A Poem I Like #12

A Poem I Like #12

"Sincerity" by Ammar AlShukry

The heart is the daily battlefield of sincerity
Yet we're unaware when Shaytan makes it bleed
Instead of concerning yourself with how many people "like" your statements...
Be concerned with how many angels "like" your deeds...

~ ~ ~
The poem is a succint reminder. Why use many words, when a few suffice? What I appreciate most here is the first line.

The heart is the daily battlefield of sincerity

Sure, sincerity is something we have to practice and cultivate, but there's more. What gets me from this line is the "everyday-ness" of it. It's easy to adopt the notion that we can put in a lot of work and become "good" people then ease up a bit--maybe just coast. But the devil is trickey. As the saying goes: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In that idiom I hear echoes of wisdom from the Prophet Muhammed's (ﷺ) wisdom when he speaks of a time when "...man will wake up as a believer but be a disbeliever by evening..." ¹ .

This one is especially difficult for me. I thrive being the center-of-attention (ask anyone who's seen me in a crowded room). But I learned some time ago that constantly being in the spotlight takes a toll in ways that are often unnoticed. I'm sure some of this has to do with the reality that we were never meant to be the sole object of people's attention.....that's almost worship. As the same time, I think the attention of the spotlight acknowledges a deep seated need we all have: to be loved.

those who love us pay attention, therefore attention

We adopt this misconception about attention, maybe because we were never taught of the enormous difference between loving attention and simple attention. It's subtle but it's crucial.

This is the point in the blog where I deliever sage wisdom and thereby make the world a healthier place. I don't have that. I will say(a message to myself first):

- Have humility enough to see your own insincerity. Work to resolve it.
- Actively love the people in your life who seem like they need attention. Actively love the ones who seem like they don't.
- Smile at a couple strangers (at a safe distance......especially if you live in NYC)
- Most importantly, stay prayed up. Only God can really safegaurd our hearts.

I pray there's only benfit in this. Pray for me. I'll pray for you.

¹ Full hadith found at https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:3961