Panting, out of breath, yet another slip on the path, yet another blot on the record. The result is instantaneous: Darkness dawns, poison seeping through the heart, the Earth narrows and the ruh withers in pain.

Stained with evil.

Astaghfirullah!

A shift, like the hungry gasp of a drowning man unexpectedely freed from his watery prison.

Astaghfirullah!

A tidal wave of pure Light washes through the heart; cleansing, purifying, illuminating. The darkness crumbles, the burden lifts and the ruh sighs with relief.

Astaghfirullah!

Like a lump of blackened coal cracked open, the heart is freed once more, revealing the diamond inside; glittering and sparkling, renewed and strengthened, ready to turn back to the Rabb yet again.