A Creation Story

According to Islamic tradition, when Adam and Eve were banished from Paradise to Earth, they landed in separate places. Each wandered the desert plains of Arabia alone for many years, searching for the other, before finally being reunited at the top of a hill. This hill came to be known as Mount Arafat, its name derived from the Arabic word ta'arruf, which means meeting, or, more accurately in this context, meeting place.

I've often wondered what that meeting must have felt like.. what it must have felt like to desperately search for your love and companion in an arid and alien land, while struggling with the guilt and fear that comes with exile, although knowing that having faith in God is the only thing that would bring you through this trial.

Truth be told, the story of Adam and Eve is the story of every man and woman that followed after them. Their struggle is our struggle, their spiritual journey is ours, and it is likely that their marriage foreshadowed the nature of marriage for all of mankind to come.

I've often wondered what that meeting on top of a desert hill must have felt like. Perhaps it went something like this..

*Disclaimer: The following is entirely a work of fiction and isn't meant to offend anyone's sensibilities. Before you label me a heretic, I'd like to say that my devotion to my religion is unquestionably firm, but I also think a little humor never killed anyone. My intention is not to blaspheme, and beyond that, Allah (swt) knows best. If you still have a problem with this, well, tough.*

~Ta'arruf~

Stumbling with fatigue, throat parched with thirst, Eve raised a calloused hand to shield her eyes from the blistering sunlight and gazed into the distance. Was that a moving shadow she just saw, or another trick her eyes were playing on her?

But the hazy blur continued to move in her direction, up the slope of that hill ahead. Could it.. was that.. could it really be him?

It had to be.

With a renewed sense of vigor and purpose, she summoned the last vestiges of her energy and began moving faster, putting one foot after another in the sinking mounds of hot sand, ignoring the hot, searing wind that cut across her face, now determined to reach the top of that hill.

After what seemed like eternity, she had scaled the steep slope and arrived at the summit. And she couldn't believe it but there he was, waiting for him. No longer a mirage, but in the flesh, alive... real. After all this Hell, finally a sliver of Paradise. Her search had not been in vain. He was here. It was real. It was everything she had dreamed it would be. It was...

Adam: Darn it woman, where the heck have you been? Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?

Eve: [cold pause] Well. Hello there, Adam. And yes, I'm fine, thanks.

Adam: What's that supposed to mean?

Eve: Gee, Adam, I don't know. Maybe the first thing you'd ask your wife - whom you've been separated from for an unspecified amount of time while you've both been wandering the desert plains of Arabia - was.. "Are you alright?" Or maybe you'd tell her that you loved her, or missed her, or, I don't know, maybe even a "Hey, that's a hot date palm leaf skirt you've got on."

Adam: Hot date palm...? [sighs] Why is it always about sex with you? [pretend Eve voice] "No that's too much! No that's too little! Why is that angel checking you out? Why have you been frolicking in Eden without me?" You're always so paranoid.

Eve: First of all, this has nothing to do with sex, what are you on about? Are you even listening? And I'm paranoid? What about you? If you'd bothered asking someone for directions, we'd probably have managed to find each other ages ago.

Adam: There wasn't anyone to ask, genius, we're the first humans remember?

Eve: Trust you to come up with a clever answer for everything. You never simply try hard enough. If I were you, I'd have found me by now.

Adam: [crosses his arms] You know what, I'm done with this conversation. Forget it.

Eve: Great, here we go again, the famous silent treatment. You have serious issues, Adam. Have you ever considered why you're so averse to confrontation? You can never take constructive criticism. You know what I think? I think..

Adam: Eve, please stop psychoanalyzing me, you suck at it, and I really don't want to hear this right now.

Eve: FINE.

Adam: FINE

[both cross their arms and turn away]

[pause]

Eve: [turning back] Did you try yelling for me? Calling my name? Screaming to the heavens? Did you even miss me at all?

