Latest Posts by sleeplesspotioneer - Page 2
Perhaps you'll appreciate the gift better when you've had to ride the stormy waves to recieve it. So be patient and carry on.
british people be like i know a spot then colonise it
“Happy is he who does good to others; miserable is he who expects good from others.”
— Hazrat Inayat Khan
Damn!
by Akhil Katyal
“Be patient where you sit in the dark, the dawn is coming.”
Maulana Rumi
Dark Academia for Brown People
Most people, when they think of dark academia is books (that’s the whole point) and ancient languages such as Latin or Ancient Greek. I’m here to tell you that you all are SLEEPING on brown culture. Love that is conveyed in the languages of Persian and Urdu (my native language) crosses borders. Sure, Shakespeare and Sappho wrote great pieces of literature but the stories and poems of Rumi, Manto, Hafez and Iqbal have a special place in my heart.
Some of my favourites are:- (all are translated)
Sit at my grave with wine and a minstrel in a trance, so your smell will raise me from the dead.
HAFEZ
My lover’s sadness lit a fire in my heart that burned my chest, there was a fire in his house that burned the nest.
HAFEZ
O the day turned night, what a shame, a gazelle of kindness a lion became, my partner and lover grew tired of my words and prayers too.
RUMI
These are my personal favourites. I can always make a longer post if you all want.
Female poets deserve a whole other post.
As someone who goes to an English-Medium school, we are always taught to converse in English, see the language as a part of yourself but deny a place to Urdu. As I grow older, I have come to appreciate my identity and so should all my fellow brown people. Take pride in your mother tongue.
Muslim Dark Academia
- always wearing a dark coloured hijab
- long tweed coats, untucked blouses, loose plaid/suit pants
- trying to memorize as much of the Qur’an as possible
- studying the Golden Age of Islam
- learning about Abbas Ibn Firnas, Al-Jabr, and all the others who made breakthroughs that are now attributed to Western scholars
- studying your favourite verses of the Qur’an
- dreaming of visiting the different mosques around the world
- owning more copies of the Qur’an and it’s translation than you can count
- staying up late to study and praying qiyam in your study breaks
- listening to different tafsirs and lectures and taking your own notes on them
- dreaming of someday being able to visit Makkah and Madinah
- the scent of itr leaving a trail behind you to announce your presence
- memorizing great Muslim poetry and trying to write your own
- listening to Qur’an while you study and getting so wrapped up in the recitation you forget that you’re supposed to be studying
- debating the pros and cons of different reciters
- trying to learn as many dialects of Qur’anic arabic as you can
- falling asleep to your favourite recitation of Surah Mulk
with a lack of focus on poc in dark academia, i figured i’d provide some content with what i know best
Muslim academia
Afghan Dark Academia consists of wearing velvet kuchi dresses and drinking kahwah while listening to classical Rabab music and analysing poems of Rumi, Rahman Baba and Hafez.
I adore the traditional afghan dresses. Beautifully captured.
shrines. qawalis. sufism. solitude. heartbreak. cigarettes. leather jackets. alcohol. poetry. football. ali sethi. manto. hadiqa kiani. havelis. photography. love. sunsets. you.
- life, once upon a time
Two Pashtun men greeting
Location: Kado, Nortwest Frontier. Pakistan
Photographer: Michael Freeman
A young boy carries his slingshot around his neck and wears cherries like earrings in Gilgit, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Ric Ergenbright
Ka makh de rana heer sho no jehan ba rana heer shi,
Ka noom de rana heer sho no khpal zan ba rana heer shi.
- If I forgot your face I will forget the world,
If I forgot your name I will forget myself.
Ghani Khan
Reading The Kite Runner, and came across this:
“I remember something Baba said about Pashtuns once. We may be hardheaded, and i know we’re far too proud, but, in the hour of need, believe me there’s no one you’d rather have at your side than a Pushtun”
So accurate it hurts
“یوه ژبه هیڅ کله بس نده — One language is never enough.”
— Pashto Proverb
dark academia critics
dark academia is like one of my favourite aesthetics however there are certain things/issues that bother me about this whole aesthetic
1. where is the diversity?
have you ever come across any dark academia posts that included any people of color. everywhere I go, all I see is elite white kids. I would die to see japanese/korean/indian /pakistani/ african/ middle eastern dark academia students often wearing their ethnic attires and embracing their cultures.
2. eat the rich
I know the whole theme about dark academia is ivy league/ rich elite students but imagine middle class dark academia srudents who are not necessarily clad in expensive attires rather wearing clothes bought from the thrift stores studying on scholarships, who own second hand books and antique/vintage items from some local flee markets or thrift stores.
3. fuck that Greek philosophy
not that I hate Greek philosophy but all dark academia posts do talk about is western art/architechture/ mythologies / history and philosophy etc. I would love to read and discuss persian poetry and history , south asian mythologies, japanese/Arabic/korean calligraphy, Muslim world's art and architecture.
4. what's up with that nerd shit.
why are dark academia students always protrayed as nerds, reserve, quiet, hates to have a social life, perfectionist who can't afford to get any grades lower than As etc like even the best students have their ups and downs, what matters is the passion and the will to do better. It's okay to have a life outside books, to have romantic dates, to prank, to hangout with yout friends, to skip classes, to be unorganized...its more realistic.
Arabic dark academia consists of drinking black Arabic coffee while listening to um Kalthoum and learning about constellations.
Light Arabic academia is wearing white loose conservative clothing, sipping sweet mint tea, and humming 'ahwak' to oneself in a sunny garden.