Sometimes life has a way of making us swallow our words.
©Humeyra
WRITERS P.O.V
Hamdan spent a lot of money looking for Humeyra but he never found her. Occasionally, he would see her mirage like the broken glass in the sun but nothing more. Some would say that love is bitter others would deem it sweet. I call it bitter-sweet for without the pain there would be no gain. But all Hamdan and Humeyra felt currently was the pain. Many dream of a prince charming their very own Mr. Right, a knight in shining armor that would come to their aid, all the time. Humeyra was no exception for she thought Hamdan was her very own prince charming. Others dream of Cinderella their very own fallen angel with beauty and brains, an epitome of perfection and the goddess of beauty. Hamdan had his but he let his Cinderella go without acknowledging her. It was after losing her that he came to know of her true worth. We all are right but we are wrong too. For there is no love without sacrifice nor a prince charming that lacks vices. Humeyra's heartbreak didn't know this though.Cinderellas exist but with many flaws. May be with untimely beauty, But with marred hearts or ugly souls. Yes, a Cinderella with a face that lacks the heart. This Hamdan will come to learn the hard way. Love is pain and much more. Love is sacrifice and humility love is submission and patience love is selflessness and unlimited .love is all that and much more. It's not just pain though, the gain outweighs the pain. Peaceful nights, dreamy day's contented life and beautiful smiles all come as a fruit of the sacrifice. Love is bitter-sweet, the perfect balance of things. For good things don't last nor does the bad feelings. Love is what you invest, it's what u want it to be. Love is untimely, pure love is eternal even in death. Love is acknowledging each other's flaws and defending each other's honor.
As days went by, Hamdan lost hope and decided to put his life back in order and look for Humeyra when he had his own resources.
On the other hand, Humeyra's surgery was a success but she was bed ridden for three months to recuperate. She was not completely healed but she would not undergo too many dialysis sessions either. She never forgot the man she loves, the same man who hurt her and humiliated her. She, however, decided to not let the world decide who she should be but instead be true to herself once more and put her life back in order. She completed her degree through online classes and was now a professional architect.
In the process of going through her certificates, she came across her madrasa certificate which she earned when she was just eight years old. It has been 13 good years but her qualifications have only improved. She had good mastery of tajweed, her saut was melodious and heart melting, her qirat are well mastered and she was the best of her class in makhaarijal huruuf. She smiled. She was one of the only two muftis in her country Maa sha Allah. She wanted to give back to the society before she started her own architectural company. Humeyra decided to visit her old prestigious madrasa in a small town called jawraatul Arabiya. She knew for sure that she could if not teach, get the chance to improve herself. She was finally going to make something out of the efforts her parents made to prepare her for this world and the hereafter. Here I come jawraatul Arabiya.
Hamdan also thought of improving his ilm (knowledge) and did some investigation of the best madrasa and came across jawraatul Arabiya. He was a hafidh and can qualify as a teacher there so he decided to visit the madrasa and see if he could be both a teacher and a student in the institution. Even so, he never forgot Humeyra even for a second. Every little thing reminded him of the lady he took upon himself to judge and rob of not just her dignity but her self-worth. He lived with the guilt and regret and with the doubt of ever meeting her again, or was she already united with Allah? He just had to Have Yaqin and Tawakkul in Allah's mercy and ways. Just the thought killed him inside. He took a flight to jawraatul Arabiya the next day and landed after a few hours. He hired a car and was driven to the madrasa. The sight of the old architectural buildings overwhelmed his senses as he felt peace and tranquility in his soul. Alhamdulillah, he uttered and asked around for the head principles office. He was directed there and on arrival was requested to wait outside as the principle had another guest.
Humeyra was delighted to be granted the best position in the madrasa as the head of the adult hafidh and hafidha department where she would share her knowledge with her fellow teachers and also as an ustadhat for the students of tahfidh.
Hamdan was given the position of an ustadh for tahfidh and to be a student under Humeyra's department, who was also known as ustadhat Sidra. On that same day the madrasa was hosting Quran competition hence both Humeyra and Hamdan were invited to attend the session. Humeyra was given a chance to open the session before the competition begins and Hamdan was set to close the event.
The competition was held in one of the halls in the madrasa that was built specifically for such events. The male and female sections were separated as per the rule of Ikhtilat but the podium was visible to everyone.
Humeyra could not start unfortunately because an emergency occurred and being a trained first aider had to take care of the issue. Unexpectedly, it took longer than she anticipated as the competition was over by the time she was back.
After the last competitor, the winners were awarded and the ceremony was closed by the beautiful recitations from Hamdan.