July 12, 2026. The word renounce came upon wakening. I had neglected to set my iPhone for Fajr prayer; woke voluntarily, late but prior to sunrise. Quickly performed wudu (or ablution) offered my prayers. Climbed black into bed, feeling a sense of peace, not experienced before. It was then the word renounce came to mind. Went down to breakfast – these days a buffet served in the hotel. When back in my room decided to look up the word. This is what I found: Renounce the world: completely withdraw from society or material affairs in order to lead a life considered to be more spiritually fulfilling. Used in a sentence: She renounced the world and went to work in.a leper colony. BTW I am not planning to go work in a leper colony. Although apparently there is an island of the coast of Penang that was a former leper colony. There is so much history here; compared to both the United States and Canada. It is most fascinating. My suspicions were later confirmed. This I read in the March 2024 edition of .Penang Monthly
“Walking along the Queen’s Waterfront promenade in Bayan Lepas, you see a large, heavily forested island nearby that once housed a leper colony, and later a prison. This Pulau Jerejak.”
Back to renouncing the world. It is not so much the world as a whole – it is the people that dwell therein. Hahaha Most , if not all, are flawed. They have their foibles, such a great word. Meaning: a minor weakness or eccentricity in someone’s character. Used in a sentence: I am tired of tolerating other’s little foibles. I am not saying that I do not have my eccentricities. However, I do not expect people to tolerate them. They are not well hidden. Take me the way I am or not, is my motto. It is the people that try to hide their foibles that are irritating. Let us look at synonyms for foibles to better understand the phenomena: weak spot, failing, shortcoming, flaw, blemish, frailty, infirmity, inadequacy, limitation; quirk, kink, idiosyncrasy, peculiarity, Achilles heel, chink in one’s armor, hang-up. Certain people in my life are beginning to show definite hang ups, chink in their armor, their Achilles heel. I do admit to laughing as I write – from bed. I have returned to my former habits which have been briefly abandoned. I was writing in public places such as Mojo and Kenny Hill’s bakery. I am retreating; renouncing the world.
The problem with tolerating other’s foibles is that it takes up a lot of time and space. There is often a sense of betrayal and accompanying anger. It does interfere with the practice of one’s faith. I am continuing to ‘walk along the Sufi path”. This requires concentration. My reading of Idries Shah’s The Sufis has been curtailed, what with the move from KL to Penang and my increased sociability. I do need to finish unpacking, get my books out of storage and concentrate on Allah (SWT) rather than lesser mortals. Hahaha My computer is signaling low battery. The Sufis beside me on the bed – so it is time to plug the computer into the power source and read. It seems a message from Allah.
Hours later. I read about five pages of The Sufis. So packed with facts, with bind bending ideas that it must be absorbed in small doses. Another boo, caught be eye Nouri, My Light Page 65 spoke to the very issues I was writing about in the second paragraph of this blog. The poem:
Excess Baggage
Let’s talk about baggage
Relationship baggage-
You still want to hand on to it.
Go ahead-
You have the option of letting it go..
The choices are yours,
Don’t go blaming the extra baggage charges \
If you insist on carrying it.
If I were you
I went gently bid it all farewell
And get on with life
Allah made things simple.
It’s we who choose to complicate.
The facing page contains a Hadith and Pearls of Wisdom
Sunan Tirmizi # 2318 “A sign of one’s excellence in his Islam is his leaving that does which does not concern him.
Pearls of Wisdom
“Just as we ensure our baggage doesn’t exceed airlines’ weight limitations, through fear of being penalized, we should also make sure not to carry excess baggage into the hereafter.
The ideal weight is achieved through faith, prayers letting go of wrongdoing and negative throughs that weigh us down, cleansing our hearts from hatred, anger and malicious throughs; training our character and making the best of our journey in the world. The Rule is simple; when the ship is sinking, throw away the extra baggage.” .
Speaking of getting rid of excess baggage I noted with some surprise that today is July 12, 2026. Last night must have been the acclaimed dinner at Sood’s featuring the food, at considerable expense, of Chef Ton and Chef Tan. Originally thought of attending, if for the sole purpose of hearing Chef Ton utter his famous words: “Darling I miss you!” But when you think about it, this is excess baggage. I have always found it troubling to hear people say they miss me. Analyzed it on a blog, discovering that it was not really me they missed but the feelings I evoked when they were around me. He, and others, who make no effort to get to know me, or see me on a regular basis – do nothing to enrich my existence. And in this instance it was, and has, cost a great deal of my hard earned money. When the costly experience was first announced Gemini said I should rush over, make an immediate reservation. I do not think it was well attended. There was an Instagram Story ad two days before the event,
The sign sent to my WhatsAppers this morning advised: LiveLyfBetter. I am. Throwing away the excess baggage. Now that I am settled in my new home This poem from Nouri, My Light
Words are cheap,
And I no longer have faith n your soothing words,
Show me-
Prove to me-
Love me and treat me right.
Show me
Prove to me-
Care and provide for me.
Words are cheap.
And I no longer have faith in mere words,
Photograph of the day sent to WhatsAppers. Also two photographs taken this July 13, 2026 morning. I was breakfasting at Kenny Hill’s. A large and lively family sitting next to me. I leaned over and said in my best Arabic “Peace be upon you”. They looked startled, explained to them I was a Muslim, and had been so for only five years. They were fascinated. I told them I was 83; the man’s mother-in- law was 87. It was a sheer delight speaking to them of how much I loved Malaysia. They requested a photo with me.
Me: Of course! Please take one with my camera as well.
They did. As you can see I do not exactly look like a Malaysian; nor a Muslim. Hahahah
Nixon walked in, shook his head and smiled delightedly. d:
He: You made new friends again.
Me: Of course.
