The Zahir

Zahir, in Arabic, means visible, present, incapable of going unnoticed. It is someone or something which, once we have come into contact with them or it, gradually occupies our every thought, until we can think of nothing else. This can be considered either a state of holiness or of madness.

“Marie, let’s suppose that two firemen go into a forest to put out a small fire. Afterward, when they emerge and go over to a stream, the face of one is all smeared with black, while the other man’s face is completely clean. My question is this: Which of the two will wash his face?”
“That’s a silly question. The one with the dirty face, of course.”
“No, the one with the dirty face will look at the other man and assume that he looks like him. And, vice versa, the man with the clean face will see his colleague covered in grime and say to himself: I must be dirty too. I’d better have a wash.”

lessons always arrive when you are ready, and if you can read the signs, you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step.

I had discovered that I was much better and much more capable than I myself had thought;

Love was also a synonym for tenderness, security, prestige, comfort, success. Love could be translated into smiles, into words like “I love you” or “I feel so happy when you come home.

understanding that the invisible world always manifests itself in the visible world

acomodador: the moment in our lives when we decide to abandon our desires and make do, instead, with what we have

A warrior of light knows that he has much to be grateful for.

Being with someone else and making that person feel as if they were of no importance in our life is far worse than feeling alone and miserable in the streets of Geneva.

because there isn’t enough money to buy one each.