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in one day! But it did not happen like that! The forest was sold to European countries to
make furniture or planks that would be used only once as they were used as construction
materials. The tribesmen gathered in anger and went to see the manager of the logging
camp who gave them a few hundred of dollars to shut their complaints down.
The manager looked them going away with a smile on his face. He thought within
himself: ‘With the money we gain from the forest, the country will be able to create
schools, and shopping centers, and they would have a chance to compete with developed
countries in knowledge and technology!’
The tribesmen soon realized the little money they had received would be quickly spent to
replace what they had lost and used to cure the wounded and the sick. They looked at the
huge buildings profiling in the horizon and looked at their modest way of life; they
sighed, then walked back deeper into the forest in silence. Next day and the days after,
the tribesmen tried to fish in the river that slowly calmed down, but the fish was dead and
nothing would grow or move in the waters for months, except for leaches and snakes!
They looked sadly at their sons who were preparing themselves to go to the city. Soon
those children would bring back with them stories about how their living-conditions had
apparently improved. They would bring back with them radios, and catalogues about
objects they never think about and do not need. Children will criticize the elders, and
maybe even bring alcohol. They will soon forget about the traditional ways of life and
they will forget to be thankful to Allah for the earth on which they walked and for the
fruits coming from the trees. Maybe they would even forget that they survived because
the forest was still alive, that the fruits they ate came from this very forest, as well as
many other things. Maybe they will cut down more trees back there, in the town, so there
will be 1, 2, 3 more parkings for their cars. Maybe they will end up believing that meat
comes from tin pots. Maybe they will fail to see that the food that used to come from the
forest is now imported to their country because the fertile land is full of cash crops:
bananas, cocoa, coffee plants which would be soon sent to other countries to repay the
national debt. And the tribesmen sighed in silence.
The logging camp manager did not see that the earth was very muddy and
slippery that day. Suddenly the earth gave way and he was eaten up by the earth and
buried alive.
6
It doesn’t matter, thought the tribesmen, tomorrow, somebody like him will replace this
one, no special qualification is needed for cutting the wood!
When I finished, Waali looked around him. It was said that the temperature of the
desert had risen over the years, and the deserts had become dryer. This was known as the
‘green-house effect' he told me. The nomads lived on little, finding their food with each
season, and not dwelling very long in the same area. Consequently, they used their
natural resources sparingly, letting the earth time to replenish itself. Now, the
governments encouraged nomads to settle down, causing the soil to become overused and
the cattle to eat all vegetation around the settlements, turning complete areas in no-man’s
lands. Were there any solution to it, asked Waali? He stretched on the litter and drunk a
few drops of water, precious as gold in the desert.
Then he recited:
By the token of time through the ages
Verily man is in loss
Except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds, and join together in the mutual
teaching of truth, and of patience and constancy [Qur’an, Surah 103]
Then he said:
"Men of faith are always winners. But how much faith do we have, us?"
Suddenly a man riding a white horse appeared on the tormented and swaying
horizon. The heat made the land look like a furnace where spots of herbs marked the
limit between the earth and the sky. The horse was restive and its rider turned it rather
roughly. It was not a verdant land, so they could not go slow and let the animals graze.
On the contrary, they passed through an arid area, even more barren that the one they had
been riding all day. As a result, the rider had quickened the pace of the horse and hunger
had enfeebled the animal. Waali’s grandfather dismounted, wiped the face of the horse
with his gown, and said:
“Fear Allah, it behooves you to treat the animals gently. See here, my brother, do not
clip the forelock of the horse as you did, for a decency is attached to its forelock. Do not
clip its mane, for it protects it; nor its tail, for it is its fly-flap! See, my brother, Allah is
Who made us vicegerents on earth. There is a reward for acts of charity to every beast
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