Quick Time Lapse Of Me Studying The Femoral Triangle ^

Muslim Dark Academia Things:

Being torn between the black hijab and the slightly less black hijab

Islamic architecture being so beautiful it found its way unto western countries

Islamic. Art.

Learning arabic calligraphy.

Staying up late, hearing athan (call for prayer) and going "holy shit its already fajr (sunrise prayer) ?????"

Not being able to sleep after Fajr (sun rise prayer) and going into a wiki search rabbit hole

Wanting to sleep after fajr (sun rise prayer) but reading one chapter and then the suns already out there and the birds have the audacity to chirp chirp ughh

Not everyone gets an Assalamu Alaikum (peace and blessing be upon you) because some people just don't deserve wishing them peace

Everyone gets a hey tho

Petting kittens because its sunnah (the prophet used to do it, and its preferable that we do although not an obligation) and you get hasanat (at least you try to convince yourself that's why)

Always having pocket change for charity cause you never know

Tiny but elaborate copies of the qur'an in case you get five minutes of silence

Being at peace 24/7 because God's mercy is bestowed upon all

No more peace your paper is late

Reading nawader (little stories from the middle ages! Like Kaleela Wa Dimna)

Mourning the library of baghdad, that had so many books that when it was destroyed the river turned black with ink

mourning the library of Alexandria

Having a favourite mo'athen (one who calls for prayer) or quare'a (one who recites Quran)

Messy Arabic notes. Studying nahw (arabic grammar.) Arabic prose.

Khalil Jabran (mostly known as Khalil Gibran) and people who pronounce his name correctly (no problem of you cant tho!)

Arabic poetry

Arabic poetry

Arabic poetry

Reading Shakespeare critically

"With every hardship comes ease"

"The best amongst you are those who own knowledge and share it"

Kohl just because

Reading about the golden age of islam and wishing you lived there

Knowing that your race, gender, colour, language, religion wouldn't have stopped you from learning back then because islam is a religion of equality

Having so many badass women to look up to

That bellowing abaya/bisht/dishdasha/khimar (middle eastern clothing? It's real hard to explain/desctibe these guys but they're very very loose for dramatic effect and modesty) that is just sooo pretty and mysterious

Arriving at your masjid just on time for prayer

The imam (one who leads prayer) asking people to "fill the gaps and straighten the lones"

That one sheikh that gives beautiful lectures/sermons and makes you want to learn even more

That other sheikh that tells you stories so elaborately you forget who you are

THE SHEIKH THAT IS BOTH OF THESE BEAUTIFUL SOULS

Going to harems with your fellow sisters

Smiling at people and complimenting them because its sadakah (charity you get rewarded for) and because it low key makes you happy

Knowing every little thing is rewarded

Reading from all your copies of the qur'an so that none of them feels lonely

Buying a lavish prayer matt because why not

"The prophet had a cat, mom, its sunnah" (sunnah means things the prophet did that we get good deeds to do)

I'll post a part 2 when anything comes to mind <3

Feel free to add more! In fact I would be over the moon if you do!

Anatomy is so fun I wish I could just spend hours studying only anatomy.

It takes that long, anyway.

i feel like a person again. i feel real as i taste the salt on my skin after a run. i feel the bitter winter current seeping through my bones. i feel the soft kiss of my quilt at every point it touches on my body as it embraces me in the cold, i see the cranberry and amber hues of the sunrise every morning as i wake to chase the sun, and i smell the fragrant aroma of the garlic cloves as they sizzle in olive oil in my pan while i cook dinner for my family. winter i love you.

STEM DARK ACADEMIA

I'm a little upset at the lack of stem in dark academia, so here's my list of aesthetic science things, STEM ACADEMIA (dark edition)

• relating a little too much to the mad scientist trope (and telling everyone "no, no I would never do anything like that, I just want to help people" but like imagine if we could resurrect people)

• rereading Frankenstein every year, specifically in the month of october

• "why is STEAM a thing?? Art? who that?"

• minoring in classics because you still like mythology and history and reading

• finding the science in art (why things make you feel a certain way, how they do that, what effect they've had on health and medicine) and finding the art in science (isn't it incredible that dna knows how to tell plant cells to break down chlorophyll and this makes the gorgeous fall colors)

• reading every book that mentions at all a scientist or has a character who is interested in stem (they are few and far between)

• enjoying the structure of math and engineering but thriving off the chaos that is science

• where are the mad scientist women? I need this

• people being surprised when you tell them you're majoring in something "really science-y" after being an absolute bookworm and musician all throughout your childhood and having to defend what your heart desires (no? just me?)

