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81 Things

Bismillah.

81 Things I Love About You (to be sent with the engagement cards, if that were possible)

1. That you are Muslim.
2. Love for Islam, for the Prophet (saw) exceeds that of anyone I have ever met before
3. Compassion, which compliments my cynicism
4. Ability to reason, to extract meaning from my nonsensical-ness
5. Your rich laugh, that begins in your belly and fills any room
6. Your parents who produced you
7. That your brother is The Prince
8. The beard
9. The curly hair (on your head)
10.That you know what I would like to eat because our tastes are "sophisticated"
11. How you drive your car
12. How you challenge me, make me want to be a better Muslim, a better student, a better human being
13. How your old glasses slant 45 degrees
14. How you are patient
15. How you give the best answers to my questions and concerns
16. How you like me in my stained yellow Maine pullover and stained cords, and lime cashmere hat under my hoodie
17. The way you talk
18. Your friends
19. The way you write
20. How you think
21. How you get a little bit of everything
22. Our work ethic. I love our work ethic
23. How you lead
24. How you recite
25. How your voice sounds
26. How you can dance
27. Your childhood
28. Your manners
29. That you gave me TIME
30. How you woooooooed me to tears
31. How you argue
32. Your value system
33. How you complement me
34. How you compliment me
35. Your imagination
36. Your global promiscuity
37. Your taste
38. Your experiences
39. Your storytelling
40. That you persist and are determined
41. Your vision
42. Your sense of humor (which is #42 on my list, yes)
43. Your Friday high-quality thoubs
44. That you like sales as much as I do
45. Your girth
46. Your mirth
47. Your charisma
48. You're a showman
49. That your favorite movie is "dumb and dumber"
50. Your love
51. Your respect
52. That you read The Lightness of Being in a week
53. That you are my first valentine
54. That you don't mind being pulled over and ticketed
55. That you sent me postcards
56. That you wrote me an index card
57. That you were not on dean's list in college
58. That you bought enough chocolate for my roommates
59. That Magrib loves you
60. That Magrib loves Lucky
61. That Magrib loves to follow you into the studio
62. That Magrib loves your womanly hands
63. That Magrib loves how you love her
64. Your sense of integrity
65. Your character, your honesty, your being
66. Your magenta shirt
67. That you never wear jeans
68. That you are active
69. That you sing to musicals I have never seen
70. That my brother loves you
71. That you asked my brother to pray in jamaat
72. That you asked to meet my parents two weeks after I came back from Hajj
73. That you didn't see me without seeking my parents permission
74. That you drink espresso for the taste
75. That you supposedly gel your hair
76. That you have the kindest face I've ever seen
77. That you are always smiling
78. That you don't like raggaeton (I would be concerned if you did)
79. That you want to travel
80. That you are an extension of me
81. That you are my best friend

The remaining 20 things, I will wait to write.

Alhamdullilah. Alhamdullilah. Alhamdullilah.

