Posts

Posted on

End of the Day

I hope you get to relax a little after all the chores are done for the day. After all the emails are attended to, or at least the ones that are burning bright with today’s colors. After dinner and desert. Even after the prayers in the dark.

Snuggled up in the corner of the couch, maybe with a cup of tea in your hand, in front of a familiar sitcom, to laugh about the silly jokes that you’ve heard a hundred times before, and that somehow still bring a smile to your face.

In that moment, think of nothing else but the moment itself. Feel your own presence from the tip of your fingers to the edge of your toes. Feel your weight on the couch. Sense the pleasantly warm liquid gliding down your throat as you take a sip. Let your body take a break. Let your mind stretch its wings, carrying you far away.

And, when it’s time to come back, you’ll come back to a peaceful night’s sleep.

Posted on

Eid-Al-Fitr Mubarak 2022

Another Ramadan has come and gone. A sure sign of the relentless passing of time. As always, it’s been a time of trials and tribulations. Of sincere prayers and deep reflections. A time of lucid late evenings and tired early mornings. And, as always, a time of failure and of success.

Today, on the eve of the last day of this holy month, I pray that I get to experience another opportunity to seek the ultimate benefits of my prayers together with my loved ones yet again.

May Allah accept our attempts in the month that has passed, and grant us the opportunity to improve our efforts in the future. I wish all Muslims a happy and blessed Eid al-Fitr!

Posted on

Imperfect

The landscape lay before me like a painting.
If there could ever exist a perfect painting, that is.

But no human creation could possess such beauty.
Such blend of form and function.
None.

Taking it all in, I saw the final photograph in my mind’s eye.
A beautiful piece of art, able to stir in the viewers heart,
the same emotions that I felt inside me.
A frozen moment in time,
capturing forever the brilliance of the scene before me.

It pained me though, to realize that I could never make that happen.
How could I ever capture the grandness of it all?
The smell of moss in the air.
The sound of grass rippling in the water by the gentle breeze.
Then softness of the ground.

No matter how good the gear,
or how advanced the tools,
I would not succeed.
No, a photograph would be but a poor portrayal of my experience
of nature’s magnificent spectacle

Posted on

Even Though You’re Upset

How shall we explain
To the world
The reason for our parting?

Even though you’re upset
With me
For the sake of everyone asking
Come back

Our grievances apart
If only to torment
My heart
Come back

Even though we’re not
As close as before
Still sometime
If only for the sake of custom
Come back

Admittedly hiding love
Is love
Someday secretly
To proclaim your love
Come back

Come back
If only to leave me again

Come back

Ranjish Hi Sahi, original in Urdu by Ahmed Faraz

Posted on

Snow

Pure, fresh, pristine.
Having arrived just a few hours before,
it was waiting for us as we stood at the trailhead.
A clean white carpet draped on the forest floor,
inviting us in.

And we walked.

Hard as rock. And unforgivingly slippery.
Treacherous under a thin blanket of powder.
One misstep and we’d be on our backs.

We kept walking.

Brittle as glass.
Cracking easily under the weight of our steps like fine china.
A crisp ripping sound in the muffled forest air,
and then quiet.

We pressed on.

Soft, as the finest Egyptian cotton.
Cushioning our feet as if walking on puffs of cloud,
high above the forest floor.

We continued walking.

White turned gray and then black
as the day surrendered to dusk and then night.
Darkness descended upon us,
erasing the difference between the ground and the sky.

Like walking in nothingness,
the only sound we heard was the one of our own breathing,
and our footsteps on the black snow.

And we kept walking.

Posted on

The Photographer’s Moment

Heavy rains were forecasted for the entire day, and that is exactly how it started on that August morning as we found ourselves gearing up for the hike.

The Norwegian summer can be unpredictable, especially this late in the season, so even though we had been hoping until the last minute to see an improvement in the forecast, we were fully prepared for a wet and windy experience. Although that could be an adventure in itself, my main concern was missing out on the view from the summit if the clouds did not clear.

Luckily, we only saw light rain as we made our way up, and the winds drove most of the low hanging clouds away by the time we reached the summit. As we were standing at the top the sun broke through, giving us a spectacular show of shadows, light, and color, fulfilling the promise of “the finest vantage point” in Luster!

This is when the photographer got his moment, the image was made, and all hardship was forgotten.