The Prophet ﷺ Is Reported To Have Said, ‘Verily You Shall Conquer Constantinople. What A Wonderful

Sky Variations & Nebulae of Water. Part III. Art by StrayChild on ArtStation.

Sabrina (1954) dir. Billy Wilder

Desi dark academia is just a group of multilingual STEM students with an extensive knowledge of history, who recite Tagore, purely out of memory

Damn!

by Akhil Katyal

Books are the foundations of the soul. The building blocks of our very own character.

“د مسافرو یاري مه کړه تا به د زړه په رنځ اخته کړي دوی به ځینه Do not fall in love with wanderers You will drown your heart in sorrow And they will leave.”

— Pashto landay

things to include in a letter to your overseas pen-pal

that one sticker you were saving

pressed flowers from a walk around your neighborhood

book quotes that made you laugh

paint swatches of colors that remind you of them

the local time of sunrise and sunset 

poems and movie quotes

meaningful song lyrics

polaroids of your desk space, or the view out of your window

cutouts of sheet music you used to play

phrases in your native language with translations

magazine cutouts

pages of old books folded into a small envelope

a secret about your hometown

newspaper clippings from the day of writing

coins from your country 

maps or drawings of your city

recounts of strangers you saw

teabag of your favorite tea

colorful stamps

Perhaps you'll appreciate the gift better when you've had to ride the stormy waves to recieve it. So be patient and carry on.

Dark Academia for Brown People

 Most people, when they think of dark academia is books (that’s the whole point) and ancient languages such as Latin or Ancient Greek. I’m here to tell you that you all are SLEEPING on brown culture. Love that is conveyed in the languages of Persian and Urdu (my native language) crosses borders. Sure, Shakespeare and Sappho wrote great pieces of literature but the stories and poems of Rumi, Manto, Hafez and Iqbal have a special place in my heart. 

Some of my favourites are:- (all are translated)

Sit at my grave with wine and a minstrel in a trance, so your smell will raise me from the dead.

HAFEZ

My lover’s sadness lit a fire in my heart that burned my chest, there was a fire in his house that burned the nest.

HAFEZ

O the day turned night, what a shame, a gazelle of kindness a lion became, my partner and lover grew tired of my words and prayers too.

RUMI

These are my personal favourites. I can always make a longer post if you all want.

Female poets deserve a whole other post.

As someone who goes to an English-Medium school, we are always taught to converse in English, see the language as a part of yourself but deny a place to Urdu. As I grow older, I have come to appreciate my identity and so should all my fellow brown people. Take pride in your mother tongue.

Na manam, na manam yara! Marg anjaam da hastay na de.

Khlasidal sharab pa jaam ke, ikhtitaam da mastay ne de.

Nah! I dont believe, i dont agree with it, death is not the end of existence.

Finishing up a cup of wine, is not the end of joy.

- 𝑮𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑲𝒉𝒂𝒏

Image source: we heart it.

Poetry: malghalari by pashtoscoop