#Dunya Live

[beolh]

Rodya, Dunya, Sonya and Dmitri. my beloved

[your-heart-is-a-treasure]

The Call of the Dunya

This is from the best similitudes. A king built a home. Those who see did not see, and those who hear did not hear of a home better than this home, or more spacious than this home, or of a home con­taining more delights of the soul than this home. A path leading to this home was prepared, and a caller was sent out to call the people to it.

There was a beautiful woman sitting on the path. She was adorned with assorted types of adornments and she wore various types of jewelry. All the people had to pass by her. She had helpers and servants at her disposal. The woman and her helpers had provisions for those walking on the path toward the king.

The king said to the woman and her helpers, “Whoever lowers their gaze from you, does not allow you to distract them from me, and seeks provisions from you that will allow them to reach me, then serve him and give him provisions. Don’t hinder him from his travel to me; rather, assist him with everything that will allow him to complete his journey.

But whoever turns his eyes toward you, is pleased with you, pre­fers you over me, and desires to reach you, then impose upon him an evil punishment and humiliation. Make him chase behind you with a pursuit of loneliness. Whoever eats from you, then lead him astray with it for a while, then snatch all of it away from him. Take mastery over all those who follow and serve you. The more he increases his love for you, exalts and honors you, then recipro­cate him with alienation, distance and belittlement until he is dis­connected from you with misery.”

Thus, ponder this similitude and the condition of the call of the worldly life and the call of the Afterlife. And with Allah aid is sought.

This example is extracted from the narration narrated from Allah, the Exalted:

“O Dunya; serve whoever serves Me, and cause fa­tigue and trouble O Dunya to whoever serves you.”

- An extract taken from ‘The dunya and it’s reality’ by Ibn al-Qayyim

[ibyul]

I hate being a nice person sometimes like ppl will say some offhand judgmental remark to me and I know the best response would be to pass an equally judgmental remark back at them which will keep things even and in balance and in 'joke-y' territory but no I can never do it for fear of being mean and then it's just me spending the rest of my day annoyed at someone's passing comment that they probably forgot a few minutes later.

But I rlly cant win because the times that I do actually say anything back I spend the rest of the day wracked with guilt at being mean like make it make sense

[queenie-says-free-palestine]

its fucking sick i swear to god

That's it. Israel cut off the landline, cellular data and Internet completely in Gaza.

They're being killed, and can't even see a thing.

Gaza now has only God. And we have only prayers.

Even Tumblr is blocking the hashtag and we have to use Taylor's name to reach anyone.

It hurts. This feeling of uselessness while children are being slaughtered.

This might be our generation's greatest failure.

[lesbianraskolnikov]

euruhghhhhhhhhh the desire to draw the little portraits for a silent movey crime and punishment..ahhhhh. German expressionism ahhheeee

[anti-mf]

Need to stop low-key killing myself (heavy smoking) and the ummah (eating mcd)

Went back to such habits out of defeat rather than disobedience

[rightnewshindi]

मंडी की गोहर और बासा पंचायत में फैला पीलिया, एसडीएम के संज्ञान लेने पर मचा हड़कंप; बगस्याड़ में भी मिला एक मामला

मंडी की गोहर और बासा पंचायत में फैला पीलिया, एसडीएम के संज्ञान लेने पर मचा हड़कंप; बगस्याड़ में भी मिला एक मामला

Mandi News: गोहर और बासा पंचायतों में पीलिया फैलने पर एसडीएम गोहर लक्ष्मण सिं��� कनेट ने स्वास्थ्य और जल शक्ति विभाग के खिलाफ कड़ा संज्ञान लिया है। एसडीएम ने स्वास्थ्य विभाग को दोनों पंचायतों के प्रभावित गांवों का सर्वे कर पीलिया के मरीजों का उपचार और बचाव करने को लेकर निर्देश जारी किए हैं। वहीं, एसडीएम ने जल शक्ति विभाग को जल्द पीने टेंकों और पेयजल लाइनों की सफाई करने के आदेश जारी किए हैं। एसडीएम…

