Last night was the first full moon coincident with the summer solstice in 50 years. The last time this convergence happened was in 1967, and it won’t happen again until 2062. For comparison, Halley’s comet last arrived in 1986 and will return in 2061. Yesterday was the longest fast for the vast majority of the world’s Muslims – though our Australian m8s enjoyed the shortest fast ever.

This kind of convergence is rare because it requires two totally separate geometries to line up perfectly – the earth and the sun (for the solstice) and the earth and the moon (for the full moon). Spiritually, the Moon is reflecting the light of the longest day, which means it is the mirror in which we see our longest ibadat reflected at us, and we marvel at its beauty. But it’s our beauty, after all.

Related: Why a Muslim welcomes the summer solstice, and my contribution to the moonsighting debate.