Living The Dark Academia Life

Gift ideas for arabic academia?

Thats really sweet of you!

Arabic calligraphy equipment

Silk/satin headscarves (esp for the curlyheads!)

Ornate silver rings

Their favourite diwan (poetry collection revolving around a certain topic/ aesthetic) for their favourite poet

Jewellery

Qahwa (or gahwa or ahwa) sets

Tea sets with arabic calligraphy decroations on them

A sword if youre rich (i demand one too, as it was i who guided you into buying one)

Pretty silk slippers

koḥl asmad and a pretty makḥala

Henna and equipment

Classics (the hardcovers with ornate gold shit we love them)

A tapestry

Nawader collection

Bake them something you know they love (not necessarily arabic da but you can make it so)

Oud/bokhour

Qithara/mizwad/any traditional instrument they prefer

Big earrings/bracelets/head jewllery thingy but i forgot its name

Dancing outfit ;)

Persian rugs/carpets

That's all i can think about atm! Feel free to add more <3

Dark academia playlist

it has both lyrical and classical!

PLEASE STOP USING NSFR IN YOUR TAGS/POSTS/BIOS !!!!!!

a muslim person did not start this!! by tagging your drink, food, cursing, and music posts you are heavily patronizing us and taking away the entire point of our ramadan!! please stop!

it is on us to resist any urges, most of us have been fasting since we were children we do not need this warning and we have told non muslims this repeatedly! “not safe for ramadan” itself just sounds so weird and very rude, even if you do not mean it in that way. this entire thing reeks of performative activism.

if you are going to be tagging your nsfw then tag it with “nsfw” or a personalized tag like you do all the other months of the year, non muslims do this every year and it’s just useless to us! again! non muslims please stop speaking for us and educating others about our religious holiday, we get your intentions are good but you are heavily miss informing others about our holiday! thank you but please listen to us on this!

it will not break our fast if we see food, drink, accidentally hear music, accidentally see a curse word, or accidentally see something explicit! it will not! please just listen to us. most of us are not even online for the majority of the month, the entire point is to be closer to God and our religion! why would we be wasting time on the internet?

if you want to be actual allies then consider spreading the word about the hijab ban in france where girls under the age of 18 will not be allowed to wear the hijab! thank you!

aesthetic for @mathemaphia

the glide of a fountain pen across paper

wanting to understand the world and your place in it

an organized desk, everything in its place

finding satisfaction in the precision of mathematics

a freshly steeped cup of tea with fragrant steam

your favorite tea mug set out on your desk

splotches of ink on your hands, worn like badges of honor

always hungry for knowledge, eager to know more about everything

books that make you contemplate your own existence

novels by kafka by your bed

using math as a lens through which to decipher the world and its rules

gazing out the window on long car rides

language textbooks - french, german, korean - stacked by your desk

finding order and patterns in the world 

a contemplative soul, mulling over big philosophical ideas

pages filled with long strings of calculations

muttering verb conjugations as you work on memorization

wanting everyone to see beauty in math the way you do, even though it’s considered a frightening subject

researching your favorite authors

studying language, shaping your mouth around unfamiliar words

Muslim Dark Academia Things:

Being torn between the black hijab and the slightly less black hijab

Islamic architecture being so beautiful it found its way unto western countries

Islamic. Art.

Learning arabic calligraphy.

Staying up late, hearing athan (call for prayer) and going "holy shit its already fajr (sunrise prayer) ?????"

Not being able to sleep after Fajr (sun rise prayer) and going into a wiki search rabbit hole

Wanting to sleep after fajr (sun rise prayer) but reading one chapter and then the suns already out there and the birds have the audacity to chirp chirp ughh

Not everyone gets an Assalamu Alaikum (peace and blessing be upon you) because some people just don't deserve wishing them peace

Everyone gets a hey tho

Petting kittens because its sunnah (the prophet used to do it, and its preferable that we do although not an obligation) and you get hasanat (at least you try to convince yourself that's why)

Always having pocket change for charity cause you never know

Tiny but elaborate copies of the qur'an in case you get five minutes of silence

Being at peace 24/7 because God's mercy is bestowed upon all

No more peace your paper is late

Reading nawader (little stories from the middle ages! Like Kaleela Wa Dimna)

Mourning the library of baghdad, that had so many books that when it was destroyed the river turned black with ink

mourning the library of Alexandria

Having a favourite mo'athen (one who calls for prayer) or quare'a (one who recites Quran)

Messy Arabic notes. Studying nahw (arabic grammar.) Arabic prose.

