When The Fate Strikes In

- Chapter 5 -

"But they plan, and Allah plans.
And Allah is the best of planners."
Al- Quraan (8:30)

•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•

Almost a month had gone by after the trip to Dambulla. Khaleesah was busy studying for her year end exams which were beginning the next day. She was sitting by her room window which faced the busy, noisy road. Her house was a three-storied building in which her room was situated in the second floor.

Khaleesah winced slightly as she heard the loud toots of the buses which had stopped at the bus stand. The bus stand was in her peripheral vision and she could see commuters hurriedly getting onto the buses lined up. It was the last few buses for the day, and they were rushing towards it in hope of somehow getting home. She sighed deeply and tried to bring her concentration back to the geography book placed on the wooden desk in front of her.

Khaleesah liked studying at night as the noisy environment of Galle Road was lesser than what it was at the day time. She hated the bustling, noisy and busy environment of Colombo which was polluted by the loud toots of vehicles and also by the poisonous smoke they emit. Since her house was so close to the main road, the members of her family were often found sniffing or sneezing due to a bad cold, because of the very dusty roads.

She was quite stressed by now, as she always studied only the previous day before the exam. She could never study early and relax the days before the exam like some of her friends could. This had become a habit of hers and she couldn't get rid of it, how ever much her mother or teachers warned her that one day everything might get piled up and she might not be able to study all she has to. But, all these didn't matter to Khaleesah as she was always a top ranker in class. Her rank never went below third and she was truly grateful to Allah for it. Her father would always say he would like to see her become something other than the top ranks. He only felt this way because he was scared for his daughter. He feared the evil eyes of people or the evil of pride which might enter her pure heart, and in turn destroy all the beauty of her character. Like all other parents he was very happy that his beloved daughter was always at the top, but because he feared about her Akhlaaq (conduct, character being tarnished he told her otherwise. However, Khaleesah would always keep chanting 'Laa hawla walaa quwwatha illa billah' (There is no might or power, except with Allah) , when anyone spoke about her rank in class or any form of praise, for the fear that pride might enter her heart and that it might result in her fall one day. Her firm belief and trust in her Rabb made her studies easy for her.

Our Beloved Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
"Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, rather he looks at your heart and your actions."
(Muslim)

But even as Khaleesah studied, there were moments when suddenly her thoughts would drift to him. She didn't understand why. With much difficulty she diverted her attention to the world map she was studying; the important cities, rivers, gulfs and more.

Khaleesah had prepared a small flask of tea for her from which she poured to her ceramic white mug printed with red hearts. She kept taking small sips from it, making sure it wasn't too hot.

Two hours later, she was exhausted and her eyes were stinging. But she had more to study. She glanced at the digital clock above her double bed, it read 11:17 PM. She decided she could take a ten minute break and continue till half past twelve afterwards. She wasn't sleepy since she had slept in the evening but her limbs ached due to sitting in one position for so long.

Exactly ten minutes later, Khaleesah was back to studying but this time many thoughts kept running in her mind. Thoughts which weren't relevant to the subject she was studying at that moment. Thoughts she had control of.