Alien Aisha's Alliteration

Alhumdulilah I am back :)

Everyone is sick right now (a cold resulting from a rapid shift from hot to cooler climate) except for me. This was a conversation that Hafeez and me had while Mommy and Shareef were asleep:

Hafeez: Are you sick too?
Me: No... well, yes... maybe.
Hafeez: Huh?
Me: Well... if you consider head lice an illness... because it is one in the Quran. (see 2.196)

Now that I have probably thoroughly disgusted most of you (Saman is not included in this assumption) I will go on to reassure you that I have purged myself of this ailment Alhumdulilah since the above conversation took place... and I plan to use all of your hair brushes, combs, hats, and hijabs when I next see you, inshAllah. hahahahaha, gosh I am gross!

Okay, enough jokes. I wanted to share a cool story my aunt told me while I was in Paki before I forget to mention it. I really loved the story. Now I am going to pretend to be my aunt and translate the story from Urdu to English simultaneously (man, I am so skilled!):

I remember when I was in school there was this one weird girl that I always tried to stay away from. She was the strangest looking person I had ever seen. She had heavy drooping lips and broad shoulders with thick facial features. Whenever I used to see her I would start walking the other way, and just seeing her would get on my nerves. But for some reason she was really popular and had a bunch of friends, and I could never figure out why. One time I was absent from school for a week and was scared I was going to be in big trouble because of my absences when I came back. When I got to school and checked the attendance roster, I saw that someone had marked me present for everyday that I had missed. I was so confused and had no idea what happened so I asked my friends who did that. They said that same girl who I couldn't stand and avoided would always raise her hand and say 'present' every time my name was called. I started to talk to the girl and was interested in getting to know her. I realized that she had one of the best personalities I had ever encountered. Every misconception I had about her quickly melted away and was replaced by an earnest love and deep rooted friendship. Instead of running away from her like I used to, I would wait for her after school and her face was the one I always wanted to see. A strong and apparent beauty had grown in my perception of her and I could not have imagined how I ever viewed her differently.

I really enjoyed this story. I love my khalah for telling it to me. Hearing this always reminds me how true beauty is not in superficial elements of society or people, but how it really lies in our emotions, actions, perceptions, good nature, and caring gestures.

I too have learned that people become beautiful once you get to know them for who they are and after you appreciate them for the capacity of goodness that they contain. I know its a simple lesson, but its always a refreshing one, Alhumdulilah rabil alameen.