My Awesome Brother's Poem For Me

"Sometimes, we fail to appreciate something until it's gone. One of the lessons we learn from Ramadan is to take advantage of time; every month, the days, the hours, the minutes and the seconds. This should transcend to other things in our lives; our spouses, our children, our communities and its leaders. - Imam Suhaib Webb on Facebook, August 4th 2011

You know how with family it's a mix of love and dislike? (hate is only for an enemy) You love them because you were raised by them. Their values are your values, their looks are on you and you share a spiritual DNA. Then there are times when you could just... pop... one of them (!) Ah, subhan'Allah, may Allah have mercy on our families. They are the reason we need therapy but they are from the Almighty and a blessing in Pakistani disguise.

On a roll from my birth-day celeb-eration last year, (not that birth-days are a tradition) I received greetings with du`a and general "wohoos, you're closer to death" messages. Alhamdulillah for those reminders, really.

Knowing of my childhood time spent with The Simpsons (the cartoon and a criminally inclined family from real life), my mother ji ordered a halal cake.

Always ready for material love, my young siblings offered me cards of bribery.



And not that I expected a hoopla, but my father ji was busy and only managed to scribble a "Zau..." Look, father dear signed his name quite veraciously too. As though it were a cheque, or a testimonial.

The greatest present though comes in the form of a splendid poem from a young brother whom we call Seyaab*note.

"You may not have the looks, but sis you got alllll the books." It is these wise words that I keep as my daily mantra.

Du`a request for my family people, Allah knows they're not here for long. Ramadan cream and salamings.

*Note: "`Aleyahum Theyaabu' sundosinn..." (Qur'an, 76:21)