Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, afraid that this might be the last time you see it with your own eyes.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, telling God, “i love You.”

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, feeling the burning pain of separation, while also knowing you have to walk away with the strength of an adult, not the sense of loss and unwillingness to embrace change that children feel.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, thinking of Imam Mahdi.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, thinking of Imam Husayn.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, thinking of Prophet Muhammad.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, thinking of Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Isma’il.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَ عَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَ بَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, knowing that not everyone can live near there, but that we have to carry our love for the House of God wherever we need to be on planet Earth.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, tears streaming down your eyes thinking of the suffering of your Rohingya sisters and brothers, feeling the weight of how little you can do to ease that suffering, knowing that perhaps the best you can give is your du’a at the Ka’ba that Allah be with them in all the ways that are beyond your power.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, renewing your commitment to carry on the tradition of Muslim engagement with the Hindu tradition that began with al-ʿAllāmah Abū al-Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, may Allah have mercy on him.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, expressing your fear of forgetting everything you had learned, felt, and experienced in Makkah and Madinah on this trip.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, feeling gratitude for having finally paid proper respects to Sayyida Fatima, the other daughters (or step-daughters, whatever the case may be) of your Master Muhammad, Ibrahim b. Muhammad, Fatima bint Asad, Sayyida Khadija, and Abu Talib. Don’t forget how you felt ashamed before the green dome of Masjid Nabawi that it had taken you so long to properly greet his daughter and the woman who raised him when you know how much you love your own daughter and mother. Don’t forget how you asked him directly for his intercession for your daughter and mother, in that moment of heartbreak.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, renewing your commitment to teach and write that the Haramayn is for all of humanity, and not just an accident of history.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, remembering to not be distracted by anything else within sight, but focus solely on the House of God and the servants of God surrounding it, for nothing else matters.

Don’t forget looking at the Ka’ba, feeling fully yourself, feeling like you were home, and feeling like you wish you could never leave.

Don’t forget, David, don’t forget.

And if you do, come back here to remind yourself, and open your Google Photos from February 2025, and remember.

لا إله إلا الله

محمد رسول الله