the cinnamon peeler's wife

the air grows colder and the last of the leaves grow damp on the ground. somehow every year around this time the days seem to speed up, time flies, and people are accelerating on an invisible path to the new year. it is the last ten days of ramadan, a time to reflect and search for that solace for which our souls are yearning. eid will be soon upon us, then turkey day will fly by, soon i will avoid malls for the crowds of christmas (don't worry i will hum carols and bake cookies). what have i done in this, my 25th year on this earth? a lot of things to think about and little time to do so. trying to lose myself in the inundation that is law school reading.

all of us seem to be in search of something. recently reading some utterances of shaykh abd al-qadir al-jilani, the great 11th century sufi saint of baghdad. from his ode of connection (qasidat al-wasila)

nazarta bi- 'aini 'l-fikri fi hani hadrati
habiban tajalla li'lqulubi fa-hannati

i saw with the eye of contemplation,
in the tavern of my presence
a Friend who revealed Himself to the hearts,
so they were filled with yearning.

*sidenote: it is not just the elections, but life in general which seems to need re-evaluation, not just now but always. but yes i, too, have been reading a lot of post-election articles. some of note or interest:
1. the optimism of uncertainty: howard zinn
2. open letter to the democratic party: how you could have had my vote
3. why they won: thomas frank
and things go on after the election, things still matter, so read on...
4. arafat died years ago: robert fisk
5. tide? or ivory snow? public power in the age of empire: arundhati roy
6. the war on iraq has made moral cowards of us all: scott ritter
7. fallujah and the reality of war: rahul mahajan (lest we forget that as the election clouds our vision, we are funding a routing of fallujah, the city of 1000 mosques. in the middle of ramadan, most inhabitants are fleeing their homes in fear of smart bombs to form shanty towns on the outskirts. of course any man between 15-60 is not allowed out in fear that he may be militant and of course most hospitals are being closed- both violations of the geneva conventions- but who needs those anyway?)

*suggestion: listen to ustad amjad ali khan on sarod: raag kausi kanada