Aat Festival Celebrating IWD

Thank you to all the wonderful artists, supporters, audiences, and sponsors, for making the third annual Aat festival a brilliant success. Much to say and reflect on, but for now, just this.

(Image by Rawia Sabella)

Comments

Fire

The wind doth deceive me and your voice I hear in the tree shrubs Possessed am I with your eyes They pierce my womb and into earth's core I fall to your embrace عشقٌ وجنون Smile to me For you I set my eyes on fire With the lashes of your eyes Hide me in the wallpaper So I can stay near you Unseen

Lessons from Nature

The lessons that mother nature tells us are boundless. Endless. In the most simple ways, she gives us clues to living. In a storm, you don't have to worry about trees that move with the wind like the pine, it's the ones that are completely solid that could fall. Moving with the wind verses being stiff: Adapting, going with, accepting, letting go, empathising, accommodating, flexible. These trees stay rooted. You know the feeling - of trying to stay standing against all odds until you fall on your face. Literally in my case: When I was a little girl, I had the habit of falling unconscious. When I went with it, my body would collapse gently onto the floor. When I'd try to resist, I'd fall flat like a board and scar my face. The fainting was sometimes caused by sunstroke, or the burning lights of the TV studio. I do not take well to heat, in spite of my middle eastern blood. I sometimes brought fainting onto myself - without intent. I was a bit of a shayt

In search for a pseudonym... I stumble upon Wilders' Fitna.

Fitna. Is an Arabic word that is most commonly translated as ‘strife.’ It could also mean 'enchantment' and even 'sin.' In its essence, it means: To make something appear differently than its nature. In the Quran, we are told that Moses ‘fatan’ the ropes and so they appeared as snakes. Wikipedia does a good job at dissecting the word linguistically, so why recreate the wheel. I would however like to point here to the original meaning of the verb ‘fatana’ and that is: to burn. Adding to Wiki that it could thus be seen as an alchemical word… the burning of metal to distinguish the gold. Seeing through falsehood and finding the truth. Fitna is one of the many words that has been hijacked by the modern language. If words were to rebel, Fitna would stand in the frontlines. But in spite of the negative association of the word – or perhaps as a result of – Fitna is also a woman’s name (amongst certain groups like the Bedouins.) In that ins

Arab Woman Talking

Search This Blog