Imran
Imran
Nov 2 · 1 min read

Exercise in Futility

I wrote this about 5 years ago when I was going through a hard time, even thinking of myself as a Nihilist. Though the undertones of Nietzsche are clear, I think the clear message is one of faith. As Labid, perhaps the greatest Muslim Arab poet said: “All that is not Allah is vain.” It’s above all a call for us to reflect on how transient and indeed worthless everything in life is apart from The Maker of All and what He alone can give us: eternal life. Here it is:

They pour and pour into the vessel…soon, it is filled up and they lit up triumphant; they are fulfilled…they’ve reached their goal…or have they? Unknown to them, there is a small crack – a hole – at the bottom. Slowly and slowly, what they’ve poured gets less and less, until they begin to worry. They pour more, filling it again, but it keeps reducing. They grow frantic, and keep pouring and pouring….But can they pour forever? Soon, they have nothing more to pour, and the vessel returns to what it originally was; EMPTY.

I think this goes well with Abu Firas’ words: [Oh Allah] If you love for me is true, then everything shall be easy; for all that is above dust(earth) is really only dust.” Perhaps even more so, Ibn Qayyim’s words that were we to be given all the world, there is an emptiness in us that would never be filled up and that only Allah could fill it up.

Allah ya sa mu yi nasara.

Imran

Written by

Imran

Islam, Existentialism and History. I am a child of the Sokoto Jihad.