When we read new books in our Urdu speaking household, it usually involves two little girls sitting on either side of myself and a cup of chai. I skim through the pages quickly and get a gist of the book before we start reading, and when we go through each page I recite the story in Urdu as it is written in English. That is the only way I can keep the attention from diverting into a full fledge war over who turns the next page, prematurely at that, resulting in my chai being knocked over, sometimes all over the new book…of course, that calls for a war of it’s own, but I’ll spare you the gruesome details. The obvious idea is to get them familiar with the storyline to capture their interest and once they’ve learned to love the story then we can start reading it in words that may have been foreign to their understanding in the beginning, but when connected with the story they already know, become more implicated, engrossing, and easier to comprehend. Not to mention the relief of not having to clean precious spills. And no, I won’t give up my chai during the process if that’s what your thoughts are insinuating. The facebook book challenge made me realize how long it’s been since I have indulged in a good book for myself, because it’s no fun reading words while I’m planning dinner in my head, or devising the best excuse for not wanting to cook dinner, or watching the girls from the corner of my eye every other second anticipating a sudden brawl over which one gets ownership of the single beam of sunlight piercing through the blinds. The concept is as simple as not pining to read a Spanish book, or dare I say, Arabic Book if all we get from it is words, and maybe some effete sense of satisfaction for having read something rather than nothing. As important, and as escaping, as our time seems to be these days, there is a constant need to avail and be productive…especially if it entails multitasking, like story time and drinking chai…. but I digress. If the recitation of Surah Kahf is a routine every Friday, there is no reason for us not to indulge and experience the wisdom the words of Allah have to offer us in it …and the Sunnah to recite it every week provides implication for us to be developing a prodigious appetite for those captivating lessons expounded in just this one Surah. We need to start paying more attention to what the words mean, and especially what they mean to us…it’ll all make sense then. We can’t blame the book or the author for not engaging us if we just continue to aimlessly chant rhymes instead of internalizing the poetry. Here is link to the side by side English Translation of Surah Kahf….sometimes it helps to have it right in front of you. ahadees/englisharabicurdu-surah-18.html #JummahMubarak #SurahKahfDay #KahfKahaniTime
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 23:26:14 +0000
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