and then our exile

Ureedu bi dhakum an tahashshu lital’atee / wa an tukthiru ba’dee du’aun ‘ala qabree (Ali b. Abi Talib^ra)
(“I want of you that you receive me with a smile / and that after me you multiply du’a upon my grave” = bad translation, I’m sure Ph-R-D or Z. or M. can provide better, but be that as it may.)

Eid mubarak & eid kareem, and other such greetings from a heart which today has laughed far too much, eaten far too much, but has spent the day surrounded by great people. If we are raised, judged, by the company we keep, I want to keep this company.

First question: where are the sheep? You would think that on this Eid they would bring the animals in from the mazra’a to be slaughtered? There is less public display of such than expected.
Second question: why did I have to see the shortest skirt I’ve seen since getting here, on Eid? “because they’re dressing up (down) for today. like, look at the girl in front of us. She thinks she’s wearing hijab--what is that? That’s not hijab, that’s a piece of cloth and heels and a skirt a /man/ wouldn’t be allowed to wear.”
Third question: maybe they could make the masajid doors a little wider, so getting out of the building isn’t actually a problem?

But I am not here to complain. Today there were children playing. I saw dozens of people who are real people, mostly western students here, whose faces shine with internal light, discussing in British or American accents the relative virtues of hemispherical wives and who holds the authoritative grasp on the englisch language. Much of it was probably kalam farigh, but man, I haven’t laughed this much since…last Eid. Well, no, that’s a lie, but even so. Contrast to late uncomfortable nights, perhaps.

Thought: what does it mean, when people say “and we really make sincere du’a that they are destroyed, that they are utterly crushed [etc]”? i’ve realized i have problems with saying that. Because what does it mean? (In the context of the West.) If it is "destroying the power of the enemies of Islam", ma laish, but to sweep across the West like that--is it the land, they mean? The people? The land is all Allah’s land; the people are victims of their own society--the power-structures, cultures, are one thing, and perfectly jahiz, but...correct me if I’m wrong, but the rest does not sit well on me. More on this some other day.

Anyhow. Think of...the hujjaj at ‘Arafah, and me here, and feel grateful you are not a Southern Baptist.