Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (rahmatuLlahi alaihi) mentions in his Mathnawi, a story of Sultan Mahmood: One day the Sultan decided to test his ministers and ordered them to crush the most prized pearl of his treasury. One by one, each of 65 ministers declined, stating that the pearl was far too valuable to be destroyed.

The King then summoned his closest and trusted courtier, Ayaaz, and ordered him to crush the pearl. Without any delay or hesitation, Ayaaz crushed the pearl into fragments. When the ministers expressed disbelief and shock at such audacity, the King asked Ayaaz to inform them as to the reason for him having broken the pearl.

In response, Ayaaz asked these ministers: "Which is more important, the Royal Decree or the pearl? "

The question we pose to ourselves is:

"Which is more important, the command of my Allah or the haram desire of my heart?"

The haram desires of the heart are akin to pearls, which appear to be quite beautiful but we should not fulfill these haram desires at the cost of breaking the decrees of Allah.

Ayaaz attained closeness to the king through his loyalty and faithfulness and his obedience and submission. Similarly, we will gain the extreme nearness and intimate closeness to the King of Kings through loyalty and faithfulness. This in turn is dependent upon sincere obedience and complete submission to His decrees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alia_Sabur

Gates v GM

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated; "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating:

If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........ Twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

Top 10

• Best selling cars
• Biggest athletes
• Biggest alcohol consumption
• Cleanest countries
• Coffee drinking nation
• Countries with highest suicide rates
• Countries with highest divorce rates
• Countries with greatest populations
• Countries with with most airports
• Countries with births per year
• Countries with most billioners
• Countries with most number of cows
• Deepest oceans and seas
• Highest death rates in world
• The fastest cars in world
• Highest house hold size
• Lowest average birth weights
• Biggest car production
• Most common causes of accidental death
• Countries with highest life expectancy
• Largest countries in world.

"Read! In the name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). Has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the most Generous, who has taught (the writing) by the pen. Has taught man that which he did not know."

Surat Al-'Alaq, (Allah - Al-Qura'an - Verses 1 to 5).

“Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“He who leaveth home in search of knowledge, walketh in the path of God” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

"Seek knowledge even as far as China." (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“The acquisition of knowledge is obligation on every Muslim, male and female.” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“One learned man is harder on the devil than a thousand ignorant worshippers.” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“Whoever seeketh knowledge and findeth it, will get two rewards; one of them the reward for desiring it, and the other for attaining it; therefore, even if he do not attain it, for him is one reward.” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“The world and all things in it are valuable; but the most valuable thing in the world is a virtuous woman” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“Four things support the world: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“Verily the best of God's servants are just and learned kings; and verily the worst are bad and ignorant kings.” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

Pakistani woman hoists national flag at North Pole
Written by pub
Saturday, 21 April 2007

ISLAMABAD, Apr 21 (APP): Namira Salim, a Pakistani national, won
laurels for the nation when she hoisted Pakistani flag at the North
Pole on Saturday morning at 0530 hours (PST). As she also awaits her
space flight during the next couple of years, Namira Salim becomes the
first Pakistani to reach the top of the world, the Geographic North
Pole.

"It is great honor to represent my country as the first Pakistani
citizen at the Geographic North Pole during the "International Polar
Year' that marks the challenge of climate change our planet faces,"
Namira told APP by satellite phone.

"As I hoist the Pakistan flag at the pinnacle of our planet, I convey
a universal message of peace and to assert to the global community
that Pakistani nation is peace loving and tolerant nation," she added.

Based in Southern France, Namira has deep affiliation with innovative
art and multi-dimensional mixed media, some created around poetry she
writes and some are musical she incorporates into songs in her own
voice.

Her collectibles and decorative art objects also come along her to
support global causes.

Namira created a specialized line of musical art objects with built-in
messages in the voices of renowned altruists, first unveiled at the
United Nations in May 2002.

"As a humanitarian artist and a truly global citizen I have also come
to hoist a flag of universal peace at the Pole," she said, adding that
this peace flag bears the theme of her United Nations exhibition
'Peace-Making with Nation-Souls.'

She sees the war and conflict with pain and hopes that tolerance can
be inspired through the arts and understanding for the peace and
progress of the world.

"The North Pole bears an amazing resemblance to Pakistani's scenic
Northern Ares" said Namira, expressing her sentiments of joy and
happiness.

"As Pakistan's Honorary Ambassador of Tourism, I'd like to invite the
world to experience Pakistan's rich culture and to touch the world's
top most mountain peaks, like the K-2," she stated.

Namira also praised the 2004 Polar expedition of Anouskha Kachelo, a
Pakistan born UK citizen who is known to be the youngest woman to have
reached the North Pole.

"My Polar mission is that of a peace ambassador, while Anouska's
expedition was that of a true adventurer, which remains a source of
inspiration to this day," she said.

Namira Saleem had also made an attempt to hoist Pakistani flag at the
North Pole on April 14, but could not succeed due to bad weather.