Sunday, August 13, 2006

a little piece of life

On August 13th, 1992, my little sister was born. I remember my mom being pregnant all those months. It seemed an eternity that she was pregnant with this little baby. I was six years old and I started to wonder whether I really was going to get a baby sister or whether it was some hoax because it was taking so long and I was (am) impatient. We woke up one morning only to find a note left by my dad on the bedroom door saying that my mom had gone into labour and they were going to the hospital. Soon after, my dad called us and told us the news: it was a little girl, a bit jaundiced, but healthy. He took us all to the hospital to see this for ourselves. And there she was, a tiny little thing in my mom's arms. Aside: when my mom had her first child, my dad made sajdah (prostration) to Allah (swt) and the nurses thought that he fainted. He got used to the whole childbirth thing though ;) She and my mom had to stay in the hospital for a few extra days. In that time we basically lived off of my dad's cooking (i.e. eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and some weird jam that came in a toothpaste bottle from the hospital's grocery store. When the baby came home she didn't exactly have a crib waiting for her. Instead, we took a laundry basket and put a bunch of sheets and fluffy stuff in it, and voila, a bed. My parents debated what to name her for some time. It's funny, my dad still has the brainstorming list of possible names! Though they liked the name Aasiyah, they finally settled on "Nusaybah," at the suggestion of my older brother, who happened to be reading the story of Nusaybah bint Ka'b at the time. So that was her name - it seemed like such a big name for such a little body. And we were all enamoured with her. A new life always brings so much joy, and happiness - though it was my mom who stayed up with her at night when she would cry, while the rest of us shut our doors and slept through the night. And the years passed - she crawled, she started waddling around (very cutely), and she started figuring out many evil things to do (like, opening the fridge and breaking eggs, etc.). Then she got into school, which she hated initially...then the years she learned to read but still couldn't pronounce the letter "R" (she would pronounce it as an "L"). So "Rug" would be "Lug" and "door" would be "dool." Today we found this note she wrote to me when she was 5 or 6: It says "Asma is very good. She is the queen. She looks very beautiful. She is my sister." From then on, I knew she was very intelligent. Then when she started wearing hijab - she must have been 8 or 9 then. And all our trips to the library on our street, where she'd always borrow books she had already read several times, even though I told her not to. The rest is a blur. It's interesting how I saw her grow up right in front of me, but I never really noticed. Time is a funny thing. Eventually, inshaAllah, she will grow up and have kids of her own and recount to them the stories of their childhoods. And hers will be only a very distant memory, as though it never really happened.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's fascinating how a single human life is wrapped up in the lives of so many others.

Each one of us is so enveloped with and immersed in favours from our Creator, and yet we do not recognize them. Instead, we inflate ourselves with our own importance and waste so much of our short lives doing what will not benefit us.

It's the knowing blindness that's the most dangerous, and scariest, of all.

Anonymous said...

That was a very awww-inducing post, Asmaa. Siblings are the cutest things when they're born. And then they grow up. And they aren't as cute anymore. But they're still pretty cool. Sometimes.

Happy belated birthday, Nusaybah :)

Nauman said...

I remember when my brother was born and he grew up... he turns 20 tomorrow inshallah... it's amazing how fast time flies and how people develop... the things that they said when they were younger, etc.

Anonymous said...

As salaamu alaikum,

Awww that was such a sweet post lol.

But yeah, when we sit and reflect on what we've been doing for the past *insert age here* years, we really do come to realize how much time we spent in doing something beneficial for our deen and how much time we've wasted along the way doing nothing but wrecking ourselves and chances in the Hereafter...SubhanAllah

'liya said...

Aww :)

Very sweet!

Umar said...

nice birthday tribute :)

(although I'm sure you forged that drawing by yourself)

Anonymous said...

Loved the little anecdote. It reminded me of the following ayahs 12-17 of Surah Al-Muminoon.

Also love for siblings is an awesome blessing from Allah SWT.

"And those who join that which Allah has commanded to be joined." (13:21)

"One who cuts will not enter Paradise." (al-Bukhari)

There is no system that can forge a firmer social contract than family ties.

May Allah keep us on the Right Path..

Anonymous said...

SubhanAllah, It is so amazing how time flies. How we remember sertian things so well now, but as we get older, our own childhoods will be a blur as you said. I guess its reflective of the temorary nature of our lives.

I cannot believe Nusaybah, wrote Asmaa is very good, she is THE queen..haha..how could you Nusaybah?? :).

Anonymous said...

"Instead, we took a laundry basket and put a bunch of sheets and fluffy stuff in it, and voila, a bed."....hilarious Asmaa :) ...we used to put our sister in a laundry basket and take her around.

Stylus Virus said...

Assalamu aleikum,
Beautiful post. Alhamdulillah that I've been blessed with knowing such an a bunch of sisters. Nusaybah, you're a sweetheart, that's something sarcasm can't hide : )

Being the "littlest" in my family, I never got to experience the stuff in this post. But I've been blessed with having such a circle of care around me since birth : ) SubhanAllah, the days if our lives are like the seeds of a dandelion in the wind.

Asmaa said...

Sumayyah, I agree. And I'm prettu sure this blog is something that falls under the category of inflating myself with a false importance.

Haj, your lil sister is still cute, though you deny it. When siblings grow up, it's a change from "awww" to a more meaningful relationship. Kind of.

Brotherhood, it is.

Nauman, sometimes it's better not to repeat what we or our siblings said when we were younger. Time's quick.

Amatullah, you're right. We waste time too liberally - and on things that are bad for us :S

Aaliya, not like my usual self :)

Umar, you're funny. Well, not really.

Anis, thanks for the reminder though sometimes I really feel like cutting ties with certain members of my family. When they're annoying. But I can't.

Sadaf, Nusaybah wrote that because she was at the age of honesty >:D

Fro, I think it's a very fob thing to do. Hehe. Yo, come back to Toronto. I'll give you a kit kat!

Nusaybah, yeah I know that I'm horrible and evil and despicable on the outside. But like you said, that's all a cover for my "cotten-candyish" inside. Hmm I wonder what colour cotton candy I am. BTW, you'll come back to this post later and change your mind about me being cotton-candyish.

Olde, baby of the family :)

Mars, yes I am noticing a steady decline in my sarcasm. Which disturbs me greatly. I think it's because you and omee left. I miss you :S

Anonymous said...

assalamu alaikum

nice blog ...actually you know "nusaybah" is one of my favorite names and on my list of potential names for a potential daughter that is if I ever get married. But the thing is in pakistan they would turn "nusaybah" into "naseebah" which happens to be a very very paindoo name...

anways...

Abu Hind.

Al-Hajeji said...

mashah'Allah beautiful post :)

Asmaa said...

Apnay something something, Nusaybah is a pretty awesome name. And not many people have it, so it's also unique :) And what exactly is a "paindoo" name? I'm not an Urdu/hindi speaking being...except for a few bad words here and there.

Al-Hajeji, thanks :)