5
for a few minutes how unusual this sight seemed in the desert. I
finally concluded that this had something to do with the growth of
foreign tourism in the region. People came here to buy local items,
especially exotic outfits entirely handmade. I was glad that I had
gained a higher social status by coming with Djaliil. I could be seen
as belonging to the tribe and not considered to be one of those
tourists. Otherwise, I might have been offered daggers, oil preserved
in goatskins or even face veils lined up with coins for my relatives.
To my surprise, the oasis looked quite modern, sedentary and cozy
considering what I knew about desert life. Men were listening to the
Saudi radio and had even bought modern furniture for their tents.
However, as I learned later, modernity did not tremendously changed
their ways of life. On the contrary, radio broadcasts had increased
their understanding of Islam. They now were more conservative and
more knowledgeable.
I was quick to notice that despite the modern appearance of the farm,
the Bedouins still reproduced the same old tasks every day. These
chores had been performed for generations with little change.
Photo courtesy of: http://www.velocity.net/~khamsa/index.html
And that proved to me how comfortable they felt about the passing of
traditions. Watching this tribe, it was not hard to imagine how oral
texts were transmitted through the centuries without many
modifications. The Arabs had become masters in the recording of
the Prophet's traditions (Peace be upon him). As a result, nowadays
Muslims could faithfully transcribe words that had been uttered
fourteen centuries ago. Nothing had been altered. Astonishing, I
thought!
6
As we walked our way towards the tent of Djaliil's relatives, I
looked at the hills surrounding the place. The green of the olive trees
was so unexpected that it looked like fresh growths blooming after a
desert flood. Is this the garden in the sands, I wondered as I
recalled the boy's words? Or did he mean something else? I
stared at my surroundings, expecting to see somewhere a garden of
roses or flagrant flowers. No, nothing of the sort appeared thereof.
However, when I looked a little farther, I was amazed to discover
palm trees almost completely covered by the sand and struggling for
survival. If there was a garden here one day, I mused, upset, it is
now on its way to becoming dormant.
I signaled Djaliil to approach, then I pointed to the abandoned wadi.
"Look at the gratitude of the desert! Men strive to create a new
environment, and see what happens to them! Their work disappears
as if nothing had been done before! Where are now the trees planted
there? All buried in the dunes? What will happen to this farm in a
few years from now?"
I was pretty upset, but Djaliil cooled my rising anger with his
customary calm.
"Peace, my brother. Our Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to
say: 'Be in this life like a stranger or a traveler! If you reach the
evening, do not await [to be alive] by dawn, and if you reach dawn,
do not await [to be alive] by evening.' (Haadith) And the Prophet
added: 'What have I got to do with the material world? The example
of the material world and I is that of a traveler. Traveling in the
afternoon, he stopped to rest under the shade of a tree for some
moments. Then he rose and left it.' (Haadith) We are born and we
die! The same thing happens to every single thing created on earth.
We build, then we destroy! We learn from defeats; we create more
because of them. So you see, brother, 'To Allah we belong and to
Him we return.' (Haadith) What is the attachment of the earth?"
I gazed at the boy, yet surprised by his submission to the ways of the
destiny, his quiet acceptance of what was univocally condemned to
end. Surely… I said to myself, if you believe in God, life on earth
is bond to nothing.
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