“
Love is about the good moments, but it's about holding on to each other during the difficult ones, too. Coming out on the other side, weathered but still holding hands, isn't easy. It's the most difficult thing there can possibly be, but I know now it's the truest test of love there is.
”
”
Aisha Saeed (Written in the Stars)
“
The prince always said I belonged to him. I had thought this word protected me and kept me safe, but now I understood. Belonging meant he could place me wherever he liked, whether in his bed or in this dank tower. Belonging is not love. It never was.
”
”
Aisha Saeed (A Thousand Beginnings and Endings)
“
I think you and I have something that could last for a very long time, Emma. Maybe I even knew that back in high school, maybe that’s why I was as infatuated with you as I was. But I feel—I have always felt—more myself with you than anyone I’ve ever met. And for the first time, I’m starting to see what it would mean to grow with someone, as opposed to merely growing beside someone, the way I did with Aisha. I’m not worried about our future, the way I thought I’d be when I fell in love again. I’m OK just being with you and seeing where it goes. I just want you to know that if what we have lasts, and one day we talk about getting married or having kids, I want you to know I’ll never try to replace Jesse. I’ll never ask you to stop loving him. You can love your past with him. My love for you now isn’t threatened by that. I just . . . I want you to know that I’ll never ask you to choose. I’ll never ask you to tell me I’m your one true love. I know, for someone like you, that isn’t fair. And I’ll never ask it.
”
”
Taylor Jenkins Reid (One True Loves)
“
A woman is not dictated by a man. She is her own self. Kenapa kita perlu meletakkan kebahagian diri sendiri ke dalam tangan orang lain? Kenapa tidak diri sendiri yang membahagiakan diri, menyayangi diri, menghormati diri? Bukankah itu tanggungjawab kita terhadap diri sendiri? To love yourself. To respect yourself. To value yourself.
”
”
Sara Aisha (Dendam Bersulam Cinta)
“
Let's live and love with no regrets.
”
”
Aisha Chaudhary (My Little Epiphanies)
“
He nearly groaned out loud. How could he have let his experience with Sana make him so cynical, so judgemental? He loved Aisha, but he hadn’t trusted her. And so, he had lost her. It felt as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest. His jaw clenched. The pain of trusting the wrong person? It was nothing compared to the pain of not trusting the right one. The repercussions of valuing an undeserving woman? They were far less devastating than those of maligning an honourable woman.
He recalled the agonised, betrayed expression that had replaced Aisha’s initial shock at his ill-founded accusations, and a shudder tore through him. It felt as if his soul was shrivelling inside his body. No matter how much it hurt to have your trust broken, it hurt a million times more to break someone’s trust in you.
”
”
Ramla Zareen Ahmad (The One for Me)
“
In knowing you I, discovered my self.
”
”
Aisha Mirza
“
My flaws and imperfections make me perfectly incomplete.
”
”
Aisha Mirza
“
Love is about the good moments, but it's about holding on to each other during the difficult ones, too.
”
”
Aisha Saeed (Written in the Stars)
“
She loved him, but he did not love her, but then my darling, the darkness kicked in.
”
”
Aisha Chaudhary (My Little Epiphanies)
“
b) ‘A Muslim is like a date palm tree whose leaves do not fall, always beneficial and never harmful.’ “This influences my organizing by reminding me that my core responsibility is to be a benefit to whatever I’m engaged in. I may not always know HOW that will happen but it has to be my aim. I want peoples’ lives to have been better (even in very tiny ways) from having participated with me in this work. This means to me that I bring beautiful words, actions, ideas, and behaviors into spaces. At the end of it all even if we don’t see the fruits of our labor, shouldn’t we be able to say we loved and enjoyed each other? That’s why I want to act and be like a palm tree, providing shade, covering my comrades (instead of throwing shade lol). I want to provide food (dates). I want to be what they can lean on. I want to be a resource, sustaining our work.” —Aisha Shillingford “I
”
”
Adrienne Maree Brown (Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds)
“
Father reaches out to touch my scarf. “Your mother’s scarf,” he says softly. “She loved this so very much, you know. I remember her creative streak, how she refused
to use the strong dye colours that we usually use for silk design. Instead, she preferred a shade of white, which would not sell as successfully in trade. She loved
this scarf, the way it sat humbly around her neck and gave her senses of comfort and peace as she held you tight. You would often beg to wear it, Aisha.”
