Memoirs of The Lifeless
A stranger was walking slowly on a great sbakha, a salt flat, extending to all four corners of the earth. He had left his car behind, some two kilometers back. The sun was past its vertical point, and as he looked forward he saw that the land was not level but went up in some places and down in others. It was a barren space, a wasteland where the only signs of life were those entrenched tracks where car tires have pressed for years leaving their marks behind. Cautiously he walked, placing his each step carefully on the ground; in some places the earth was soft and crumbled and in others it was prickly and hard. He passed some metal rods poking out of the earth like accusing fingers, indicating boundaries of lands belonging to people who own them no longer. The color of the land varied depending on its salinity, some patches were dark and others light, in some places it was streaky and in others a solid color, but the horizon was the same color of blue, slightly darker where it touched the earth. On schedule the sun was slowly descending and his back was to it as he walked towards that darker lining; the sea was where he was heading.
Arabian Adages
Dedicated to those who love amusing proverbs; enjoy!
Translated by: Bint Khalid
Classical Arabic Sayings
خير الأمور أوسطها
The best of things are their middles
The saying states that the best course to take is always the middle path, avoiding the extremes whether in making decisions or opinions.
الطيور على أشكالها تقع
Birds fall on their likes (or resemblances)
The saying explains how people are attracted to those with similar characters and traits as they. For example, those who are deceitful befriend the deceitful. The English proverb “Birds of a feather flock together” has the same denotation.
Word to The Wise: a tip for the now
قال حسن البصري عن الوقت
ابن آدم أنا فجر جديد على عملك شهيد فاغتنمني فإني لن أعود إلى يوم القيامة
Hasan Al-Basri once said about time;
Son of Adam, I am a new dawn, a witness to your labors and endeavours. Embrace and cherish me as I will never return, until the day of Resurrection.
(Note of Thanks to Nora)
Ignorance is Bliss… Says Who?
Inspired by a another quirky post on Qatar Living
By: Bint Khalid
There are moments in life when a person’s mind goes completely blank. Usually these moments occur as the human mind reacts in surprise, bewilderment or shock. You are either left speechless or in a silent debate with your own brain. I speak for myself when I admit that I have had my fair share of such instances. If you had to ask me to squeeze out a memory of such an instance then I would have to say it is one repeated statement, that was at times formed into a question, which used to drive my brain first into bafflement, and then into an insane mental process often revolving around the question ‘why’. In such a situation I tend to stand mutely, leaving the person in front of me to think that I had just agreed with what they had said that left me in amazement, unaware of the electric surge my brain was going through, and completely misunderstanding the look of incomprehension plastered on my face. This whole process is conducted in a matter of seconds, and by the time I react I see the back of their heads as they depart, oblivious to the mental slap I was sending their way.
The Brira File 
