To recite the Quran and its surahs (chapters), one must face the Qiblah (the direction towards Mecca relative to your location). This practice applies to prayer as well.
Zeynel starts his recitation with the Bismillah/Basmala, which is an opening formula frequently used at the beginning of activities, religious or otherwise.
In 2016, I said:
“I imagine Zeynel having a light pleasing voice when he recites. His speaking voice is also equally silvery? (but slightly deeper than his singing/recital voice) How I describe it is a ‘nerd voice’, cos basically that’s what he is. It has the sound of something being pulled back, as he stutters and tries to get his words out, while also not letting that something out at the same time.”
My only retrospective commentary is that I’ve figured it out: his voice is in the range of a Broadway protagonist tenor*. Warm, gentle, light and pleasant.
*Mark Seibert, the German stage actor/singer
Zeynel is once again surprised by this sudden request, and not with a little anxiety, replies, “Really? Oh, oh okay. Where is the Qiblah?”
Selim gestures with his thumb the direction towards Mecca, the Holy City.
“Ah, thank you.”
Very easily, Zeynel commences a well-practised ritual. Facing the Qiblah, he sits on his legs, and raises his hands together in front of him, in a position evoking an open book. He breathes slowly, gently… immersing himself in the sacredness of the moment.
He opens his recitation with a prayer.
“Bismillah il-Rahman il-Rahim…”
“In the name of God, the Most Compassionate and Merciful…”
His voice is like a flowing river. Gentle and soothing, it carries sweet words of piety into the heart of its listener. There is no wonder how Zeynel is a Hafiz. He is good.
But only in the things he is good at, which is apparently recitation and academia. There is nothing more his quietness revealed beyond these.
Ayse remains unconvinced.
-
It is after dinner. She is in the kitchen with her father, washing the dishes together.
Selim leans towards his daughter, with a twinkle in his eyes. He grins and asks her, “So, what do you think?”
Ayse furrows her brow. “Honestly, he sounds…”
Selim interjects. “Amazing?”
Ayse snorts at him. “Boring! I mean, look at him, baba. He spent his whole life in study!”
Selim shrugs and picks up a wet dish. ”But the deCordobas are a family of scholars, just as we are a family of carpet enthusiasts. That is to be expected, right?” Selim presses a cloth against the dish. “Besides, I didn’t think you needed an exciting husband. Just one to help clean the house.”
Ayse groans. “Yallah, baba! No! I don’t doubt Zeynel's household skills, but... he has to be someone who can offer more, you know? Someone who believes and supports me in what I do. Someone who makes sense with my future. Isn’t that what we agreed on?”
