so far, the best lesson i ever learned was that life will go on. People come and go, we lose friends, break up with lovers, meet new people, encounter success and failure & life will go on. You will be alright.

puno sam bolje otkad te nema

al' sam i dalje nesretna zena

— Unknown

It rained all night and I miss my childhood. It's a short poem, I've had a long long night and a short life. I've been trying to remember my grandpa's smile but memory is a treacherous thing. It rained all night and I miss everything I've forgotten.

-Ritika Jyala, excerpt from The Flesh I Burned

jessczapalskipoetry

Franz Kafka

Jennette McCurdy, I'm Glad My Mom Died

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever recites Surat al-Kahf on Friday, a light will shine for him between this Friday and the next.”

Light refers to brightness that guides us in darkness. Therefore, this light will guide you in every problem and difficulty that you may face in life, showing you the straight path. If you are unsure about which option to choose, reciting this surah will help you. This is the light that is bestowed upon you in your life until the next Friday by reciting Surah Al-Kahf. Moreover, there are many other hadiths that explain the benefits of reciting Surah Al-Kahf. So make it a habit to recite Surah Al-Kahf on Fridays.

Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke’s Book of Hours

May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude

— banana yoshimoto, goodbye tsugumi

me

Whenever I see people try to differentiate what is “Israel” and what is the “Palestinian state” I always have a very awkward feeling - which is why I think a lot of people need to reevaluate how they speak about Palestine and Israel, specifically what they define as occupied Palestine.

My father’s family is from a village in Jaffa (the district), which is now part of what most people define as “mainland Israel” or an “undisputed” part of Israel - like that land was acquired legally or ethically and an unequivocal part of what is Israel vs what is considered (at least to some) Palestine (the West Bank & Gaza). 

My father’s family had the choice to flee or die and to this day cannot return home to Jaffa. It leaves me with a strange feeling when people discuss a hypothetical “two state solution” as if that land is inarguably Israel and the West Bank and Gaza is inarguably Palestine - my family is not from the West Bank or Gaza, they’re from Jaffa. Proudly Palestinians from Jaffa - they’re not Israeli and never be Israeli, they predate the modern colonial state of Israel.

When people talk about occupied Palestine, they’re usually referring to the 1967 borders and the increasing settlements in the West Bank, when Palestinians talk about occupied Palestine, we’re talking about all of it - every corner of what people define as “mainland Israel” there is a story of Palestinian dispossession - It includes my family and thousands of others. 

Leaving this map here for people to get an idea of how much destruction of Palestinian life and communities happened in what people see as an “undisputed part of Israel” - there is a reason the Palestinian population here plummeted in 1948. 

In short:

Right now in Palestine at Masjid Al Aqsa

honestly people talking about Palestine like its some mystified issue and something that is so far behind comprehension is probably one of the most irritating things that I come across because its fucking not? Stop killing and ethnically cleansing an indigenous people, treat them with dignity and respect, stop violating human rights and get off their fucking land or give them back sovereignty. How is that a complicated issue exactly

X X X

It’s always during Ramadan, the holiest month for Muslims, when the IDF deliberately and brutally beat and attacks Palestinians in one of the holiest and most sacred places of worship while they are praying. Using gas bombs, grenades and their guns. EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

i've been thinking lately and i genuinely believe sabr is such a big part of islam itself. a fundamental part. as if almost the entire religion is sabr. so many surah's of the Holy Qur'an have sabr as a lesson behind it, if not mentioned in it. like Surah Maryam, Yusuf, Inshirah, Asr, Duha etc. it is repeated so many times. Allah testing us with hardship is sabr. waiting until marriage for sacred acts between a man and woman is sabr. waiting for Jannah is sabr. it can be so hard but there are so many blessings in it that Allah will reward us for simply for being patient and striving to please Him by doing good deeds and enduring hardship for His sake. a reward that has no limit. alhamdulillah.

﷽

The Golden advice from Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

• Respect 3 people:

1. Parents

2. Teachers

3. Elderly

• Save yourself from 3 things:

1. Bad Deeds

2. Backbiting

3. Jealousy

• Have 3 things in you:

1. Honesty

2. Faith

3. Good Deeds

• Obtain 3 things:

1. Knowledge

2. Manners

3. Piety

• Free yourself from 3 things:

1. Arrogance (superiority complex & denying the truth)

2. Cheating

3. Debt

• Keep 3 things pure:

1. Body

2. Clothes

3. Thoughts

• Have control over 3 things:

1. Tongue

2. Anger

3. Soul (self desires)

• Remember 3 things:

1. Death

2. Favor (others helping you)

3. Advice