أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ ⊙ حَتَّى ٰ زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ⊙

1. The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things),

2. Until you visit the graves.

~Surah At-Takaasur- 102(verse 1 & 2)~

********************************

Inaraah's p.o.v

Qureshi mansion- Alhaan's room:

Whole month passed by in visiting all relatives house. I didn't know I had so many relatives. I was preparing the bed, lost in my own thoughts that I didn't realize when Alhaan walked into the room.

Yeah Yeah.. I finally stopped calling him sir.

"Where are you lost?" Alhaan asked.

I turned to him fully and said, "After Suhana's wedding I am not going to attend any function for months." All the relatives fed me as if I didn't eat food for many years or something.
"Why don't you skip Suhana's wedding as well?" Alhaan said.

"Bad joke. Try better next time." I replied.

"Uh.. Alhaan can I stay for at least......." Before I could complete Alhaan interrupted me, "Inaraah we are not having this discussion again. I already said you my decision."

I huffed at his childish-ness. He is not letting me stay at Suhana's place. She will get married and then we won't be able to spend much time together.

"Please Alhaan. You know she came to stay with me, a week before our wedding. She was with me all the time. Its just a matter of week. Please." I spoke with a hope that he will agree.

"Inaraah I will drop you at her place in the morning and pick you up at night. This way you can spend your whole day with her. And please I don't want further discussions now." He replied.

Argh! I can't believe he is doing this to me. Mamma Abbu already gave me permission but my stubborn husband is not letting me go.

Alhaan took my hand and we both settled on the bed. He made me angry and now he will have to bear my silent treatment. I leaned my head on the headboard looking straight avoiding eye contact with him.

"Common Inaraah, stop ignoring me. I hardly get to spend time with you. Our relatives have spent more time with you and know you more than me.

Whole day goes in the office and its only during evening, I get to spend some time with you. I am not stopping you from going, I just don't want you to stay back at night. Even I need your time and attention. That's the least I expect from you."

He very well knows what will melt me and he is exactly doing that. He is right though, we hardly get time for each other. I looked at him who was staring back at me with hopeful eyes and I gave in. "Okay fine." His lips twitched up into a big smile and he pulled me towards him.

"So let's get to know each other." Alhaan said.

"And what exactly you want to know?" I questioned raising my eyebrow at him.

"Everything. Your likes, dislikes and so on." He replied.

"Really? Okay then you go first." I said.

"Okay fine. What's your favourite dish?" He asked.

I raised my eyebrow at him. Really that's what he wants to know. "I thought you already know my favourite dish." I replied.

"Umm.. Well you aren't a true Hyderabadi if Biryani isn't your favourite. So it is Biryani." He said. I laughed at his way of description.

"Yes of course. And other than biryani I love fast food and street food." I answered.

"And still you are so lean." Alhaan remarked. I just ignored it. What is my fault if I am skinny even after eating so much.

"I know your favourite is Biryani too, so please go ahead with your questions." I said.

"Okay. Do you have any favourite celebrity? I mean crush on any celebrity or something?" He asked.

I resisted myself from laughing at his possessive-ness. An idea clicked my mind and I thought to tease him.

"No I don't have any favourite celebrity nor do I have crush on anyone." I replied.

He smiled at that and said, "I like that reply."

Hahaha.. How will I let him go like that. He always tease me and now its payback time. "Exactly. I mean it's haraam(forbidden) to even look at guys, let alone liking them." I said.

His smile vanished at my reply. He was expecting that I would say something like 'How can I like anyone, other than my husband.'

"What?" I asked innocently.

"I will pretend as if I didn't hear that." He replied sounding annoyed.

I couldn't control myself and burst out into fits of laughter. Alhaan left me and leaned back on the headboard. I composed myself and moved near him.

"I was just joking Alhaan. Leave it now. What more do you want to know?" I asked. He remained silent for few seconds and then placed his hand on my shoulder pulling me into him.

"What is your favourite colour?" He questioned.

"Really now? As if you don't know my favourite colour." I replied.

"Of course I know. I was just following the drill. It's blue." He said.

I just shook my head at his silliness. Our room is a combination of blue and black. Black is Alhaan's favourite colour. I really love the room's interior. Alhaan renovated the room before our marriage in such a way that it had both the colours.

Not only the room, he practically changed his wardrobe. Half of his wardrobe is filled with different shades of blue shirts and tees.

'Alhaan and his craziness.'

"I never got a chance to ask you. How is our room's interior?" Alhaan asked.

"It's beautiful." I replied.

"That's it. You don't want to comment or change anything?" He asked. Basically he wants me to praise him which I won't do for sure.

