On Thursday, April 15, 2021, Morocco suspended all flights to and from 39 countries, including Tunisia, due to the second wave of COVID-19. This government announcement was made public the following morning, April 16, 2021. A couple, scheduled to return to Tunis on Sunday, April 18, found themselves stranded at the Karkariyya zawiya in El Aroui. Sidi Shaykh, may Allah sanctify his secret, had already invited Sidi Anouar and his wife to spend Ramadan, Eid, and one or two weeks of Shawwāl at the zawiya. Sidi Anouar had accepted this invitation before the closure of Morocco’s airspace. It was the first time that Lalla Essia and her husband spent the holy month away from home. Once the initial surprise subsided, she began organizing her days around the rhythms of daily life at the zawiya.

Two French disciples with military backgrounds, a Moroccan disciple who was a doctor, and a Tunisian engaged in renunciation also spent Ramadan at the zawiya. Occasionally, a few faqīrāt from El Aroui would visit to spend a few days, particularly on Fridays to attend the weekly gathering (majmaʿ). Lalla Najette, the wife of Sidi Shaykh, arranged for a young woman from the neighborhood to prepare meals, while the present disciples took care of the remaining household chores. The guest, however, was firmly instructed by Lalla Najette to refrain from participating in housework due to her advanced age.

The disciples’ days at the zawiya typically began around 10:30 a.m., though the lady of the house would rise much earlier to prepare the children for school, feed them breakfast, dress them, and send them off with Sidi Saʿīd. After the ẓuhr prayer with Sidi Shaykh, house cleaning and dinner preparation began on the fourth floor. The guest, excused from these tasks, would tidy her own room, wash her clothes, recite the Qurʾan, or care for Sidi ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who was just two years old and had grown attached to her. He followed her everywhere—or rather, was often carried in her arms. After the ʿaṣr prayer, Sidi Shaykh held his daily sessions with the disciples, answering questions, delivering lessons, or leading collective invocations with the fuqarāʾ until maghrib.

After the maghrib prayer, the faqīrāt, Lalla Najette, and the children would gather around a low table in a small room adjacent to the kitchen to share their meal. Following dinner, two faqīrāt would clean up and tidy the kitchen and dining area, while the others prepared for the ʿishāʾ and tarāwīḥ prayers. Miraculously, Sidi Shaykh ordered a bamboo partition to be erected at the back of the masjid on the first floor, allowing the faqīrāt to pray alongside the men. This unexpected gesture deeply moved the faqīrāt. It is worth noting that at that time, mosques around the world were closed for the first time in human history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even the sacred ḥaram in Mecca was shut and empty. This extraordinary privilege, a divine gift to those present in the house of light, the Karkariya zawiya, was an unforgettable blessing etched into the visitor’s heart and memory.

After the tarāwīḥ prayers, the faqīrāt would gather on the fourth floor around a table laden with tea, coffee, pastries, and other delicious treats, chatting and playing with the children. Lalla Essia, the guest, who was of a certain age, often wished to sleep earlier than the others to prepare herself for the morning dhikr. However, Lalla Najette would insist that she stay up with everyone. If she went to check on the faqīrāt and found Lalla Essia absent, she would climb to her fifth-floor room to make sure everything was fine. The guest, unaccustomed to being away from home for more than a week and concerned about her elderly, ill mother and demanding professional responsibilities, occasionally felt uneasy and weighed down by worry. Lalla Najette, with her kindness, intelligence, and great heart, was sensitive to these feelings. She would speak to her gently, ask if she wanted a specific dish prepared the following day, reassure her about her mother’s health, and remind her to cherish this unique experience.

“One day,” she said, “when months and years have passed, you will look back on this Ramadan spent in the house of the Lord, and you may wish to return, but it might not be possible. Embrace this divine gift, set aside your worries, for here, you are among family. Everyone loves you, and Sidi Shaykh is very pleased that you are with us.”

Every other evening, at the insistence of both Lalla Najette and Sidi Shaykh, the guest would join her husband and their two sons, Sidi Mohamed and Sidi Marouen, in the large room on the third floor to spend quality time together. These family reunions were pure joy. Lalla Hafsia would bring tea, pastries, and sometimes a portion of the faqīrāt’s dinner that Lalla Najette had set aside for the guest’s children. Sidi ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Lalla Walāʾ, and Lalla Hirā often joined in, brightening these intimate gatherings.

Sidi Shaykh, may Allah sanctify his secret, granted another favor to the guest by allowing her to attend the daily sessions at the back of the masjid alongside only Lalla Hafsia. She was overjoyed and began attending all the sessions, whether private or public. There, she learned what no book could teach and discovered the true wisdom and divine knowledge of Sidi Shaykh.

Weeks passed, filled with piety, daily invocations, love among the disciples and the blessed family of light, and communal prayers, including tarāwīḥ and tahajjud, lasting until dawn. The nights were cold, and Lalla Najette gifted the guest warm clothing, while Sidi Shaykh did the same for her husband, Sidi Anouar. Always attentive, Lalla Najette showed her constant affection, and Lalla Essia was amazed by such kindness and grew increasingly attached to every member of this blessed family.

As Eid approached, Sidi Shaykh gifted all the disciples at the zawiya Eid clothing: white jallābās embroidered with green and white scarves. The disciples, like young girls, were delighted and eagerly awaited the day of Eid to wear their new outfits. Even the guest, despite being in her sixties, was overjoyed by Sidi Shaykh’s kindness and love. But little did she know, an even greater surprise awaited her in the final week of Ramadan, just days before Eid…