[ihabalhabil1983]

Hello my friend, I am Ayhab and this is my family of 8 people, 5 of them are children. I need your donation and help.❤️💔

My daughter Mira and I suffer from epilepsy and high electricity😭💔💔😭😭. We need your donations and help. Please help me and my daughter. We are dying of hunger and fear.🥺🍉❤️❤️ We in Nusairat face death at any moment. Save our lives.💔😭😭😭

We are now living on the death line in a torn tent. There is no shelter for Dunya. Our tent is burning. Please save us.❤️❤️💔

This is my daughter Mira who was electrocuted after our house was bombed over our heads🚀💔💔🥺🥺😭. Please help my family and save what is left of our lives. I and my children do not have money to buy treatment for my daughter🚀💔💔😭😭😭🍉🍉

[soracities]

what are your suggestions for starter poetry for people who dont have strong reading/analysis backgrounds

I've answered this a few times so I'm going to compile and expand them all into one post here.

I think if you haven't read much poetry before or aren't sure of your own tastes yet, then poetry anthologies are a great place to start: many of them will have a unifying theme so you can hone in based on a subject that interests you, or pick your way through something more general. I haven't read all of the ones below, but I have read most of them; the rest I came across in my own readings and added to my list either because I like the concept or am familiar with the editor(s) / their work:

Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times (ed. Nick Astley) & Being Alive: The Sequel to Staying Alive (there's two more books in this series, but I'm recommending these two just because it's where I started)

The Rattlebag (ed. Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes)

The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry (ed. Ilya Kaminsky & Susan Harris)

The Essential Haiku, Versions of Basho, Buson and Issa (ed. Robert Hass)

A Book of Luminous Things (ed. Czesław Miłosz )

Now and Then: The Poet's Choice Columns by Robert Hass (this may be a good place to start if you're also looking for commentary on the poems themselves)

Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World(ed. Pádraig Ó'Tuama)

African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song (ed. Kevin Young)

The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing (ed. Kevin Young)

Lifelines: Letters from Famous People about their Favourite Poems

The following lists are authors I love in one regard or another and is a small mix of different styles / time periods which I think are still fairly accessible regardless of what your reading background is! It's be no means exhaustice but hopefully it gives you even just a small glimpse of the range that's available so you can branch off and explore for yourself if any particular work speaks to you.

But in any case, for individual collections, I would try:

anything by Sara Teasdale

Devotions / Wild Geese / Felicity by Mary Oliver

Selected Poems and Prose by Christina Rossetti

Collected Poems by Langston Hughes

Where the Sidewalk Endsby Shel Silverstein

Morning Haiku by Sonia Sanchez

Revolutionary Letters, Diane di Prima

Concerning the Book That Is the Body of the Beloved by Gregory Orr

Rose: Poems by Li-Young Lee

A Red Cherry on a White-Tiled Floor / Barefoot Souls by Maram al-Masri

Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky

Tell Me: Poems / What is This Thing Called Love? by Kim Addonizio

The Trouble with Poetry by Billy Collins (Billy Collins is THE go-to for accessible / beginner poetry in my view so I think any of his collections would probably do)

Crush by Richard Siken

Rapture / The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy

The War Works Hard by Dunya Mikhail

Selected Poems by Walt Whitman

View with a Grain of Sand by Wislawa Szymborska

Collected Poems by Vasko Popa

Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas (this is a play, but Thomas is a poet and the language & structure is definitely poetic to me)

Bright Dead Things: Poems by Ada Limón

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire,

Nostalgia, My Enemy: Selected Poems by Saadi Youssef

As for individual poems:

“Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver

[Dear The Vatican] erasure poem by Pádraig Ó'Tuama // "The Pedagogy of Conflict"

"Good Bones" by Maggie Smith

"The Author Writes the First Draft of His Weddings Vows (An erasure of Virginia Woolf's suicide letter to her husband, Leonard)" by Hanif Abdurraqib

"I Can Tell You a Story" by Chuck Carlise

"The Sciences Sing a Lullabye" by Albert Goldbarth

"One Last Poem for Richard" by Sandra Cisneros

"We Lived Happily During the War" by Ilya Kaminsky

“I’m Explaining a Few Things”by Pablo Neruda

"Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" //"Nothing Gold Can Stay"//"Out, Out--" by Robert Frost

"Tablets: I // II // III"by Dunya Mikhail

"What Were They Like?" by Denise Levertov

"Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden,

"The Patience of Ordinary Things" by Pat Schneider

“I, too” // "The Negro Speaks of Rivers” // "Harlem” // “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes

“The Mower” // "The Trees" // "High Windows" by Philip Larkin

“The Leash” // “Love Poem with Apologies for My Appearance” // "Downhearted" by Ada Limón

“The Flea” by John Donne

"The Last Rose of Summer" by Thomas Moore

"Beauty" // "Please don't" // "How it Adds Up" by Tony Hoagland

“My Friend Yeshi” by Alice Walker

"De Humanis Corporis Fabrica"byJohn Burnside

“What Do Women Want?” // “For Desire” // "Stolen Moments" // "The Numbers" by Kim Addonizio

“Hummingbird” // "For Tess" by Raymond Carver

"The Two-Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin

“Bleecker Street, Summer” by Derek Walcott

“Dirge Without Music” // "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

“Digging” // “Mid-Term Break” // “The Rain Stick” // "Blackberry Picking" // "Twice Shy" by Seamus Heaney

“Dulce Et Decorum Est”by Wilfred Owen

“Notes from a Nonexistent Himalayan Expedition”by Wislawa Szymborska

"Hour" //"Medusa" byCarol Ann Duffy

“The More Loving One” // “Musée des Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden

“Small Kindnesses” // "Feeding the Worms" by Danusha Laméris

"Down by the Salley Gardens” // “The Stolen Child” by W.B. Yeats

"The Thing Is" by Ellen Bass

"The Last Love Letter from an Entymologist" by Jared Singer

"[i like my body when it is with your]" by e.e. cummings

"Try to Praise the Mutilated World" by Adam Zagajewski

"The Cinnamon Peeler" by Michael Ondaatje

"Last Night I Dreamed I Made Myself" by Paige Lewis

"A Dream Within a Dream" // "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe (highly recommend reading the last one out loud or listening to it recited)

"Ars Poetica?" // "Encounter" // "A Song on the End of the World"by Czeslaw Milosz

"Wandering Around an Albequerque Airport Terminal” // "Two Countries” // "Kindness” by Naoimi Shihab Nye

"Slow Dance” by Matthew Dickman

"The Archipelago of Kisses" // "The Quiet World" by Jeffrey McDaniel

"Mimesis" by Fady Joudah

"The Great Fires" // "The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart" // "Failing and Flying" by Jack Gilbert

"The Mermaid" // "Virtuosi" by Lisel Mueller

"Macrophobia (Fear of Waiting)" by Jamaal May

"Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong" by Ocean Vuong

"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou

I would also recommend spending some times with essays, interviews, or other non-fiction, creative or otherwise (especially by other poets) if you want to broaden and improve how you read poetry; they can help give you a wider idea of the landscape behind and beyond the actual poems themselves, or even just let you acquaint yourself with how particular writers see and describe things in the world around them. The following are some of my favourites:

Upstream: Essays by Mary Oliver

"Theory and Play of the Duende" by Federico García Lorca

"The White Bird" and "Some Notes on Song" by John Berger

In That Great River: A Notebook by Anna Kamienska

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib

The Book of Delights by Ross Gay

"Of Strangeness That Wakes Us" and "Still Dancing: An Interview with Ilya Kaminsky" by Ilya Kaminsky

"The Sentence is a Lonely Place" by Garielle Lutz

Still Life with Oysters and Lemon by Mark Doty

Paris, When It's Naked by Etel Adnan

[manhiya1]

“Many women proudly marry cowards, because they are selfish and only want their husbands for themselves. Forgetting that their husband has a duty towards Allah and the Ummah. In fact, many women actually discourage their husbands from answering the call of Allah, and doing what's required of them. As long as they are living a good life. Right?

