Ishagahan and Amole

I never heard anyone say her name...

Like everyone else, I called her Grandmother. She is the undisputed matriarch of the village of Kanazi. She is also the oldest person in the village. Though her exact age is unknown, it is accepted that she is well into her nineties.

She and the other elderly women of the village whispered Fajr, Zukhr and Asr alone in their homes, but they were always present for Maghreb and Isha, the evening prayers performed just outside the village's small, mud mosque. Cloaked in black, on mats placed to the side and slightly distanced from the men and boys, they prayed. Their modest, disciplined devotion heightened the spirituality of two of the five daily prayers that are a binding duty for all Muslims.

The younger women and girls respectfully stood, kneeled, sat and prostrated themselves in rows just behind them.

It took a village to convince her to pose for this portrait. The sun had set and the resulting image is grainy and unfocused.

She is not.

images from my home in Africa

Amole and Ishagahan

Pictures of the puppies when they were still in Africa; Ishagahan is the male puppy. The word ishagahan is Tamasheq for a red colored animal {he is actually fawn colored} and amole {the name of the red bitch puppy) is a word for an animal which has white between the eyes.

I was living in Africa...

for some time, al hamdullilah. In Niger. I brought back two puppies, Al hamdullilah. I marvel at them. They are precious to me.

Lao Tzu wrote:

Fate does not attack, yet all things are conquered by it;
It does not ask, yet all things answer to it;
It does not call, yet all things meet it;
It does not plan, yet all things are determined by it.

Fate's net is vast and its mesh is coarse,
Yet none escape it.

verse...

Not hammer-strokes, but dance of the water, sings the pebbles into perfection.











Rabindranath Tagore

tasbih...

A few days ago I received a package containing prayer beads (called tasbih or masbahah) I had ordered from a website called Culture World (Greece). I can't know who if any of the visitors to this blog are Muslim. But I would recommend the tasbih to anyone, regardless their faith. The tasbih are lying on the table next to my computer as I write and the scent of the frankincense brings comfort. The juniper berry seeds are inexplicably at once simple and transcendent. The tasbih, the website and Chris Panagopoulos (the owner) are totally thumbs up. Al hamdullilah.

















(The photograph is from the website.)

from "The Book of Five Rings"

"If we look at the world we see arts for sale. Men use equipment to sell their own selves. As if with the nut and the flower, the nut has become less than the flower. In this kind of 'way of strategy', both those teaching and those learning the way are concerned with coloring and showing off their technique, trying to hasten the bloom of the flower. They speak of "This [...]" and "That [...]". They are looking for profit. Someone once said "Immature strategy is the cause of grief". That was a true saying.

Musashi Myamoto

We and they...

are all African.

Another beautiful photo of Firdausi...

...from Tamer el Saadany. Firdausi is at Sahara Arabians in Dixon, California where he is standing as a fund-raiser for underprivileged horses in Egypt. I hope some of you will consider making a contribution to this worthy cause. Please contact Mr. Saadany for further information.

An update on the puppies...

...sired by Bomboukou and out of Taylalt. Three are now with their new owners, al hamdullilah, and the fourth is in a holding pattern at the home of Brett and Jess Booth who will later ship him to his new owner in Australia, Insh'Allah.

an update on Firdausi

Firdausi is now standing at Sahara Arabians in Dixon, California.

I would not be able to adequately express my gratitude to Tamer el Saadany, Firdausi's new owner, nor to Melissa Huprich (Lotus Bloodstock Arabians), who bred Firdausi and who worked tirelessly for many months to place him in a new home. It is obvious from this one photo that Tamer cares deeply for him.

Firdausi is standing as a fund-raiser for underprivileged horses in Egypt. I hope some of you will consider making a contribution to this worthy cause. Please contact Mr. Saadany for further information.













Photo: Tamer el Saadany.