a place to rest

My friend introduced me a really nice place. 'the quiet place'. My close friend. Rest and break. Thanks to him.

I know then why I like so much to go camping. Why I like to go to places like that. I know why I love to be with nature so much. And I know why I like being alone.

A strong circle in the storm

Beautiful. Masya Allah.

I remember when I became AJK for Kem Asas(a very lasak camping for form 1 student). We arrived late at the campsite. The most important thing when you arrive at any campsite or anywhere, is to erect your tent. For protection and safety. That is the first and foremost task you must complete. To build where is another different thing. So, when we arrived, we helped the peserta to erect their tents. And ours to. Ours are simple. You put two pole, tie a rope or a long stick across, then you cover it with canvas. It started to rain then. So, we only managed to erect only one for us because almost all of us were too occupied to help participants build theirs. We did not expect much from them to do it ASAP because they were all new to it. Form 1 students, itulah rebungnya. Rain poured very heavily, unabated. At that time, we could not even start a fire to cook. And so did the participants. We took our roti and distributed it to participants. I was still form 3 at that time. So watching my seniors 'redah hujan' from tent to tent during a very heavy downpour to give foods and to make sure all participants were not hungry made my respect grew. And we did not eat that time. We made it sure participants had eaten. All of them. Because of only one tent we managed to erect for us, we made an express canopy by tying a piece of canvas to trees around us. And we managed to build a small unstable unggun api. The rain was so heavy, and each of us was shivering. While ustaz and other seniors were trying as hard as they could to keep the fire live, we decided to hug each other. Everyone in the circle hug each other. A huge lump of cold, shivering bodies near the fire under a very heavy rain. I will never forget that moment. I hug Amirul Arif, I hug 'Ammar Sahrim, I hug Chiman, and we hug each other very closely to keep each other warm. It was so nostalgic. In the midst of the heavy rain, I felt connected to them. What a memory. I miss them. One of them was arwah Abdul Hadi[a post dedicated to him], pengarah for the Kem Asas. He was the first person I had seen to cut a whole big bamboo in just three clean slash. 'Buluh tak pecah'. Rindu sungguhhh.. Ya Allah.

An apprentice not to be

I used to carry this every where I went. :)

I was absorbed into this circle of activity when I was in form 3 at first because I was to be trained by Abang Sarep. He was a certified participant of  'Kursus Perubatan Tentera' and wanted me to help him during Al Amin campings as AJK Keselamatan. 'Keselamatan' not only in physical sense. It included the unseen one. He trained me. Taught me steps in treating injuries, taught me not to be panic, taught me kinds of wounds and cuts, taught me how to pull duri dari daging peserta, taught me this and that. During camping, it is normal for people to be cut by their own parangs. Some deep and some shallow. Sadly, a lot I missed to learn from him. I managed to learn only few skills. So much to know and to learn. I don't know which plants to treat what. The only plants I know are daun kapal terbang in which you chew them, and you spit it on your wounds; and senduduk for 'perangsang'. The point is I could not become his apprentice as he wishes. Or once wished. So much we had gone through together. He took my hand when I was in form 3 and led the way until I finished my SPM. He IS my naqib, mentor and teacher. He was the one who summoned alumni of Al-Amin to come and work at Al-Amin. Some of us are already planning to teach there for a year or two. "Membina manusia ni makan masa bertahun-tahun, bukan sekejap". That's what he said. I will bear that in mind.

I remember during our expedition Merentasi Banjaran Titiwangsa, Muhammad also had his mentors. Along the expedition, Muhammad and Pak Long; a JPA sergeant will stop a while at places to talk about certain plants. Suits him, Muhammad is now in UiTM Medic. He was my boss when it came to uniform unit affairs.

One of the best mediums

Our usual tent. Just replace the pole in the pic with bamboo. :D

During a meeting, a senior said "Perkhemahan medium paling sesuai untuk terapkan muwasofat tarbiyah. Dalam camping ada qadirun 'ala kasbi(berdikari), ada munazzamun fi syu'unih(tersusun urusannya), ada harisun 'ala waqtih(menepati masa), macam-macam lagi. Masa ini kita boleh terapkan ukhuwah, 'aqidah, yang mana-mana kualiti-kualiti yang dapat diterapkan masa perkhemahan ini kita tak boleh nak terapkan di wasilah tarbiyah yang lain. Sebab itu walau macam mana aktif kita pun, dalam setahun paling kurang ada sekali mukhayyam dalam wasilah tarbiyah kita." Well-said.

We can see our true self when we are in hardship and desperation. Camping shaped most of myself. Although for a bit of times now, it has not yet shaped my physical body as the way I want it. But, for my inner self, yes. I thank Allah for that.

What is of the essence?

Why I like going into nature? I don't know. It feels different when you take your wudhu' from a river. It feels superb when you prostrate with your head touching the cold sand. When you sit and pray on the grass. You are not worried when insects creep on your hands or face when you are praying, because you know they know you are worshiping Allah. When your sleep is accompanied by sounds of the jungle. When you open your eyes, you look up, and you see stars very clear. You eat foods that you cook by yourself, even if it raw most of the times, you finish every bit of it. None wasted. You learn to share and to ration. Wherever your eyes go, it stops at the greenery of nature. You feel belonged. And you know, one day you will be back to where you come from. Reminiscent lends me a piece of old memory to describe this;

I want to heal, I want to feel
Like I'm close to something real
I want to find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong


Victory
Ramadhan has left us. And now we can see whether we really win or lose. A sense of continuity. It is up to us to istiqamah. Live your life at your own pace. After Ramadhan ended, I regard some of the previously important things as less important now. I really do not care how much I will lose, because I have nothing to lose. Just do everything as best as you could. Itqan. And you have nothing to worry. Simple and clean heart leads to simple life. Make small deeds matter. So you will not miss the big deeds. Appreciate everyone around you, and around your heart. And do not chase something or someone which is not yours. Feel satisfied with what you have, and never forget your dream. Don't ever forget your dream.

Al Fatihah for arwah Noramfaizul. May Allah bless his soul. He becomes my motivation instantly. He died before he could make his wish comes true. He wanted to go to Baitul Maqdis. So do I.

Do you want to go to 'the quiet place'? Click 'Rest my friend :)'

And do you know how to rest taught by our prophet?

Solat. It is a form of istirahah for mu'min.

Rest.. :)