• CARDIGANS are peak stem culture

• "why aren't you a doctor? why aren't you going to med school? why are you doing insert reasonable science degree here and not becoming a doctor? don't you want to help people?"

• wanting to go into genetics but wanting to go into botany but wanting to go into theoretical physics but wanting to go into astronomy but wanting to go into geology but wanting to go into chemical engineering but wanting to go into astrophysics but wanting to go into wildlife biology

• for some reason having a huge obsession with morals, ethics, and philosophy

• watching true crime just for the forensic bits

• watching mythbusters as a kid

• LISTENING TO TCHAIKOVSKY, BEETHOVEN, BACH, AND MOZART those are the stem classical musicians change my mind

• doing all your homework and frying your brain then getting to read a simple book that really refreshes you

• you had the astronomy and archaeology obsession as a kid

• listening to synth wave instrumentals

• MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL

• when people tell you that one cool science fact they learned and you try your hardest to encourage them but girl that wasn't even close to being correct

• ScienceDirect and PubMed are your go-to databases

• having lots of intrusive, existential thoughts that sometimes suffocate you, because you know better than most how much dark dna there is or how small we really are in the universe or knowing how much math explains and how little room there is for free will or thinking about how we are made up of mostly four types of atoms

• reading science or math textbooks for fun

• reading the fountainhead by ayn rand when you were way too young and didn't understand it but now parts of it emerge from the depths of your memory and you are struck by the power

• watching marvel and x-men and jurassic park just because

• reading sci-fi because it's the closest thing to real science in literature

• knowing a little too much about radiation poisoning and how to really dissolve a body in chemicals

• wearing white to make up for how little your professors make you wear lab coats

(sorry, I don't know that much about technology and I'm a literal grandpa when it comes to using it myself)

Things That Make Me Feel Like I'm Living My Best Dark Academic Life:

- reading novels under candlelight all night simply because i can. feeling tired but satisfied the day after, mild dark circles under my eyes but head full of stories.

- wearing rings on any available finger, especially my silver snake ring or the gold ring with a green gemstone passed down from an older relative. Even typing on a computer becomes more DA when they reflect its light.

- the feeling of a warm mug of coffee in my cold hands on a rainy, dreary morning. Or a refreshing glass of chilled water when the sun has decided to pay a visit.

- writing letters and poetry for my boyfriend by hand, decorating them with pressed flowers and one spray of my signature perfume. Sealing the brown envelope with wax and then delivering them by hand, or by placing them in places he will surely find them.

- following on from the last point, the feeling of secrecy and pure romanticism when he does the same in return. the joys of seeing his words on paper or the paintings within those sealed envelopes, knowing that they are for my eyes only.

- sharing facts in conversation with friends when the topic calls for it, especially when i am able to reference my subject of study.

- the first breath of the outside when i open my window in the morning.

- stove kettles and perfectly brewed tea.

- late night debates and discussion about the meaning of it all.

- the euphoria of strangers complimenting my outfits.

- sitting in my local costa with my boyfriend and our best friend (when we could.)

- the knowledge of how old my university campus is, creating imaginary stories of all the people who, like me, have walked its corridors and marvelled at its beauty.

- the feeling of satisfaction after completing a wordsearch.

- warm baths lit only by candles, the floral smell of bath salts or bubble bath filling the air.

- the rush of adrenaline after finishing and handing in an assignment just in time.

- seeing my bookshelves overflowing with books, both new and old, unread and well loved.

- when i am able to casually quote poetry or literature flawlessly in conversation, the satisfaction when others notice, and the sense of mystery when they do not.

- long walks in autumn or the stereotypical english weather with my closest companions.

- staying up late, or all night, to write stories and poetry. reading out my words to the night sky in the privacy of my bedroom. the sense of pride in knowing that these words and moments are between myself, the moon and her stars. they are ours alone.

there are several more, but these are some of my favourite.

Very honest photo dump about how the month is going (i need a miracle to get me through these exams)

When Hozier said

No grave can hold my body down I'll crawl home to her

and Mahmoud Darwish said

speak of her over my grave and watch how she brings me back to life

I'm overcome with nostalgia for a life that may or may not have been a dream.

