It is such a pleasure to wake up in the morning, thousands of miles away from home, and to find myself with notes from you. Jazakum Allahu khayran.

argentyne: wa iyyakum. I am glad you enjoyed it.

MM: There’s a (Korean?) company called Penman that makes all sorts of digital Islamic Encyclopedias and Qur’an players. The one I selected is: http://store.arabic.com/iqraa-cq4s-digital-quran-and-av-playe.html . I’d not recommend that exact model to you, though, because it has a tendency to shut itself off after reading maybe 30 ayat. It works fine in its non-audio modes, fwtw.

ABD: if you knew how many iterations those lines went through, you would laugh. Thank you, as always, for your kindness. Regarding Asad’s book; it is, I am afraid to say, back home on my bookshelf, probably gathering dust. I decided that Martin Lings book about the life of Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) would be a good companion on this trip — so that’s what I’m reading at present.

And wow, what a writer. To be able to write such devastatingly simple sentences about such an important topic is, well, amazing. Alhamdulillah. Do I need to read the Asad book before you can tell me what his purpose as a writer is?

my favorite lines:

The question stretched between us, quivering, like a sheet hung in the breeze. Try as I might, I found nothing to say.

have you read muhammad asad’s road to mecca? if so, i wonder how you would compare your purposes as a writer with his. if not, i highly recommend it.

Mashallah, isn’t it a beautiful thing when God sends you the means to align your inner journey with your outer one? And moreover, He has opened your heart and soul, so you can savour step of the way.

I am intrigued by the electronic compendium of Islamic scriptures and such you mentioned – would love to have a reference!

Good luck w. your travels – I look forward to each week’s travelogue.