This is S & A’s home, a sanctuary of rest and peace. Just sitting with S is a study in calm. Last night, we had apple strudel, cinnamon-sugar twists, and SWANA mint tea with honey for dinner.

S is a healer. It’s the first thing you notice about them. Gentle empath, ferociously protective of beloveds. They were recommended my poetry, and we connected virtually until we ran into one another while both on our evening walk. It was immediate romance.

And it’s to this my world keeps returning – my greatest love stories are with the women in my life. We all agree on this, including those of us coupled. There is no comparison.

Omar Suleiman, in one of his Ramadan episodes, reminded us that friends meet before this dunya. Our souls are familiar with one another before we’re born in flesh, and so we are drawn to and are at immediate peace with one another when we finally cross paths here. There has never been strife, misgivings, misunderstandings or pain with any of the women in my life who I consider actual beloveds (not to be confused with the women who are friends or mere acquaintances). The same goes for the select few men I adore and who I’d trust with my life. This is how I know they will be life-long alhamduliLaah.

S is among the soul-known in my life. There has never been a moment’s doubt or hesitation. We speak the same way, and they teach me something new every time we’re together. When they leave A, they hug and nuzzle. And when we hug hello and goodbye, I rest my head on their shoulder and we cuddle naturally. How could I do anything but fall in love with such a gentle human?

My heart expands in their presence. Allah has brought us into the lives of one another for a multitude of reasons, inshallah all of them in service of our mutual growth.

The sanctuary isn’t merely their home, but it is equally their hearts. And the gratitude feels endless, because it multiplies in their presence.

I haven’t created anything for anyone in a long time. My heart has been damaged by G@za, and I’m not sure I’ll ever recover entirely now that it feels as though Allah has lifted the last veil from my eyes – I try to remind myself that everything is temporary here. I used to create art to heal and haven’t done so in far too long. Like me, they have a gallery wall. I’ll be creating something as addition. I’m humbled that they will allow this, as a part of their sanctuary.

May you each have your sanctuaries; if not yet found, may they be just around the corner. ❤️

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