Fakir aladi murakkabun
‘ala jahlin f’al-taksir
Aladi murakkab ‘ala jahi-liah
Your humble servant who is duly conscious
of the weakness and limitations of her own knowledge
mounted as he is on the stead of his ignorance. – Sejarah Melayu

“What could be a more apt description of a young ethnomusicologist, entering the village of a prospective music teacher for the first time, than “mounted on the steed of her own ignorance”?” – Julia Byl, and I agree with her entirely. Such a fascinating read.