But what about our sisters in captivity? What about the widows and orphans? What about them? Who is supposed to help and support them? Our honor, our pride, the crown of the Ummah!

Stop trying to find your happily ever after in this life. Stop being selfish. We don’t live in times of ease and prosperity. We are living in times of trial and tribulations. And we must strive and struggle together. Husbands and wives must encourage each other and remind each other of their purpose and path. Brothers and sisters in faith must work together and aid one another in order to help the most vulnerable and the oppressed.

Don’t be a women of this dunya, whose only concern is herself and her own personal happiness.”

-daughter of my tribe

[toychest321]

With the end of Ramadan rapidly approaching, I'd like to give attention to another Muslim doll line. Though unlike the others, this one is far less obscure...

You know them, you love them, give it up for the Arabian Friends!!!

While Fulla is objectively more popular than Arabian Friends (having a longer span of releases and merchandise), I'd definitely say Arabian Friends are more talked about in western doll collecting circles. This is likely because while all the other Muslim doll lines I've found use Barbie proportions, these moreso resemble Winx or W.I.T.C.H.

Arabian Friends were released by Newboy, the company behind Fulla, in 2007. They were first teased in issues 08 and 10 of Fulla Magazine, before being officially revealed in issues 11 and 14 (the latter seen above).

Only 8 dolls in total have been released for the line: a Deluxe and a Budget doll for each of the four characters. The Deluxe sets came with two outfits, accessories, and an Abaya. The Budget sets came with one outfit and a matching Hijab. Each doll had 7 points of articulation, with bend-and-snap knees.

A third line was announced in 2008 in Fulla Magazine issue 19, advertising that whoever could answer which character had which profession would enter a raffle with the chance to receive a full Arabian Friends collection, but this ultimately never came to pass. (The answers were: Muna - Fashion Designer, Amal - Kids' Teacher, Dunya - Coach, and Ahlam - Air Hostess)

It's said on Dollect there might have been an accompanying animated series, but the most I was able to find were two videos. One seems to be a trailer for the animated series.

The other includes a Back To School merchandise advertisement, and what might be an animation where the girls reminisce on when they were younger and how their aspirations led to their respective careers (the trailer seems to re-use animation from both of these).

A comment beneath the Trailer claims these were actually meant to advertise for an upcoming movie rather than a series, but no further news came out after these videos were released. If this is true it's honestly a shame, and might have been cancelled around when the third series was intended to release. The animation provided reminds me of Sailor Moon, and I would've loved to see it in a full storyline!

First character up is Amal, whose name means "Hope"! Her description reads:

"Never forget that hope is the key that opens all closed doors. With hope in your heart you will never be alone and nothing in life will seem impossible.."

Amal reminds me the most of Usagi from Sailor Moon, as the animation seems to portray her personality as being kind yet clumsy. It's ironic that she eventually becomes a schoolteacher as well, considering she apparently had a habit of arriving to classes late. She's also seen tucking a child into bed, so perhaps she's a mother, older sister, or aunt as well?

While depicted in the animation as having honey blonde hair, her doll has dirty blonde hair in two low pigtails (possibly tied by pink ribbon or thread). And ironically, despite her Deluxe doll using more patterns than her friends, her Budget doll is the only one without a patterned shirt.

Next is Muna, whose name means "Wish". Her description reads:

"Wishes are like bright stars in a dark sky although they are only small they fill our lives with happiness and make the darkness beautiful."

Muna is a Fashion Designer with an eye for intricate design and detail. She spends a good amount of time in her studio, seen drawing on her friend's leg cast and her highschool classroom's chalkboard. At one point, Muna is also seen helping an elderly woman across the street, so clearly her devotion to her work doesn't stop her from being charitable when she can be!

