Elif Shafak

till waters—a predictable sequence of habits, needs, and preferences.

ore important things than passion and love in a marriage, such as understanding, affection, compassion, and that most godlike act a person could perform, forgiveness.

g, busy house with children, elegant furniture, and the wafting scent of homemade pies

ve came to Ella as suddenly and brusquely as if a stone had been hurled from out of nowhere into the tranquil pond of her life.

Isn’t connecting people to distant lands and cultures one of the strengths of good literature?”

ecret of the Qur’an lies in the verse Al-Fatiha,
And the secret of Al-Fatiha lies in Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
And the quintessence of Bismillah is the letter ba,
And there is a dot below that letter.…
The dot underneath the B embodies the entire universe.…

The Mathnawi starts with B,

secret of the Qur’an lies in the verse Al-Fatiha,
And the secret of Al-Fatiha lies in Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
And the quintessence of Bismillah is the letter ba,
And there is a dot below that letter.…
The dot underneath the B embodies the entire universe.…

The Mathnawi starts with B,

There were more important things than passion and love in a marriage, such as understanding, affection, compassion, and that most godlike act a person could perform, forgiveness. Love was secondary to any of these. Unless, that is, one lived in novels or romantic movies, where the protagonists were always larger than life and their love nothing short of legend.

But then again, this world was not known for its justice, was it

But then again, this world was not known for its justice, was it?