Packed Thoughts

بالإشارة إلى الموضوع أعلاه

July 2, 2026

المرجع من المنارة التاريخ 2 يوليو 2026

إلى قرّاء المدونة الكرام المحترمين

تحية طيبة وبعد ،،،

الموضوع: صفحةٌ جديدةٌ لنماذج المخاطبات الرسمية

يسعدني أن أضع بين أيديكم صفحةً جديدةً في الموقع حيث تم تجميع نماذجَ جاهزةً من المخاطبات الرسمية كي تستعملونها كما هي من غير أي تغيير وتعديل جذري فيها سوى التفاصيل التي تخصّكم.

تم اختيار أكثر الكتب دَوَراناً في العمل الحكومي، وتم ترتيبها في خمس فئات: الاستفسار، والطلب، والتوجيه، والإخطار، والإحالة. ولكلِّ فئةٍ كتابٌ يفتتح المراسلة ورَدُّه الصادر، فترون الوجهين معاً: كيف يُكتب الكتاب، وكيف يُردُّ عليه.

والصفحة متحركة وغير جامدة: في أعلاها مفتاحٌ يبدّل العرض بين «الرسالة» و«النموذج». فمع «الرسالة» يظهر المثال كاملاً بتفاصيله؛ ومع «النموذج» تخفُت الفراغاتُ المتغيّرة، فتضغطون على أيِّ فراغٍ مُلوَّنٍ ليخبركم بما يُكتب فيه. اختاروا الفئة من الأعلى، واقرؤوا المثال، ثم بدّلوا إلى «النموذج» لتأخذوا الهيكل وتملؤوه بما يخصّكم.

وما هذه الصفحة إلا خلاصةُ عادةٍ قديمةٍ عندي؛ فمنذ سنواتٍ وأنا أحتفظ على سطح مكتبي بنماذجَ شبيهةٍ بهذه الكتب، أعود إليها كلّما لزمني كتابٌ رسميٌّ، فلا أبدأ من فراغ، بل أنسخ النموذج وأبدّل التفاصيل وحدها. فأحببتُ أن أنقل هذه العادة إليكم في صورةٍ أوضحَ وأيسرَ، تكون في متناول أيديكم متى شئتم.

أرجو أن تجدوا فيها ما يوفّر عليكم الوقتَ والعناء، وأن تكون لكم منارةً صغيرةً نضيء لكم بها مراسلاتكم.

وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام والتقدير ،،،

حارس المنارة

Write in the logbook
The Bite

June 30, 2026

In 2002, Warren Zevon sat across from David Letterman on his final television appearance. He had terminal lung cancer. Letterman asked him what his diagnosis had taught him about life. Zevon said: you are reminded to enjoy every sandwich.

Not every sunset. Not every journey. Every sandwich.

This post is about sandwiches. And I am not apologising for it.

A sandwich is not a recipe. It is eyeballed. Built by feel. By what is in the fridge at that moment. By how hungry you are standing in front of an open door with cold air on your face and nothing planned. No two are the same. Even when you use the same ingredients.

Some days it is precise. Every layer aligned. Every edge trimmed. Other days it is chaos. Overstuffed. Dripping. Falling apart in your hands. Both are correct. Both are art. Look at one from the side after you cut it in half. The colours. The layers. Green against white against pink against gold. A Michelin-starred chef plates one with tweezers and calls it a deconstructed croque monsieur. A man on a street cart in Istanbul wraps one in paper with his bare hands and calls it breakfast. The difference is the price. Never the love.

Every culture has one. The banh mi. The bocadillo. The shawarma wrap. The club sandwich at the hotel you cannot afford but ordered room service at anyway. A sandwich does not belong to a cuisine. It belongs to hunger. And sometimes to something quieter than hunger.

When a mother makes one for her child, she is not assembling ingredients. She is giving something. When a wife wraps one for her husband before he leaves. When a man leaves one in the fridge for the woman he loves to find. Because a sandwich is made entirely with your hands. You choose every layer. You press it together. You squeeze it. You cut it if it is for a child. And then you tuck it. Into paper. Into a box. Into a bag. That tucking is the most intimate part. You are wrapping something you made with your hands for someone you love to open when you are not there. That is not cooking. That is a letter written in bread.

They travel with you. They wait for you at midnight. They sit with you on a park bench. They leave evidence on your shirt and crumbs on your desk. They fill us when we are empty and ask nothing in return.

And that is exactly what Zevon meant. He was dying. He did not say enjoy every symphony. He said enjoy every sandwich. Because the point was never the extraordinary things. It was the ordinary ones. The ones you make in two minutes and forget by the afternoon. Those are the ones worth savouring. Because one day you will not be able to make one.

Enjoy every sandwich.

Now that I am in the workshop, I am making five on rotation. They change when the fridge changes. You will find them on a new page called The Bite. When the bread runs out, the five will change. Because that is what sandwiches do. They are never permanent. They are always right now.

