a song of fire

It was hard to enter this place, this wall of stone with a tower of bells that should have been human voices. Crossing the threshold was an act of rebellion, a declaration of independence. But the orange trees remind: cohere. The fountain still bubbles, laughingly calling to purification and prayer. People lying in the shade of the fruits of the labours of migrants from a far off land. The sun burning away any lingering doubts.

The doors are closed. The doors are closed. 17 doors that would have let in light to that place of prostration are all closed, but the dome for the church is filled with light. Coincindence?

Again, crossing the threshold inside is like the bite of a surgeon´s knife, cutting asunder what was smooth and whole. Shoes in a sacred space. But those arches! Double arches, lifting me with their red and white. Red and white, white and red, creating a long tunnel to infinity. Muslims today don´t lack artists and architecture-we lack the feeling to fill the space.

all the endless lines draw mine eyes to the mihrab. Iqbal prayed there. Maybe I should just quit, because he sang a song of fire that still burns. But a life without revolution is just death.

For a moment, I glimpsed occupation also. If I could have, I would have stooped for the stone to throw. But I know that that too is temporary, and would have solved nothing. But I look at my brother and friends. I see one leaning against a pillar (the guards would not let us sit), head bowed. One sitting on a chair, head down. One with shiny eyes looking at the mihrab. Iqbal was right. Maybe we can be men also.

Passing back into the light like a baby coming forth. The fountain still bubbles and our hearts still beat. As long as the life-blood flows in us, there is hope. the prophets have passed away before us, but He is Alive, and does not die.

[And certainly We have sent to you clear communications and a description of those who have passed away before you, and an admonition to those who guard (against evil).

Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth; a likeness of His light is as a niche in which is a lamp, the lamp is in a glass, (and) the glass is as it were a brightly shining star, lit from a blessed olive-tree, neither eastern nor western, the oil whereof almost gives light though fire touch it not-- light upon light-- Allah guides to His light whom He pleases, and Allah sets forth parables for men, and Allah is Cognizant of all things.

In houses which Allah has permitted to be exalted and that His name may be remembered in them; there glorify Him therein in the mornings and the evenings,

Men whom neither merchandise nor selling diverts from the remembrance of Allah and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of poor-rate; they fear a day in which the hearts and eyes shall turn about;

That Allah may give them the best reward of what they have done, and give them more out of His grace; and Allah gives sustenance to whom He pleases without measure.

And (as for) those who disbelieve, their deeds are like the mirage in a desert, which the thirsty man deems to be water; until when he comes to it he finds it to be naught, and there he finds Allah, so He pays back to him his reckoning in full; and Allah is quick in reckoning.]

Surah Nur, Verses 34-39

is this real?

Peace,

Today we arrived in Dijon. It is without doubt, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Good Americans may go to Paris when they die, but good Canadians go to Dijon when they die. I never thought that I would see skies as wide open as Alberta, but Dijon may just have topped it. Wherever you go, all you see are beautiful grain fields, groves of trees, and tasteful gardens.

There is so much stuff to talk about, it's hard to decide. One of the most pathetic and joyful episodes of our trip occurred when we first saw the Holiday Inn. It's incredible how our standards have changed since the beginning of the trip. In Paris, we stayed in Hotel Cosy. Although it was recommended by Lonely Planet, we were all disgusted and sickened by the incredibly small rooms, and worst of all, the "attached" bathroom really was attached: all that separated the bedroom from the toilet was a curtain.

Thus, you can imagine the momentous scenes of joy when we saw Holiday Inn. We actually all couldn't believe that we were staying here, for a price comparable to Hotel Cosy. For a full 30 seconds, we couldn't open the door to our room.

-----

After resting for a bit, Abdur Rahman, Mustafa, and I embarked on another epic quest: this time to find bikes (Zohaib had speech homework). We ended up taking a 40 minute bus ride to a small little neighborhood, and eventually arrived at someone's house. We went to the backyard, after evading some rather unfriendly canines, and managed to get these amazing bikes. We were ecstatic. We started riding along the canals back to our hotel. It was amazingly beautiful. We took this picture.

5 minutes later, we took this one.

Needless to say, when we go for adventure, we GO for adventure. We even had a double rainbow afterwards...

Back on the Blog

Salam,

Sorry peoples- didn't have time to write until today.

Okay, way too much has happened to write for me to put down (read: I am too lazy to write a few pages right now). So, I'm going to relay the events of today.

1. Went to Versailles, Louis XIV's palace. The line-up was massive, so we ended up riding Segways around Versailles. It was pretty legend, especially when the guy we were renting from challenged Zohaib to a race, and beat him going backwards.
2. Had lunch at a burger place owned by some nice Egyptians.
3. Prayed beside the grill that made the burger in the kitchen downstairs.
4. Went to the Notre Dame, and heard the service. It was so beautiful, I was sure I was going to cry.
5. Went to Toullier garden. Drenched in the rain.

Okay, have to run. Will be uploading pictures soon.

Wasalam,

Mustafa

Venice

"Though there are some disagreeable things in Venice, nothing is as disagreeable as the visitors"- Henry James.

