On the Writer’s Desk
The lie in fiction is on the reader’s part; convinced what he’s witnessing is all the...
How To Start a Successful Youth Initiative in Mombasa in 10 Easy Steps
It happens that I was minding my business when a friend who had been recently transferred to Mombasa,...
That Time of the Year
It was buried that October. The seeded fear I’d enshroud my uncle with after my parents died,...
The Ocean Walks the Aisle
The ocean walks the aisle Marries the sand underneath my feet A thirsting ankle for what’s heel...
When We Talk About Love
As much as the next person, I’m a tiny bit obsessed with the notion: everything happens for...
Darussalaam
As she walked into the Fort Jesus that early Wednesday, an ocean breeze ballooning her abaya from...
What are you waiting for? What do you stall for?
There’s a tea place in Old Town by the edge of the sea. I don’t frequent it that much...
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
I’ve often wondered why death is called a final rest. I was seated in the left row, the last...
2 Songs of Despair
Remembering This candle melts like my heart at your first hello Teasing me with skin at the tip of...
Spotlight: A meditation on this Pageantry of Vanity
Yes, as everyone knows, meditation and water are wedded forever” ─Herman Melville,...
Aunty Halima’s Place: Men, Marriage and Corona
“So, when will we know that we’re ready for marriage?” We all cowered around him...
Hire Education
The esteem to which any secondary school is held in this country is dependent on how many students...
The Attitude of Gratitude
This article first appeared in the Standard Newspaper Ramadhan series on 1/5/2020 * Abu Yahya Suhaib...
Of growing Up in Mombasa
“Nyama! Nyama! Nyama!” Those words would put cheer in the air. All the kids would gather...
Ramadhan in the time of Corona
This one I was supposed to post just before Ramadhan, projecting how this month would be like. But...
Her Kind of Beautiful
She’s her own kind of beautiful The kind you wouldn’t notice at first glance, or second,...
A Covid-19 Story
21st March 2020: The day the words stopped. I feel I’ve had better struggles, trying to slow...
Swahili tag
I’ve often told people that if I one day am to tell my story in a crowd of thousands, hundreds...
Where Have The Days Gone Mombasa!
I’m seated in a room full of heads and bodies just brave enough to be here. Armed with pen and...
Rite of Passage
The boy wondered if that was it for him. He scoured over the dozen papers before him, hanging on to...
Someday Maybe
And when news reaches me on the death of a peer’s parents (which has been happening quite a...
Honey
I wish that words Poured out of me The way her neck Pours Into her shoulders...
Rite of Passage: Day One
The boy’s door flew open with a ferocity that knotted his stomach tight with fear, springing...
A Date with Destiny
The sky had grown tired of raining. Leaving but a few stray drops conjoining into tiny streams, sinuously...
Your Network is your Net worth!
I hate social events. Not for the basic reason that I hate people. I happen to love people. But I...
Missing Link
Let me tell you a thing I know. Of blood; and the bonds that bind us. Of time; and what it ultimately...
The African Identity
This one’s a submission I made to a competition I haven’t heard back from… yet...
The Way A Tree Falls: Rise of the C.B.Os
The Lorax: Which way does a tree fall? The Once-ler: Uh, down? The Lorax: A tree falls the way it...
What do I do with my arms?
My friends doth dubbed me thy problem solver. An epitome of sophistication; a repository of information....
The Adult’s Club
People are only worth as much as the memories ascribed to them. When we were kids, adults were these...
RITE OF PASSAGE: PART ONE
The boy wondered if this was it for him. He scoured over the dozen papers before him, hanging on to...
From the Inside Looking Out: A Secret we All Share
That could never be me Sunken deep by the weight on my heart strings wishing I could cut a cord so...
The Secret
This one’s for the ones who actually BELIEVE in something. I’m no expert but I know a...
Manic Pixie Dream Girl
And then she glanced at me. All the way from the other side of the road. And for the first time since...
Coffee at Bustan
2:09P.M. I was searching for new ways to pass the hours of my day that first Tuesday afternoon of...
A Candle in the Wind
I’ve seen people dying. Not the poetic kind of death; the in a blink type of death, I’ve...
Blindspotting
Just you walk in her shoes You’ll be turning heads For not the right reasons Like Why do they...
Talk to Me
So talk to me about your fears What keeps you up late, not to pry Talk to me about the years And how...
Extensions of Who I am
I have a thing for the word. Spoken; written; doesn’t really matter. I’m just taken by...
Home but Homesick
Most often than not, home is not a place. It’s that feeling that comes from seeing their face....
Polaroid
To the one I would never want to be without, This is not much, but I would like to think that you’ll...
KumbuKumbu
Kwa karne nyingi zilizotutangulia, kumeshuhudiliwa mafungamano makuu kati ya waarabu, haswa wa Hadhramout...
Homecoming
I remember the last time I was here. Eyes swollen with a hint of red, with an oily face just like...
The Age of Uncertainty
There’s something so comforting about being in the arms of the night; for the lonesome heart,...
All the Feels; All the Time
Look at those overflowing emotions. What does one do with a heart like that? Lubnah AbdulHalim...
Plummeting
“It’s a lovely night.” “Oh My God! did you just say that?” “What?”...
Oh! How We Grew Into Different People
Little brother, Growth perplexes me. It’s one of those things I can’t get a grasp of....
The First Drop of Rain in a Hurricane
There’s increasing tales of the overnight success. The guy who apparently woke up one day and...
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” I trust...
Pixels
At the heart of reddit is the most supportive online community I know. Fighters; arming one another...
In Bits and Pieces
Grey. I examined them carefully. As I faltered with my thumb trying to wipe off the specks of brown...
What Is It Like In Their Shoes
My friends are better than me. Not that I’m complaining or anything. I’m just saying,...
When We Took the Kardashians for Role Models; #Ifikiewazazi
With the advent of social media, we’re more connected than at any other point in history. This...
Lesssons On Lessons From The Pages Of Ibn Taymiyyah
It’s kind of hard to learn from the living cause it’s almost impossible to take into account...
As I Await My Turn
As I await my turn I can’t help but think of all those who came before me and whether they arrived...
A Diamond In The Rough
I love to study nature to try and figure out how it works because, to me, nature is both beautiful...
IT’S A BRAND-NEW DAWN
New year’s. It’s one of the few points of the year that genuinely excite me. Not because...
“HOW ARE YOU”
Hello, how are you? I’ve been wondering if after all this time you’d like to come to terms with the...
Before New Beginnings
Trauma permanently changes us. That’s the big scary truth. There’s really no such thing as ‘getting...