"It is said that the heart is the mirror of the soul...

How can a broken mirror reflect the sky?"

-A Myriad Heart Reflections(Hilya's diary).

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Realizing it was the boy they had rescued, Ukashah yielded a polite smile.

Even as he sat closer, Arkaan gathered the subtle differences between this new guy and Zak. It wasn't just the reserved nature.. The boy effortlessly wore a sophistication, and a quietly dominant nature, as though he were of a higher birth, without having to speak it. Physically, he could be described as darkly handsome, with his kohl-lined golden brown eyes and a stoic expression Arkaan had observed previously as he had read the Qur'an.
His olive-complexioned flawless face seemed the type to rarely yield a smile, and yet he radiated a dignified charm which would make anyone to revere him if they chanced to lay eyes on him.

The soft smile that he accorded Arkaan, made him feel welcomed and to be acquainted with him.

Returning the greeting fully with a handshake, he commented,“I see you're awake, —”

“Arkaan, Arkaan Ibn Yahya.”Arkaan replied, seeing the look of askance on Ukashah's noble countenance.

“I'm Ukashah, Bin Sulaymân. It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope you're doing well now?

You were unconscious for such a long time yesterday.”Ukashah asked. Arkaan could see the concern in his eyes, and yet, he was a complete stranger...

They just met, and yet, this guy was that concerned about him. Yet before, Ukashah would not have guessed he was Muslim. Was this what those who truly attained a bonding to the Qur'an achieved?

Such admirable character and empathy!

“Yh, Alhamdulillah, I'm doing well now. I heard you stayed to look after me yesterday. I wanted to thank you for what you did. I perhaps, might not be here today, if not for that.”Arkaan added, a look of sincere gratitude on his face.

“Maasha Allah. It's only by the grace of Allah that all good deeds are accomplished. It's been a mystery to me though, how you ended up there.

But don't worry, no need to be stressed on that. It must have been quite an experience.”Ukashah genially said.

“I surmise you might have come from the mainland continent.. Unless you've a place to stay, you can always count on me to help.

Being a stranger and all, you must need a place to lodge...”Ukashah knew Arkaan couldn't stay forever with the Al Maghribi. No guest does. It'd bring inconvenience, especially with the ladies of the house.

Thus, he had been thinking how he'd find relief for both parties. He was considering Arkaan coming to stay with him. Arkaan couldn't help noticing the barrage of questions. Yet, all of them contained sincere thoughts towards his wellbeing.

Before he could even answer, Ukashah noticed Zak standing by the doorway, having just completed two raka'at Tahiyyat-ul-masjid( two units of prayer, performed as greeting of the masjid upon entering).

“Salamun alaykum wa rahmatullah, Zak!”

From his tonation, one could see Ukashah was happy to see Zak.

Actually, Ukashah felt the closest to Zak after all the other students left the halaqah, leaving them both. Zak's home was here, in Tâ Hâ. This was his birthplace. But for Ukashah - he had no other home to return to, starting from a certain point in his childhood. So Tâ Hâ became his home, the South district, his place to return to...

Ukashah's origins had always remained a mystery, except to a very select few. Even Zak did not know, but he didn't bother too much about it. To him, Ukashah was one of his true and closest friends, and he did not have many of that because of certain laudable reasons like his focus on the hereafter; afterall, birds of a feather flock together.

Though Ukashah wasn't originally from Tâ Hâ, it was still in every other way his home; for he first arrived here as a child, not even yet a teen!

He found his home here.

Zak could remember Zayn-al-Âbidîn once telling him,

“We all love the Qur'an, and we all love the halaqat.

But there's none that I know of who surpasses Ukashah in that.

To him, it is here in the halaqat where he found home, where he formed his most precious bonds...”

Even as he moved towards Ukashah and Arkaan, Zak smiled jovially, saying in jest,“Today, it seems you're your normal self again, Ukash. Yesterday, you seemed to be in your brooding mood, distancing yourself like a recluse.”

