Eid Mubarak, insha'Allah!
Happy Eid!
Today is the Muslim celebration of the sacrifice Ibrahim made of his son Ismail. (You might think the sacrifice was Ismail's, but no...) It's a day of prayer and of sacrifice and of barbeques. I followed a family into Burgess Park - they were heading first for the open air mosque on the slopes of a hill, but the young daughter's mind was on the post-prayer feast. "It's free?" she exclaimed. Then skipped ahead yelling, "Free, free, free!"
I can hear the sounds of the prayer over the speakers. That family were just in time, all dressed up in their Friday best, mother muttering, "Such a beautiful day", primary age son on his scooter, "I got more speed, look - neeoww!", daughter, "Free, free!"
Allahu Akbar, Eid Mubarak.
But (in a segue worthy of Thought for the Day) it's another Arabic turn of phrase that's been on my mind this week - insha'Allah, God willing.
The more I read about the Stoics, the more I come to admire them and see their influence on all of the good things that I see in Islam, including this verbal habit of insha'Allah, God willing. It's a humble acknowledgement that we humans can't control the future and, no matter how much we desire a certain outcome, we can never guarantee that it will come to pass.
I fell in love with this linguistic habit when I lived in Egypt for a couple of months in 2007 - so much so that for a few months after I came back I annoyed the hell out of all my friends by sprinkling my sentences liberally with it. Pretentious twat. But I might start doing so again.
The Stoics believed that our happiness was intimately bound to taking responsibility only for the things we can control. The future, being unknowable, lies distinctly in the area beyond our control. Therefore every good Stoic's plan is accompanied by a reserve clause - insha'Allah, God willing, fate permitting.
The more poetic Stoics likened their attitude to an archer's when he fires an arrow. The archer sets the intention, and is responsible for setting the arrow, taking aim, drawing the bow and the moment of release. After that, the arrow is no longer in his control: whether or not he hits his mark lies in the hands of Fate. The arrow might be knocked off course by a gust of wind or it might be inadvertently intercepted by a luckless bird. No matter how seductive the illusion, we can never control for the complexity of the future.
This seems reasonable. What's the point in railing against fate or bad luck, worrying too much about the future or wishing you could change the past? Better to focus on the things that you can control: your intention and your skill.
STATS OF THE DAY: Since getting these Vivo Barefoot shoes last Sunday, I've taken over 59,000 steps, about 64km. I have to say, I'm a convert! (Thanks to @documentally) They're so comfortable that I don't often bother taking them off in the house and I usually can't wait to be out of my foot coffins. At less than 400g, I hardly know they're there now.
I'll leave you with one final Stoic thought for the weekend: It is better to love than to be loved.
See you next week, insha'Allah!
- dc
p.s. Life To The Lees: Cycling Around Britain is still merrily asale.
p.p.s. Oooh... You can forward this email to a friend!
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