One of my very dearest friend was astounded by a compliment she got in a work-related whatsApp group.

“Waha”, what a unique and beautiful name! Thanks for the compliment, what does it mean, she asked;

It means – a flower in the desert.” She was smiling the brightest of smiles as I replied her.

They say Arabic language is one of the most extensive and intensive languages of the world.

It poetic tradition and inherent artfulness, makes it even more compelling.

The name was actually beautiful as I began to contemplate it profoundness.

On the surface, it means – A blooming flower in the punishing environment of a desert.

But as you dive deep into it’s vastness, you feel the distinctiveness of the name to a heightened degree.

The desert bloom is a climatic phenomenon. Almost like a miracle!

The seeds of the flowers burst open as soon as they receive water from the spring rains.

Their survival depends on this. This I studied in my geography class back in O levels.

Very much like human beings when they’re struck with adversity in life, and the pain that comes with it, comes towards us in it full capacity and weighs us down.

Picture it this way; When the ship is first wrecked, you’re drowning, with wreckage all around you.

The waves of the sea are hundred feet tall and they crash over you without mercy.

Everything floating reminds you of the beauty and magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more.

As time passes, you start to feel the deep fangs of hopelessness tearing your flesh and injecting its venom inside your bones.

Just like the seeds in desert fields lying dormant for months and years, alive but unseen.

We human beings are fragile and enfeebled creatures. We get broken and do not mend easily.

You break from the everyday atrocities of life, and as a matter of fact -you can never be truly beautiful if you haven’t been broken.

Hearts will never be truly practical if they’re made unbreakable.

Why? because when you experience heart-wrenching pain, you gain depth.

You plant seeds in the broken parts of your soul and pray for rain, very certain that Allah (SWT’s) loving hand will never let it go in vain, half on the edge not knowing whether you’ll ever feel full again.

But as Rumi says,

What you seek is seeking you.

Not only do the thirsty seek the water, the water also seeks the thirsty.

That’s when Allah (SWT) comes to help. His merciful hand encompasses the drought of our heart and prepares it for the rain.

It comes as naturally and unexpectedly that we tear with gratitude.

The first drops of rain give rise to hope and gratitude as the seeds begin to sprout.

The rain and joy He sends is enough to cure the grief-stricken heart.

That’s when you bloom, that’s when you become Waha. Rumi also says that,

“These pains that you’re feeling are messengers.

Listen to them as they apply to everything. Once you’d learn to decipher the lessons behind your heartbreaks, you’d accept the seasons of your heart, just as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over the fields.

You’d watch with serenity as they destroy and empty the flower garden, assured by the fact that Allah (SWT) divine light and life-giving rain will make the desert bloom again one day.