Zak pouted,“Seriously, you need to stop these mood changes of yours. It almost seems as if you're thinking something deep and dark those times.

And it really gets on my nerves. Remember, those times when Ustadh was here; though it was rare, when you'd enter those foul moods of yours, you seemed to drag almost all of us into it with you.”

“Seriously, are you always mourning on something or what- In case you need professional mourning assistance, know that I'm always around for you.”Zak gave a wide grin, sitting down.

Ukashah smiled, as though he did not mind. He did. Arkaan noticed. It almost seemed as though he was using that smile to hide and perhaps, forcibly suppress memories that tried to surface within. He knew this smile, this look. Because, -he used it almost everyday..

“Looks like since the halaqah stopped for a time now, you've developed quite the tongue, eh-Zak?”Ukashah gave a glare that sent a chill down Zak's spine. Arkaan looked on amused, as Zak seemed to remember something of dread in the past.

But only Zak would know.

When Ukashah was their student leader, whenever they did something wrong, Sheikh Al Iskandarī gave him the go ahead to mete out their punishment. The Sheikh loved lemon tea, with ginger and honey. The former ingredients were easily gotten.

But the latter, they'd have to enter the honey fields to search for some. Bees - it was right to call it their territory here in the South district. All the students had dreaded going there, and so Ukashah found his perfect form of 'meting out punishment'.

At the end of the day, their Sheikh was happily sipping his fav tea in pure ecstasy, and they were left with bee stings, and disfigured faces. Leave it to Ukashah to deal with troublemakers. Thus, he successfully managed their class as their Leader.

“Let's forget about the sad thoughts.”

Was that a sadistic smile the jade boy just made? Arkaan smiled wearily.

This island has changed, a lot.. First, a boy he thought was an angel showed him his true colours. Now, the boy with heartmoving recitals, had a hidden alter ego.

“So how have things been since you awoke, Arkaan?”Ukashah turned to Arkaan, warmth radiating from him.

Zak smirked. Ukashah's other personality, where he was almost a talkative. You'd rarely see it-except that one time at the Hâ Mîm bazaar, two years ago.

Even though it felt like someone who did so in order to prevent themselves from thinking too much about their own burdens, it still felt good when Ukashah was like this, without worries...

“I hope Zak treated you well. Well, for the Maghribi family, no doubt, they never disappoint their guests, right?!”

Arkaan smiled. What the Maghribi family did for him was indeed great. But to speak of it in front of Zak like that.. Well...

“They're a great family, especially Abdullah.”Arkaan smiled. Wait-, Did that just come out of his mouth???
He remembered how the little punk disturbed him the day before. He probably wasn't thinking when he said that.

To Ukashah, it was a rhetorical question though. But hearing Arkaan's reply made him understand more of Arkaan's nature. He had a gratefully heart, and was humble too. It made Ukashah think good of Arkaan, and feel drawn towards his personality.

Ukashah smiled as he read a verse in eloquent Arabic. Then, explaining it to Arkaan, he said the part of the verse which meant,

“... And whoever is grateful, truly his gratitude is for the good of his own self...”

Remembering something suddenly, Arkaan said,“Tell me about your study circles.”

Ukashah and Zak were quite surprised at the sudden request. But nevertheless, they smiled.

This was a first, -in two years. There was actually somebody there, who wanted to hear about their Qur'an Circle.
And it was the boy they saved.

From there on, they conversed for a while. Zak and Ukashah mentioned events from when their halaqah was still active. And as they spoke, Arkaan realized how much fervour they felt about about their sittings, where they learnt the Holy book and a myriad other things.

Even as time passed, he began to notice his heart was beginning to feel something of the same they felt - their desire to return to those old days.

He could vividly picture many students in white thobes and caps, moving around in the white masjid, their laughter and joy filling the very walls with life and memories.

In his mindseye, he could see them seated in many a circle, teaching and learning, discussing and contemplating on the sacred words of Allah, and the anecdotes of prophets of old, and of the righteous predecessors.

