can i tell you a secret?

so it's been about a week and i've got the consonants pretty much down (except for the one that looks like a big backwards "3" that i can't really say with any accuracy, but maybe with a little more practice...) and we just finished the short vowels (so it's maybe another week or so before it's time to start on the Quran!)

my friend-- and nearest peer-- just started reading the Quran yesterday; i'm hoping to catch up so we can recite together. (i think the shiekh is hoping this as well, he seems a little swarmed at the moment: there are so many of us crammed into that little room reciting at him, crowding around his desk, leaning forward, intent...)

so there's this group that i kind of watch out of the corner of my eye while i'm copying out my lessons-- it's a woman, a boy, and three girls, all reading together. the woman caught my eye because she wears niqab and i'm sort of fascinated by how you can tell the look on her face by the look in her eyes-- smart, friendly, outgoing. (i'm kind of rooting for her.) so a couple of days ago i was sitting off to the side while they were reciting and i was trying discreetly to read over her shoulder (she reads with her finger on the page, so it's easier to follow) and the sound sort of got stuck in my head; it was a short sura with a very distinctive ending to each line.

at night now, when i read the Quran just before bed, i've been trying to find the words i recognize (God, names that they spell out) on the Arabic side of my bilingual edition, trying to say them to myself, to hear the sounds. sometimes i try to sound out a whole line, if it looks simple. last night i flipped to the back to try out something short and i found the sura they've been reciting! it's the last one, al Nas.

okay, maybe that sounds a little small for a secret, but considering i knew about three letters of the alphabet a week ago, being able to recognize something written in Arabic is a big deal for me. only a couple of days ago i realized i could read the little sign that says "halal" on my food and the little sign with the "BismiAllah" over the cash register at the Pakistani restaurant. it's only been a week but already there is something very different, like the opening of a whole new world that was incomprehensible not that long ago.

but i don't think i'm supposed to peek ahead, so i'm going to keep this little discovery a secret.