I stroke the scarf subconsciously. A memory flashes in my mind of my mother’s shaking hands as she shaped spun silk into this beautiful scarf. My gentle mother,
who coughed violently and shook, plagued she was with an illness that had deteriorated her immensely. I spent every moment I could with her, my heart
knowing that each might be my last.
“Beautiful Aisha, wear this scarf with your love,” said my mother one morning as she tied it around my neck.
I stared at her, my lips wobbling as tears rolled down my cheeks. “I’ll wear it, always loving you, Mother,” I replied. My mother nodded, her eyes also filling with tears as she realised that I understood how little time we had left together.
”
”
Susan L. Marshall (Adira and the Dark Horse (An Adira Cazon Literary Mystery))
“
Most of us are perfect mothers as we love our children the most,but isn't this too natural.?..Worth are those, who are not only good mothers, but are sincere wives too, role modeling justice and equality for their children's moral upbringing.Moreover they strive hard while portraying best of their humanity in performing duties with mannerism, respect and dignity.Such women never face humiliation and alienation at the hands of society ,no matter what trials are being weaved but they survive respectfully .This is the worldly reward for their struggle while hidden treasury must be waiting in the hereafter.
”
”
AISHA RAHEEL
“
In this world we were born into nothing but everything is ours: the sidewalk, the yellow markers in the road. The rain falls through the leaves and kisses us just so. What no one will ever understand is that the world belongs to orphans, everything becomes our mother. We’re mothered by everything because we know how to look for the mothering, because we know a mother might leave us and we’ll need another mother to step in and take its place. The tree mothering its shade. The restaurant door, propped slightly open, mothering its smell of cookies to us. The blinking walk sign, holding on long enough to mother us across the street. The sun mothering Noreen, warming her skin; the sidewalk mothering Aisha’s knee, kissing it when her body hits the pavement, a love strong enough to leave a mark. The rain, mothering us faster home. The hallway birds, mothering their cages. The hamster, mothering its wheel. All the mothers in the world reach out to the motherless. And beneath me, Noreen was made to mother me, my heartbeat pounding against her back, shouting so loud that it fills my entire being, you’re held, you’re held, you’re held.
”
”
Fatimah Asghar (When We Were Sisters)
“
Alice's Cutie Code TM Version 2.1 - Colour Expansion Pack
(aka Because this stuff won’t stop being confusing and my friends are mean edition)
From Red to Green, with all the colours in between (wait, okay, that rhymes, but green to red makes more sense. Dang.)
From Green to Red, with all the colours in between
Friend Sampling Group: Fennie, Casey, Logan, Aisha and Jocelyn
Green
Friends’ Reaction: Induces a minimum amount of warm and fuzzies. If you don’t say “aw”, you’re “dead inside”
My Reaction: Sort of agree with friends minus the “dead inside” but because that’s a really awful thing to say. Puppies are a good example. So is Walter Bishop.
Green-Yellow
Friends’ Reaction: A noticeable step up from Green warm and fuzzies. Transitioning from cute to slightly attractive. Acceptable crush material. “Kissing.”
My Reaction: A good dance song. Inspirational nature photos. Stuff that makes me laugh. Pairing: Madison and Allen from splash
Yellow
Friends’ Reaction: Something that makes you super happy but you don’t know why. “Really pretty, but not too pretty.” Acceptable dating material. People you’d want to “bang on sight.”
My Reaction: Love songs for sure! Cookies for some reason or a really good meal. Makes me feel like it’s possible to hold sunshine, I think. Character: Maxon from the selection series. Music: Carly Rae Jepsen
Yellow-Orange
Friends’ Reaction: (When asked for non-sexual examples, no one had an answer. From an objective perspective, *pushes up glasses* this is the breaking point. Answers definitely skew toward romantic or sexual after this.)
My Reaction: Something that really gets me in my feels. Also art – oil paintings of landscapes in particular. (What is with me and scenery? Maybe I should take an art class) Character: Dean Winchester. Model: Liu Wren.
Orange
Friends’ Reaction: “So pretty it makes you jealous. Or gay.”
“Definitely agree about the gay part. No homo, though. There’s just some really hot dudes out there.”(Feenie’s side-eye was so intense while the others were answering this part LOLOLOLOLOL.) A really good first date with someone you’d want to see again.
My Reaction: People I would consider very beautiful. A near-perfect season finale. I’ve also cried at this level, which was interesting.
o Possible tie-in to romantic feels? Not sure yet.
Orange-Red
Friends’ Reaction: “When lust and love collide.” “That Japanese saying ‘koi no yokan.’ It’s kind of like love at first sight but not really. You meet someone and you know you two have a future, like someday you’ll fall in love. Just not right now.” (<-- I like this answer best, yes.) “If I really, really like a girl and I’m interested in her as a person, guess. I’d be cool if she liked the same games as me so we could play together.”
My Reaction: Something that gives me chills or has that time-stopping factor. Lots of staring. An extremely well-decorated room. Singers who have really good voices and can hit and hold superb high notes, like Whitney Houston. Model: Jasmine Tooke. Paring: Abbie and Ichabod from Sleepy Hollow
o Romantic thoughts? Someday my prince (or princess, because who am I kidding?) will come?
Red (aka the most controversial code)
Friends’ Reaction: “Panty-dropping levels” (<-- wtf Casey???).
“Naked girls.” ”Ryan. And ripped dudes who like to cook topless.”
“K-pop and anime girls.” (<-- Dear. God. The whole table went silent after he said that. Jocelyn was SO UNCOMFORTABLE but tried to hide it OMG it was bad. Fennie literally tried to slap some sense into him.)
My Reaction: Uncontrollable staring. Urge to touch is strong, which I must fight because not everyone is cool with that. There may even be slack-jawed drooling involved. I think that’s what would happen. I’ve never seen or experienced anything that I would give Red to.
”
”
Claire Kann (Let's Talk About Love)
“
I don’t need poetry to know about love. My love for you has taught me plenty about heartache.
~Ai’sha
”
”
Sherry Jones (The Jewel of Medina)
“
I realized now that love was more than a feeling. Love was something you did for another person.
~Ai’sha
”
”
Sherry Jones (The Jewel of Medina)
“
Love is not a dish of tharid, Muhammad had told me once—meaning I didn’t need to be greedy because the human capacity for love is limitless.
~Ai’sha
”
”
Sherry Jones (The Sword of Medina)
“
His eyes were like bronze mirrors that reflected only my loveliness and none of my flaws.
~Ai’sha
”
”
Sherry Jones (The Sword of Medina)
“
You made a good choice for your Naga,” she assured me. “Danica is more graceful on a dais than half the serpents I know.”
“Provided she isn’t blushing too brightly to see,” another quipped. “The first time I saw our queen perform, I thought she was a lost cause--far too uptight, like most avians--but I’m glad to be proved wrong.”
I knew I was grinning. I had never doubted that Danica could learn the serpent art. Much of her loved my world; a part of her craved dance as surely as anyone else in this nest did. Perhaps that thirst came from her time dancing with the currents of air far above where we earthbound creatures roamed, or perhaps it came from the expressive nature her own world forced her to hide.
Similar conversation flowed among us until A’isha’s musical voice commanded me, “Zane, admire your queen.”
The words brought our attention to the back of the room, where Danica had emerged, looking so beautiful that she took my breath away.
In response to her teacher’s words, Danica smiled and shook her head, causing her golden hair to ripple about her face. It made my heart speed and my breath still, as if I was afraid the next movement would shatter the world.
She was a spark of fire in sha’Mehay. The serpiente dress rippled around the hawk’s long legs, the fabric so light it moved with the slightest shift of air. The bodice was burgundy silk; it laced up the front with a black ribbon, and though it was more modest than many dancers’ costumes, it still revealed enough cream-and-roses skin to tantalize the imagination. On Danica’s right temple, A’isha had painted a symbol for courage; beneath her left collarbone lay the symbols for san’Anhamirak, abandon and freedom.
“You dance every day with the wind. This is not so different,” A’isha said encouragingly to Danica. “Now, look at the man you love and dance for him.”
The nest hushed, faces turning to their Naga. Her cheeks held more color than usual, which A’isha addressed with a common dancers’ proverb. “There is no place for shame, Danica. If Anhamirak had not wanted beauty admired, she would not have made our eyes desire it. You are art.”
Danica stepped out of A’isha’s grip. “If my mother could see me now,” she murmured, but she smiled as she said it.
”
”
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (Snakecharm (The Kiesha'ra, #2))
“
You made a good choice for your Naga,” she assured me. “Danica is more graceful on a dais than half the serpents I know.”
“Provided she isn’t blushing too brightly to see,” another quipped. “The first time I saw our queen perform, I thought she was a lost cause--far too uptight, like most avians--but I’m glad to be proved wrong.”
I knew I was grinning. I had never doubted that Danica could learn the serpent art. Much of her loved my world; a part of her craved dance as surely as anyone else in this nest did. Perhaps that thirst came from her time dancing with the currents of air far above where we earthbound creatures roamed, or perhaps it came from the expressive nature her own world forced her to hide.
Similar conversation flowed among us until A’isha’s musical voice commanded me, “Zane, admire your queen.
”
”
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (Snakecharm (The Kiesha'ra, #2))
“
You dance every day with the wind. This is not so different,” A’isha said encouragingly to Danica. “Now, look at the man you love and dance for him.”
The nest hushed, faces turning to their Naga. Her cheeks held more color than usual, which A’isha addressed with a common dancers’ proverb. “There is no place for shame, Danica. If Anhamirak had not wanted beauty admired, she would not have made our eyes desire it. You are art.”
Danica stepped out of A’isha’s grip. “If my mother could see me now,” she murmured, but she smiled as she said it.
“Feel the beat. It is the wind,” A’isha directed. “Fly with it.
”
”
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (Snakecharm (The Kiesha'ra, #2))
“
Danica’s eyes fluttered open the instant I stepped through the door, and she smiled softly. “I was starting to wonder if you were planning on obeying Betsy after all.”
“Never,” I assured her. “Though I’ve promised I will let you get some sleep. How do you feel?”
I went to her side, and Danica hooked and arm across my shoulders to steady herself as she sat up.
Danica winced. “I hurt.” She rolled her shoulders, as if the muscles were sore.
“I’m sure,” I responded sympathetically. Offering the Ahnleh A’isha had given to me, I went on, “This is a congratulatory gift from sha’Mehay.” I explained the significance of the ancient coin and repeated A’isha’s words regarding why she was giving it to Danica.
She took the coin reverently, closing it in her hand for a moment before tying the cord into place. “Thank you,” she said softly, as she snuggled closer. I knew the words were not for me, but for the nest around us.
I began to massage her shoulders, and she closed her eyes and leaned back toward my touch. My fingertips brushed the feathers growing under her hair at the nape of her neck. There was still a moment of hesitation in my mind every time I felt those feathers, a moment when my thoughts protested, remembering so many years of war when this beautiful woman had been my enemy, so hated that when fate crossed our paths there had been no choice but for me to love her.
She met my gaze now without any hint of the fear that had once been there. Cobriana eyes had once been for Danica what her feathers were for me. Avian legend said that a royal cobra’s garnet eyes possessed demonic power, and it had taken a long time for Danica to trust me enough to look into mine. Most avians still shuddered and avoided my gaze.
“I feel…tired, but wonderful. Betsy tells me--” She broke off, words failing her, and then gave up on speech and kissed me.
“I love you,” she whispered--then yawned widely. “Take a nap with me?”
The request, as always, made me smile. When we had first met, the idea of resting with another person was as foreign to the lovely but reserved hawk as the idea of flying was to me.
I was happy that Danica had not yet taken me into the air, but she had grown used to a second heartbeat while she rested. That blessing pleased me almost as much as any could.