"In that case, I do want to share my views. It would have been more beautiful if the wardrobe was completely blue and the background behind it was black." I said.

Alhaan looked in the direction of wardrobe and was lost in his thoughts, maybe pondering over my words. I bit my lower lip to hide my smile. He turned towards me and said, "You are actually right. It would have been more attractive if it was plain blue with black background. I must say you have good sense about interiors."

"Of course I have. I always wished to be an interior designer. It was my dream." I replied. I realized what I told and looked at Alhaan who looked confused.

"You wanted to be an interior designer?" Alhaan questioned. What should I say now? If I continue this topic, then I should tell about him as well.

"Enough about me Alhaan. Tell me something about you. How was your life in London?" I said trying to change the topic.

He remained silent for few seconds. My heart was trembling in fear. After a moment he spoke. "It was good. Though it was difficult to stay away from everyone but I made some really good friends. We did many adventures together."

"Adventures like?" I asked.

"Sea diving, Bungee jumping, Paragliding, road trips.." He replied. I was seriously shocked to know about his adventures. Woah! I didn't know he is so sporty.

"That's really amazing." I said. We remain silent for few minutes. I was simply sitting holding Alhaan who seemed to be lost in some really deep thoughts.

He cleared his throat and I looked at him. "What was your opinion about me when we first met?" He asked.

I smiled thinking of that time. "At first I thought you are rude and egoistic. I was scared when you over heard my conversation with Azaan Bhai. I thought you would make me pay for my words." I said.

"Well that's partly true. I did plan to take revenge on you." Alhaan said.

"Really?" I asked shocked on his revelation.

"Yeah. I mean I spent two years working in a foreign company and when you said you want to work with Azaan bhai instead of me, I was mad at you." He said.

"And what revenge did you plan for me?" I questioned.

He chuckled remembering something. "Well I thought to make you go through all the old records and ask you to make notes on it. And when you would present it to me, I would chuck it in the bin." He told about his evil plan.

I can't believe he planned something like that. How can he do that? What was my mistake? "Wait. Then why didn't you implement it?" I asked.

"I couldn't. Whenever I thought to do so my heart stopped me. I don't know whether it was your innocence or your eyes which stopped me, but I just couldn't do it.

And I heard a lot about you from Azaan bhai. He really adores you which made me realize that you are comfortable in his presence and that's why you didn't want him to leave the department." He replied.

I was touched by his reply. "Then why did you ask me to brief you?" I asked him.

He looked into my eyes which made me conscious. I was about to look away but his words stopped me. "Because I wanted your attention. I know it was wrong of me to do so but I guess it's human nature. I was used to girls attention and when you avoided me I couldn't take it. That's why I asked you to brief me about the team."

I was so shocked to hear that. Somewhere I was wrong to judge him. I did many mistakes because of my judgement. But today I want to know everything.

"And what made you want to marry me?" I questioned.

He lowered his head and brought it close to my ear. "Everything." He whispered. I closed my eyes and a chill went throughout my body. I looked into his eyes, silently asking him to speak.

"Everyone around me used to speak about you and your character. I was very much pleased with your nature. You used to work hard with determination but your eyes used to reflect your inner self.

You are really sensitive and innocent and I always had a feeling that I should protect you. I became restless when I saw you crying in the park near orphanage." Alhaan said.

I froze at my spot thinking about that day. I was praying to Allah that he doesn't question about it.

*****************************

Alhaan's p.o.v:

Qureshi mansion- Alhaan's room:

Inaraah became tensed in my arms when I mentioned about the day in park. I know she is not ready to share with me yet. That's the reason she dodged my question when I asked about her interest in interior designing. I let go off the topic as she is not comfortable with it.

"I said everything to my brothers and they asked me whether I fell in love with you?" I said. I looked at her whose eyes were wide. I shook my head at her and said, "Don't strain your eyes Inaraah."

She looked down hearing my comment. I smiled at her silliness and continued. "I denied them. But they asked me to ponder over my feelings. And one day I saw you laughing with Sagar. Unknown to me, I felt jealous seeing you both."

"Wait. When did I laugh with Sagar?" Inaraah questioned.

"When we were facing some problems with software and you all were simply sitting with absolutely no work to do." I replied.

Her brows furrowed and suddenly her mouth formed an 'O'. "Accha(Oh) that. He was telling us about his college. How they themselves corrupted the systems so they don't have to do practical and can leave early. But to their bad luck, sir took them 3 hours extra class. And that's why we were laughing." She explained.

"Whatever it might be. You never ever looked at me while talking and you were laughing with him." I complained.

