and then our exile

let's get this out of the way.

[march] started the Irshad with Shaikh Anas, and finished Sharh Aajurrumiyyah with Abu 'AbdurRahman--with whom began some small imlaa'/sarf booklets, but these classes petered out, as had the arba'een nawawi. the wordflow continued, "stellar parallax", and so did life. the six month blues caught me up, and when i made my way out of them i went to see Shaikh Nuh as he visited Damascus for the first time in months. a few days later, to the Shifa khatam at Shaikh Jibril's.

in early [april] i went to the Muwatta' khatam at Shaikh Muhammad's. the apartment we variously called the "university of schlone" and "the fertile cement" was vacated, as Emad and Amjad left and Qasim and myself found new places/palaces to live in; i moved to Mezzeh, to live with Tahseen and Rashed. latenight discussions with new roommates thus gained an entirely different character; instead of trying to design robots and arguing over God's Hand, after milkshakes every night i was now onto the women of Shaam and sufi karamaat. running in the mornings at mal'ab tishreen, and then to an internet spot before half the week to Shaikh Anas's for the Irshad, and then Mukhtaar with Wali, and then informal englisch tutoring with Khalid, as well as evening classes now and then and of course our TCBY trips. mawlid season in Damascus, and a visit to Shaikh 'Adnan.

[may] was a month of strawberries and adding 'aqeedah classes from the Khareedah with Jawad to my days, that as though i worked a day job. considered formally teaching englisch, then gave up; dhikr sessions now and then, and i saw Shaikh Ahmad Habbaal for the first time. tried starting an usul class with Rashed but then quit, because too busy already. movies now and then, from the rental place near jisr al-abyad; for Tahseen's birthday we tried getting drunk on soda pop, singing the burda through a haze of sheesha smoke, with main sherabi as the underlying theme. searching for a house to move into. Zacharia arrived on the 27th, and we spent hours recongregating. then i got sick again, suddenly and violently, sunspots in my eyes. "clouds white and fluffy in the sky beyond."

[june] saw me sometimes at the riyad us-saliheen/hikam duroos of Shaikh Buti, and finished the Khareedah with Jawad. a good class, he brought in western philosophy, parallel movements in Christian thought, backgrounder of formal logic. "skimming the surface." then Z and i moved back to the Rukn; buying many books, and nights were time of stars.

[july] was still continuity on classes with 'Aamir, tajweed and Ayyuh'l-Walad; classes with Shaikh Anas, we finished the Irshad and began a balaghah text; classes with WaliUllah except when he was for 'umrah, Mukhtar; and the time at home that i told people was "review". i did review, somewhat, but mostly gloried in the fact i was living alone, after Zacharia left back to Canada. "the farewell march begun", and to remember this city forever. once a week or so Tahseen and i would meet for milkshakes and perhaps food, to discuss our lives and fantastica; various readings, and went to Shaikh Ahmad Habbaal's again. i started to live at night and the latter half of day, after the blazing heat had receded, and mental preparation to leave.