Regardless of your reckoning, Ramadan is about halfway over. This means that we are now leaving, not entering Ramadan – that the divine window is closing, not opening wider. The believer must ask themselves, how have they spent Ramadan thus far? Every hour ahead is a reflection of an hour that went before, so if the inflection point is a mirror then let us seek to improve what is reflected therein.

If I were to grade myself on my Ramadan this year, I’d give myself a B+ for prayer, falling short in that I have not yet performed any midnight salaat. I give myself a B for piety, in eschewing worldly distractions, and an A in fasting since I’ve not missed a single one thus far. But in Qur’an, I give myself a solid D – I’ve barely made progress in my self-assigned quota, for [excuse A] [excuse B] [excuse C]… and I have not made any progress in memorization of surahs beyond where I’ve been stalled for several years. I haven’t even tweeted it!

The last ten days – the third daska – will be where I must make up lost ground, inshallah. The Night of Power also approaches, and I must be ready.

Muslim, wake up! I am trying.