Blue sky thinking says:  ‘The sky is the limit’.

As great and wonderful this saying is, it is still limiting. The Qur’an is a book which has been sent to free the mind and soul from our limiting constructs and conceptions to the expanse of the realm of the Infinite. 

‘The sky is the limit’, they say. We have a different take altogether. Our journey starts from the sky. It is from beyond the sky that we have come from, it from beyond the heavens where revelation has come to us.

Every year, people set new year’s resolutions. We should aim high and have the resolve to embody the characteristic of the dwellers (the angels) of the sky, for they are beings closest to our Lord.

It is narrated that Sa’ad ibn Muadh (may Allah be pleased with him) reached a high status so much so that the Throne of Allah shook from pleasure of meeting him when he died.

“The doors of Heaven were open for him and seventy thousand angels participated in his funeral prayer.” [Tirmidhi] 

What great heights did Sa’ad ascend to?We too can travel to Him, however there is only one prerequisite, that is to leave the self behind. Ata’illah Al-Iskandaria said in his Hikam:

“How can the heart be illumined while the forms of creatures are reflected in its mirror? Or how can it journey to Allah while shackled by its passions? Or how can it desire to enter the Presence of Allah [hadratu’llah] while it has not yet purified itself of the stain of its forgetfulness? Or how can it understand the subtle points of secrets [daqa’iq al-asrar] while it has not yet repented of its offenses?”

I hope this year, we are able to break the shackles of our lower self and detach ourselves from the love of created being and attach ourselves to the Creator. I hope we are able see how much we are in need of Him – are we not the neediest of His creation? I hope with every breaking of dawn and every closing of dusk, we can see the countless favours He has bestowed upon us and use them to draw closer to Him in knowledge, actions, emotions and in spirit. I hope this year we are able to nurture the angelic qualities within us, perhaps even grow those wings of hope, love, reverence, humility and humbleness and fly to Him.

So going back to what I started with, they say; ‘the sky is the limit’, we say:

‘The sky is only the beginning for those who tread the path to Allah; a shore without an end and a wonder beyond comprehension.’

May Allah be with you on your journey from Him to Him.