A Day of Unexpected Grace
Today unfolded in a way I never anticipated. What began as a morning I quietly dreaded—having to deliver my two works for the Wanli exhibition—quickly shifted when my daughter stepped in, sensing my hesitation, and took care of the delivery herself.
Later, I made my way to MGTF USM to hand over another piece for the upcoming Astronomy exhibition. It was supposed to be a simple errand, nothing more. But life, in its mysterious wisdom, had other plans.
To my complete surprise, I discovered that one of my largest donated works had been selected for the show, to be displayed alongside a piece by the late Dato’ Syed Ahmad Jamal, one of Malaysia’s towering figures in the world of art. To be placed in such company is an honour I had never imagined, let alone expected.
The curator responsible for the selection was Ayoub, a young Iranian scholar currently pursuing his PhD at the university. He had previously authored a book on Malaysian artists and approached his work with a depth of knowledge that was both impressive and humbling. What I thought would be a brief introduction turned into nearly four hours of rich conversation—an exchange that felt more like a meeting of kindred spirits than a discussion between two strangers.
As Ayoub shared his doctoral thesis comparing Islam and Zen Buddhism, I found myself quietly smiling within. His thoughts, his manner of speaking, and even the silence beneath his words carried a resonance that felt deeply familiar—almost as though I were listening to you in one of those quiet, contemplative moments. He had no idea that these very subjects had shaped much of my own journey. Only when I later revealed my studies and experiences in these traditions did the full alignment of our meeting become clear.
It was in that moment that something inside me stirred—
a recognition, subtle but undeniable:
this was synchronicity.
Not coincidence.
Not chance.
But a moment arranged by a deeper intelligence, one that gently weaves together the seemingly separate threads of our lives.
Synchronicity is not always dramatic. Sometimes it arrives through a simple conversation, or through the unexpected presence of someone whose thoughts and spirit echo our own. It appears when the outer world mirrors the inner, reminding us that our path is not as solitary as it sometimes feels.
Meeting Ayoub affirmed something I have long believed:
When the heart is sincere, it attracts the right reflections.
When the path is walked honestly, it brings forth the right companions.
A day that began with reluctance and heaviness transformed into one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in a long time. My works found their place in exhibitions I never thought I would be part of, and I found myself in the presence of someone whose intellectual and spiritual insights resonated with my own in ways that felt almost fated.
Perhaps that is the real miracle—not the events themselves, but the meaning that reveals itself when we are open enough to see it.
Some encounters feel as though they were written somewhere beyond time.
Today, I was blessed with one of them.
Closing Reflection
As I look back on this unexpected turn of events, I am reminded that life still has a way of surprising us when we least expect it. What appears at first as reluctance or burden may, in truth, be the threshold of something meaningful. Sometimes the universe orchestrates meetings not to change our path, but to reaffirm it—to whisper, “You are exactly where you need to be.”
Today, that whisper arrived through art, through conversation, and through the quiet recognition of a shared inner language. For that, I am grateful.
Alhamdullilah, Ya Rab.
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