Sumaiya Syed

“Tell him that he and all of the other moderate Negroes who are getting somewhere need to always remember that it was us extremists who made it possible.”
― Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X

“But why should 1299 CE be considered the founding date of the empire? – there were no famous battles, no declarations of independence or storming of a bastille. The simplest explanations are often the most convincing: that year corresponds to the years 699–700 in the Islamic calendar. By rare mathematical coincidence, the centuries turned at the same time in both the Christian and Islamic calendars. What more auspicious year to mark the founding of an empire that spanned Europe and the Middle East?”
― Caroline Finkel, Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire

“No one had ever kissed me with such love, and it occurred to me that happiness can reach such depths that it becomes something akin to grief.”
― Susan Abulhawa, Against the Loveless World

“He saw that a moon arose from the holy man’s breast and came to sink in his own breast. A tree then sprouted from his navel and its shade compassed the world. Beneath this shade there were mountains, and streams flowed forth from the foot of each mountain. Some people drank from these running waters, others watered gardens, while yet others caused fountains to flow. When Osman awoke he told the story to the holy man, who said ‘Osman, my son, congratulations, for God has given the imperial office to you and your descendants and my daughter Malhun shall be your wife’.”
― Caroline Finkel, Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire