everyone gangster until you pull on your not so platonic friend's armor
so apparently it’s cool to wear your boyfriend’s clothes now?
but when i, patroclus-
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.
fill your soul with stars
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!
i’m fasting for 15 hours
I’m interested in seeing who’s suffering (i.e., me) and who got it easy lol
Reblog with how long your fasts are
aesthetic for @mathemaphia
the glide of a fountain pen across paper
wanting to understand the world and your place in it
an organized desk, everything in its place
finding satisfaction in the precision of mathematics
a freshly steeped cup of tea with fragrant steam
your favorite tea mug set out on your desk
splotches of ink on your hands, worn like badges of honor
always hungry for knowledge, eager to know more about everything
books that make you contemplate your own existence
novels by kafka by your bed
using math as a lens through which to decipher the world and its rules
gazing out the window on long car rides
language textbooks - french, german, korean - stacked by your desk
finding order and patterns in the world
a contemplative soul, mulling over big philosophical ideas
pages filled with long strings of calculations
muttering verb conjugations as you work on memorization
wanting everyone to see beauty in math the way you do, even though it’s considered a frightening subject
researching your favorite authors
studying language, shaping your mouth around unfamiliar words
I'm overcome with nostalgia for a life that may or may not have been a dream.
starry decorations
Very honest photo dump about how the month is going (i need a miracle to get me through these exams)