubt is Better
Traditions come from the past, of high import if they be True;
Ay, but weak is the chain of those who warrant their truth.
Consult thy reason and let perdition take others all:
Of all the conference Reason best will counsel and guide.
A little doubt is better than total credulity:
Creator of Wrongs
If criminals are fated,
It's wrong to punish crime.
When God earth's ores created,
He knew that on a time
They would become the sources
For sword blades dripping blood
To flash across the manes of horses
Iron-curbed, iron-shod.
Scenes that Stun Introspection
For his own sordid ends
The pulpit he ascends,
And though he disbelieves in resurrection,
Makes all his hearers quail
Whilst he unfolds a tale
Of Last Day scenes that stun all introspection.
Death's Debt is Paid in Full
Death's debt is then and there
Paid down by dying men;
But it is a promise bare
That they shall rise again.
A Spoken Lie Enforced by Blood
Had they been left alone with reason,
they would not have accepted a spoken lie;
but the whips were raised to strike them.
Traditions were brought to them,
and they were ordered to say,
"We have been told the truth";
If they refused, the sword was drenched with their blood.
They were terrified by scabbards of calamities,
and tempted by great bowls of food,
Offered in a lofty and condescending manner.
Creation Reveals A Lack of Sense
You said, "A wise one created us ";
That may be true, we would agree.
"Outside of time and space," you postulated.
Then why not say at once that you
Propound a mystery immense
Which tells us of our lack of sense?
Since i couldn’t find any proper pictures of Al Ma’ari on the Net i am putting the picture of cosmos-i guess that is appropriate. People like Al Ma’ari don’t die they become part of universe, they are eternal.
Some scribbles from my writing pad...
Despair
When all what you feel
you couldn’t even tell yourself
What would you do?
Collapsed houses, buried dead
A man keeps looking under the rubble
A woman mumbles to herself
Alphabets, words, sentences are sterile creations
to fill the void.
Silences forlorn
Metaphors vain attempts
Thoughts are but slight substitute
for realisations immense.
Mind a cosmos with black holes
Suck all that we know
Bereft of even a hint of loss
We carry on with our life
‘Time will heal’
Meanwhile,
the vacant space infinite thoughts
all naught.
(On devastating earthquake in New Zealand)
Certainty
It is going to deteriorate from here on
The creaks will get louder
steps shorter
One of these days i will have to cease my adventures
annihilate all hopes
call for the taxi
Reprisal
Something always interferes with the routine
‘It could be the end of all what we know’ screams the newsreader.
The distance a crisis travels for the solution.
Exhausted marathon runners enter the stadium
No audiences not even the officials
Winners don’t exult, losers don’t cry
In trance they carry it home
to feed their children
But some hope a divine leader with prophetic voice
Will rise amid the gazing silent ranks.
An idle thought! There's none to lead but reason,
To point the morning and the evening ways
Al Ma’arri (973-1058) was a Syrian Arabic poet, a rationalist who questioned religious dogmas. It is interesting since despite being blind (he lost his eyesight due to smallpox) he could see what the world couldn’t.
The Prophets and the Priests
The Prophets, too, among us come to teach,
Are one with those who from the pulpit preach;
They pray, and slay, and pass away, and yet
Our ills are as the pebbles on the beach.
Islam does not have a monopoly on truth:
The blogger will add that what is true for Islam is also true to all religions. No religion can have a monopoly on truth. Al M
a’ari rejected claims of any divine revelations. He was a philosopher and ascetic, for whom reason provided moral guide, and virtue reward. "Men of acute mind call me an ascetic, but they are wrong in their diagnosis. Although I disciplined my desires, I only abandoned worldly pleasures because the best of these withdrew themselves from me." He saw religion as human institution invented as a source of power and income for its founders and priesthood, who pursued worldly ends with forged documents attributed to divine inspiration. Here is a small gem of a line (amazing since it is as true even after thousand years)The Scoundrel’s Plea
Make not, when you work a deed of shame,
The scoundrel's plea, "My forbears did the same"
Al-Ma'arri believed in the sanctity of life, urging that no living creature should be harmed. He became a vegetarian and opposed all killing of animals, and the use of animal skins for clothing. Read these poems and experience how immense the man was. With the rise of fundamentalism and intolerance these poems stand out as beacons of sanity even after thousand years. Al Ma’ari is someone who should be read by all, he should be part of school curriculum.
Fools Awake!
O fools, awake! The rites ye sacred hold
Are but a cheat contrived by men of old
Who lusted after wealth and gained their lust
And died in baseness-and their law is dust.
A Little Doubt is Better
Traditions come from the past, of high import if they be True;
Ay, but weak is the chain of those who warrant their truth.
Consult thy reason and let perdition take others all:
Of all the conference Reason best will counsel and guide.
A little doubt is better than total credulity:
Creator of Wrongs
If criminals are fated,
It's wrong to punish crime.
When God earth's ores created,
He knew that on a time
They would become the sources
For sword blades dripping blood
To flash across the manes of horses
Iron-curbed, iron-shod.
Scenes that Stun Introspection
For his own sordid ends
The pulpit he ascends,
And though he disbelieves in resurrection,
Makes all his hearers quail
Whilst he unfolds a tale
Of Last Day scenes that stun all introspection.
Death's Debt is Paid in Full
Death's debt is then and there
Paid down by dying men;
But it is a promise bare
That they shall rise again.
A Spoken Lie Enforced by Blood
Had they been left alone with reason,
they would not have accepted a spoken lie;
but the whips were raised to strike them.
Traditions were brought to them,
and they were ordered to say,
"We have been told the truth";
If they refused, the sword was drenched with their blood.
They were terrified by scabbards of calamities,
and tempted by great bowls of food,
Offered in a lofty and condescending manner.
Creation Reveals A Lack of Sense
You said, "A wise one created us ";
That may be true, we would agree.
"Outside of time and space," you postulated.
Then why not say at once that you
Propound a mystery immense
Which tells us of our lack of sense?
Since i couldn’t find any proper pictures of Al Ma’ari on the Net i am putting the picture of cosmos-i guess that is appropriate. People like Al Ma’ari don’t die they become part of universe, they are eternal.
Some scribbles from my writing pad...
Despair
When all what you feel
you couldn’t even tell yourself
What would you do?
Collapsed houses, buried dead
A man keeps looking under the rubble
A woman mumbles to herself
Alphabets, words, sentences are sterile creations
to fill the void.
Silences forlorn
Metaphors vain attempts
Thoughts are but slight substitute
for realisations immense.
Mind a cosmos with black holes
Suck all that we know
Bereft of even a hint of loss
We carry on with our life
‘Time will heal’
Meanwhile,
the vacant space infinite thoughts
all naught.
(On devastating earthquake in New Zealand)
Certainty
It is going to deteriorate from here on
The creaks will get louder
steps shorter
One of these days i will have to cease my adventures
annihilate all hopes
call for the taxi
Reprisal
Something always interferes with the routine
‘It could be the end of all what we know’ screams the newsreader.
The distance a crisis travels for the solution.
Exhausted marathon runners enter the stadium
No audiences not even the officials
Winners don’t exult, losers don’t cry
In trance they carry it home
to feed their children
