大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Yousra Samir Imran

Good morning.

As a writer and author, I feel like I am on an eternal quest for inspiration. As a creative, other people expect me also to be an endless fountain of inspiration. Because of this, I often feel inspirationally burned-out.

Type 鈥渉ow to find inspiration鈥� on a search engine, and the top results will advise you to go on a walk in nature, listen to music, visit an art gallery, or practice mindfulness. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my best ideas have never come while staring at a Renaissance painting or while hiking in the Yorkshire Dales. The more I search for new ideas, the harder it is to find them.

I thought of our Prophets 鈥� the ones talked about in the Bible, Torah and the Qur鈥檃n, like Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammed, peace be upon them all. They did not go searching for inspiration. They were all inspired by God. When the Qur鈥檃n was being revealed to the Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, he did not go searching for revelation. God chose when to reveal the next verse and sometimes weeks and months would go by before the next revelation.

So maybe I should take a leaf out of the Prophets鈥� book and let the inspiration come to me, in its own sweet time. I could be peeling shells off my boiled eggs, or cleaning out my cat鈥檚 litter tray when my next bright idea suddenly pops into my head.

Oh God, The Guider, I pray that you continue to grant me with inspiration and increase my patience while waiting for it.

Ameen.