I wrapped my arms around milady; Danica sighed, tucking her head down against my chest like a chick in the nest. Having her there calmed my fears and let me drift into sleep.
”
”
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (Snakecharm (The Kiesha'ra, #2))
“
It’s strange to read the insides of a villager. All sorts of gibberish in here – professions of love for emeralds, for example. But, I did come across a sentence that might interest you.” Timothy paused and turned back a few pages. “Here it is: I think Aisha is cute.
”
”
Dr. Block (Firestorm (Tales of the Glitch Guardians #3))
“
I see love,
an ocean without a shore.
If you are love's chosen ones, plunge in!
”
”
A'isha al-Ba'nuiyya
“
Thoughtful minds grow, from the sharpened awareness of those who have lived life; through love, curiosity and tragedy.
”
”
Aisha Mirza
“
Thoughtful minds grow, in the sharpened awareness of those who have lived life; through love, curiosity and tragedy.
”
”
Aisha Mirza
“
Sometimes we will love people not for who they are, nor for what we gain from them but what they are. Those people that reflect a light. Those that make it easy to love, make us willing to give, and make us wanting to be in their presence.
”
”
Aisha Mirza
“
Auto-buy YA authors for me include Marie Marquardt, Rachael Stewart Allen, Lauren Morrill, Aisha Saeed, Nic Stone, Malinda Lo, A. S. King, Kristin Cashore, and Sabaa Tahir. I also love mysteries, so Karen McManus and Kara Thomas dominate my “to be read” pile. But the book/author that inspired me to write was The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. That book is so carefully, beautifully, and intricately constructed, it knocked me over. I finished it, and immediately flipped back to the first page to read again, and thought, “I want to learn to do something even half as captivating as this someday!
”
”
Kimberly Jones (I'm Not Dying with You Tonight)
“
I go home, open a beer and try to get my mind off this suddenly complicated situation. A few hours ago, I thought maybe I was falling in love with Aisha. But just knowing her nationality has me questioning my feelings and the possibility of forming a deeper bond with her. But then again, how can I ignore the connection that has already been established? How can I erase feelings that have already developed in the brief time we spent together? It was like pieces of a puzzle coming together to create a beautiful picture. How can I not credit my songs to the inspiration of her presence? But at the same time, I cannot be in love with an Indian girl, it would never work out.
”
”
Mosam Shah (Beyond Borders: A Bharat Pakistan Love Story)
“
Only shells collected from the sea could be crafted into necklaces to soothe anxious hearts. Every day, people crossed the threshold of their home. They settled into the nook of the guest room. They wept onto carefully curated shells, which would later be sanded and shaped into stars and worn as necklaces to soothe their suffering. There was an alchemy between the sea and the shells that her family had melded. Before her mother, the work had been her grandmother's. Before that, her grandmother's mother. Eight generations of Khanani women winding their way down to--- one day--- Yas.
She'd once eagerly painted each star before it left their home. Delicate birds. Flowers. Yas had loved the work. The art of catching and cutting and sanding and smoothing.
”
”
Aisha Saeed (Forty Words for Love)
“
I've asked you so many Golub words over the years." She looked up at him. Her eyes glistened. "But what's the Golub word for 'love'?"
"Love," he repeated. "Th-there's more than one word for love. There's friendship love---silan. Gratitude love---baya. Nostalgic love---ruman. There's... there are forty words for love."
"What if, hypothetically, you feel all those ways about someone?"
"Hypothetically?"
"No." She held his gaze. "Actually not hypothetically at all."
Looking into her eyes, Raf found himself unable to speak.
"I... I started working on that mural randomly. I didn't even plan it out properly. What did it matter? Not like anyone's given a crap about that mural since the storm came through. And what did I end up creating? The dolphins we swam with," she said. "The sandcastles we made together. Everything on there... Do you see it, Raf?"
There was Main Street---the movie theater. Tilted Tales, where they sat for hours on end reading comics. The entire street was there, but it was both of these locations that shone with a sheen of glitter. He took it all in.
"It's us," he said slowly. "You painted our places. Our favorite memories."