Their voices in recitation, in a seemingly close level to the beauty and serenity Ukashah's radiated, were in eloquent Arabic with the rules of recital applied and obeyed.
Even as Arkaan imagined the scene, it filled his heart with an ardent passion, and a desire. If only he could witness for himself such a sacred atmosphere.

The discussion was soon interrupted by a sudden burst of a rowdy group into the masjid. One could almost palpate the waves of excitement from the group.

“Salamun alaykum, brothers!”An excited cheer rang out,“Today, we would be joining you-Ukash, in the khidmah of the masjid!”

Arkaan looked over to find the Maghribi brothers; Ismail, Ishaq, Musa and Harun-and even Abdullah were all there, standing at the prayer hall's threshold, carrying various clean-up equipment. They even looked dressed for the occasion.

Abdullah was the one who made that proclamation.

The only new face in the group that Arkaan saw was an aged man, his beard was a blend of pure white and deep black. He had a sorrowful look on his face, giving him an almost visible nûr( divine radiance).

At the moment, the warm smile the old man wore on his countenance as he looked at the excited youths who had followed him in, volunteering to help, made it look like it could enlighten all the darkness in the world!

Arkaan recognized at once-this was the caretaker of the masjidurRahmân, Old man Abdul Sattâr!

Even as he thought about these, Abdullah ran up to him in sheer excitement, his pants and sleeves folded up in preparation for the clean-up, mop on hand.

“Yaa Akhii Arkaan!”He shouted excitedly, almost jumping into Arkaan,“Guess what?!

I and elder brothers were out on a little ziyârah when we came across old man Abdul Sattâr. We found out that he was on his way to this masjid with the items for khidmat of the masjid.

We said 'Oh~ how can we hear of that, and not lend a helping hand.'Afterall, it is a good deed in the sight of Allah, right! Yaa Akhii?!!, right?!!”

He was literally beaming with intense elation.

Although Arkaan did not understand the terms Abdullah had used, he still nodded wryly, with a smile on his face. He was getting out of sorts on how to deal with the boy.

The rest of the onlookers were chuckling with weary expressions on their faces, especially the Maghribi brothers. They could see how Arkaan was suffering the brunts of Abdullah's hyperactivities. They had grown up witnessing such behaviours.
Even his full brother – Zak, was like that at one point in time when he was little, even naughtier...

Without much of wording, the group sat down as they planned on how to go about the job.

Usually, it was Abdul Sattâr and Ukashah who would clean the masjid, with Zak coming to help when he was available.

Considering the masjid was large, the cleaning was done in several phases in-between the times for prayers.

The first phase was done virtually everyday, as the two would sweep as much as they could, of the frequently visited areas, which included the western and eastern ground floors. Those were the places of prayer used, when the masjid was not so occupied. This was done before the fajr dawn prayer.

The northern and southern sections were cleaned after the early sunrise optional prayer, Ishrâq; with the courtyard being cleaned after the Dhuhr noon prayer. Other parts were then cleaned in leisure.

The entire masjid itself, was cleaned over the weekend; in a Saturday when others came to help, or within the two days when the two were alone. This was phase two; usually because of this, Ukashah would spend his entire weekend in the masjid.

The entire exercise also involved pruning the trees, feeding the birds which almost always came there.

They'd then check on the fountain and its ablution niche, and finally, the perfuming of the entire masjid with its characteristic musk effervescence. The lemon fragrance came from the lemon trees that surrounded the white masjid, as they sparsely spread over that particular plateau. This was one of the favourite things their Ustadh loved about their masjid. With this, he could have all the tea he wanted - only the honey was left, and there were always naughty students who would be sent to fetch honey. As Ukashah suddenly recalled of this, he smiled visibly. Zak who was nearby as all this was being mentioned in the plans, laughed lightly.

Actually, behind their Sheikh's sagacious outer personality, there was one other only his students knew about; his wily nature when it came to getting his fav lemon and honey tea, with ginger.

"Ah, the feel"

He'd sigh as he would sip it calmly under the trees, a satisfied smile on his astute saintly countenance.