Well said Mr. James. While your writing is generally long-winded, I think we can agree on this point.

While Cairo still hangs onto its spot as the most magical/amazing city, Venice has kicked Islamabad off the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. Everything-and I mean everything- looks like it has been hauled out of some fantastical, fifteenth century time, yet gelled together perfectly with boats and other modern stuff.

We went up this really tall tower in San Marco square (the name of the tower escapes me at the moment) and checked out the city. From a bird's eye view, Venice is absolutely spectacular. I cannot get enough of the canals, the cathedrals, and the tiled roofs.

Yet the actual experience was marred, in my opinion, by people who took the moniker "City of Love" way too seriously. 'Nuff said, in my opinion. I think I'm going to return here in winter at some point and see how enjoyable it is then.

My writing is degrading spectacularly. I must find some way to better improve it. Perhaps using less modifiers and superlatives like "Awesome" might help my cause.

Arrivederci,

Mustafa

Rome- Mustafa's Perspective

"All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome."-Tacitus


When blogging, for whatever reason, I prefer using bullet points and questionable grammar. I apologize in advance.
1. Arrived in Rome. Airport, (uses Rorschach voice), "Stinks of corruption, stained by the greed of corporations and evil". Haha. No, seriously, the customs here was hilarious. They took my passport, flipped through it like a stack of money, and handed it back. 
2. Randomly Selected twice in the Rome airport to show our passports, where we were going, etc. At that point, I was willing to accept that hey, it's an airport, I'm sure the people are cool. But sadly, racism is a serious problem in Rome. I think I've heard more racist/Islamophobic slurs/comments in the last 2 days in Rome than in my entire life in Canada. Quite sad, really. But makes you really grateful to live in a country like Canada- and all the more reason to protect it from the tendencies of certain administrations and movements (Stephen Harper, I'm looking at you"
3. In Rome, I noticed, (and forgive me for Occidentalizing/etic perspective ranting) people aren't wearing enough clothes. No, seriously. I'm used to people wearing "summer" clothes in Edmonton, but seriously people. Put some clothes on. It's not appropriate to walk in the Vatican wearing undergarments. 
4. I love Italian. The feel of my halting attempts in it feel wonderful. I'd love to try to learn more of the language when I return.
5. Top moment- seeing Rafael's "School of Athens". LEGENDARY.
6. Top moment 2: Seeing the dude on the right in Trevi Fountain and realizing he was actually eating a donair. Also, the decently ripped guy in the middle is clearly falling.http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/21864/photos/PHOTO_8373645_21864_8153193_ap.jpg. I can't believe I was the first to notice this. I will be writing my archaeological study on this later. 
7. Tell the statues to put on some clothes. I don't like seeing people without their clothes in real life. I don't like to see the mimesis of that in art.
8. Colosseum was amazing.
9. Roman Forum was amazing.
10. Whatever was left of Circus Maximus was amazing.
11. I liked St Peter's Basilica. What an amazing place- yet i felt that the sense of the sacred had really been stripped away from it. That was actually rather sad. 


Okay, done now.


Take care,


Mustafa

rome day 2

colossal

peace everyone from Rome,

We just got back from a day of sightseeing all over the place. We started off the day in the Vatican City with our preppy British tour guide. This sprightly little lady was hilarious. She hated Mussolini, was lukewarm towards the Vatican, and by her own admission, "couldn't understand modern art". We saw the Sistine Chapel, which was voted as most over-rated place in Rome (except by me, of course. I really liked "The Last Judgment". I feel like Michaelangelo really got a sense in that of the despair and the desolation of that day...and I also like the fact that the smaller images in the picture form the larger picture of a skull or a Darth Vader mask. That's pretty legendary.)

St. Peter's Basilica was awe-inspiring. This church was built in commemoration of St. Peter, supposedly the first pope. The story goes that Peter was fleeing from Rome, when he had a vision of Jesus Christ, who told him he was going back to Rome to be crucified for a second time. St. Peter then went back to Rome, where he was crucified upside down (because he didn't feel it was befitting to be crucified the same way). Obviously, we don't believe in the story, but to me what was inspiring about St. Peter's Basilica was the clear spirit in which it was built. Throughout the church, I could feel the same yearning for something higher that I feel. From one (aspiring) believer to another, I could share in the desire to glorify God, to create something truly magnificent to remember Him. As Mustafa noted, you actually feel a great sense of loss when you see the way tourists behave in the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.

We also went to Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Circus Maximus. That last one was very amazing because....there was no one else there. There was nothing to see there. It was very sad.

In other news, we have discovered that "aqua vitae" is not really mineral water, that Mustafa thought that the statues near Trevi Fountain were eating donairs, that Indian people can make a living anywhere, that Zohaib has hairy legs, that Abdur Rahman's slippers aren't really the greatest for walking around in, that we have to pay for the AC that we used all night (and we still aren't going to pay for), and that I have an uncommon fondness for ice cream. I scream for ice cream!

Adieu Rome, we leave tomorrow for that romantic getaway: Venice!

AF