Comments

  1. Anonymous3/23/2006

    54 things that I love about you...
    1. That you are Muslim.
    2. That you are unabashedly yourself.
    3. That you are enough of a realist to ground me.
    4. That you enjoy thinking.
    5. That you enjoy reading.
    6. Every single check mark written in the margin of books you've read.
    7. The way you say uf when you are stumped.
    8. The way you say uf when you are amazed.
    9. That you saved our first im conversation and refer back to it.
    10. That you carry a "notepad" around and write things of note down.
    11. Your indestructible black plastic glasses.
    12. Your brother, mother, and father (May Allah bless them all).
    13. How you always want to try something new.
    14. That you enjoy diners.
    15. That you love eating food.
    16. Your patience.
    17. Your modesty.
    18. Your conviction.
    19. Your optimism.
    20. Your ability to let emotion into your heart.
    21. That you will deny each of the last 5 things when it is so obvious to me that they are part of your character.
    22. That you surround yourself with people who will improve some aspect of your life.
    23. That academics ask you to write research papers b/c they would like to read them.
    24. How you become vague when you want to tell me something, but don't.
    25. How you ask for directions knowing full well that i will not do so.
    26. That you don't mind when i get lost.
    27. That you are amazed when i find the way.
    28. Your creativity.
    29. Your ingenuity.
    30. That you are opinionated.
    31. That you are open-minded.
    32. That you are not afraid to be wrong and change your perspective if you feel it to be the correct thing to do.
    33. That you called me every Sunday night to find out what I thought about things.
    34. That last summer you thought it was absurd for a girl your age to get married.
    35. That you will be my wife in May (inshaAllah, May Allah bless us).
    36. That you listen to my stories, the good, the bad and the worse.
    37. That you know the worst of my character and fears, and you still love me.
    38. That you are unlike any girl I have ever met.
    39. That my mother liked you from the getgo.
    40. That my mother refers to you as her daughter and my brother put you and your brother in the "family" section of his buddy list.
    41. Your black curly hair.
    42. That you're short.
    43. How your face lights up when you laugh.
    44. The way you hug Dinu.

    And most importantly...
    44. That I feel more sincere in my actions b/c of you.
    45. That I walk around with a smile on my face all day because of you.
    46. That you seem to text me at the most opportune times.
    47. How you comfort me.
    48. The way your voice sounds when you say salaam.
    49. That you are my companion.
    50. That you make dua' for me.
    51. That you exceed my expectations.
    52. That this list barely scratches the surface.
    53. How, in 2 months you and I will start a new and wonderful life together, and you are unsure of many things, but that you are sure of one thing: me.
    53. That I am so sure. of you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3/23/2006

    81 Things I Love About Chicken Tikka Masala:

    1. That it has chicken
    2. That it's orange
    3. That I can get it for free from the Restaurant
    4. That it provides me with joy
    5. That it warms me up inside
    6. That it has just the right combination of spicy and sweet
    7. That it is amazing with Naan.
    8. That it is amazing with rice.
    9. That it is amazing by itself.
    10. That it brightens up my day when I'm feeling down.
    11. That it still tastes good the next day.
    12. That it's a reliable dish almost everywhere you can get it.
    13. That it is always there, waiting for me when I go to the restaurant.
    14. That it tastes good both cold and hot.
    15. That the love of it is universal across cultures.
    16. That nothing else really compares to it.
    17. Except maybe Malai Kofta.
    18. Which, depending on where you go, might taste the same.
    19. Or a little different, but still good.
    20. But that's vegetarian, and doesn't have chicken.
    21. So even then it's not as good as Chicken Tikka Masala.
    22. But then there's also Paneer Tikka Masala.
    23. That also tastes similar.
    24. It is also vegetarian.
    25. But it has cheese.
    26. People can screw up chicken by under or overcooking it, but you can't really screw up cheese.
    27. So I guess if you were to map it out, Chicken Tikka Masala would be much, much better at points and much, much worse at other points.
    28. While Paneer Tikka Masala pretty much stays constant throughout.
    29. So I guess it is comparable to Chicken Tikka Masala.
    30. Then scratch number 16.
    16. That nothing else really compares to it, except from Paneer Tikka Masala.
    31. Both of which are really great dishes.
    32. That they're both orange.
    33. That they're something to look forward to after a long day at work.
    34. Actually, if I'm going to talk about both of them, maybe I should retitle the list.

