The Polar Discovery team has documented science in action from pole to pole during the historic 2007-2009 International Polar Year, and covered five scientific expeditions. The science projects have explored a range of topics from climate change and glaciers, to Earth’s geology, biology, ocean chemistry, circulation, and technology at the icy ends of the earth. Through daily photo essays, we explain how scientists collect data and what they are discovering about the rapidly changing polar regions.

What’s next for the Polar Discovery team?
Even though the International Polar Year has ended, science will continue in the Arctic and Antarctic. Stay tuned for future Polar Discovery expeditions to the icy ends of the earth.

Take a look – it is a treasure trove of information!

Going on an Errand

A pound of tea at one and three
And a pot of raspberry jam
Two new laid eggs a dozen pegs
And a pound of rashers of ham.

I’ll say it over all the way
And then I’m sure not to forget
For if I chance to bring things wrong
My Mother gets in such a sweat.

A pound of tea at one and three
And a pot of raspberry jam
Two new laid eggs a dozen pegs
And a pound of rashers of ham.

There in the hay the children play
They’re having such fine fun
I’ll go there too that’s what I’ll do
As soon as my errands are done

A pound of tea at one and three
A pot of er new laid jam
Two raspberry eggs with a dozen pegs
And a pound of rashers of ham.

There’s Teddy White flying his kite
He thinks himself grand I declare
I’d like to make it fly up sky high
Ever so much higher than the old church spire

And then – but there

A pound of three at one and tea
A pot of new laid jam
Two dozen eggs, some raspberry pegs
And a pound of rashers of ham.

Now here’s the shop outside I’ll stop
And run my orders through again
I haven’t forgot – it’s better not
It shows I’m pretty quick that’s plain.

A pound of tea at one and three
A dozen of raspberry ham
A pot of eggs with a dozen pegs
And a rasher of new laid jam.

~ by Anonymous

Do not stand at my grave and weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.

~ Mary Elizabeth Frye, 1932

We are spending Ramadan and `Eid in Singapore in shaa Allah so I am packing!

1. Qur’an and tafseer books

2. Touched by An Angel CDs and Study Guide

3. Stories of the Prophet by Ibn Kathir

4. The Sealed Nectar by Sheikh Safi ur Rahman Mubarakpuri

5. Words of Remembrance and Words of Reminder by Dr. Saalih ibn Ghaanim al-Sadlaan

6. Recharge Your Faith by Amirah Mauthoor (jazakillah khayran Fruitful Fusion!)

7. Productive Ramadan Webinars‘

8. Ramadan Journal and Copywork for the kids

9. My Islamic audio stash

10. Ramadan recipe book

What are you preparing? :)

It has been a sobering week for us. In the light of recent events and with Ramadan just around the corner, I realise how fleeting time – LIFE – is. We don’t even know if we will live to take our next breath and yet we are complacent… heedless.

I wrote an article a few years ago and I am reposting it here to remind myself to buck up before my time is up.

The Sands of Time

The Messenger of Allah sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam said: “Take benefit of five before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before your preoccupation, and your life before your death.” [al-Haakim, al-Baihaqee: Saheeh]

I read a transcript of a lecture some time ago which spoke about the value of time. The speaker emphasised that al-waqt – time – is more valuable than gold and silver and should be treated like the precious commodity it is.

There are a whole 24 hours in a single day and yet it seems to pass in a blink of an eye, leaving us with a slew of unfinished tasks and unaccomplished goals. How often have we regretfully said, “Where did the minutes and hours of the day go?”

Have you seen how an hourglass works? Dried sand passes from one container to another through a narrow aperature. Once the sand runs out, you turn the hourglass over and the whole process begins again. But life is not an hourglass that you can just flip and start over. Time passes like the fleeting wind and once gone, can never be gotten back.

Each and every second of our time should be dedicated to Islam, to the remembrance of and obedience to Allah. Truly, there is so much that can be done… so much that NEEDS to be done.

Allah in His Infinite Mercy has blessed us with a variety of acts of worship to do – some are physical such as prayer; some are financial such as zakat and sadaqah; some are spoken such as du`aa and dhikr. Perhaps the wisdom behind this provision is that it addresses the different inclinations and abilities of the people. Some people may enjoy some kinds of worship more than others.

Indeed, Allah has made gates of Paradise according to the different types of worship. According to a hadeeth narrated by Abu Hurayrah radhiallahu `anhu hadeeth, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam said: “Whoever spends on a pair for the sake of Allah will be called from the gates of Paradise, ‘O slave of Allah, this is good.’ Whoever is one of the people of prayer will be called from the gate of prayer. Whoever is one of the people of jihad will be called from the gate of jihad. Whoever is one of the people of fasting will be called from the gate of al-Rayyan. Whoever is one of the people of charity will be called from the gate of charity.” [Bukhari]

Abdullah ibn Mas’ood radhiallahu `anhu said, “I have never regretted anything as much as I regret a day on which the sun set, my term was shortened and my deeds did not increase.”

Let us heed the warnings of those who came before us. `Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz advised, “The night and the day are surely acting upon you, so act you therein.”

As `Umar al-Khattab said:

“Allahumma innaa nas’aluka salaaha as-saa’aati wa al-barakata fiy al-awqaati.”
“O Allah, we ask you righteousness of the hour and your blessing in our time.”