Her fashion style in both doll and animated form definitely seems the most bold out of her friends, reminding me of when 2000s-era fashion would draw inspiration from the 70s! While in the animation she and Dunya were depicted with tanned olive skin, their dolls have the same skintone as Amal and Ahlam. She has brown hair with red highlights. In the animation her hair was often depicted with side part bangs and a headband. However, her Deluxe doll has a red beanie, and her Budget doll has a middle part with braids coming down on either side of her head.

Ahlam's name means "Dreams". Her description reads:

"Dreams are like beautiful butterflies that fly in the wide blue sky. It is good to have dreams because they take you to a place where anything is possible.."

Ahlam is apparently a pianist in addition to her Air Hostess job, having dreamt of flying since she was in school. She seems to be portrayed as considerate and low-key, which aligns with her cool blue color scheme!

Her doll's fashion style seems to be Boho Chic, with beads, frills, and florals. In the animation her hair is short, with a side part and a blue butterfly barrette. Her doll, meanwhile, wears her black and blue hair beneath a navy cap in her Deluxe look, and a middle part tied back in her Budget look. Visually, she reminds me of Ami Mizuno!

And last but not least, Dunya! Her name means "Life", and her description reads:

"Your friendship is like a beautiful flower to me. Your nice words, kind deeds and positive attitude are sure to be rewarded with happiness and love.."

Dunya seems to be a healthy eater, going to someone's house with a bowl of greens (salad or kale perhaps?), and making a smoothie while on the phone. She also does stretches and runs on her treadmill. All of this makes her the perfect fit for a coaching position!

Weirdly enough, her hairstyle in the animation is exactly like Amal's doll, with two low pigtails tied by pink ribbon. Her doll, meanwhile, has brown hair in a side part tied in a high pony with silver elastics (giving me Vidia vibes tbh). Her olive green fashion seems to be relatively modern (at least for the 2000s) and urban. Her clothes are the ones I can most easily see on a Bratz doll!

Overall, I simply adore this line!!! It feels more character-focused than other ones I've covered, and I'm a sucker for such strong color-blocking! It's hard for me to even pick a favorite, since their centralized aesthetics are all so compelling and unique! If anyone who knows Arabic would be able to translate what they say in the animations, I'll happily add an addendum to this post for clarification!

It's a shame the line and its movie was cancelled before it could receive the acclaim it deserved, I would've loved to see what more it had to offer! Regardless, I'm thoroughly impressed with what they managed to put out, and hope the designers have been able to apply their clear talents in other endeavors!

Ramadan Kareem!

[wrappedinamysteryy]

When I was young, I didn't understand the pain, grief, and sudden blank feeling that some adults would feel when someone they knew passed away. Growing up, it hit me. Oh, it hit me every time I heard of someone's passing. It hit me that nobody is here forever. It hit me that some moments are always going to be engraved in memories, as our lives are temporary in this dunya. And it hit me that life must go on, whether they share the path with us anymore or breathe the air that this dunya bores. We must go on, even if it feels like our lives are ending. Even if it hurts. We surrender to Allāh, to Allāh alone.

"Indeed, we belong to Allāh, and indeed, to Him we return."

-Mona Al Kabir

[coffeeandmusk]

The Angel of Death came to Nooh and said: O longest-lived of the Prophets, how did you find this world and its pleasures?

He said: Like a man who entered a room with two doors, and he stood in the middle of the room for a brief moment, then he went out of the other door.

● {Ibn Abi’d-Dunya’s az-Zuhd (358)}

[julaibib]

Prepare for Akhirah , this Dunya is temporary , don't waste it by sinning . Please , live this dunya upon Deen

[fluffy-appa]

The Angel of Death came to Nuh عليه السلام and said:

"O longest lived of the Prophets, how did you find this world and its pleasures?"

He said:

"Like a man who entered a room with two doors, and he stood in the middle of the room for a brief moment, then he went out of the other door."

Ibn Abi'd-Dunya's az-Zuhd 358

[farisjax]

You are going to die and It is only a matter of time and Allah knows when is your turn. Don't let this dunya deceive you. It has deceived many. You're going to live in your grave more than you live here. Wallahi the world is a test.