what's in a name, son? that question will be asked repeatedly, usually by one's self.. especially if there's no one around to give a good account on how a name, specifically how a person's name come about, usually around the time of birth. i suppose on a good account that how it was with me. u see ur grandpa from my side died when i was 6 years old, and so i didnt get a chance to ask him on my name or how different it was from the rest of the family let alone the state of melaka. u see, my name is common in the eastern state, but not not where i was, and so it adds to the usual out of place, a stranger feeling that all teenagers will feel. but enough about me.
like most parents, we talked about ur name, bought the same book of names as our parents probably did (and probably u will too), and as our parents, we did not decide on a name before u arrive. its taboo it seems to name a child before it was born lest it was heard by something of which leading it to come up of an idea to play mischief on the expecting parents or the unborn child. we're not a superstitious lot, ur mother and i, but we dont take any chances, not with u. and so for taboo stuffs that are not in violation of the religion and too weird- we'd go along with it just fine.
there was this trend where the baby name would be a combination of the parents name. thankfully, we dont think tht's a kewl thing to do because it would resulted in haphazard names.but we like to toy around the first letter of our names to be that of ur name, something to remind u of us. upon all the names in the book of names, danish impressed us most. the arabic meaning suit us well of what we though should represent who you are. and if u havent figured out by now, a name is a label, the gist of what it represent, which is you. plus its short, a popular name at that time, and it has a nice feeling when it is pronounced probably as it is also a pastry, and also another name for denmark.and country and places names are always nice. like Madina, Milan, Paris. well maybe not paris.
ahmad was a no brainer for ur first name. no son of mine will be without a muhammad or ahmad. i was taught better than that. and since that is also the first letter of ur mother's name, it take care of that first rule of our first letter to be urs. i like ahmad. aside from the benefit of naming after the Prophet, its almost ensure that ur name would be at least in the first few ppl in a list of names that are sorted alphabetically. and i can tell you that it will benefit you. from the first to sit in the front of classes to exams, to vaksin japs, to finding ur name in the photostate machine, the list just goes on and on...
and then we saw it. Nasrullah. apt it was for you. a few months ago, there was someone of a similar name in the news. a legend in those days, i hope he's still remembered in ur times. and he was in Palestine, and they were scared of him. and i think it will suit to have his name, and his spirit as a soldier of God in Allah's cause to be something we want you to have and be reminded constantly. it means Allah's help. not helper, as in little helper but Help. the Help. pronounce it like a whisper. this is ur name. this is you. danish will be what people call u. and Ahmad is following the Prophet tradition. but Nasrullah, the silent name will be who u are. a Godsend help. so never fear to help anyone or anything that is calling for God's help, for its what ur meant to be here for.
and then, there it is your name. and suddenly this baby, which we called baby at that time, now has a name. and everything that has a name belongs here. you're home.
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