"I love you, Raf." Her voice quivered. "Silan---the friendship one. Baya, the gratitude one. Ruman. Nostalgia for what we were. All of it. I love you in all the ways I know.
”
”
Aisha Saeed (Forty Words for Love)
“
Blue!" The boy shrieked.
Yas followed the toddler's pointing finger. The ocean around them rippled with their movement. The water was not pink. Nor lavender. It did not glimmer. Pooling in swirls around her ankles were ribbons of aqua and teal. Threads of silver and gold.
"Raf?" she whispered. "You see it, don't you?"
"I... Y-yes, I do."
From the shoreline, Ernie stared with his jaw parted at the ripples of color. Not bothering to roll up his pajama bottoms, he walked into the water, the sea sloshing around his feet. Spirals of daffodil yellow puddled around his ankles.
"What... what is happening?" he whispered.
Others stepped into the water. They winced at the shards pricking at their feet.
The shards. Yas kneeled in the water. She pulled out a jagged, cracked shell fragment from the ocean floor and cradled it in her palm---the salt water dripping from it trailed rivulets of color down her hands, which glimmered beneath the still-dark sky.
"It's the shells." Yas leaned down and scooped out more. She raised her hand and opened her palm---the crowd gasped as gold and red trailed down her arm.
"The color is..." Oscar's voice trailed off. "It's leaking out of the broken shells?
”
”
Aisha Saeed (Forty Words for Love)
“
Once upon a time, pink dolphins swam not far from shore. He and Yas would wade out to see the newest calves and swim alongside Mira and Hira--- the names they'd given the sweetest two with matching crooked fins.
”
”
Aisha Saeed (Forty Words for Love)
“
Raf inhaled the scent of cardamom-infused chicken, pickled beef, eggplant, and steaming saffron rice simmering on the stove. They tried to approximate the spices in Moonlight Bay to their tastes of home, but it was difficult to replicate some--- like lak, which turned meals into savory and sweet, or min, which gave food an extra thickening.
”
”
Aisha Saeed (Forty Words for Love)
“
The Golub tree, measuring two hundred feet tall, stood steps away. It was as wide as a redwood, with a thin layer of frost burrowed within its creases. Its plentiful dewdrop leaves created a crown the color of the inside of a cracked papaya, with the branches toward the bottom bare and icy. The limbs of the simple eastern pines surrounding it were coated with tendrils of orange frost.
”
”
Aisha Saeed (Forty Words for Love)
“
When I was growing up, I was terrified of monsters. I thought they hid in the dark corners of the house and lurked outside during the night. As a kid, I imagined sharp nails and monstrous teeth. When I grew up, I knew that monsters were real, and that they could be anywhere... and that they looked just like you and me.
”
”
Aisha Urooj (My Dear Ellie (Love & Friendship, #1))
“
People are bags of emotions and feelings including frustration, annoyance and disappointment. It is too much to say someone is the One, unless you can be the One for them too.
”
”
Aisha Urooj (My Dear Ellie (Love & Friendship #1))
“
But if you really want something, you don’t punch it in the face. You stick with it until you stop wanting to hit it and start wanting to hug it, and then kiss it, and finally make sweet, sweet love to it that will leave you both in a shivering puddle of tears.
Until then, it’s absolutely fine to fake it ‘till you make it. Jump in with both feet. “Act as if.” Just remember you’ve got to actually put in the hours, and do the real, hard work of “becoming as if.
”
”
Aisha Tyler (Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation)
“
If Aisha was indeed married so young, however, others would certainly have remarked on it at the time. Instead, more restrained reports have her aged nine when she was betrothed and twelve when she was actually married, which makes sense since custom dictated that girls be married at puberty. But then again, to have been married at the customary age would make Aisha normal, and that was the one thing she was always determined not to be. Tart-tongued and quick-witted, she would, at least by her own account, tease Muhammad and not only get away with it but be loved for it. It was as though he had granted her license for girlish mischief. Much as a fond father might indulge a spoiled daughter, he seemed diverted by her sassiness and charm.
”
”
Lesley Hazleton (The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad)