July 25, 2026. It is Saturday late morning. I have been awake since Fajr prayer, drank coffee, went to breakfast, met three charming Malaysian families at Kenny Hill’s Bakery, sent a message to select WhatsAppers and then went to my room. Lying lazily about thought of this phrase; not knowing where it came from. I guessed it was Shakespeare. It is. Typed it into Google and this is what I found. It is a Shakespearean sonnet 116.
“it is an ever-fixed mark / That looks on tempests and is never shaken;” Love is compared to a lighthouse or a guiding star, which remains constant even during storms (“tempests”). This suggests that real love is steadfast and unbreakable, even in adversity.”
Supposedly the main idea of the sonnet is that if two people truly love each other, then their love cannot change or fail. It will last a lifetime no matter how much the people themselves and the world around them might change. That cannot be love between two mortals – it can only be love from Allah. That seems perfectly clear to me. Why not them??? Hahaha
Wikipedia, not Artificial Intelligence, comes up with the best conclusion.
Wikipedia: It starts out as motionless and distant, remote, independent; then it moves to be “less remote, more tangible and earthbound”;[2] the final couplet brings a sense of “coming back down to earth”. Ideal love is maintained as unchanging throughout the sonnet, and Shakespeare concludes in the final couplet that he is either correct in his estimation of love, or else that no man has ever truly loved.
Wikipedia and I essentially agree that “No man has ever truly loved.” I feel victorious. Hahaha.
Wikipedia goes on forever with an endless analysis of each couplet. I do not recommend it to anyone but go there if you must. Hahaha
I shall go slightly back in time to my good morning greeting. I formerly sent my good morning greetings to an audience of over twenty people. I have advisedly scrapped many of them for various reasons. This morning it went to 13 and three more are going to be banished from the chosen tomorrow, Hahaha
This was the message. The photo was of Idries Shah’s The Sufis. I wrote: “ Good morning I finished reading this book this morning It is the seminal book of the century it says. It will change my life. Yet again! Alhamdulillah. It took me four months to read.”
It now occurs to me that I do not know the meaning of seminal. There are two meanings. The first is the operative one: 1 (of a work, event, moment, or figure) strongly influencing later developments. Synonyms are: formative, groundbreaking, pioneering, original, creative, innovative; imaginative, influential. Now this is a giggle. The other meaning is relating to or denoting semen. No Alexis – the first meaning. Hahaha
I shall share exchanges from two dear women friends
She: Good morning that’s amazing. Did you enjoy the read? Alhamdullah
Me: Great question!!! Yeah you!! It was the most difficult read of my entire life. So I guess no. But the most meaningful and in the end in the last three chapters everything came together. All the threads in my life became a tapestry. How is that for profound??Hahaha I feels like I climbed a mountain.
Another dear woman friend.
She: Late better than never. At last you still managed to read the book after 4 months.
Me: I know!!! Most difficult book I ever read and I have probably read thousands over my long life.
Then this amusing conversation between my Sarawak visa agent Theresa and I.
She: Good afternoon. It’s hot hot hot here in Kuching.
Me: Oh no!! I hate heat but there is always air conditioning
She: True And I’m here at the office working this weekend, hence air conditioning shall soothe the body
Me: And the mind!! I get totally one hundred percent grouchy in the heat. I used to say that if I lived near the equator I would become a mass murderer, All praise air conditioning. Hahaha The world is safe from me.
So that is today. Yesterday was the most hyperactive people-jammed day of my life. Phew!
It began with my day long free coffee. Then breakfast at Kenny Hill Bakery. Sandman picked me up. First another visit to Fed Ex to send the necessary page to the US allowing the transfer of funds to my US bank account and then eventually to Malaysia. Somewhere along the line decided I should shop for a bathing suit so that I could go back to water walking which has been abandoned since leaving Societe. We went to Queensbay Mall, got a wheelchair and reached success after going to four stores. I now have a bathing suit that makes me look like a seal. There are no sharks in the Lyf pool so I shall be safe. Hahaha Then we happened upon a hair salon and I had the greatest hair wash and blow dry of my entire life. You shall see an example of the work in progress. Then we went to Saigon House for lunch. The food was as usual EXCELLENT. A mango salad, the ingredients of which can only be obtained for one month out of the entire year and then the crepe and a sampler plate. Took much of it back home as we ordered too much.
Then rested and dealt with some unpleasantries which shall be spoken of later. There was a grand event taking place at Mojo. Went down just to visit my grandchildren to see how they were doing. Oh my goodness!!! So hard at work!!! I cannot imagine where they got the energy to do it all. Such complicated dishes served so perfectly. Jeffrey and his friend asked me to join them their table so I was able to taste some of the delicious complex dishes.. I made a new friend and Jeffrey promises to come back to Mojo and dine with me in the future. He was most impressed with the food, it was his first visit.
Then back to my room. I was up past my bedtime. Had a restful sleep and began today. Not sure what I have in mind for the rest of the day. We shall see.
I keep making new friends. It is because I live here in Malaysia, not a tourist who comes and goes. It is a great feeling as I have been a tourist since I fled the USA in 2021. Fled because of religious persecution. I have two hijrahs under my belt so to speak. Left the USA for Abu Dhabi. Later left Canada for Saudi Arabia. It bodes well for my afterlife and my continued existence in this dunya. (Having something under one’s belt is the process of accruing successes. Synonyms for “under my belt” include achieved, acquired, attained, completed, and earned. The idiom refers to knowledge, experience, or skills that you have successfully secured for future advantage.)
I am, at this moment, visiting my grandchildren, watching them cook. It is not crowded at the moment. The hectic pace has slowed, I feel at home. I am at home. Home in Malaysia. How unlikely.
Photos of Saigon House food and drink, my magnificent hair wash and the cover of the seminal book of the century.