Khalil Jabran (mostly known as Khalil Gibran) and people who pronounce his name correctly (no problem of you cant tho!)

Arabic poetry

Arabic poetry

Arabic poetry

Reading Shakespeare critically

"With every hardship comes ease"

"The best amongst you are those who own knowledge and share it"

Kohl just because

Reading about the golden age of islam and wishing you lived there

Knowing that your race, gender, colour, language, religion wouldn't have stopped you from learning back then because islam is a religion of equality

Having so many badass women to look up to

That bellowing abaya/bisht/dishdasha/khimar (middle eastern clothing? It's real hard to explain/desctibe these guys but they're very very loose for dramatic effect and modesty) that is just sooo pretty and mysterious

Arriving at your masjid just on time for prayer

The imam (one who leads prayer) asking people to "fill the gaps and straighten the lones"

That one sheikh that gives beautiful lectures/sermons and makes you want to learn even more

That other sheikh that tells you stories so elaborately you forget who you are

THE SHEIKH THAT IS BOTH OF THESE BEAUTIFUL SOULS

Going to harems with your fellow sisters

Smiling at people and complimenting them because its sadakah (charity you get rewarded for) and because it low key makes you happy

Knowing every little thing is rewarded

Reading from all your copies of the qur'an so that none of them feels lonely

Buying a lavish prayer matt because why not

"The prophet had a cat, mom, its sunnah" (sunnah means things the prophet did that we get good deeds to do)

I'll post a part 2 when anything comes to mind <3

Feel free to add more! In fact I would be over the moon if you do!

everyone gangster until you pull on your not so platonic friend's armor

so apparently it’s cool to wear your boyfriend’s clothes now?

but when i, patroclus-

Some dark academia things

textbooks filled with highlighted texts, doodles, annotations and coffee/tea stains from late night study sessions

dry roses on your desks, bookshelves and in random books which you open and discover several pressed flowers

using old cracked teacups as candle stick holders

textbooks being the only books you're not afraid to dogear

dozens of messy to-do lists, scratching the finished tasks and choosing to ignore the remaining ones because you're too busy celebrating your accomplishments

panic because you still have to do the remaining ones

finally taking a breath cuz ur to do list is completely scratched out and you can sleep peacefully

nvm you stayed up all night reading

Quick time lapse of me studying the femoral triangle ^

Academia but you're in Cairo

staying up late looking up ancient jewllery, its symbolism and the stuff it was made from and the methods they used because that was some intricatte stuff you know

having an unhealthy addiction to tea. milk tea in the morning before stting off. plain tea in the afternoon when youre back. tea with mint in the chilly hours before sunset. tea with lemon when youre sick, with honey when youre sad...

listening to asmahan and laila mourad because their voices make flowers grow in your heart. you see abd el wahab or sayed darwish's names and you know youre about to heaar the most heavenly sounds you ever have.

constant debates about history (esp modern history! which is, regarless, my favourite to study!)

thrifting books from soor al azbakeyah and soor al sayeda zeinab and coming across literal gems that were sold for cheaper than dust

your uni is probably a historical site

just kidding your entire city probably is

long walks in old cairo's warm dusty mornings

constantnly stopping short to take in the glorious architecture you see before you. buildings brimming with equal parts menace and cordial affection that are simultaneously overwhelming and welcoming

does their age take your breath or does their sheer size? does their beauty make your heart flutter or is it the deep, undeniable knowledge that theres never going to be something quite like it ever again?

youre never really out of museums to visit. theres always going to be annother you just havent spotted yet

Did i tell what "cairo" means? It is derived from the arabic word "Al Qahira" meaning, She Who is Victorious. She Who Devastates. She Who is a Conqueress. She Who Is Meciless. a drop in the rich seaof her triumphant history

Visiting the ancient temples in upper egypt, the beauty of whom is so eternally breathtaking it makes you forget the tremendous amount of stairs you had to climb to get there.

Calling north Bahari (meaning "of the sea") even tho that could also be east. But you do it anyway.

