Duet with M. Nasir & Al-Jawaher

M. Nasir:
My affairs are not yet settled
Till I have found His Light
All I desire on this journey
Is that you send along the Fatihah for me

Masihkah Kau Ingat by Kopratasa,
a Malaysian popular music trio active in the late 1980s. This was perhaps their biggest hit, and still receives a lot of play on Malaysian radio.
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Give it a listen:
Kopratasa – Masihkah Kau Ingat
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English translation by
Bin Gregory Productions.
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Do you remember still
That single moment where
A blossom full in bloom
I placed within your hair
Do you remember still
Transformed into a dream
Longing to be with you
Do you remember still
Do you remember still
As we ran and ran
To the foot of the sky
The rainbows we chased
As the rain did come …

Cicak, Cicak, di dinding
Diam, diam, merayap
Datang seekor nyamuk
Hap! Hap! Lalu di tangkap!
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Translation and more after the jump.

By Abu Muhammad of Bahrus Shofah
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English Translation by Bin Gregory Productions
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Datuk Haji Abdul Kadir bin Hassan, may Allah have mercy on him, was born in Kampung Patingan (or Kampung No. 6), Kuching, Sarawak, on the 6th of August, 1928 (28th Safar 1347). His formal education began at SRK (Public School) Merpati Japang (my own school) until Standard 4 (10th grade), after which he attended the Madrasah Melayu (Malay Religious School, Kuching). While studying at school, he deepened his religious knowledge with local ulama (religious scholars), among them …

Buah macang buah kuini,
Masak sebiji dalam daun;
Mengapa begini hatiku ini,
Habis bulan berganti tahun.
A pair of fruits, Machang and Kwini
Each one ripening under its leaves
Oh why does this poor heart of mine feel like this?
Each month of passing has turned into years

arawak is blessed with an abundance of fruit, but mangos are not one of them. The common mango, Mangifera indica, can grow here, but the lack of a significant dry period prevents it from fruiting well. (We have two seasons here: Wet and Very Wet.) …

Malaysia never stops changing. Controversial areas like race, religion, native privilege (bumiputera status), and national language are constantly in a state of flux. Most recently, when I registered the birth of my latest child, I discovered that the birth certificate itself had changed (for the second time), and that now the race of the child was explicitly stated on the birth cert. Prior to this, the race of the mother and father were stated, but not that of the child. I didn’t really know what that …

Among the more dramatic trees in the settled landscapes of Malaysia is the Kekabu or Kapok Tree (Ceiba pentandra), a gargantuan tropical version of the common large-for-Michigan Cottonwood Tree (Populus deltoides) of my youth. A truly massive tree, it grows to easily 100 feet high, with thick strong lateral branches radiating out in whorls at nearly 90 degrees from the trunk. The most striking feature is at ground level: the muscular buttress roots that rise 8, 9, 10 feet out of the ground to join the …

The fasting month is proceeding apace. This year, I have three children fasting from dawn to dusk, Munirah is fasting from dawn till when she returns from school, and Najihah is fasting from breakfast all the way to lunch. With so many earnest young fasters, the iftar spread is of vital importance to bolster their thinly-spread iman. So every evening on my way home from work, I stop by our friendly neighborhood bazaar/pasar for goodies.
All the specialties of the season are on display: fancy sweets, colorful …

oney is a blessed food, mentioned in the Quran and praised often by Nabi Muhammad (saws) for its healing properties. Not to mention, it tastes great too! My mother keeps bees on her farm, and the raw honey she produces has such a fantastic flavor. Whenever my family visits, I beg then to bring along a few bottles that vanish almost as soon as they leave.
In the long interim periods, I used to make do with whatever was on the supermarket shelf. Priced out …

The azan can be heard all around Kuching from the suraus in most every neighborhood. Sometimes it takes a bit of work to find where it is coming from. Taking a shortcut through a secluded neighborhood on my way home late from work, I would often hear the azan called loudly nearby, see old uncles walking down the street in kain palikat and songkok, but never saw the mosque. I decided to explore one day on foot, and discovered the surau tucked away in a block …