    81 Things I Love About Chicken Tikka Masala and Paneer Tikka Masala
    35. That one of them has cheese.
    36. That the other has chicken.
    37. That both of them have Tikka Masala.
    38. That both of them stay good even as leftovers.
    39. Although you shouldn't eat CTM if it has been in the fridge for too long because chicken goes bad.
    40. Paneer Tikka Masala, on the other hand, should probably be good for a couple of weeks.
    41. Well, not maybe good, but at least edible.
    42. Depends on the fridge, actually. And the temperature.
    43. And the tupperware. You can't just leave it out in the open.
    44. Because then it'll get bad.
    45. But still it'll stay good way longer than the chicken.
    46. You probably don't have to worry about heating it too much either.
    47. Because with the chicken, you have to heat it up so that it isn't all cold on the inside.
    48. Although if you heat the chicken up enough, then all the Tikka Masala will be all sizzling and really really hot.
    49. If you put it on a plate, it may even be somewhat evaporated.
    50. It might even change colors.
    51. You don't get these problems with Paneer Tikka Masala.
    52. You can just warm that up for a little bit.
    53. Even if it isn't optimally warm, you don't have to worry about raw meat or anything.
    54. Because PTM doesn't have meat.
    55. It has cheese.
    56. In fact, it might just be safer to eat PTM when you go out.
    57. It's always reliable.
    58. And it almost always tastes good.
    59. Unless the Tikka Masala is bad.
    60. But that'll make the CTM even worse.
    61. So I guess PTM on the whole is better.

    81 Things I Love About Paneer Tikka Masala

    62. That it is orange.
    63. That it has cheese.
    64. That it is vegetarian, so I can feel good about eating it.
    65. That it's the best Indian cheese dish out there.
    66. Actually, that's probably not true.
    67. I mean, there are so many good cheese dishes.
    68. Paneer Makhni isn't that bad.
    69. Shahi Paneer is pretty good too.
    70. Actually, what are the differences between these dishes?
    71. I think they're all basically the same.
    72. They all have paneer.
    73. Paneer is great.
    74. I love paneer.

    81 Things I Love About Paneer.
    75. That it's cheese.
    76. That it tastes great in everything.
    77. That it can be orange (in Tikka Masala).
    78. or green (in Palak)
    79. or yellow (by itself)
    80. That I love it
    81. And that it loves me

    ReplyDelete
  3. MnM3103/25/2006

    awww.i'm like luving this! u shuld totally include this on some kinda cards! :P

    ..and..even the chicken tikka masala one..LOL :D

    wasalaam,

    madiha :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Iqra Bismi Rabbika3/26/2006

    assalamualiakum wa rahmatullah sadz..


    alhamdulilah alhamdulilah alhamduilah.
    mashaAllah mashaAllah mashaAllah.

    :)

    May Allah subhana wa ta ala increase your love for one another with every coming day ...

    ameeeeeeeeen!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4/09/2006

    In sum, after I have read all 187687644 things that everyone who reads this blog loves, I can conclude several things:

    1) I currently have a strong craving for both chicken tikka masala AND paneer tikka masala

    2) If both you and Mohammed forfeited your shares of chicken tikka masala and paneer tikka masala, and instead passed them along to Wasim and myself, the rate of increase in the number of oil stains the two of you have on your clothes might be dramatically reduced.

    3) I'm a brilliant hugger.

    4) Your wedding tape will not be set to the romantic beats of reggaeton.

    5) I don't know any other people as mushy as the two of you! yuck!

    hahaha. just kidding. mash'Allah!! I know, I'm such a biter... :p

    sadia's super secret admirer

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous4/09/2006

    In sum, after I have read all 187687644 things that everyone who reads this blog loves, I can conclude several things:

    1) I currently have a strong craving for both chicken tikka masala AND paneer tikka masala

    2) If both you and Mohammed forfeited your shares of chicken tikka masala and paneer tikka masala, and instead passed them along to Wasim and myself, the rate of increase in the number of oil stains the two of you have on your clothes might be dramatically reduced.

    3) I'm a brilliant hugger.

    4) Your wedding tape will not be set to the romantic beats of reggaeton.

    5) I don't know any other people as mushy as the two of you! yuck!

    hahaha. just kidding. mash'Allah!! I know, I'm such a biter... :p

    sadia's super secret admirer

    ReplyDelete

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