سعدية

The Idiot, Elif Batuman

" for my bright-hearted love. for my stubborn love. for my anger sitting on the nose love. for my beautiful voiced love whose timbre strokes tranquility. for my ruthless love. for my dreamy-eyed love. for my enchanted-eyed love. for my sunset paints your cheeks when you smile love. for my kind-hearted love. for my gold-hearted love. "

The Dua of Musa (AS):

رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ

Rabbi inni lima anzalta ilayya min khairin faqir

‘My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need.’ (Surah Al-Qasas, 24)

The Dua of Yunus (AS):

لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِين

La ilaha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minaz-zalimin

‘There is no god worthy of worship except You. Glory be to You! I have certainly done wrong.’ (Surah Al-Anbiya, 87)

The Dua of Nuh (AS):

رَبِّ أَنِّي مَغْلُوبٌ فَانْتَصِرْ

Rabbi inni maghlubun fan-tass-ssir

‘I am helpless, so help me!’ (Surah Al-Qamar, 10)

The Dua of Ayub (AS):

أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ

Innee massaniyad durru wa Anta arhamur raahimeen

‘Indeed, I have been touched with adversity, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.’ (Surah Al-Anbiya, 83)

The Dua of Muhammad (SAW):

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ الْهَمِّ والْحُـزْنِ وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَالْبُخْلِ وَالْجُبْنِ وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ

Allaahumma ‘innee ‘a’oothu bika minal-hammi walhazani, wal’ajzi walkasali, walbukhli waljubni, wa dhala’id-dayni wa ghalabatir-rijaal.

‘O Allah, I take refuge in You from anxiety and sorrow, weakness and laziness, miserliness and cowardice, the burden of debts and from being overpowered by men.’ (Sunan an-Nasa’I 5449)

Imam Ahmad رحمه الله said:

“I have seen that loneliness is more comfortable for my heart.”

الآداب الشرعية 2/28

- long distance, h.w

{Quotes by : Alain de Botton from Essays in Love/ excerpted from Eden Robinson's "Writing Prompts for the Broken-Hearted, in Brick Literary Journal}

okay but saying “i wish i had known you sooner” — like the love in my heart is growing so big and fast for you that i wish i had the opportunity to have you way earlier by my side, because i want to love you longer than i can do now. my love for you reaches my past and makes a place for you.

i think deciding to love someone continually is like reading the same book again, but each time finding a different line that hits deep and makes you think about something you didn't realize before. and you decide to read it again and again, knowing you'll never get enough of it, knowing you'll always find something new about them to love.

Thank you for seeing museums in me where i saw empty hallways

-A.J.WHITE

"كن لها السند، تكن لك الماوي"

"Be her support, she would be your shelter."

Al-Fudhayl ibn 'lyadh رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ said:

‎“The sign of not being attached (zuhd) to the life of this world and to people is that you do not love people praising you and that you do not worry about their criticisms; and if you were able to avoid being known [to people], do [that]; and it is not to be held against you that you are unknown; and it is not to be held against you that you receive no acclaim; and it is not to be held against you that you are criticized by people, if you were someone praised by Allah.”

[Hilyah al-Awliya V. 8 (pg. 90)]

We live under the misconception that birthday celebrations are a fairly recent convention. In reality, this is far from the truth. Read on to find out how and why the birthday tradition originated.

Most of us are aware of the pagans- the original settlers who had their own set of Gods and beliefs. Well, history suggests that birthday celebrations were organized by the pagans. They believed that evil spirits got their chance to possess a soul when it went through a major change, like when it turned a year older, and the celebrations were a ritual to ward off these spirits. It is from here that the custom of blowing out candles on a birthday developed because the candles were seen as a beacon of light guarding the soul against demons. It is specifically because of these pagan origins that ancient Christians refused to celebrate birthdays.

We can credit the entire concept of partying to the Egyptians. When a pharaoh was crowned, he was believed to have turned into a God. To celebrate this transformation, a banquet was arranged and festivities of epic proportions broke out throughout the land. It could also be the first stirrings of future birthday parties, since technically; the coronation date was remembered as the day the pharaoh was "reborn" as a deity.

The iconic birthday song "Happy Birthday to you" comes from a completely unrelated source. The tune for the song was taken from "Good Morning to All", a tune composed by American siblings Patty and Mildred Hill. Although this information has been subjected to a lot of debate with regards to its authenticity, it is widely accepted as fact.

No party is complete without a gorgeous birthday cake, and unsurprisingly, this tradition also dates back a few centuries. The first birthday cake appeared as a centerpiece of a dinner party table around 1650. Although it was a difficult table decoration to make, its deliciousness and grandeur made the party even more enjoyable. Since then, it is customary to include at least one cake (or cakes, depending upon the lavishness of the hosts), in celebratory proceedings.

The candles on a birthday cake, as mentioned before, have immense religious significance. They were said to be sacred and, consequently, were an important inclusion in special ceremonies. The tradition of lighting as many candles on a cake as a person's age seemed to have started in Germany in the late eighteenth century, specifically around 1798-99. The birthday person is asked to make a secret wish while blowing out the candles and it is believed that the wish will come true. But there is no concrete evidence of how this custom came into being.

Greeting cards have been around since the ancient Chinese and Egyptian civilizations, who exchanged notes of goodwill on papyrus and paper scrolls on important occasions like New Years. The tradition of sending birthday cards is native to Victorian England. Most of the cards were made by hand back in those days. Today, a large variety of printed birthday cards are available, though handmade cards have not lost their charm.

In ancient times, birthdays were only reserved for monarchs and Gods. It was the Romans who started birthday celebrations for common men, but only the male population. The 50th birthday party was held especially auspicious, and the birthday boy would get a "cake" made of flour, oil, honey and cheese. Sadly, female birthdays were not celebrated until the 12th century.