Syed Afaq Ali

The great Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges (1899 – 1986) explains why English is “a far finer language than Spanish.” I was very impressed by his collection of short stories, Ficciones.

A photograph by Félix Thiollier (c. 1899)—quite possibly my favourite photograph of all time

A secular world is impossible, not just because it could not understand itself except in relation to God, but because the world continually presents the trace of God. As that from which God is absent, it proclaims God even more emphatically. — David Walsh, Invisible Source 60

Yes. Writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking. Writing *is* thinking. Students, academics, and anyone else who outsources their writing to LLMs will find their screens full of words and their minds emptied of thought.

Frantz Fanon would have been 100 years old today! Although I love his two classic works, Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth, I encourage you all, on his birthday no less, to get to know Fanon better. Read his letters, psychiatric writings, speeches and plays!

Tragic news continues to arrive in these days from the Middle East, especially from Gaza. I express my profound sadness regarding last Thursday’s attack by the Israeli army on the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City, which as you know killed three Christians and…

“As Proust says, [literature] opens up a kind of foreign language within language, which is…a becoming-other of language, a minorization of this major language, a delirium that carries it off, a witch’s line that escapes the dominant system.” — Deleuze, “Literature and Life”

Fourteen centuries ago, a lone man stood defiantly in the scorching deserts of Arabia, encircled by thousands thirsting for his surrender. He refused the chains of humiliation, his stand ignited a flame that forever changed the course of history.

Zohran Mamdani on Imam Husayn, Ashura, Karbala, and fighting oppression, even against the odds. "To stand up for justice... often means doing that which is difficult." Powerful:

"Avoid frequent conversations with the same persons, and long conversations on the same subject; for there is satiety in all things." -Isocrates, 'Letter to Demonicus' ca. 374 BC

Our heartfelt condolences to all who observe ʿĀshūrāʾ, the 10th of Muḥarram, which marks the martyrdom of our Imām Ḥusayn, the cherished grandson of the Prophet, who was slain along with his loyal companions. In the mystical tradition, he is considered a Perfect Human.

The largest Jewish population outside Tel Aviv is in NYC. Zohran Mamdani spoke out against antisemitism yet stood firm on Gaza. No hedging, no moral cowardice — and now he’s winning the primary. That’s what principled politics looks like.

A Shia nation handed the Jewish state a burning humiliation in the Middle East. The next day, a Shia candidate handed the Jewish lobby a burning defeat in the New York mayoral primaries. Wallahi, the power is strong with the Shia. They cancel Jewish power with elegance and ease

“Israel has written one of the darkest pages in the history of genocide.” —Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur

In the Islamic philosophical tradition, Plato is often called "the Divine Plato" (Aflāṭūn al-Ilāhī) and Aristotle is known as "the First Teacher" (al-Muʿallim al-Awwal).

In 1919, Bertrand Russell expressed his shock upon realising that Wittgenstein had become a true mystic. At the time, Wittgenstein was reading Kierkegaard and Angelus Silesius with fervent devotion and was contemplating a monastic life.

Tulsi Gabbard went from condemning Hillary Clinton as the "queen of warmongers" only to follow in her footsteps. A likely psyop from the beginning, the mask is fully off as she parrots the talking points of her warmongering masters that, if fulfilled, will start a world war.

This cartoon was drawn in 2017. 8 years later, and it’s still dead-on.

My very apolitical friend just said to me ‘No one f*cks with North Korea. Why do you think that is?’ Yep. There’s a clear message for a lot of Global South and Middle Eastern countries tonight. Sadly. And it isn’t a nonproliferation message.