Adli Yacubi

A space for remembrance, reflection, and rooted storytelling

Remembering the Call of Islam

When I published my first book in 2014, a community in Pretoria invited me to share with them the significance and the reasons for writing Punching Above Its Weight.

April 20, 2020
Part 1: Jordan, Sweet Jordan

Notes from a week of sightseeing Amman, Jordan in three parts…

October 14, 2017
A Brother Like No Other

This is not just a farewell. It’s a remembrance of my brother Faried—his strength, his softness, his stubborn love. From bricklaying boots to quiet sacrifice, his legacy lives on in us.

June 7, 2017
The Grandmother of Just Girls

I never really met my grandparents from either my mom’s side or my dad’s. I lie. I met my dad’s dad. Twice. Once in Kingsley Street in Salt River when I was about eight years old. My mom had to say to me, “This is your grandfather.” I saw this older version of my dad…

January 15, 2017
I let Nancy Sinatra sing in Sally Little’s biography

Adli Jacobs shares his insights on the process of writing Capturing the Fire and why setting the tone in storytelling is so important.

December 14, 2016
The Day Auntie Lêga Turned 80

A story about birthdays and litanies and how traditions die out… It was Auntie Lêga’s birthday this weekend. It was her 80th celebration. Seven kids (minus one who had passed on), 20 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren in addition to extended family and friends flooded the house of her son, Ismail, to mark this amazing milestone.…

December 12, 2016
Two Rivers

Two rivers descend from their mountain source Over the edge, barefoot towards their destinies

December 9, 2016
That Feeling When You Fly

The opening and the closing The earth beneath the sky The poetry and the rhyming That feeling when you fly

December 8, 2016
Four posters inspired by Rumi

If there is one poet that can speak to the heart of spirituality with a timeless relevance and cutting across different persuasions, then Rumi is most certainly the master.

December 7, 2016
Commemorating Johnny Issel in design

In 2011, on 23 January, an icon of the struggle for freedom and democracy in South Africa passed away. Johnny Issel was not just central to the formation of the United Democratic Front…

December 7, 2016