Embracing the World

Through my journey across seven continents and even to the edges of the "two Poles," I came to recognise that we all share a responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. Along the way, I repeatedly returned to the timeless wisdom of the Ten Commandments-principles simple yet profound, not relics of the past but enduring guidance for healing the paradise we share. I have long admired travellers like Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta, and have reflected on the insights of Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist and George Orwell in 1984. Their works capture human wonder, ambition, and caution, yet when faced with today's urgent struggles-violence, injustice, environmental destruction, exploitation, and immorality-I found no framework as clear or stabilising as the Commandments.

A world shaped by these values would witness fewer wars and greater dignity. Communities would thrive through honesty and responsibility; families would be strengthened; societies would be freer from corruption, deceit, and the restless urge to take what is not theirs-forces that fuel poverty and inequality. Even the cultural tide of hostility and moral decay would lose its corrosive power within a society that actively upheld truth, fidelity, and respect for the dignity of others. The Commandments are not restrictions but pathways to harmony. Yet such harmony is not passive. It demands that we resist the inhumanity we see daily-the violence, indifference, and suffering that numb the conscience. Acquiescence is a moral failure, and I see no other framework capable of guiding humanity away from the abyss with such clarity.

These reflections rise from both my travels and my life. I write this as a Muslim, born in Kenya to Pakistani grandparents and now living in London, carrying layered perspectives of faith, migration, and histories shaped by colonisation. For me, travel is a sacred act-a chance to learn, reflect, witness creation's beauty, and align myself with divine guidance and universal values. In the Arctic, an Inuit teaching echoed deeply: "The Earth is a mother, not a possession," a reminder of the responsibility we all share toward the land that sustains us.

This book is not merely a travelogue. It is a meditation on how journeys awaken conscience and reveal our shared duty to care for Mother Earth and all her inhabitants. Above all, it invites readers to view the world not as scenery, but as a sacred, interconnected tapestry. I offer these reflections with humility, gratitude, and hope that they inspire readers to live with wonder and help heal our shared paradise through righteousness.