Adam: [rolls his eyes] Of course, I missed you, if I didn't miss you why would I be looking for you?

Eve: [on a roll] Hah. Yeah. I knew it, you didn't miss me for a second, you've never loved me, I knew there was something fishy going on between you and that angel, Satan was right from the start..

Adam: [indignant, but also slightly panic-stricken] What?!

Eve: All that time, I was suspicious, I had my doubts. But I told myself, "Eve, give him his space. Just make sure you're prettier than all the rest." So I bathed in rivers of milk and honey for you, I adorned myself with gold, I always tried to look good for you..

Adam: [beginning to worry] Eve, listen to yourself. You're not making any..

Eve: .. DO YOU EVEN HAVE ANY IDEA HOW ITCHY THIS DATE PALM LEAF SKIRT IS?

Adam: And you look great in it! Like you've lost ten pounds!

Eve: [waving her arms around] Ten? Try fifteen! I'm half my size, my hair's a mess, I'm darker than Satan's ass, I've got sand in places I didn't know I had...

Adam: [grabs Eve's arms] EVE. Get a grip. You know I don't care about those things. You look beautiful. You always do to me.

Eve: [sniffs] Really?

Adam: Really. Those angels ain't got nothin' on ya.

Eve: [giving in] Oh Adam. All this time, I've been praying for you. That God forgives you and that you're safe. I didn't care about what would happen to me, all I wanted was for you to be alright. I went without water for days because I thought you were thirsty too. I didn't sleep, I didn't eat. If I found some fruit, I gathered it up and saved it for you, in case I found you, and you were hungry. See? [shows Adam a handful of fruit]

Adam: [dumbfounded by this selflessness] Eve, I.. I.. don't know what to say. I guess.. I.. I'm dumbfounded by your selflessness.

Eve: Just tell me that you love me. And that we'll be alright.

Adam: [very seriously] I love you. So much. And we'll be alright. I promise. I'll take care of you. Forever.

And so, Adam smiled at Eve and tenderly took her into his arms, all his anger and paranoia forgotten. And Eve clutched on to Adam for dear life, thanking God for having answered her prayers to return him to her safe, and promising to do better in this world; this new and different place that promised equal measures of hardship and joy, that had been created for them, and was now theirs to keep.

And then they had crazy make-up sex and populated the world.

The End!

Universal Poem #2

Sometimes I miss you so much, I don't miss you anymore,
But then I miss missing you, and so I miss you even more.

You know?

Universal Poem

I miss you in so many ways
On moonlit nights and cloudy days;
I sleep so I can see your face
And dream of your perfect embrace.

If you were here, you'd stand and stare
And watch me as I brush my hair;
Scoops of ice-cream we would lick
And dream of trips to Reykjavik.

I wish you could be here, damn damn damn
(The name of this poem is an anagram);
If you were a disease, you'd make me cough
But I don't feel sick, could this be love?

A Real Love Song

I Carry Your Heart With Me
By E.E. Cummings

I carry your heart with me
I carry it in my heart
I am never without it, anywhere I go, you go, my dear;
And whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling
I fear no fate, for you are my fate, my sweet
I want no world, for beautiful, you are my world, my true
And you are whatever a moon has always meant
And whatever a sun will always sing, is you

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
Here is the root of the root, and the bud of the bud
And the sky of the sky of a tree called life
Which grows higher than the soul can hope, or mind can hide
And this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart
I carry it in my heart

My Funda

I chanced upon this 'prayer' that I wrote a long time ago in my archive of stuff, and was amused by the fact that despite putting it to paper years ago, I've only just learned to internalize this and truly to put this philosophy to action. I only hope I can keep up the faith and positivity ;)

'Alhumdulillah'

The only certainty of life is death, don't spend your days in despair
Whatever happens, happens for the best; He only gives us what we can bear
Life is nothing but a test; just put your heart in your prayer
And then to Him leave all the rest; you'll find the answer was always there..