Kaveh Akbar, from "Despite My Efforts Even My Prayers Have Turned Into Threats", Pilgrim Bell

Mary Oliver, from “To Begin With, the Sweet Grass”, Devotions

Nothing is difficult if you seek it through your Lord; nothing is easy if you seek it through your self. 

Ibn Ataallah (rahimullah)

2025

you are allowed to have a moment to think before you speak

terrifying sincerity will demand from you the kind of composure and character you are seeking

practice asking yourself questions and answer them without seeking references or resources or answers that others gave

the difference between ritual and routine is faith, and the kind of faith you need to give to your habits—what they each mean to you— is something to be curious, reflective, intentional about. you are afraid that habits will sap your life of meaning, so give them meaning of their own

Lila (divine play)

novelty & magic are rivers, not reservoirs

btw you will miss this in 5 or 10 years. memory will smooth these circumstances down like a river stone, and you will find yourself longing for a shade of light or a moment of this particular innocence. you don't know about what happens next, and one day that will be the most alluring thing of all. don't leave it all for nostalgia. have a nice night now, whatever night it happens to be.

it is my birthday today. as a gift to me, tell someone you know about palestine, but don’t just tell them about our death. tell them about our life, the way we crowd around to flip the maqlooba, the insistence that someone else eats first, the tatreez we’ve woven into the fabric of our history, tell them about the soap from nablus, the oranges from yafa, the olive oil. tell them about our poetry, our art, our folksongs. tell them that we were, and still are, human beings who bore witness to the worst parts of humanity but searched for compassion anyway.

Maggie Smith, from “Slipper”, Goldenrod

JENNY HOLZER, DETAIL FROM LUSTMORD, 1994

revolutions by himani bannerji

might as well

Kaveh Akbar