Night falls in Kuala Lumpur

This image of the Kuala Lumpur Tower (foreground) and the Petronas Twin Towers (background) was taken by journalist Jehan Mohd from Maybank Tower in Kuala Lumpur City last month.

Isn't it interesting how everything looks different at night?

Take this view of the city, for example.

What happened to the grime, congestion and pollution?

Night-time covers a multitude of sins.

It hides the real situation or facts when these are not good or pleasant.

As one unknown source puts it, "night is the blotting paper for many sorrows".

From the Talmud comes this warning: "Never greet a stranger in the night, for he may be a demon."

While Somerset Maugham notes that "in the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city, with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile and menacing.

"It is like a monstrous vulture that hovers, biding its time."

If the black of the night sky inspires fear as we are likely to feel when power failures blacked out various sections of the city, it is also conducive to contemplation.

Although "fear (and grief) can keep us up all night long," notes another unknown source, "faith makes one fine pillow".

Those who lead a life of prayer and contemplation believe that the secrets of the divine are revealed at night-time.

It is the time when they feel closest to their creator and spiritual obligations take on a whole new meaning.

Khalil Gibran urges us to celebrate the night because "one may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night".

An African proverb comments in a similar vein:" However long the night, the dawn will break."

NOTE: For more night quotes, go to this website.

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