FEED THE SOUL WITH A GOOD POEM

14

The moon wasn't dull but not also bright—it wasn't out fully. Roda Al Murooj street was glamorous; from it flickering lights to the multi-colour string light used in decorating the arena. A big bill board was standing gallantly next to the string lights, with the Prince face on it, and beside the Prince's picture, a big writing could be seen 'Save The Orphan, Charity Foundation.'

"Thank you Prince, it's a honor for me to be meeting you. It's been my dream to taste mehalbiya!" A little boy said with a bright smile. He kept staring at the perfect Prince.

"Your wish is granted, always know I care about each and every one of you!" Prince Abubakar said with great charisma as he handed him a plastic spoon to enjoy the delicious frozen goodness with; the boy skipped away happily—skipping carefully.

"Say cheese!" Yasmin yelled and she clicked on the shutter icon. She took a big chunk of the frozen mehalbiya and she used her upper mouth to scatter the frozen goodness for the sake of her taste buds. Zarah was standing alone serving the orphans and Uthman was walking towards her; he held a little box.

"Salaam Zarah!" Uthman outstretched his arm and gave the box to her, on the box 'sushi dushi' was boldly written on it, signifying it was a sushi.

"Jazakalahhul khairan," Zarah thanked him. "I really appreciate all of these but I can't accept this sushi!" Zarah rejected even though the aroma was good and she wanted a bite of it.

"Just see it as a gift from a friend to another friend, please!" Uthman pleaded with a cute puppy eyes.

Zarah collected the box and she opened the mouthwatering sushi, it had a very pleasant smell; it was hot—reflex impulses was acting on Zarah, she was drooling already. She picked up a sushi and gently eat it under her niqab.

"You wanna piss the prince off right?" Uthman suddenly said.

"What?" Zarah asked, mouthfull,

"You are putting on Niqab, rule number one?" Uthman reminded.

"Oh that, you know I've been a niqabi since highschool, right?" Zarah answered as she was still chewing the sushi. Niqabi means any girl who loves putting on the Niqab.

"Oh I know!" Uthman scoffed,"those memories were fantastic, Mustaqeem was there and Yusuf." Uthman added.

"—oh....Yusuf?" Zarah said, which definitely change her mood.

"I'm sorry for mentioning him-" Uthman paused. "—I have a big crush on you back then!" He added.

Zarah ignored him and closed the sushi box, because the conversation was getting weirder.

"But you always ignored me, you had eyes for Yusuf, and now he isn't with you anymore!" Uthman frankly said without regrets. Oh great he is still a jerk.

"Excuse me! Are you making fun of my misfortunes in life? I thought I had a shoulder to cry on not knowing it was just fake, I thought you've changed; I should have know better than anyone that the devil will never change, I forgave you despite the pain you caused me at high school and at college. You made me think I was a nobody, I am so sorry Uthman—I am not disappointed in you, I am disappointed in myself for forgiving you. How much is your stupid sushi?" Zarah asked out of anger and Uthman was flabbergasted.

"Zarah....I'm so sorry, that wasn't how I meant it to sound, I am so sorry for all those years, the pain, please forgive me!" Uthman pleaded.

"Take!" Zarah said as she threw money at him and she walked away.

"It the truth anyways." Uthman said without regrets once again as he picked the Dirham on the floor.

Dirham is the currency spent in Dubai.

*******

"Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it me Yasse Futtaim. I really care about y'all, I'm gonna sing you a beautiful nasheed,who is with me?" Yasmin yelled and the whole crowd cheered—she was life streaming. The whole crowd clapped for her as they eat mehalbiya and some bagels. They are ready for Yasmin's poem.

"Are you getting this?" Yasmin questioned as she stared at Abubakar,Abubakar gave her a thumbs up as a yes.

"Lemme feed your soul with a good poem!" Yasmin started with a voice like a nightingale bird's;

" ♪We often soften our cotton linen with-"

" ♪The tears of the orphan. "

"♪We trod on sod bought-"

" ♪With-"

" ♪The sweat of the hidden orphan."

"♪We don gems that are lost-"

"♪With-"

"♪The curses of the hidden orphan"

"♪We never listen to the forsaken"

" ♪And abandoned,"

"♪Hidden orphans."

Yasmin finished her poem and the whole crowd clapped for her. It was heart warming and touching; that was the perfect poem for such event—singing and also soothing the orphans. Being an orphan isn't something easy to handle, Yasmin sang showing she also cared about them. They literally cried, it truly touched the orphans in the audience heart so much. Yasmin scanned amongst the crowd and saw Zarah; she wasn't emotional rather she was angry—angry or sad, feeling nostalgic probably.

This made Yasmin mad.

"Hey rat, why aren't you emotional, if you think the poem doesn't suit you, you can excuse your self and stop frowning." Yasmin said to Zarah, thinking Zarah had an issue with her poem.

Zarah was damn angry and done with all of the rude attitude from her idol, she shot back. "Well I'll say; your poem is not my style, I only get emotional when I listen to best nasheed, not some cranky poem!"

Yasmin leered at her—in an unpleasant way in this case, wishing she could slap her probably.

"Okay! people, she is gonna give us a new poem. Clap for the new royal chef!" Yasmin yelled and the whole crowd cheered.

"Yasmin stop all this, not another challenge?" Abubakar cautioned.

"Accepted!"

Zarah cleared her throat, she opened her mouth to start, Abubakar was expecting something more like an ogre cry or less a broken record. But what he heard was the best. It was like the song from exotic birds in Rio—the Nightingale, Ducan and the bluebirds. She started,

"—♪Lost in the world of cruel misfortune."

"♪I'm just another orphan."

"♪Searching for that elusive love."

"♪That will rise me far above."

"♪This pitiful life in which I dwell."

"♪A regular modern living hell."

"♪Planted in front of the TV at night."

"♪Tears sliding down my cheeks."

"♪In the flickering lights."

"♪Dreaming that in the life of day."

"♪A gentle heart my way, will sway."

"♪Take my hand, lead me to the stars."

"♪As he kisses every scar."

"♪But for now, I'm just a lonely orphan."

"♪Wallowing in love misfortune."

She finished the poem. It was like she was directing her poem towards the Prince. The tears that had already gathered at the back of her eyes roamed free. Abubakar was also touched, he stared right into her eyes with pitiful eyes. The audience clapped like never before, the orphans and the poor loved it for sure. Maybe because she was one of them or it was good. There is nothing more soothing like an orphan poem from an orphan who actually felt the pain.

Author's note

Thanks for reading this part, if you like it—don't forget to vote and comment.

Questions for y'all!

1. Whose poem is the best?

2. What do you think of Abubakar?

3. In two words how would you console Zarah?

Question 3 is kinda tricky, rest assured, you don't have to answer it. Mehalbiya taste nice—follow the recipe and you'll get the perfect taste.

Ramadan Mubarak y'all ❤