“Everything about yesterday has gone with yesterday.

Today, it is needed to say new things.”

-Rumi

 

Can new things be said with old words? Can one experience the new without outstripping the old? Can renewal take place with outdated, overused, limiting thoughts and beliefs?

While it may be true that we owe the survival of our species to those who were the “fittest” in the past, moving forward, it may be more about our intellectual ability to renew and transform by transcending the known and submitting to the unknown. 

Perhaps this is why the Rasul of Allah, Muhammad (saw) said, “He whose two days are equal is in loss,” drawing our attention to the importance of constant renewal and growth. If indeed we continue living in the past with the concepts and ideas of yesterday and fail to upgrade and update our understanding to today, how can we expect to advance, let alone last? 

As nature discards anything that is stagnant and stale, renewal is not just an imperative, indispensable condition for survival but also the most paramount determinant for reaching the elevated states of human potential.

After completing the translations of almost a dozen of Ahmed Hulusi’s intriguing and thought provoking books, it has been yet another stimulating experience translating The Renewal - Islam and The New Age.

This is for all of us who are committed to elevating their experience through self-growth.

 

          Aliya Atalay

Istanbul, 2019