Variety Views.

So, I decided to post this third instalment one day early, on account of tomorrow being the first day of 2017 and I would like to start it on a less morbid and hopefully more positive note. So far, I have covered two of the blows that I received on that bleak school day morning. As for the bombshell that dropped before me as I was heading to class, it was a bit of news. Another colleague was recounting a story in woeful tones surrounded by sympathetic clucks and exclamations of “Aaaahs!” and “Goodness Gracious!” and the like. Instead of being a smart cookie who has learnt her lesson and would steer clear from such a scene threatening of bad news, being the idiot that I am, I throw myself in the line of fire. I discover that the cause of the hubbub was the death of a thirteen year old girl who died of food poisoning. She ate take out that was bespeckled with rat poison. I don’t know the girl personally. However, she is a representative of all the youth I work so hard to raise...

All right, then! So, let's pick up from where we left off last week, shall we? After I realized that my job is probably utterly useless and hence my existence in this world is futile, because I imbue the young minds and souls of trusting impressionable students (the youth, the future of the community) with obsolete morals that do more harm than good. I need to pull myself together before I enter class and burst into tears, for an urge, to hold every single student in my arms and personally apologizing for the bleak future that lies ahead of him/her, was quickly creeping up on me. Being the nerd that I am, I decide to calm my poor nerves by playing the one game I got installed on my phone: Scrabble! Before I start the game, I am intrigued by a Whatsapp message from a dear student of mine. I rarely receive texts that early in the morning. To cut a long story short, he was drawing my attention to a viral post that displays a photo taken from an Arabic Handwriting school textbook ...

Once upon a time there was nothing but a man and his wife. Separated they were thrown at different parts of the ancient world not knowing where to go or how. After years of separation they have united again, and once they had their moment of rejoicing, they were reminded of why they got apart, to begin with. The man loved the woman very much. He had no one else but her and so did the woman. Unlike most of the things around them they were not made out of them, but instead, they were crafted by the hands of God almighty himself. He has created them for one purpose which is to inhabit God's earth and populate civilizations after civilizations . The man and his wife remembered the reason why they have been expelled from heavens. Simply because they have acted against the wish of God, and to add to that they have lost their sense of existence. They must return home, but how? Death has been and always will be the answer .  Centuries went by, witnessing entire nations getting w...

(Disclaimer: Although all the anecdotes I recount are true stories that I have personally witnessed, or been part of, they revolve around people I have met in different places where I have worked. I have not experienced them all at my current working place. They are rather a compilation of stories I have been accumulating through the years.) Many a time I wake up from a reverie only to discover that I have been daydreaming about being at one of those support group meetings I see in Hollywood movies, but this one is not for cancer or suicide victims or alcoholism or any other such addictions, for my addiction is singular in nature. I imagine the moderator asking if anyone would like to share; and amidst awkward silence, nervous smiles, fidgeting in chairs and shuffling feet, yours truly would rise to the challenge. Without hesitation, I would raise my hand; and after the moderator nods in my direction, granting me permission to go ahead, I would stand up with my shoulders hunched (...

Even though, the title says “making sense” I guarantee you that what you're about to read will not. There are a few certainties in life. Some we take for granted, and some we take very seriously, too seriously to the point where they become a raw material for humor. Now with that being said, I must admit that for sometimes I've been trapped in the sickening, rotting pit of undying love for worshiping social bull-crap. What's that, you might ask. Well, the answer is as simple as launching a rocket... Anyone with a few loose screws in their head can answer. We humans love to believe in higher beings. Not that the hundred billion Gods that 7 billion people around the world worship aren't an obvious example... But that's beside the point. I am not aiming to write about Gods, deities, or godly creatures, and whatnot. I want to speak about one God in particular. No not Allah. Just because I am Muslim doesn't mean I have to involve my own religious input into...

هل القناعة إستسلام, ام هنالك فرق بينهم؟   عندما يفشل الإنسان في شئ ما بحياته ثم يخلى عن المحاولة مرة اخرى, هل يعتبر ذلك إستسلاماً أم قناعة بأمر الله في الموقف؟ بإعتبار ان كل شئ قدر تقديراً دقيقاً من قبل الله. أم ان القناعة شئ اخر... شئ لا يخلو من المحاولات المتتالية حتى يصل المرء إلى نتيجة محتمه و هي قبول الوضع كما هو عليه. أي ان القناعة -جدلاً- هي سلسلة من الفشل تأتي متتابعة مقابلةً بسلسلة من المحاولات لتغاضي هذا الفشل, و حين ثبوت عدم جدوى تلك المحاولات يتوقف الإنسان و يتقبل الأمر الواقع كما هو بإعتباره امر الله في وقفه .   و أخذاً بمسلمات الأمور فإن كل أمر لهو ميسر و مسير من قبل الله, لذلك ترك الله الخيار في يد كل شخص منا في ذلك الأمر. إن أقبل بمقتضاة قضاء الله و حسبك –لكن– بعد أن بذلت قصارى جهدك في أمرك أياً ما كان و لكن لم يكن التوفيق و النجاح من نصيبك. و من بعده يعوضك الله عن صبرك و عن قناعتك بحكمته. أو ان تعطي ذلك الأمر فرصة و من بعد تلك الفرصة –حين فشلها– تفلت زمام عزمك و تدعي إقتناعك بإرادة الله. إلا انه في تلك الحالة إرادة الله لم تدخل من بدايته! تلك أراد...

A heart full of fear and sorrow he glanced over his shoulder.  He witnessed the demise of a city that once stood as a beacon of knowledge and light, a light that no longer exist. He lowered his head just sagging in his saddle like an old man, then he pulled the saddle towards himself, forcing the horse to drag his heavy heart away from the scenery, far away if possible so that he cannot see what causes his heart to tremble. "Take me away from here if you would," he thought to himself as he patented the long silky brown hair of his steed. "Through death comes life, and through life, people flourish" words of wisdom a man once told. Why do we bother ourselves with life if we can't even enjoy? The little things that once mattered to him are buried beneath the ashes of a city that is killed by the anger of God, and he was the only survivor of the wrath. "We will live together for a century and more. Your hand in mine and our lips meeting every once in...