Lyrics Alley Quotes

“Allah tests our patience and our fortitude. He tests out strength of faith. be patient and there will endless rewards for you, insha'Allah" - Utaz Badr”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, When Allah loves a people, He tries them.”
― Leila Aboulela , Lyrics Alley

“This was where she belonged with Nur, right here, here in his songs. Here within the lyrics they were intimate, caught in the rythm of his words, proppelled by the substance of his dreams.
These songs would be their story and these lyrics their home.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“Eid Crescent

I feed on bitterness and satiety never comes.
Today sadness has renewed itself.
Let me narrate the story of two souls,
Whose love was struck by the evil eye,
In a twist which Fate had hidden.
Luck won’t smile and Time will scorch.
Only the stars know what is wrong with me.
I almost sense them craning to wipe my tears away.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“But for Soraya, words on a page were seductive, free, inviting everyone, without distinction. She could not help it when she found words written down, taking them in, following them as if they were moving and she was in a trance, tagging along. A book was something to hide, the thick enchantment of it, the shame, almost. When everyone was asleep, she would creep indoors, into stifling, badly lit rooms, with cockroaches clicking, to open a book at a page she had marked and step into its pulsating pool of words.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“So much darkness made her uneasy. There was definitely a weight pushing down on the world. Misfortune was always hovering close around people’s shoulders. But she would fight it off, and keep fighting with all her might. Otherwise she would be annihilated by this nameless, all-reaching gloom which she couldn’t figure out or map.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“What ages you faster, suffering or experience?”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“The blow, inevitable in itself, comes straight from the source without any intermediaries.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“Why do bad things happen? For pedagogical reasons, so that we can experience the power of Allah, catch a glimpse of Hell and fear it, so that we can practice seeking refuge in Him and, when relief comes give thanks to His mercy. Darkness was created so that, like plants, we could yearn and turn to the light.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“The sweetest things in life were not necessarily what one strove for and grabbed. Instead, many many times the All-Merciful, the All-Generous would give His servants without being petitioned, without waiting to be asked.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“Words on a page were seductive, free, inviting everyone, without distinction.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“She wanted this feeling of home to settle inside her until it gave her the sweetest of dreams.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“Like the Sudanese sun drying wet cotton, bleaching it with its rays, he felt his sluggish mood evaporating, his irritation and anger giving way to lightness. He would go home now refreshed, his energy replenished, his armour strengthened.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“He disliked English, not because they had invaded his country, but because of the effort required to understand their different languages and customs. At the same time, he was in no hurry for them to leave, for he admired them, most of the time, not for the modernity they were establishing but for the business opportunities they brought with them.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

“He said that everything in this world, small or large, was created for a reason. Even the smallest mosquito that bites people and makes them itch. There is wisdom behind that itch, in that it can be a substitute for a corresponding irritation in Hell. He said that every trouble we land in comes from a sin which would not be forgiven without that trouble.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley