All Hail The Holy Month "Ramadhan" ~

It occurs every year, it lasts for a whole month .. Yet, there is something eternally charming about the month of Ramadhan. Whether it happens to visit in winter or in summer, in spring or in autumn, no circumstance can erase the magic that every soul feels in the air .. It is the promise of a spiritually rich period .. A chain of days in which the human being senses a wondrous amount of energy and optimism despite hunger, thirst and heat.

Yes ! This year too, we welcome our dear month in the summer .. And with the bitter-sweet taste of summer heat, large crowds flew into the different corners of the Tunisian markets today. I was with my mother paving our way through the hungry-eyed gatherings so as to buy the necessities for Ramadhan.

 It is at once funny and delightful how you perceive the so familiar market you visit every week . It looks different .. it feels different; the sun grows warmer not hotter, the not so aesthetically random mixture of colours suddenly form a beautiful scene of humility not misery, the loud cries of sellers are not annoying but somehow laughable, the clash between vehicles and people appears surprisingly pleasant for there seems to be a subtle blend in the noises that makes the city sounds tolerable to the ear. We tend to accept the hustle and bustle because we know it heralds the upcoming joyous month.

However, as these blessed days pass us by, something vital slips one’s mind .. Persistence in our plans to improve, to forgive, to get closer to Allah fades away, as the commercials for food start to accumulate to fill our evening family times after Iftar, as such, eating away their brains and consuming these precious yet evanescent nights ..

One makes the New Year’s resolutions in January, but he does not fulfill them until Ramadhan. Sadly, they remain only beginnings .. And the beginnings are always zealous and beautiful .. The beginnings are always short .. People enter Ramadhan with a steady and determined attitude to make new and everlasting positive habits .. It lingers for a few days .. Little do they resist the pleasures, leisures and distractions of Ramadhan banquets, series, treats .. They are overwhelmingly abundant so much so they alienate the soul from the therapeutic effect and the healing powers of this Holy Month ..

The Ramadhan resolutions should be a lifelong set of resolutions .. To maintain them, one must constantly read the Quran, make Du’aa and keep the company of friends who remind you of Allah and the beauty of worship, for the human self quickly loses sight of its life purpose ..

Ramadhan Kareem to everyone J

  

كوني خليلة اللّيل ~

عرّي هشاشة قلبك لسواد اللّيل
 فهو يرعى الأرواح المنكسرة
 إرفعي عن وجهك برقع الإبتسامة الكاذبة
 دعيه يلمس قلبك بيده الشّافية
  فالشّفاء يكمن في السّكون المتفهّم
  .. في الصّمت الذّي يخاطب روحك المتعبة
 ! إحتفلي بحزنك
 وٱرقصي أمام هيبته المخيفة في جمالها
 إجعلي حياتك كلّها ليل
 .. فليس في اللّيل حزن، بل في اللّيل صدق و تجلّي
 صاحبي اللّيل
 فهو الصّديق الّذي يكشف العيوب و يتغنّى بها
 إنّه الرّفيق الّذي يمجّد إنسانيّتك المنقوصة
.. يجالس وجلك و ينصت إلى حركاتك المتردّدة
 كوني خليلة اللّيل
 كوني أنيقة الهوى
 ..

Once Upon A Wakeful Dawn ~

Once upon a wakeful dawn

Chopin’s Tristesse was resounding in my ears

Like a distant echo from a dream

I felt my heart racing

I felt the heat of my blood stream

Suddenly evaporated memories started to form

Of times fraught with anxieties and fears

Why is it that I feel so much at dawn ?

Why is it that I see so much at dawn ?

I behold my naked soul longing to confess

Was it the effect of Chopin’s Tristesse ?

Yes, It was an inner mess

But as I sensed the light breeze’s caress

And the sweet touch of morn

I did not feel so forlorn

Once upon a wakeful dawn ..

Uncertainties die in a prayer ~

She was uncertain ..

The kind of uncertainty that terrifies you when you try to detach yourself from the shell that engulfs you to venture a pondering look towards the horizon ..

There was no horizon that night ..

The painfully similar buildings clouded her sight ..

 She lifted her drowsy head to behold the sky, she could hear her bones creaking and her neck hardening as if she is forced to hold her breath ..

Was it for the sight of the red sky ? Again, she was uncertain ..