The poeple going to and fro being endearing; shout/waving greatings to one another, so full of sincerity and hope in the early morning dew. It feels less lonely somehow

Romanticising everything about life as a form of conscious escapism, like all the poets and playwrights whose blood runs i your veins

there are translated works, and then there are arabic-ized wrorks of literature. its not hard to see that you prefer the latter.

also who came up with titles like "god of sword and quill" and "prince of poets"? we need to have a conversation. i love you and so does everyone else with a basic sense of art

visiting the old palaces and castles and always coming across abandoned ones. you wonder who would dare abpndon something so beautiful. you feel an immense sadness and and a crippling blow of yearning that do nothing to remove the dust coating everything or bring the music back to the pianoforte.

going to bazaars even if you knoe youre not going to buy anything. youre here for the copper, thr bass, the spices and occasional gleap of wine red jewllery. oh and the cat you befriended right outside the coffee shop!

buying jewllery and pottery from khan el khalili or el mo'ez streerts becaue everything is just so pretty and we shop local

going to century+ old cafes and sitting at a table that might have been naguib mahfouz's who knows

analizing the "foreign" words in your dialect and feeling an otherworldluy ense of knowing when you recognize wherethe come from! plage is french! shanta is turkish! em bu comes from coptic eb mu meaning water! nunu is ancient egyptian for fragile! and so much more!

Arabic dark academia

Having tea first thing in the morning, the afternoon, evening, night and whenever you have nothing to do and whenever you have everything to do

Practicing calligraphy, hoarding calligraphy pens and quills like a dragon hoards its jewels

Youre now a calligragon btw

Pretentious hand written letters

Fragments of poetry and prose on the wall

In Egypt you can buy a vintage gramophone (as far as I remember)

Wrinkling your nose at orientalists who have clearly never been anywhere near the culture they're trying to portray.

Appreciating the orientalists who have in fact been there and paint like it. (Sorry to disappoint but there were never sexy slave babes roaming the streets)

Mourning for the scholars of Al Andaluas and times when Arabic was the language of science

Arguing over e'arab (the value of a word with regard to others in the sentence) and balagha (it translates to "eloquence" but is more like a complex version of figures of speech) of words

Arabic being such a complex language you get carried away sometimes

Passing the allotted wordcount so you start going over your paper and compressing a whole sentence, consisting of a conjunction, a subject, a verb and two objects into a word in desperation

Words like فأسقيناكموه (faa'skainakumooh) meaning "and so we have let you drink it" being an example.

Tea over burning coal. Over logs (hatab) tea over bokhour/oud hits different and you know it.

Brewing coffee over low heat and humming to Layali Al Ouns

"No offense but I like real coffee" when someone mentions starbucks

Um Kulthoum and Asmahan are superior you cant change my mind.

NO I DID NOT FORGET ABDUL HALIM HAFEZ I WANTED HIM A BULLET OF HIS OWN.

Fareed al atrash concerts at 3 am.

Nothing you ever cook will be under seasoned.

Reciting poetry to yourself in the mirror

Big chunks of jewelry (usually gold) engraved or woven through with intricate patterns and swirls. Wearing four bracelets in one hand is absolutely fine and under dressing is a myth

Owning swords is not out of fashion (ancient arabs were well known for their swordsmanship) but using them is, unfortunately <3

Wondering how they won wars with these swords. I couldn't even lift it enough to stab myself if I wanted

Extra names. People called شهد honey (shahd), جمال beauty (jamal), زهرة flower (zahra), ليلى night (laila), سماء sky (samaa), مهند/سيف sword (mohanad/saif) and صفاء purity (safaa) like it's the most normal thing in the world (which it should be, along with names of ancient gods)

Poetry from the abbasid era describing palaces and fountains and music so eloquently your heart skips several beats and you wonder how it is still beating at all and if, after all, you have been born in the wrong era.

Classic poetry from the school of Apollo brimming with romance and yearning you have never seen matched.

Poems that tear at your heart and stitch it whole with every bayt (verse? The equivalent for it) and you keep coming back for more.

Stories so well told that you swear you can see the princes and charmers and musicians and dancers all flicker to life in the flames before you

Historical masjids and churches.

Going to the palaces and shrines and towers from the ancient days of yore

Not exclusively (as neither is anything on this list) arabic but BRAIDS and braid jewellery that clinks when you shake your head

The unwavering belief that poetry is meant to be sung.

Singing poetry because it is meant to be sung

Thick eyebrows

Lining already lash lined eyes with kohl.

Beautiful brown eyes. Honey eyes. Chocolate eyes. Freshly turned earth eyes. Eyes that hold all the ethereal beauty of the world.

Hair styled in dark, thick curls or braids

Savouring the way the words move around from your throat to your chest to the tip of your tongue, like liquid gold,

The sweet music from the strings of a qitharah (string instrument)

Scented candles are cute, but have you ever heard of oud (perfume infused wood)? Anyhow one of my Sudanese friends make it AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

Wanting to study with the scholars of baghdad and azhar so bad

Recognizing that for all your culture, some of it is inspired by others and that's okay.

Please add what you can to this list. It is far from complete.