The Cave. A Sanctuary, A Safe Space

My wife has this expression when she sees I’ve come home extra tired from work. She says to me - “Faisal, do you need some cave time?”

Not literally of course - and it’s also not a ‘man cave’ full of video games and entertainment.

The cave is metaphorical, a state or bubble where I withdraw, recharge and stay in silence. Where I need some time to reset, be alone with my thoughts and not be overly stimulated.

The cave is a sanctuary, a safe space, a place where you can strategise, away from prying eyes. You can be yourself without any fear or pressure. A place to destress. Even if it’s just 30 minutes, it can be powerful.

There’s a reason the cave appears in almost every spiritual tradition.

Moses received guidance in a cave. The Prophet ﷺ received revelation in a cave. The youths in Surah Al-Kahf found protection in a cave.

For me, the cave isn’t just a place. It’s a state.

Withdrawal. Silence. Solitude.
Cutting yourself off from the noise so you can hear what actually matters.

Sometimes, 30 minutes is not enough.
Sometimes, you need 3 months.

We don’t tend to do caves anymore.

We do constant connectivity. Endless notifications. The algorithm demanding we stay visible, stay relevant, stay loud.

The cost of going quiet feels too high.

What if people forget me? What if the leads dry up? What if I lose momentum?

Some things cannot be built in public though.
Some clarity only comes in silence.
Some work requires you to disappear - not because you’re hiding, but because the mission demands your full attention.

I came back from Malaysia in July and asked myself a hard question:
Am I doing justice to the mission? The honest answer was no.

I was busy. Producing. Keeping the algorithm fed.

But I wasn’t building big enough. Not really.

I was helping others climb the mountain while avoiding my own ascent.

So I made a decision.

So I committed to one thing - the thing I’d been putting off since childhood.

A book.

The first few days were humbling. Ring rust. Blank pages. Doubt.

But then something clicked.
I’d been writing online for years. Battle-proven frameworks. Much of the work I had done already had been preparation. Training. Reps.

I soon realised this book wasn’t starting from zero. It was the harvest of everything I’d already planted.

Once I saw that, it flowed.

And it didn’t stop.

The cave gave me three things:
Clarity - on what actually matters and what’s just noise.
Focus - the deep work that’s impossible when you’re constantly context-switching.
Courage - to break conformity. To stop performing and start building.

And as it happens, way more came out of me in that cave than just the book. But more on that later.

The book is called The Khalyfa Manifesto.

It’s about the journey from “khaly” (empty) to “khalyfa” (aligned with divine purpose).

Two words. Two letters apart.

But worlds apart in how life feels.

It launches early next year.