Aqal…

                                   
Oh how I long to sleep inside one of these!

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Blessed month…

Yesterday it was at my cousins’, today it is at my friend’s aunt’s, tomorrow it will be at my other friend’s and the day after that Insha-Allah it will be at the Mosque. Ramadan is a great time, but not the best of times if you can’t cook and had enough of your local takeaways. When it comes to the Ramadan month, one craves for the traditional home cooked Samosas, the Bur/Kackac, the pancakes, and the lot. But what do you do when you’re living on your own and the art of cooking is beyond your capabilities? Well you hop on from family to family until it finishes! Besides Families are always welcoming people and are extra nice during Ramadan times. Lucky for us! Am off to my friend’s Aunts now…

Got about half an hour left to break fast, and i just hate waiting in the house while its being cooked. the smell alone might break my fast!

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Ramadan kareem

Ramadan Kareem to All. May Allah bestow His mercy upon us and accept our prayers in this blessed month of Ramadan and give us the Eeman and steadfastness to successfully complete it and reap its rewards! Ameen.

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Marriage…

On Saturday, the 16^th, my most treasured friend has uttered the words “Qabbaltu Nikaaxan…” after the Sheikh and departed from the “impoverished existence” of our likes. A companion for so long through life’s turbulent waves and solitary subsistence, he now is in the preliminary stages of the ever-gratifying epoch of wedlock. May Allah safeguard them from the teething troubles of marriage and bestow them with righteous offsprings! Ameen!

And indeed marriage is a wonderful thing and sustaining a pleasurable, long-term marriage takes effort – the simple unification of two souls is elevated to pinnacles of delight and happiness and is then gently wrapped in a lofty status. But instead of rallying towards these exalted moments of commitment and matrimony, people usually squander splendid opportunities when they become apparent before them. They do so in the false pretence that perhaps someone ‘better’ lies around somewhere.

“I’m just waiting for the right one” declares a female acquaintance of mine as soon as the subject pops up. Not surprising though, since the majority of women’s remarks are probably no different to that of my acquaintance’ on the question of marriage – without realising that the so-called ‘right’ one is nothing but a figment of one’s imagination!

Marriage has certainly been on my mind for a while, and now at 23 it has assuredly secured its precedence over many a thing. Though my earnest wishes are to return to the picturesque terrains of Sanaag and bask my sore eyes in the expanse of its scenery – and perhaps visit past scenes of delight, I need to work on investing something I can take along with me. ‘We live in a time laden with conventions, prejudices and mistakes of all sorts’ as Rilke once said, so it has to be but a stroke of fortune finding a woman worth marrying!

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In Reply to Nomad…

In Reply to Nomad’s The Arawelo in me, says…

Haduu ku maqli lahaa Darwiishku wuxuu ku odhan lahaa,

Naagyahay waxaad damacday iyo dunida xaalkeedu
Waa labo duddoo oo kala fogaan doy isu lahayne
Dulligaad la joogtiyo sidii dahab u laacaaga
Doqonniimo hadalkaaga iyo duq iskayeelkayga
Waa dabo bangool iyo garkoo durufba meel yaale
Naa hoy dandaan lama rujo e maqal dabuubtayda
Naa hoy digniin baa ka timid dabaqi naareede
Naa hoy Salaadda u dedaal dunidana u fiirso
Naa hoy dan haw gelin hadday durufi kuu baanto
Naa hoy iblays miduu dirsaday gogosha haw daadin
Naa hoy dufule waalan oo daaddufaa guda’e

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Delusions of Grandeur…

“Somalis are very proud people” is a term you’d find in the early journals of travellers who made it to Somalia. Very true indeed, we are very proud people – proud of our Religion, proud of our culture, proud of our heritage. But there is a very fine line between pride and conceit – The former is acceptable within some varying degrees whereas the later makes one an object of contempt.

A frail old Jaamac struts into the hut with his Hangool on the grand occasion of his daughters wedding ceremony. The recipient of the daughters hand in marriage had travelled many kilometres and by the time he got to the tiny dwelling of his soon-to-be bride, the excitement got him talking a mile a minute. Before long he revealed his tribal lineages and ancestry on which the proud Jaamac blustered “War Ma anoo nin reer Hebel ah baan gabadhayda inan-gumeedkan siiyaa!” Haku daalin jeedaal. And what would have been a magnificent wedding is annulled before it even commenced!

Even the ordinary Xalimo struts around like a peacock with the gracefulness of a colt, looks at you up an down (huruuf) and walks away stuffing her dirac in her Googarad.

Pe proud of who you are, but pride too has its limits, like everything else! don’t you think?

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Message to a Friend

I have a friend, whom I’d give the world. A

lovely friend whose companionship I cherish quite

overtly. A friend that gives meaning and value to my

very existence. Like a blossoming flower, she is the

epitome of beauty. Her face is uniquely vibrant and

youthful, radiating genteel qualities and attributes

of regal grace. But behind such alluring beauty and

under that ripened bosom lies a grand trophy worthy

a toil of every kind – a tender heart which now every

man wants to allege and make his home. Not sure

at all which to trust and which to avoid, the poor

lass’s lost her admirer in the midst of this muddle!

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Back to the Neglected Corner…

My summer, if I can call it that judging by its rapidity, was anything but special. With no job and studies, my days became drastically monotonous and unproductive and my nights gloomy. I felt rather lethargic and rewarded myself with plenty of sleep – oh yes, lots of it. And since the British weather is to blame for everything around here, I’d also like to blame my laziness and slothfulness over the past few months on its unpredictability. I’d also like to blame my lack of activity on this blog on the darned weather too. And while we are at it, might as well blame my series of unfortunate events, which I cannot at this juncture fully give an account of, on the weather too.

But this September, with the start of the school season, I have started a new job at a local Primary School – Bilingual Teaching Assistant – A rather rewarding job, I must admit and has kept the lethargy and laziness at bay. And with the number of Somalis in the school exceeding 45, the position is permanent and so far looks promising.

Working with children is in its self educational too, with their spontaneity, lack of pretension and childhood innocence that will warm the cockles of your heart. Especially the Somali children, who upon noticing that I am of Somali origin too, regard me as a parental figure whom they look up to with the same reverence they’d show their parents and relatives – they are more deferential towards me than the other teachers I noticed. Going very well so far, Alxamdullilah.

One other thing that is somewhat delightfully looming near is the start of university. I am looking forward to it for some reason – maybe it’s the few months of lack of any activity!.

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