Arabic dark academia

Having tea first thing in the morning, the afternoon, evening, night and whenever you have nothing to do and whenever you have everything to do

Practicing calligraphy, hoarding calligraphy pens and quills like a dragon hoards its jewels

Youre now a calligragon btw

Pretentious hand written letters

Fragments of poetry and prose on the wall

In Egypt you can buy a vintage gramophone (as far as I remember)

Wrinkling your nose at orientalists who have clearly never been anywhere near the culture they're trying to portray.

Appreciating the orientalists who have in fact been there and paint like it. (Sorry to disappoint but there were never sexy slave babes roaming the streets)

Mourning for the scholars of Al Andaluas and times when Arabic was the language of science

Arguing over e'arab (the value of a word with regard to others in the sentence) and balagha (it translates to "eloquence" but is more like a complex version of figures of speech) of words

Arabic being such a complex language you get carried away sometimes

Passing the allotted wordcount so you start going over your paper and compressing a whole sentence, consisting of a conjunction, a subject, a verb and two objects into a word in desperation

Words like فأسقيناكموه (faa'skainakumooh) meaning "and so we have let you drink it" being an example.

Tea over burning coal. Over logs (hatab) tea over bokhour/oud hits different and you know it.

Brewing coffee over low heat and humming to Layali Al Ouns

"No offense but I like real coffee" when someone mentions starbucks

Um Kulthoum and Asmahan are superior you cant change my mind.

NO I DID NOT FORGET ABDUL HALIM HAFEZ I WANTED HIM A BULLET OF HIS OWN.

Fareed al atrash concerts at 3 am.

Nothing you ever cook will be under seasoned.

Reciting poetry to yourself in the mirror

Big chunks of jewelry (usually gold) engraved or woven through with intricate patterns and swirls. Wearing four bracelets in one hand is absolutely fine and under dressing is a myth

Owning swords is not out of fashion (ancient arabs were well known for their swordsmanship) but using them is, unfortunately <3

Wondering how they won wars with these swords. I couldn't even lift it enough to stab myself if I wanted

Extra names. People called شهد honey (shahd), جمال beauty (jamal), زهرة flower (zahra), ليلى night (laila), سماء sky (samaa), مهند/سيف sword (mohanad/saif) and صفاء purity (safaa) like it's the most normal thing in the world (which it should be, along with names of ancient gods)

Poetry from the abbasid era describing palaces and fountains and music so eloquently your heart skips several beats and you wonder how it is still beating at all and if, after all, you have been born in the wrong era.

Classic poetry from the school of Apollo brimming with romance and yearning you have never seen matched.

Poems that tear at your heart and stitch it whole with every bayt (verse? The equivalent for it) and you keep coming back for more.

Stories so well told that you swear you can see the princes and charmers and musicians and dancers all flicker to life in the flames before you

Historical masjids and churches.

Going to the palaces and shrines and towers from the ancient days of yore

Not exclusively (as neither is anything on this list) arabic but BRAIDS and braid jewellery that clinks when you shake your head

The unwavering belief that poetry is meant to be sung.

Singing poetry because it is meant to be sung

Thick eyebrows

Lining already lash lined eyes with kohl.

Beautiful brown eyes. Honey eyes. Chocolate eyes. Freshly turned earth eyes. Eyes that hold all the ethereal beauty of the world.

Hair styled in dark, thick curls or braids

Savouring the way the words move around from your throat to your chest to the tip of your tongue, like liquid gold,

The sweet music from the strings of a qitharah (string instrument)

Scented candles are cute, but have you ever heard of oud (perfume infused wood)? Anyhow one of my Sudanese friends make it AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

Wanting to study with the scholars of baghdad and azhar so bad

Recognizing that for all your culture, some of it is inspired by others and that's okay.

Please add what you can to this list. It is far from complete.

Read more poetry, listen to more jazz, look up more facts, stack books around you, try new recipes, put up pictures, create art, talk to loved ones, buy people flowers, write letters to everybody and nobody, watch old films, watch new films, watch biopics, take long walks, go on bike rides, get yourself sweet treats, stretch in the sun, take afternoon naps, embrace the long metro rides, go on late night car drives, dance with friends.

To live is the greatest adventure of them all.