"You are seriously a kid at times. Okay leave that now and please continue." Inaraah said.

"Yeah fine. After the problem was solved, I went to meet Fatima aunty and she informed me that your parents are looking proposal for you. That was the last string of my patience.

One thing was clear that I can never imagine you being with someone else. So I did my Istikarah prayer and then you know the rest." I said.

"Hmm. Quite a story. Little dramatic I may add." Inaraah replied.

"Okay so tell me what's your current opinion about me? Am I still rude and egoistic?" I questioned.

Inaraah shook her head as no and excitedly said, "NO. Now you are exactly like the one I described in my poems." Her eyes again went wide realizing what she just said.

"You write poems?" I countered. She was biting her lower lip, definitely trying to change the topic but I won't let her do that.

"What did it feel like coming back home?" Inaraah cross-questioned.

I raised my right eyebrow at her and said, "I want to see your poems wifey."

"Ufff... Can't you just ignore that." Inaraah huffed.

"No I won't. You wrote them for me and I want to read them. Moreover I am your husband, you shouldn't hide things from me." I replied.

She just glared at me and silently got up from her place. She went near the cupboard and took out her diary.

'She writes diary? How on earth I didn't knew about it?'

She came and sat beside me. She was turning pages, searching for the poem. She wrote quite a good number of poems. I hope one day she will let me read all those poems. She stopped at one page and forwarded me the diary to read it. I took it from her and started reading it.

The effect you have on me is unknown to you..
But my feelings for you are true..

You are not with me all the time..
Still you are completely mine..

There is a soft corner for you in my heart..
Your one thought is enough for it to beat fast..

Long walks with you is my dream..
In a cool weather with a cup of ice cream..

Your thoughts always make me shy..
Leaving a silly smile and stomach full of butterfly..

Future with you is my only goal..
I am attached to you with my soul..

Maybe life will be like a roller coaster ride..
But I promise to be with you by your side..

I was at short of words with the way she described her feelings. Thing with Inaraah is, she cannot voice out her thoughts. But she really have an amazing way to express them. I looked at her but she turned my face to the other side.

"Don't look at me okay. I know it's silly of me to write such things. So please don't comment on that." She hastily replied.

I kept the diary aside and took her hands in mine. I looked in her eyes and said, "It's not silly Inaraah. Instead you have a beautiful way of expressing your emotions. I am really amazed at your choice of words.

I promise to fulfil all your wishes. Be it going on dates, road trips, exploring the world, buying expensive....."

I was about to speak further but Inaraah interrupted me. "I don't want such a life Alhaan." Her face held so many emotions which I couldn't make out. Her palms became sweaty and her forehead marred into what felt like worry or maybe guilt.

"I... Once..."She was trying to speak but she was unable to. She swallowed the lump and took a deep breath.

"There was a time when I was so lost in worldly things. I was completely opposite of what I am now. I... uh... I used to oppose the teachings of Islam.

All in all I was a complete rebel. I used to pray but other than that I used to do all those things which were forbidden like not wearing hijab, friendship with opposite gender and many more. But one day... one day..." Tears slipped from her eyes and her breathing laboured. She was looking so vulnerable and completely at war with herself.

I made her drink water and she relaxed a bit. "I committed a lot of sins in my past Alhaan. It took me many years to realize how wrong I was and how wrong I was living my life. As you said before, everything which pleases us is limited to this world only. And it's only our deeds which we carry to our graves

Whenever I listen to your recitation of Quran, I feel like a loser. Somewhere I feel envious that I can't recite it like the way you does. When I was learning Quran, I did learn the tajweed(proper pronunciation) but I lost myself in this world. Now I struggle to read it properly." She said feeling guilty.

Her past is still a mystery to me but one thing is clear that it left a deep impact on her. I don't know when she will share it with me, but for now I need to hold her close to me.

"Sshhh.. relax Inaraah. Everyone commit mistakes in their life. But Allah is Al-Ghaffar(The All -Forgiving). He surely forgives every sin if we truly repent.

And about the recitation, I will help you in learning it properly. It's a blessing to read Quran with your better half and we can together try to memorize it as well In sha Allah." I spoke while rubbing her back soothing-ly.

She relaxed in my embrace and when she was completely calm I made her lie on the bed. She placed her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. I know she trusts me but I need to give her assurance that I will be by her side no matter how bad the situation is.

Tomorrow is our first month anniversary and I will make sure to make it memorable for Inaraah. Sometimes it's necessary to put words into action to make our better half feel special and loved. And it's time for Inaraah to know what I feel about her. I was excited for what I have in store for her who was peacefully sleeping in my embrace. I kissed her forehead and let the sleep consume me.