Write in the logbook
The Brew

June 29, 2026

Unlike many Kuwaitis, I was not introduced to coffee through a Starbucks Frappuccino or Arabic coffee. My introduction was قاصد خير’s famous فرنسية حلوة. I started young. Middle school. I even asked the Sabry the coffee and shisha short funny guy to teach me how he makes it. Turkish coffee with carnation. Nothing fancy. Everything right.

From there I moved to dark Turkish, mid-sweet. By the end of high school, no sweet.

During my first year of university I discovered the French press and the watery espresso which was made using the Moka pot. By my second year I had my first espresso machine. This was before Nespresso existed. When it did, I bought one for my first job.

But all of those years I drank coffee for the caffeine. To stay awake. To get through. It was a task. Not an indulgence.

The indulgence started during my postgraduate years when I was introduced to 90+ graded specialty coffee beans. I brewed them as French press, V60, Kalita, AeroPress, and my favourite at the time, the Clever Dripper. I got certified in multiple SCAE professional courses. I bought a handmade Japanese gooseneck kettle from Japan and fell in love with the zen of a slow manual pour. The patience. The precision. The ritual of watching water spiral through grounds at exactly the right speed.

Today I have a Fancy La Marzocco with multiple grinders for milk-based drinks. The courses. The equipment. The kettle. The ritual. Years of learning. Thousands spent.

Then I found the Xbloom.

It does what took me years to learn in under four minutes. Every technique. Every calibration. Every meditative pour. Replaced by a machine that understands coffee better than my hands do. If I were to start over and could only keep one tool, it would be the Xbloom. It would have saved me the courses, the equipment, the grinders, and the years of convincing myself that the ritual was the point. The coffee was always the point. The Xbloom knows that.

Now that I am in the workshop, I am drinking two to four cups a day and going through bags faster than I go through blog posts. So from time to time I will be sharing which coffee I am drinking and the best Xbloom recipe used for it.

If you are a coffee lover, I hope you enjoy. And if you have a recommendation or want me to try specific coffee beans and develop a recipe for it, leave a note in the logbook or send a signal.

Write in the logbook
كفّارةُ سنةٍ في يوم

June 23, 2026

يوم عاشوراء يومٌ من أيام الله المباركة، نجّى الله فيه نبيَّه موسى عليه السلام وقومَه من فرعون وجنوده، وعظّمه النبي ﷺ فصامه شُكرًا لله وأمر المسلمين بصيامه. وبيّن الشيخ ابن باز رحمه الله فضلَ هذا الشهر فقال: — يقول النبي ﷺ: أفضلُ الصيام بعد رمضان شهرُ الله المحرّم… فالسنّة أن يُصام هذا اليوم يوم عاشوراء.

وأصلُ مشروعية صيامه ما ثبت عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما — في صحيح مسلم — قال: قَدِم النبيُّ ﷺ المدينةَ فرأى اليهودَ تصوم يومَ عاشوراء، فقال: — ما هذا؟ قالوا: هذا يومٌ صالح، هذا يومٌ نجّى الله فيه بني إسرائيل من عدوّهم فصامه موسى. قال: — فأنا أحقُّ بموسى منكم. فصامه وأمر بصيامه.

وقد كانت العربُ تعرفه قبل ذلك، فثبت عن عائشة رضي الله عنها — متفقٌ عليه — قالت: كانت قريشٌ تصوم عاشوراء في الجاهلية، وكان رسولُ الله ﷺ يصومه، فلمّا هاجر إلى المدينة صامه وأمر بصيامه، فلمّا فُرض رمضان كان هو الفريضةَ وتُرك عاشوراء، فمن شاء صامه ومن شاء تركه.

وأمّا فضلُ صيامه فقد جاء عن أبي قتادة رضي الله عنه — في صحيح مسلم — أنّ رسولَ الله ﷺ سُئل عن صوم يوم عاشوراء فقال: — أحتسبُ على الله أن يُكفّر السنةَ التي قبله.

ولأنّ اليهود كانوا يصومون العاشرَ وحده، شرع النبيُّ ﷺ مخالفتَهم بضمّ يومٍ إليه. فقد ثبت عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما — في صحيح مسلم — قال: قال رسولُ الله ﷺ حين صام يومَ عاشوراء وأمر بصيامه، فقالوا: يا رسولَ الله إنّه يومٌ تعظّمه اليهود والنصارى، فقال: — فإذا كان العامُ المقبلُ إن شاء الله صُمنا اليومَ التاسع. قال: فلم يأتِ العامُ المقبلُ حتى توفّي رسولُ الله ﷺ.

