Words are the defining text of Islam, the Koran, and calligraphy is the art of beautifully forming words so as to bring an elevation of spirit to those who read them. God has willed it that today in Vinnies' Moruya shop I found this beautiful piece of Arabic calligraphy, which in fact reads "God has willed it".
I bought it even though I never learnt to read Arabic. A member of the Mofarrij family for whom I worked in Saudi Arabia, translated it, and I will hang it in my study to remind me of my three years spent there.
By sheer coincidence I also found a copy of the book "The Land Beyond - A Thousand Miles on Foot Through the Heart of the Middle East" by Leon McCarron. It was the cover that immediately drew me to it, as it depicts Al Khazneh in Petra, the ancient, rose-red city half as old as time in Jordan, which I wish I had visited but never got the chance to do so.
And to top things off, I discovered another one of Julian Barnes' books, "Levels of Life", "a magnificent blast of unflinching prose", as the Daily Telegraph described it. I read its hundred-odd pages all in one sitting over lunch of roast beef washed down with a glass of red at the Moruya Bowling Club. It's been quite a wonderful day. "God has willed it".
