Musafar مُسافر – meaning traveller in the Arabic language – comes from the root word, Safar سفر meaning travel. Safar سفر means uncovering, or expressing. Words like Tafseer تفسير and Fassar فسّر also come from it.
“Travelling, it turns you speechless then turns you into a storyteller!” as Ibn Battuta said. I can’t agree more. By time, travelling will become an addiction. And as we make transcontinental moves, we will witness more beauty. Beauty that we know is already there, and perhaps have seen in pictures, but not ever felt. In the state of foreignness, we become truly ourselves, we do not fake it. We take off any virtual eye-glasses that our societies may have forced us to wear to accept certain standards. We look at things deeper, sight is promoted to vision, and listening is promoted to understanding. It kind of nurtures the soul, there is some sort of Tarbiyah that happens as it helps us become more disciplined, thinking of life needs rather than just desires. It does not necessarily help you control your emotions towards your parents & family that you leave back home, but it does indeed teach you gratefulness towards all that you have ever taken for granted. A rich attribute of voyage, as I would love to call it, would be that we discover where home really is. It could be as small as the village you were born in, or as big as this earth.. Or as high as the bird’s eyes views, as high as the heavens.
I personally think that, no one can afford falling in love several times except for a sincere traveller. And by falling in love I shall extend the meaning beyond what it is meant to be for. Falling in love, is absolute surrender and sincerity. It is risking a hurtful hit to the ground, not worrying about who shall catch you down there because you are busy enjoying the enchanting flying feeling whilst in the falling process. For a traveller, the love of the people has no ground, it is an ocean! When you fall, you keep falling.. and falling.. and falling! Drowning .. drowning .. and drowning. And believe you me it is the only ocean where the more you dive into, the more oxygen you get!
I have yet not become, not even close to becoming a traveller. And I can not really fake it till I make it. My goal is to be a traveller, a knowledge seeker in thirst of ‘Ilm. From this city to another, from this neighborhood to one in another continent! I hereby send a message to myself:
Meet new people and have a glimpse of their countries. Taste different foods, and learn how to greet them in their language. Read the eyes of strangers in airports and train stations. Give a helping hand to one of them, and send your loved ones letters soaked in gratitude when you see lovers saying goodbye at boarding gates. Appreciate every little moment, choose your words carefully, and always be an addition to someone’s day.. always be the cherry on top! A day spent without spreading love & knowledge, is a day wasted. Question all the beauty, write love poetry for no lover, dedicate the most beautiful words to all what you have seen. Never forget to pray and hope that all you have gone through from little stations shall be a witness for you.. that you have scented it by your sincere spirit. The spirit of a sincere a traveller.
On your journeys, you are going to meet so many beautiful people in your life. So many beautiful faces and beautiful souls. In quest of beauty, and in thirst of happiness, we need to abide by how we define beauty, justice, love and happiness. We need to step outside our comfort zones and seek the manifestation of these definitions. :-)) We need to acknowledge them, know them, imply them and demonstrate them onto ourselves. Touch the hearts, and intellects.. and reach out to the receptor of spiritual and emotional delight into others. We need to become all of that, which we desire.. for I am a strong believer that what we seek, is mutually seeking us! Ain’t this what transcontinental moves are all about? Wandering, and meeting beautiful souls, have awe-inspirting conversations, and cherish the memories! Another blessing from above.
Never dismiss small gestures. No matter how seemingly small they could be. These are the small details that match the enchanting scenery heart-felt by the eyes of a traveller.. and whispered into the ears of silently communicating lovers..
“Voyager, c’est vivre dans toute la plénitude du mot; c’est oublier le passé et l’avenir pour le présent; c’est respirer à pleine poitrine, jouir de tout, s’emparer de la création comme d’une chose qui est sienne, c’est chercher dans la terre des mines d’or que personne n’a fouillées, dans l’air des merveilles que personne n’a vues, c’est passer après la foule et ramasser sous l’herbe les perles et les diamants qu’elle a pris, ignorante et insoucieuse qu’elle est, pour des flocons de neige et des gouttes de rosée. ”
A close translation to the quote above; (sorry if inaccurate!) – To Travel is to live fully in the world “to the fullness of the word”; it is to forget the past and the future for the sake of the present; it is to breathe filling your entire chest, enjoy everything, to take over the creation as if you are exploring a land of gold that no one has stepped onto before or excavated , in the air of the wonders that no one has passed through. It is to going after the crowd and picking up pearls and diamonds that are between the grass. Pearls and diamonds resembled in rain drops, and snowflakes, that you ignore their actual absence and intentionally fantasize their presence.
Your home could be as SMALL as the land on this earth, or as BIG as someone’s heart! :-)
