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Parents have right over you as you have rights over them." People
nodded smiling at him.
"Here is a man whom I consider my brother, an erudite, a
scientist. Do you have anything to ask from him, Djaliil? Can he
answer your questions?"
The boy grinned, amused, then asked, proud of the attention
bestowed upon him:
"I wish to know, noble scholar, why you carry these items in all
places and in all parts of the year?"
Saying this, he gestured towards the sewing accessories the last of
the guests had brought with him and was using to sew pieces of cloth
together, probably a bag.
"Hmm!" answered the man in jest, "So you should condemned me
to narrate this story for the rest of my life, little brother?" He paused
before adding:
“At least, that much does not impair trust.”
“That certainly is true,” answered Djaliil. “But again, tell me, my
curiosity has grown too big.”
So the man begun to tell the stories of the marvels he had seen on his
journeys, or maybe what he imagined of these travels. I listened
avidly, so intent in the process that I completely lost the notion of time
and space. Here is what he said:
“I came one day to the abodes of a farm where a celebration was
being held. Children were serving their parents around large tables
carried on a patio. I called them saying,
“Give me drink of water.”
And one of them said to me,
“Do you have a son among us?”
I answered that I did not.
“Then no!” came the reply. “Therein is the advantage of
marriage, strangers do not sit with the family.”
But soon they told me,
“Look here! There is a place behind those curtains where you
can find rest in the open, and I will seek some food and something to
drink for you.”
To this I agreed and thanked my host as politely as I could. Behind
those curtains waited a maiden with her head uncovered.
“Maiden, cover your head,” I exclaimed.
“Traveler, close your eyes!” she retorted.
“But my eyes involuntarily fell upon you, and I am in love with
you,” I said, “and the lover does not cover his eyes.”
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“I am intoxicated,” she answered to make me avert my eyes, but
the grace of her neck and of her voice had already struck me.
She continued, “and the drunkard does not cover her head out of
shame.” Then I added,
“At which tavern did you become intoxicated?”
“Have a care," she cried. “You are bothering me. Is there any in
these abodes?”
“No, but maiden, would you have my company?” I asked.
“I am not the sort that is looking for a man!” she answered.
And truly she was afraid that I had to stay with her alone and that is
forbidden in our religion.
But she did not have the power to go away. She was the farm
servant. She had just tried to conceal it from me to force me to go
away, but I knew a servant did not wear a headcover. So I stayed: I
had unmasked her.
While she was talking, she was putting her small feet in the waters of
a fountain, which ran through the house. Her toes were playing with
the little pebbles made of pearls and her skin looked whiter than milk.
She looked sweeter than honey. So I pondered a moment, then I
asked from her master a needle, a thread, a canvas bag and a pair of
scissors. I began to sew a headcover for the woman. When this
was done, I counted many gold coins for the value of the thread, the
needle and the scissors and I went to see the master again, and I set
her free. I had just remembered how this act was well regarded
upon in Islam.
There was much charity in it.
Meanwhile, tears of gratitude streamed from her eyes. She made me
wait where I was and went straight to a garden she hid behind a wall
of rocks. I followed. Concealed from her view, I saw her walking
from plants to plants, flower to flower, and from tree to tree until she
reappeared before me holding a big sack of seeds. She said with
emotion:
"When you return to your land, grow yourself a garden in the
sands, a garden where all living creatures will look for a rest. Then,
there will be much charity for you in everything they will eat from it."
"And wouldn't that be stealing from your master?" I asked her
doubtful. To this she replied:
"Not at all. This garden is mine alone. There I spent all the
wages I could spare. I know that there is a divine reward for being
kind to every living creature." She hesitated, then confessed
modestly: "Mostly I wanted to be kind to myself."
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