7
A man in his sixties seemed to appear suddenly from the
desert rim. He wore a white beard floating at the brim of his chin
and was draped in an even whiter garment. It seemed to me that I
saw a mirage, but it did not last. I knew instantly we had reached the
place of Djaliil's relatives. Do they all look the same in this family,
I wondered to myself? Behind the man sprang up a house where a
tent stood strewn with brown and red rugs and coarse woolen walls
embellished by geometric patterns.
“Assalam 'alaikum, brothers. 'Alaan wa Saalan. Come here in
security and in peace where there is food and shelter for you," said
the elder.
His straight body betrayed his noble descent; his feet pointing on the
desert ground like a chief. Djaliil kissed the man on both cheeks and
hugged him several times as it was customary. Then he announced,
half in jest:
“O grandfather! I saw a wolf yesterday in my dreams, and it stole a
goat from a herd. Furious, I chased it. However the beast stopped
and told me,
'Why do you deprive me from my meal? Every living creature
must have its due, and you were appointed on earth to be my
steward. I eat; you eat. Your family and my family are in peace.
There must be enough for both of us, no?'
Photo courtesy of Maha: http://www.almaha.net
I exclaimed, in surprise:
'O Wonder! A wolf talking!'
Therefore the wolf said,
'There is something more wonderful than me. There is a man, in
the middle of the desert who digs the ground everyday with his hands
to irrigate the few trees he has planted. And he gives food and
8
shelter to many animals and insects, communities which sing praises
to Allah.' So, grandfather, I thought about you, doing good deeds in
the middle of nowhere and all maybe for a limited amount of time."
The Bedouin laughed and confirmed:
"Then, if I am the host of your dream, I must quench the thirstiest of
all the men. And who are more in need of fluids than those who
cross the desert?"
So he walked towards a she-camel tethered to a thorn-bush and
milked it.
A calf jealous of its dietary staple was on the other side of the camel,
indeed stimulating the mother's flow. The man squeezed gently the
tits of his ride and the milk filled the bowl. Then he patted her flank,
thanking her for the liquid and dipping a finger in it to remove a hair.
Handing us the bowl, he warned us:
"The gift of milk in the desert is like offering life; it encompasses the
gift of water. Milk not only quenches, but it also feeds the body and
the mind, and a wise mind needs to be flooded profusely."
Photo courtesy of John and Susy Pint: http://www.saudicaves.com
We grinned, satisfied with each other. After that, Djaliil buried his
nose in the white foam, drinking deeply to please his host. I thought
that if it were not for the water poured in the wadi, the animals would
certainly not produce milk. What was then the most precious: the
milk that nourished, the water that quenched the earth or the man
who planted, harvested and milked?
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