This furtivess permeates everything she feels .. Her whole senses had to endure this sense of secretive darkness ..

Truths, as if transparent .. insignificant .. pass her by with the light breeze, unnoticed.

She could only marvel at the frightening redness of the sky ..

She was confused .. She knows that the purplish crimson sky heralds an imminent fall of rain, however, the air surrounding her skin feels hot and smothering ..

Once again, she was uncertain .. Even her resort to Nature could not bring her solace ..

She moved her tired figure and spread some cold water upon her aching organs ..

She was half awake .. Her eyelashes were pouring water over her cheeks, she mistook them for tears ..

Suddenly, her heart pounded .. Her sense of direction was distorted for a while ..

But, as soon as she touched the door knob of her room, she sensed a piece of smooth cloth ..

Her blindness through the corridors of the house guided her to the praying carpet ..

As she humbly bended her form towards Earth, she felt the heavy burdens of uncertainty slipping away from her body ..

She found certainty .. in a desperate nightly whisper that melted away her anxieties ..

It was Fajr time, she was at last hopeful ..

Hannibal Season 2 Finale: The Ultimate "Design" ~

Listen to this while reading, you will feel the harmony between sound and word .. 

Johann Christian Bach: Cello Concerto in C minor ~ 

It has been exactly a week now since Hannibal’s shocking and blatantly eventful final episode from the jaw-dropping season 2. I wanted to write something about this exceptional series and the unexpected turn of events of the last episode as I believe I just got out from the seven days state of denial that the beautifully wicked Mr Lecter has immersed me in.

Three possible deaths are the culmination of this intellectually and psychologically provocative season. Surprisingly, the victims are three of the fundamental characters of the entire series: “Will Graham” .. Is he a killer in transition, in disguise, by proxy or unconsciously .. No one knows .. Yet.  

The second victim is the innocent and caring Jack Crowford and the third one is the gullible Dr Alana Bloom. If one is to expect a common pattern between all these probable deaths, one is to be disappointed ! I do not know if this violent hastiness in the killing process is done on purpose or is simply the result of a lack in preparations as the fatal visits of these three characters was unpredicted by Hannibal The Cannibal .. Or perhaps he made it look like he was surprised at their breaking in into his sacred and ritualistic dinner preparations.

Every reading is possible at this point .. His reckless behavior when dealing with the attacks signals an astonishment at their coming. However, the reiterative focus on the knife when it smoothly slays the meat, accentuates the idea that his Mind’s Eye is at work here, for it is the knife, the cannibal’s tool, which mirrors the invading and threatening faces of the ominous victims.   

Now, the fashion according to which he handles the life of his victims can either manifest a prominent degree of dexterity or an unusual degree of rashness .. An act, of course, that does not become the minutely calculating mind of Hannibal Lecter.

With his sharp cooking knife, he cut the throats of both Jack crowford and Abigail Hobbs. Perchance, there is a latent pattern in the slaughtering act after all. Moreover, Alana’s the throat was cut in the same way by the helpless Abigail Hobbs. This undecidability still persists, however, when the viewer examines the way Hannibal attempted to end Will’s life. While Alana and Jack were swiftly cut, Will Graham was pierced right through the stomach by his “friend” Hannibal.

Logically, as such, the release of the soul will be slow and painful. Does he desire to internalize the last breathing moments of the friend he loves and engrave them in his memory ? Is Hannibal Lecter becoming a voyeuristic ? Perhaps he already is ! He does relish in the aesthetic ways of death he designs. Following this, Hannibal rejoices in both process and result of assassination. He enjoys the while and the post, maybe because the “post” reminds him of the “beauty” of the “while” and the “while” paves the way to the gratification of the “post”.

The question that remains at the end, did Hannibal honor them by such mundane and plain forms of murder ? Is there a tale to tell behind them ? Was there an ancient ritual executed in the process ? Was there a philosophy underlying them ? Did he intend to immortalize them in so usual a murder ? Is there an ultimate design or does the design lie in the no design ?

 Why does he “eternalize” anonymous people and rewards the people he knows and loves with a normal death ? Is it because he knows them ? Perhaps he wants to remember them as living creatures and not as a set of peculiar exhibitions of Life and Death.

