I Was Red, and Our Names Were Everywhere.

On our third day in Casablanca, I had a full red outfit planned: a long red top with loose red pants. Zaria, on the other hand, showed up in all white- a white blouse with a white maxi skirt.

We were walking from our hotel to Hassan Mosque.. and during our walk there, I started noticing something.

Everything was red. Any person, place, or object my eyes laid on.. was red. It was so crazy.

I never experienced something like that in my entire life. It's like Allah was controlling my eyes so that it only lands on red.

I saw it everywhere. Red shirts, red shorts, red pants, red hat, red signs, red bags.. you name it. It was all red. And that was my color. It felt as though Allah had dressed me as the sign and was then surrounding me with it, reflecting it back from the world.

At one point, I remembered that when I was packing for this trip- all of the outfits I packed for Casablanca and Tehran were either pink, purple, or red. While packing, I was so frustrated at myself that why I am only choosing dresses within that color range.

I told Zaria about this.. and not even 60 seconds passed by.. and everything turned..

Pink, Purple, and Red.

I started seeing these three colors everywhere. Every outfit, shirt, bag, backpack, hat, cap, accessory, pants, shorts, stroller.. Anything my eyes landed on was one of these three colors. It happened instantly, like someone had flipped a switch in my vision.

I kept telling Zaria that I can't stop seeing those colors. I was pointing each thing out to her.

“Look! That’s pink. That’s purple. That’s red.” My eyesight didn’t even feel like it was under my control anymore. How was I seeing all of this?

But that day wasn’t just about colors. It was about names. My name. Layla. I saw it everywhere. On buildings, posters, restaurants, cafés, stores, menus, boards- literally everywhere. I saw it in paragraphs, inside other words, even backwards, even scrambled. Over and over again Allah showed me my name.

Then we went down to Hassan II Mosque's exhibition space. I approached an artfact covered in glass. The disorientation started. My head spun. The air felt charged. Something had shifted.

And I saw-

"Rafiq"

His name.. written on all five artifacts inside the glass.

I stood there shocked. Allah was confirming it for me in that moment- that Rafiq was indeed my counterpart. Maybe not forever, but for this journey he was playing a major role.

Before heading back to our hotel, we stopped by a small conveniant store to get snacks. Right before leaving the store, my eyes landed on

"Be Ready- The Magic Awaits."

It felt like the whole day had been orchestrated. Colors, names, signs, and then a final whisper from Allah as I stepped back into the street.