Mentioning someone in your prayers is the purest form of love.

🌈 1372 – Sunday, 7 September 2025 – 13:39

London

It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’m sitting at my desk. The day feels calm, the light is bright, but the sun isn’t shining directly, the weather is mild, the mood steady. Everything feels quiet and normal.

I had a good workout earlier in the morning. Woke up naturally without an alarm, expecting it to be close to 11, but it was only 8:20 AM. The sun was already out, and I could still hear the party next door carrying on from last night. They have a little balcony, and I peeked out to see 20 or 30 people, both guys and girls, with drinks in hand. Some would leave, others would join; the flow never stopped all weekend.

The noise didn’t bother me at all; in fact, I find it reassuring. It reminds me that life is still going on around me, just like it did when I was the one out all night. Maybe now it’s simply their turn.

Every season of life comes and goes, and the best we can do is enjoy it while it’s here.

Still lying in bed, I read a Rukuh of Surah Kahf, then recited some affirmations, and finally practised Metta Bhavana – loving-kindness meditation. Nothing, just send out thoughts of goodwill, imagining blessings for others to have a good day. That was according to Buddha.

Eventually, I got ready. Shorts and a t-shirt were enough for the weather. Packed my backpack and went downstairs. Someone was asleep in the living room, probably a friend of my building mate, snoring loudly. By 9:10, I was out, and by 9:15, I was in the gym.

I had a good workout, 4 sets of 11 reps pull-ups, tricep presses, stretch skull crushers, rope tricep extensions, EZ bar extensions, EZ bar curl negatives, and ab crunches on the machine. It felt very, very, very good -yes, three times good, that’s how fresh I felt.

Showered and left the gym, and it was very bright outside. It was so beautiful that I didn’t want to go straight home. I walked with my bike for a while, soaking it in, until I felt a little hunger, because. I had just finished a workout. I stopped at Tesco and picked up just the essentials: lettuce, bananas, a mango, and butter.

At 14:42 phoned mother, Dad waved on the camera from the living room, and Mum spoke from the kitchen. They were fine, just at home.

At 15:00 pm sharp, my iPhone 16 suddenly buzzed with a loud alarm: a “Severe Alert.” The message explained it was a test of the UK’s emergency alert system, the kind that would warn people if a life-threatening event was nearby. No action required, it said, but in a real emergency, we’d have to follow instructions. I remembered hearing on the radio a couple of days earlier that a test was coming. If I hadn’t caught that, I probably would have thought the message was spam. It made me pause and wonder: what are we preparing for?

By 15:09, my nephew texted. I’d been thinking of him earlier and almost messaged, but I left him to enjoy his time at home. Now he wrote to say he was heading back to university after spending the weekend at his sister’s. I remembered being in his shoes – travelling to and from the hostel every other weekend, with my sis and bro always at home, and our parents caring for us. Over time, the place you move away to becomes home, and eventually, you realise you are your own home. Sending a silent prayer for everyone making that transition right now – may God give them love and courage.

Lunch was rice with prawns and lentils. Earlier, after the gym, I’d had egg fried rice with lettuce, and later two slices of toast with butter. But this big rice portion was what was needed after a good workout.

Not long after, a mate texted to say he was on his way to the airport, thanking me for checking in earlier when I’d messaged him about catching his train. I know the feeling of returning to an empty home after visiting family, or travelling back into a city you’re still learning to call home. Having a friend check on you means a lot, even if you don’t live together. That’s why I try to do the same for others.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in bliss. Work done, family spoken to, everything in place. Around 17:45, I took a short nap, woke at 18:30, and the sun was still bright. Decided to go for a run.

From Green Park to Hyde Park, looping the bigger circle: past Knightsbridge, Royal Albert Hall on the left, Kensington Palace, rows of embassies, then Bayswater, Lancaster Gate, Marble Arch, and back to Hyde Park Corner. The whole route was bathed in sunshine. By the time I returned, the sun was setting like a giant orange fruit in the sky. A perfect, beautiful day.

It reminded me again: today is all that you have. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow hasn’t arrived. Life is really just one day at a time – wake, live, sleep. If you see your life as a single day, you learn to treasure it. Everything that happens, even the difficulties, can be taken as a gift for your growth and for the good of those around you. Don’t obsess over the past or the future. Stay present.

So I reminded myself: live today with gratitude and balance. Be satisfied with what’s given, and believe you’re placed exactly where you need to grow.

The Quran, Surah Al-A’raf 7:144, says: “O Moses, I have chosen you above all people by My messages and My words to you. So take what I have given you and be among the grateful.”

Meanwhile, the world continues: Around the world today –

• Russia-Ukraine war – Russia launched its largest aerial assault of the war overnight, with 810 drones and missiles striking multiple Ukrainian cities, even damaging the Cabinet building in Kyiv for the first time. (The Guardian)

• Israel escalated its offensive in Gaza City with intensified strikes and ground operations. (The Times of Israel)

• OpenAI’s GPT-5, launched in August, reached gold-level performance in international math Olympiad problems, showing a new level of AI reasoning. (AI Tech Hub)

Three things I’m grateful for today:

• Graeful for parents’ health.

• Graeful for the sunny weather today.

• Grateful for this little IKEA radio behind me, playing some crap.

What would it take for me and for you to wake up ten times more energetic, healthier, stronger, leaner, muscular, and happier – carrying the same fresh attitude that today is the day?

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Goodnight, good luck.

– Ash Khaleem