Ayat-Ayat Cinta

The novel was in my possesion for more than a month, but because of my addiction to kdrama it was collecting dusts on the shelves. I lend it to my collegue, I lend it to my sister and after it was returned, back to collecting dusts again. Am not sure why I'm hesitant to start reading it, maybe because of the glowing review (I dont want to be dissapointed) or because it was in Malay... (Ahem, dont get me wrong, I am proud to be Malay but in written form its easier to understand and simple to use English - but might not be gramatically correct hehehe...)

So yesterday, finally dedicate myself to read this novel before I start on the new kdrama I just bought. Its about a 27-year-old Indonesian-Muslim guy, Fahri who was doing his MA in Cairo. He rented a flat with his fellow countryman, and above their flat lived a nice and caring Christian family. They have a beautiful daughter named Maria. She was silently in love with Fahri for the past 2-3 years he had been living there. Fahri was a religious man who dictate much of his waking hours to Islam, his studies and earning some incomes from translation work. He was intrigued by her because she's a Christian but was fascinated by the holy Quran to the point that she memorize two of the surahs, but thats just it. To him, Maria is just a neighbour and a friend.

A chance encounter, brought Fahri to meet Aisha, a turkish girl wearing pudrah, and within months of their acquaintance, they had gotten married. You would have thought that Fahri never thought of girls, but there was this Indonesian girl that he was attracted to but didnt do anything about it, because he thought she was above his status. Not forgetting his "daily-weekly-monthly-yearly; ten years plan", he was planning to be married by the time he was writing his thesis.

Anyway, on the day he was to be married to Aisha, he found out that the indonesian girl was in love with him and wished that he would marry her. He admitted that if he had known this sooner, then he wouldnt have agreed to marry Aisha. Would he stick to his promise to marry Aisha if he didnt have gotten a look on what Aisha look like underneath her pudrah? Would he still marry Aisha if she wasnt a beauty? I wonder...

Then there was this time when he was in deep trouble and the only person who could save him was Maria who was in a coma. I wish the writer would be more insistent, that Fahri was willing to marry Maria, more for her sake rather than for his sake. Hehe...maybe i'm overly critical of this novel because the writer is a guy. To have 4 women to be so enamoredly in love with the oh-so-perfect-hero...it was like every guy fantasy isnt it? ^_^

My friend was so 'semangatz' to go to Egypt even more after reading this novel, but it has the opposite effects on me. I'm scared to go there! With the corrupt government, temperamental people, and high temperature??? The only place I consider to go in the Middle East are Mecca and Medina...

There's two quotation that I really like in this novel

1. By Thomas Carlyle: (after surfing - he got so many nice Quotes!)

"Seseorang dengan tujuan yang jelas akan membuat kemajuan walaupun melalui jalan yang sulit. Seseorang yang tanpa tujuan, tidak akan membuat kemajuan walaupun berada di jalan yang lurus!"

2. Victor Hugo:

"Tempos edax, bome edacier!"

"Waktu kejam, tapi manusia lebih kejam lagi!"