This cool Iranian/German dude (may Allah preserve him!), known to the Lefke folk as Mehmet, is an absolute delight. He works and lives at AbdulHadi's guesthouse, where my parents stayed. If you ever get yourself there, ask him to tell you a few stories - he'll have you in stitches, alhamdulillah.
Anyway - this is him holding a saucepan of water as we were heavy-heartedly leaving. My cousin thought he was being impatient to make himself a cup of tea(!) and jokingly questioned him. He said it was tradition to throw water behind leaving guests, in the hope that they would return soon. I was both elated and moved; I went and got a bottle of water - and filled up the saucepan completely, for good measure! He balanced it well, ma sha Allah.
Later we asked our driver Hajj Umar (if you ever meet him, behave!) about it - he said that when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was leaving Makkah after the conquest, the Muslims who stayed behind in Makkah, threw water behind him as he left, in the hope he would come back to them soon. And now this is a tradition they practise here in Lefke! Ma sha Allah!
The point of this post is that I am truly counting on the blessings of sidi Mehmet and his saucepan of water, in sha Allah.
Ya Ahad, ya Samad, salli ala Muhammad! - missing the sweet melodies of Lefke very much.
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