The naughty ones who were punished, would gnaw at their nails even as they looked at Ukashah asking their Ustadh, in seemingly righteous indignation about how well-balanced the ingredients of the tea were.

The scholar would then laugh in approval saying,"Bakh! Bakh!(wonderful, wonderful)"

The other students thus had to try their utmost best to be well-behaved. Yet there was always a steady supply of good honey due to the presence of the obstinately select few among the students.
Like this, Ukashah would maintain conduct in their circles and outside it. Those were really the fun and happy old days.

The entire masjid was a two-storey complex at the cardinal north, east, and west sections. In the south, were ten large pillars in two rows each, across the entire southern section, as they formed an arcade. They were finely crafted ceramic pillars with ornate designs.

The masjid had its emerald green minarets rising in northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest directions. Two small green domes each, were above the top floors of the north and east sections. A large green dome at the far west continued down the westernmost wall, forming a cylindrical shape at the very middle.

The courtyard was the largest in terms of sheer area, with a linear array of three clear-flowing fountains, and an ablution niche which collected the water, right in its middle. It had lawns where orchid plants had been placed, intermittently alternating with pavements where birds of all kinds with brightly coloured plumages descended. These birds would collect here to enjoy the serenity, or gobble up the occasional crumbs left for them. They came now even more so, that the previous vibrant and erratic students were gone.

Looking unto the courtyard from the north, east, and west on both top and ground floors, were numerous doors. Large tinted glass windows sieved the sunlight as it journeyed, radiating unto the Masjid's outward walls through the prayer halls. In general, the masjid was fine and beautifully made. One could feel the serenity in the encompassing lemon trees on Mt. Shirah.

The work was divided amongst the group of nine; Arkaan, with Zak and Harun were to handle the entire western section.

Ukashah, Musa and Abdullah would clean the northern section, whilst Ismail, Ishaq, and Abdul Sattâr would take the east. They planned to take rest periods. After completing their given portions, all three groups would meet at the courtyard, from where they'd progress southwards, and then clear the mountain surrounding area together; even the mountain paths wouldn't be spared.

It was really a great workload to accomplish, but considering portions were cleaned and worked on daily, they wouldn't have to work that laboriously.

Even as Ismail, the eldest of the brothers who was recently married, announced a competition as to who would come first, and a surprise gift to be allocated, everyone sprang into action, each group hoping to outdo the other, and be the first to finish.

The Maghribi brothers, and even Ukashah, were no strangers to Ismail's surprise gifts, and so were excited. Of course the gifts weren't anything ordinary, and no one was ever disappointed whenever Ismail promised and delivered a gift!

As they worked at the western section, Zak and Harun excitedly expounded to Arkaan the vast possibilities; increasing their speed and efficacy even as they did.

“The first time he had to give me such a surprise gift, he took me to the Baab-ur-Ridwân Bookshop in the East District..”

Even as Zak spoke, he stood with his forearms resting on the standing broomstick. With glistening eyes, he stared into space, excitement written all over,“You probably wouldn't know this Arkaan, but Harun knows - ask him!

They are the leading bookshop in all of Tâ Hâ. Nay - the entire nation, they're number one! Their branches are everywhere in this country and beyond!”

“I heard the family that runs the organization are in close terms with the Rulership of the country!

That time, we purchased a whole collection of the Sāhihayn(sahih Bukhari and Muslim)!”By now, Zak was beside himself with joy, remembering the excitement of receiving such books from such an esteemed Bookshop in the country.

“And then the time after that, a collection of the 'Ihya-ul-Uloom' of Imam Al Ghazâli!

And the other time...”

Like this, Zak continued to mention how every time he had a surprise gift, it was a collection of scholarly books.

Harun chuckled wearily.

Arkaan looked on, trying to look as amazed as ever, but he didn't understand how that could be a surprise gift anymore if the gift was always a collection of books.
Yet, even with that, Arkaan could estimate how generously Ismail spent out lavishly on others.

“What about you, Harun?”Arkaan asked as he dusted some corners of the masjid.

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