The tranquility of Musjid-un-Nabawi: I can feel the cold marble beneath my feet as I gap in-line outside to read my Fajr salaah; it's still dark and the Saudi Arabian heat is tempered by Winters cool breeze, waking my mind, just as the resounding call to Prayer woke my soul. Madina - the City of Smiles. That's how I remembered that blessed resting place of Nabi (SAW). It's little alleys and backstreets always lending me a new discovery each time I wandered through them. A City I'd never been to before wrapped me in its fold like a greeting to a long familiar friend; no matter the time of day or night that I deigned to stroll through it, it always had a willing hand and ready smile; perfume to delight the senses and peace to calm the soul.
I remember, all too clearly the bustling hyperactivity of Makkah: a bubbling rush of heat and never ending tasks, important in their insignificance. My heart thuds in reminiscence though, of the Harram Shareef: and that feeling of being utterly and totally puny and infinitesimal. I loved it. I remember the first time I touched that magnificent hulk of stone, its scent lingering for hours after, so that I was loath to wash my hand even when it was impossibly unavoidable to do so. I loved standing there, before the Ka'bah, as the floor of heaven shone bright with phosphorescent globules...knowing that all around the world, billions of Muslims stood behind me, all facing the same direction, all with the fervent wish in their hearts to stand where I stood. And late at night, into the early morning, when after hours of solitude amid thousands of others, a stroll to stretch my muscles found me gravitating in a direct and unshakable line to the Baskin&Robbins ice cream stand in the Hilton foyer - till eventually the man behind the counter knew not my name, but always had the exact same flavour scooped and ready, at the nearly exact time everyday: my 2am rendezvous with Cookies & Cream.
Those are the many things my heart yearns for...
p.s i totally took those first two pictures myself :D best journey EVER!
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