Chapter Six: Two Nights Before Forever

 Nīkah Written by Qādr, Tested by Genotype

Chapter Six: Two Nights Before Forever

As we all expected and waited for what felt like the first true happiness of our lives, sleep became something distant and almost unnecessary. It was just two days before the marriages, and the excitement within us refused to settle. Our hearts were too full, our minds too active, and our emotions too overwhelming for rest to find its way to us.

Sajidah, Tasliyah, Sawberah, and I gathered together that night, just like we had done many times before, yet this time felt completely different. It was no longer just another evening of laughter under familiar circumstances; it was the final stretch before everything changed. The reality that we were about to become wives had finally settled deeply within us, and it brought with it a mixture of joy, nervousness, and disbelief.

We sat close to each other, surrounded by the quiet of the night, yet our voices filled the space with endless conversation. No matter how much we talked, it never felt like enough. Every topic led to another, every laugh turned into another joke, and every moment carried a sense of “this might be the last time things are like this.”

Sajidah was the first to break the silence that had briefly settled between us. She looked around at all of us and said, “SubhanAllah… in just two days, we will no longer be sitting like this as girls. We will be wives.”

Tasliyah laughed softly and shook her head. “It still doesn’t feel real. I keep thinking I will wake up and everything will go back to normal.”

Sawberah smiled gently. “But this is our new normal now. We prayed for this, remember?”

I looked at them, feeling a deep warmth in my chest. “We did. And Allah answered.”

There was a moment of silence as we all reflected on that.

Then Sajidah suddenly clapped her hands and said, “No, no, no… we are not going to sit here and become emotional. This is supposed to be a happy moment!”

Tasliyah pointed at her and laughed. “You are the most emotional among us, so don’t even try to act strong.”

“I am not emotional,” Sajidah replied quickly. “I am just… expressive.”

We all burst into laughter.

As the laughter settled, Tasliyah leaned closer to me with a mischievous smile. “Tahira… tell us something.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What?”

She smirked. “What did Julaybib say to you today?”

Sajidah gasped dramatically. “Yes! We need details!”

Sawberah covered her smile, clearly interested as well.

I shook my head, trying to stay composed. “There is nothing special.”

“Nothing special?” Tasliyah repeated. “Two days before marriage and nothing special?”

Sajidah grabbed my arm playfully. “Don’t hide it from us. We are your sisters.”

I sighed, knowing there was no escape. “Fine. He just asked if I was ready.”

“And what did you say?” Sawberah asked softly.

“I told him… I am ready, but also nervous.”

Tasliyah laughed. “That is not enough. What else did he say?”

I hesitated for a moment, then admitted, “He said he feels the same, but he trusts that Allah will make everything easy for us.”

Sawberah smiled warmly. “That is beautiful.”

Sajidah leaned back, placing her hand on her chest. “Ya Allah, look at Tahira… the same girl who said she was not ready for love.”

Tasliyah added, “Now she is the one getting married with the most serious conversations.”

I shook my head, smiling despite myself. “You all are not serious.”

Before I could say anything else, Sajidah’s phone buzzed. She quickly picked it up, her face lighting up instantly.

“It’s him,” she said, trying to act calm but failing completely.

Tasliyah leaned over her shoulder. “Put it on speaker!”

“No!” Sajidah said quickly, holding the phone close.

We all laughed as she moved slightly away, typing her response with a smile she could not hide.

A few moments later, Tasliyah’s phone buzzed as well.

She looked at it and smiled. “And now mine too.”

Sawberah shook her head. “It seems like tonight is for everyone.”

I looked at my own phone, and as if on cue, a message from Julaybib appeared.

“Are you awake?”

I smiled softly before replying, “Yes, I am with the girls.”

He responded quickly. “I had a feeling you would not be sleeping.”

I typed, “None of us can sleep. We keep talking.”

There was a short pause before his next message came.

“I understand. It is not easy to sleep when life is about to change.”

I looked at his message for a moment before replying, “Are you nervous?”

“A little,” he admitted. “But more than that, I feel grateful.”

“For what?” I asked.

“For you,” he replied. “And for the way everything has come together.”

My heart softened at his words.

“And I feel the same,” I wrote.

Meanwhile, the room around me had become louder. Sajidah and Tasliyah were both engaged in their own conversations, smiling at their phones, occasionally laughing or reacting out loud.

Sawberah sat quietly, her phone in her hand, reading messages with a calm expression.

Tasliyah suddenly looked up and said, “We should all read our conversations out loud!”

Sajidah immediately protested. “No, absolutely not!”

I laughed. “That is not happening.”

But Tasliyah was already moving closer. “Come on, just a little.”

Sawberah shook her head, smiling. “Let people have their privacy.”

Sajidah pointed at her. “Yes, thank you, Sawberah.”

Tasliyah crossed her arms. “You all are no fun.”

Sajidah smirked. “We are fun, just not that kind of fun.”

The teasing continued as the night went on. We joked, we laughed, and at some point, we even started playfully pushing and hitting each other, the way we always had.

“Careful!” I said, laughing as Tasliyah nudged me. “You will ruin my wedding before it even starts.”

Sajidah laughed loudly. “Imagine explaining that to your husband.”

We all burst into laughter again.

Time seemed to lose its meaning as the hours passed. The night grew deeper, yet none of us felt tired. Our conversations shifted between excitement, memories, and small moments of silence where we simply looked at each other, realizing how much was about to change.

At some point, the topic became more serious.

Sawberah spoke softly. “Do you think everything will really go smoothly?”

There was a pause.

Tasliyah shrugged. “In sha Allah, it will.”

Sajidah nodded. “We have come this far. There is no reason to doubt now.”

I looked at them and said, “Whatever happens, we trust Allah.”

They all nodded.

That was something we all held onto.

No matter how excited we were, no matter how much we laughed and teased each other, there was always that underlying awareness that life was not entirely in our control.

But in that moment, we chose to focus on the joy.

We chose to hold onto the happiness.

We chose to live in those final hours as we had always been—together.

As the first light of dawn began to appear, we were still awake.

Still talking.

Still laughing.

Still holding onto the last moments of a chapter that was about to end.

And as we sat there, exhausted yet full of life, one thing was certain.

We had no idea what was coming next.

But in that moment, we were happy.

Truly happy.

And sometimes, that is all a person can hold onto before everything changes.