Inscribed Circles

I was given an interesting math problem on a post-it note recently. The setup is pictured below: two circles (of radius ) are inscribed within a rectangle. I've chosen, without loss of generality, ....

Webs which Bind

Is technology not innate to us as webs are to the patient spider's craft? We weave our networks, ever more complex, both born of instinct, shaped by nature's law. But here we part from spider's...

On the Beginning of Things

I had an interesting discussion this past weekend on the "beginning of things." Someone making their case implied early on that "all things have a beginning". One way or another, I got to thinking:...

L'Appétit

Whosoever puts themselves to task, In pursuit of whatever consumes them-- Not after scraps, But doggedly after their true quarry, Like a greyhound set on course, Will discover in themselves, The...

Of A World Becoming

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, Forged of lofty expectations, And sagged are the shoulders, Underneath a world unborn, But heavier still, Are man and his dreams taken together, Sat astride...

Thinking in Zion

Author's note: This article is unstructured, so handle with care as things won’t transition or segue as nicely as they could. I didn’t bother very hard to change that, it’d have been more work than...

A Bigger Garden

A man tended his garden, lost in routine When fluttered in a butterfly, unannounced, More brilliant than anything he’d ever seen, Entranced, he laid down his shears, And proclaimed: “O’ butterfly,...

Craters become Lakes

Author's note: I went backpacking with a couple of friends up in Desolation wilderness (southwest of Lake Tahoe) this past weekend. The timing was fortuitous because I've recently really gotten into...

Silence, The Usurper

In the hollow of his grand piano, Silence sang, Ecstatic in her soundless melody, For as time passed, a maestro’s fascination with Music’s theory, Eclipsed his desire to play, He starved her of all...

Joie de Vivre

All belongs to the genuine, Who do not flinch from their own passion, Nor douse their own fiery spirit, Having vowed to never forge a false self, Or anything resembling an aped imitation of a living...

Children of Prometheus

Heaven determined that the cosmos be like a frozen sea, And were its mandate met, All would be commanded still in icy thrall, O’ mankind! Take inspiration from the defiant stars, Those selfless...

A Lament

How lonely is the branch with no bird to give perch, Wasted is the flower’s nectar when there is no bee, And barren is the garden from disuse; The tree under which the poet lies gives no shade, So...

Suitors of the Sun

Author's note: This poem was inspired by a quote attributed to Napoleon from a book I'd recently finished titled "Mind of Napoleon" compiled by J. Christopher Herold. "Everybody has loved me and...

Willful Arrogance

There is a certain arrogance in man, That has him believe, Despite all, that he will make it happen, But like a deluge wherefor man would fix a dam in prevention, God humbles him, For God intended...

A Lit Soul

Author's note: This poem was inspired by a quote I came across online that I now know came from Werner Herzog's memoir. I know nothing of the man, but the following quote had me thinking: "I'd rather...

Moonlight

How perfect you looked beneath the moonlight, So I bought the moon and named it after you, Wove the stars into our own constellation, And wrapped your tapestry in the velvety black of night, And in...

An Ashen Inheritance

Among a row of houses sat a solitary great house atop a high hill. This great house was an old house, by and large considered one of the "better" houses. Nevertheless, like all material things, it...

Endurance of Spirit

Man is first pliable, Only when compelled to run through nature’s course, Through her crags and bramble, and under an angry sun and an inhospitable cold, Is he made firm, sharp, and with purpose,...

Come Home

If it's true, as oft they claim, That one's eyes are windows to one's soul, Then come close, peer deep within, Glimpse the depths of this restless heart of mine. Hear you my heart? How fiercely it...

Lord's Prayer on a Bowsprit

O Lord, Steer me through affairs of the heart, Mine vessel I surrender to thee, Take from me the wheel, Bind me steadfast to the bowsprit, So my weeping, Tears akin to mortal rain, May fall...

Haiku at 3am

Author's note: Driving back from a party late at night and my slight astigmatism causing the other vehicle's lights to seem like halos, my mind went straight to stars, their beauty, and the kernel of...

Cresting Sisyphus’ Mountain

Readily will I unburden Sisyphus, Without care to crest the Mountain in which Man finds banal suffering and his very Soul trapped, I shall relieve Sisyphus of that accursed boulder. So readily will I...

May Things Go The Ideal Way

I’ve often said May things go the ideal way and so furiously do I urge it on that much like a boy, who in his little sail boat will blow furiously against her sails supremely confident that with his...

Tumbleweeds

Two lovers Apart Separated by large and empty desert expanse On which the wind gently rocks tumbleweeds to and fro So tangled so as to never unravel Between— Two lovers gazing longingly at the other,...

Musings on Marxism

Author's note: This article is the second installment of my “Musings on x” series with regards to political economy and its attendant philosophy. (COVID-19’s made me something of an arm-chair...

Musings on Dignity

Author's note: This article is inspired by one of the themes explored in Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution” speech. As a result, riddled throughout this article are...

Saving for Retirement

I'd written this last summer for the Muslim Student Association here at MIT. I am by no means a financial expert, but I want to share with you all the things I've learned about saving for retirement...