 “I gave you a rare gift, but you didn’t want it.” He says to Will Graham while the latter is lying on the floor gasping for breath. One can argue that he is talking about his unappreciated friendship, or, more far-fetchedly about the “honor” of dying like a normal human being.

Ideas are painfully irreconcilable when it comes to Dr Hannibal Lecter .. Cognitive provocation, visual amazement and psychological angst are what he offers you, yet we, the wretched viewers, continue to watch awe-inspired and impressed. These paradoxes make of Hannibal a series to watch, rewatch, brood over, study and even teach ..      

The Originals Season Finale: Hope is Miraculous ~

Ps: This contains spoilers.

“From a Cradle to a Grave” is the title of the Originals season finale; from Life to Death lies a whole eventful journey. As viewers, in one episode, we surely endured the gruesome scenes of Death as well as tasted the delightful little emotional moments when we witness the starting of a Life.

 These two antagonistic perpetual forces are craftily illustrated in the episode. You feel that mini heart-attack, your jaw drops, you reach out to your heart when the witch cuts Hayley’s throat. You mind starts to wonder: what will become of Elijah ? Of Klaus’s Humanity ? Of the promise of a Home ?

All these aspirations and hopes are shouldered by the unborn miracle baby, not because she is the fruit of an original hybrid and a werewolf, but because she, tiny and helpless as she is, embodies the healing power that will bind the family together, fuel love in its veins and nurtures the decaying notion of Humanity especially for Klaus, the wounded father.

People have this propensity to associate birth with miracles. One is liable to say:” I want to witness the miracle of birth.” It is indeed a miracle. This miracle does not solely emanate from the wondrous fact that a whole and healthy human being comes out of a woman’s womb. What is awe-inspiring is the effect of this birth on the characters of the series. They grew more humane, warmer, stronger, and most importantly more hopeful. Isn’t that a miracle ?

 For centuries, The Michealsons drifted apart, struggled, suffered, made enemies of each other. They were too aware of their complexities and dichotomies and, at times, co-existence was impossible. “Always and Forever”, the family motto, was constantly violated by the flaws of some, and the weaknesses of others.

When it comes to family, we always say: “It is complicated” and this phrase should do, given that it is common, if not universal to have complicated family ties. Equally common is Life and birth, they happen every day, yet they inspire amazement, joy and Hope. It is a consistently repetitive act, but this reiteration never tires its beauty. Strange enough, this summons to my mind, Maurice Ravel’s classical piece “Bolero”. During 20 minutes, one single musical sequence is repeated, each time with a different instrument. Do we tire from it ? Not for a second !

Now, let’s go back to our subject matter. It is a miracle, Hope is a miracle, especially after a lifetime of pain. It is a sign of strength, it is a sign of Love. Hope, she was named. Klaus named her as such upon handing her to his sister Rebecca for her safety. She survived her first day in this world and as night fell down, she amazingly cured the maladies of her family. Klaus learned the human ability to forgive and forget; he made his peace with his adopted son Marcellus. He also learned how to put differences aside and support each other in times of hardships. To our delight, we see him tearfully smiling to Rebecca at the end of the episode, we see him trusting his sister again with the new pearl of the family, believing that she is bounteous enough to devote herself to her niece. He embraced his brother Elijah again; “the monster” and “noble” agree to live in harmony again.

Saying to his daughter: “ Every soul who wishes you harm will be cast down. I promise you that, as sure as my blood runs in your veins, you will return to me .." by the end, is far from being monster-like, and in this lies the miracle ..

Ps: For those curious about the musical piece I mentioned earlier, here it is:  

Maurice Ravel - Bolero ~

   

       

I Have a Dream, Make Way ! ~

Shapeless hours ..
Days go in tedious Adagio
Senseless existence, aimless labour
Why toil and sweat, if dreams are not met ?
Why bother to move, if the fate is set ?

Thus spake the Devil in my waking nights
Untimely open eyes, 'tis painful for the sight
Bygone days replayed in Allegro
Swift episodes of used-to-be's pass me by
So many aching what-if's cut through my being
Of days ever so bright
'tis agony to behold them through the night
For all they beget
Is tearful eyes, so tired, so wet

I dread the first light, the new day
They say: "Play and come what may"
I want to scream: "I have a dream ! Make way !"
I will not wait for desperate innuendos
of a beautiful tomorrow

I will fight, though weary
For my dreams can never tarry ...