ولذلك قرّر الشيخ ابن باز رحمه الله ما يُستحبّ صومه فقال: — أمّا صيامُ عاشوراء فالسنّة أن يصوم الإنسانُ اليومَ العاشر من المحرّم، وأن يصوم معه يومًا قبله أو يومًا بعده، والأفضل أن يصوم التاسع مع العاشر، لقول النبي ﷺ: «لئن عشتُ إلى قابلٍ لأصومنّ التاسع» يعني: مع العاشر… فالسنّة للمؤمن أن يصوم التاسع والعاشر جميعًا، أو يصوم العاشر ومعه الحادي عشر، أو يصوم الثلاثة جميعًا: التاسع والعاشر والحادي عشر، كلُّ هذا فيه مخالفة لليهود.

وفصّل الشيخ ابن عثيمين رحمه الله مراتبَ صومه فقال: — قال بعض العلماء إنّ صيام عاشوراء على ثلاث مراتب: المرتبة الأولى: أن يصوم التاسعَ والعاشرَ والحادي عشر. والمرتبة الثانية: أن يصوم التاسعَ والعاشر. والمرتبة الثالثة: أن يصوم العاشرَ والحادي عشر، هذا هو الأفضل. وأمّا من اقتصر على العاشر فلا حرج عليه لعموم الأدلّة الدالّة على فضيلة ثواب صوم اليوم العاشر.

ويُرجِّح الشيخ ابن عثيمين رحمه الله جمعَ التاسع والعاشر فيقول: — الأفضل للإنسان أن يصوم التاسعَ والعاشرَ من شهر المحرّم، هذا هو الأفضل، لأنّ النبي ﷺ سُئل عن صومه في عاشوراء فقال: «أحتسبُ على الله أن يُكفّر السنةَ التي قبله»، لكنّه قال: «لئن بقيتُ إلى قابلٍ لأصومنّ التاسع» يعني مع العاشر… فالأفضل أن يصوم قبله يومًا أو بعده يومًا، وإن صام التاسع فهو أفضل من صوم الحادي عشر.

فاجعل لك من هذا اليوم نصيبًا من الصيام والذكر والاستغفار، شُكرًا لله الذي نجّى موسى وأهلك فرعون، ورجاءَ أن يُكفّر اللهُ به ما تقدّم من ذنبك.

اللهم تقبّل منّا صيامنا وقيامنا، واغفر لنا ما تقدّم من ذنبنا، واجعلنا ممّن إذا أنعمتَ عليه شكر، وإذا ابتُلي صبر، وإذا أذنب استغفر.

Write in the logbook
Gravity

June 22, 2026

I said I would not be posting for a while. That the keeper was stepping down to the workshop.

And then something pulled me back up. The only word that fits is gravity.

What is gravity?

Newton gave us the equation. He explained apples, tides, orbits, and the moon with one formula. But he refused to say what gravity was. He described its behaviour with perfect precision and admitted he had no idea what he was describing. The most powerful description in the history of science. Of something the scientist himself could not explain.

Scientists described what gravity does. None of them described what it is or what it feels like.

So the singers tried. And they were better.

Coldplay used gravity as romance. The force that pulls two people toward each other when they look at the same sky.

Mayer used gravity as resistance. The thing working against him every time he tries to rise. The weight that wants him back on the ground no matter how hard he climbs.

A Perfect Circle used gravity as addiction. Lost, broken, dizzy, surrendering. Hands reaching for another pill. The pull toward the thing that is destroying you while you beg to be released from it.

Sara Bareilles used gravity as a person. Someone she keeps falling back to no matter how many times she tries to leave. The pull is not physical. It is emotional. And it is the one she cannot resist.

Love. Resistance. Addiction. And the person you cannot leave. Four songs. Four gravities. All real.

And anyone who has ever been unable to get out of bed on a morning when nothing is physically wrong knows a fifth. The alarm goes off. The body says no. Not tired. Not lazy. Just heavy. The kind of heavy that has no name and no song and no lyric. That is also gravity. The one nobody sings about because the person feeling it cannot get up to press play.

Five gravities. And nobody wrote an equation for any of them.

The singers understood what the scientists did not. That gravity is not one thing. It is the pull toward the person you love and the weight that keeps you from getting up. It is what brings you home and what pins you down. Warmth and heaviness. Love and depression. The same invisible force doing opposite things to different people on different days.

Maybe gravity was never meant to be explained. Maybe it was only ever meant to be felt.

And maybe all five explain why I am here. The romance of writing pulled me back. The resistance of the workshop tried to keep me down there. The addiction to this screen won again. The person I cannot leave is this blog. And some mornings, the heaviness almost kept me in bed instead.

But gravity won. It always does.

Hopefully this is my last post for a while. I am going back to the workshop. And this time I am building an anti-gravity suit first. I need more time down there.

And to the gravity that keeps pulling me back to this screen,

Set me free, leave me be.

Write in the logbook

بالإشارة إلى الموضوع أعلاه

The Bite

The Brew

كفّارةُ سنةٍ في يوم

Gravity