Being the only one who was able to directly have a one on
one conversations with God, I thought that he had bestowed enough knowledge on
me. I was wrong, El Khidr was amongst the villagers and was sent to me in that
I may learn a thing or two. “You can never bear with me patiently” said this
small elderly man.
“Patience? Of course I could” after all I, as Moses sent to
the nation of the Jews so that I may guide them have nothing but patients.
“If you follow me, you must not ask me anything in which
your comprehension cannot grasp, unless I voluntarily tell you” continued El
Khidr. So we embarked on this journey together.
“This isn’t your property, and when its rightful owners
return they will be sure to drown. This is such a grievous act you have committed”
I said in a panic, hoping that we will not be caught and penalized for this
crazy man’s action.
El Khidr looked back at me with a firm face “Did I not say
that you can never bear with me patiently?” Then I remembered our deal and
retreated in my thoughts of his actions. And so we moved on.
(LESSON TWO) We stumbled upon this boy, and just like that El Khidr
had slaughtered him right in front of my very eyes. “My dear lord, save me from
this!. You have just killed an innocent child and have taken him away from his
family and all that he knows. I do not want any more to do with this…. In fact
I am done with you and this so called journey of knowledge or wisdom” I yelled
in a panic.
“Did I not say that you can never bear with me patience” he
repeated for a second time. And so I retreated once more. I just had to see
this to the end.
(LESSON THREE- the last and final stop) We approached this
small village. Here we stopped for food and shelter after travelling from sun
rise till dusk. The smell of musk and food lingered the air. I couldn’t wait to
eat. I was starving, until we were refused hospitality. So instead we found a wall
that was leaning. It was at the brink of falling down and hurting anyone who
was nearby. “Come heather Moses, push” He instructed me allowing the wall to
stand up right again.
“They owe us for this” I said with a sense of accomplishment
hoping that maybe in return they may offer us some food. El Khidr turned to me
and said sternly “You and I can no longer continue this journey. You are far too
inquisitive and demanding. You cannot bare patience in what I am about to teach
you. But you are a student refusing to learn but would rather ask question
after question.”
“As for the boat it belonged to a poor family who earned
their living by means of the sea. I took out a preventative measure so that I
may save them from the king of the city who captured every boat. This way they
would fix their boat and it will remain theirs. As for the boy. His parents
were amongst the righteous people of God. We apprehended that he would impose
rebellion and infidelity upon them. But their Lord will replace him with
another more righteous child. This way they would mourn the loss of a great child
as oppose to a man who strayed from the way of God. And to answer you last
question, I did not seek a reward from fixing that wall as it was the belonging
of two orphans and there lays a treasure underneath. If I had left it to fall
it would have stood the risk of being exposed. So your lord willed that they
would come of age and find their treasures at an appointed time. These are all
instructed from your lord but you failed to practice patience and this is the
last you will know of wisdom in which you do not possess” explained El Khidr.
I stood there in regret as maybe if I had stopped my
question I could have known more. Until this day I thought I knew it all as a
prophet of God. But I was wrong.
Authors Note: I choose this story out of the entire folklore of Holy land book as it had different stories of different Islamic prophets. So instead I decided to focus more on one that I found the most interesting. I told this story as Moses could you imagine being in the company of someone in which you do not have the slightest understanding as to why they make the decisions they make. Could you or I have such a patience to even progress to lesson three after lesson two?
BIBLIOGRAPHY: This story is part of the Holy Land Folklore unit. Story source: Folk-lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian and Jewish by J. E. Hanauer (1907).
Link: Moses and El khudr
Link: Moses and El khudr
I really liked the way you told your story. The you told if from a fable standpoint was a really interesting way to look at these stories. And I really like how you kept the message a surprise until the end. As I was reading, I knew that everything the mad was doing was going to make some sense at some point in the story, but I couldn't tell where it was going to go!
ReplyDeleteGood job with your storytelling this week. I was definitely confused as to where this story was going at the beginning but it worked out really well! I was really confused when they killed the child and I am glad that there was at least some sort of a purpose to it. To answer your question at the end of your Author's note, no I definitely could not have the patience to learn lesson three after lesson two.
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ReplyDeleteGreat job! I really enjoyed reading this story because I feel that you did such a good job of retelling it in an interesting way. While I was reading this story I found myself to be very confused for the most of the story and then everything made sense at the end! This was a great way of telling the story because I felt interested the whole time! Great job!