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ANATAALISMA:

THE MOUNTAINS OF SALT

It was very hot, in the roads of Dubai road; he kept drying the sweat from his face with a dirty towel. A man of 40 years old dressed in the pathan ethnic loose outfit a baggy brown cotton trouser and a loose shirt to the knees made of brown cotton…. His shirt was soaked with sweat… It was 50 degrees and the air-cooling in his old taxi was not working very well. The passenger behind a tall man dressed in a designer suit kept complaining: " hey why your air-conditioning is not working?" Akbar laughed and said: " it is working, the sun is very very hot…. None can cool <him>" and he smiled a happy smile. His face was open, he wore the Muslim cap on his head and wore the beard too, there was a dark spot on his forehead, the spot where his skin touches the grounds, in prostration while praying, every day five times, anywhere he could be, in the mosque, or on the pavement…the Muslim prayer is not limited within walls, it flies free, it is equal for the poor and the rich, the ruler and the ruled. Akbar cleansed away again the sweat from his face, with the towel, and when it touched this dark and roughened prostration mark on his forehead, he smiled again. He remembered when he went to the main mosque last Friday, with his sons and brothers…. They had taken a bath and had put on sweet fragrances from Arabia…. The ruler was there flanked by guards all praying together; there was no partition…. When the prayer was over, the ruler proceeded to leave but on his way out, everyone stood a bit away to show respect. That Friday the ruler somehow stopped by him and his sons and gave him his hand and greeted him with a gentle smile and uttered a verse (Aayat): "And this is a book which we have revealed (is) a blessing: so follow it and be righteous…." all others accompanied the ruler's words and completed the Aayat.. "that ye may receive mercy…" Everyone spoke about it in his neighborhood that Akbar was accoladed by the ruler…Akbar did not feel proud just thankful because he knows that this accolade on a Friday prayer was the accolade of a brother to another brother…. There was no expectation or desire in this greetings…still he made his heart swell with love. -1/3-The Prostration Mark- Copyrighted Rahman, brigitte Arlette- All rights reserved.

 

That Friday had been a great day at home, they spread the carpet on the floor and his wife brought the food for the men, everything was laid nicely on the carpet and all of them sat on the floor eating with their hands. The women ate in another room. During that time, Akbar forgot all about his hardships, the fact that he drove his taxi some 18 hours a day, earning only enough to feed his family, and pay his sponsor to allow him to drive the taxi legally… The work was hard but he fed his family, it was enough… At times, fear came in his heart for a while at the thought that his son was still young and should anything happen to him, his family would be destitute… But then the words came to him and he recited the aayat and went to pray. The passenger was edgy and rude, he kept saying "Hurry, it is hot, hurry it is hot." Each time he smiled he said " I cannot overspeed it is against the law". To make pass the time, he put some music on, the passenger rudely asked him to switch off the silly music and drive, drive… Akbar said: "As you want brother" …He could see the harsh face of the suited man in the mirror…he thought to himself: I may be a poor man, I may not have a suit, but I would not like to look like him his face is so hostile…and he recited the aayat. Meanwhile the passenger told him, stop here. "How much?" Akhbar said: "25 dirhams" Tthe passenger said: "No, you will get 10dirhams" Akbar said: "This is not good but go I do not want your money" Akbar's day went on, he got some more passengers, and in the evening at 12 midnight he drove home. He parked his taxi in its usual place, his eldest son came out to help him clean out the inside of the taxi…As Akbar was checking the oil, the water level of the taxi, so that in the morning he could start his day unbothered, his son called: " Father, look I found a bag, inside your taxi" Akbar said: " Son, show me". As they opened the bag, they found 100,000USD as well as some id papers, yes it was that rude passenger. Akbar said: "No time to eat or to sleep let me go to the police station and hand over the bag". He went, the police officer did not look at him and Akbar had to wait until the officer did find time for him. He said: "What is it you want, Pathan?" He said: " I am a taxi driver and I found this bag in my taxi, one hundred thousand dollars". At once the police officer called his major and all the details were taken. -2/3-The Prostration Mark- Copyrighted Rahman, brigitte Arlette- All rights reserved.

 

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They told Akbar to go home. Late at night, there was a knock at his door very loud, a police officer called: " Is this the place of Akbar?" Akbar came out and said "Yes, I am Akbhar". To his utmost dismay they caught him and put menacles on his hands, they said: "You are under arrest". He was so dazed. "What happened ?"he asked. The Police Officers replied: "We do not know we have an arrest warrant with your name on it". As he was taken to the police station, the colonel came out and said: "Yes, you did bring us that money but meanwhile one sultan lodged a complaint that as on his way to the bank he was robbed of the money". Akbar felt doomed. That man did this to him. He said "But I am telling you". He pleaded, the colonel said: "There is nothing we can say now, and it is a criminal offence the judge will deal with you. " He said: "But I did not do it" … This Friday, as Akbar was still languishing in jail, all his brothers and sons went to the Grand Mosque again…. Again as the ruler made his way out he looked on the group and asked the son, "Where is your father, why has he not come to the Grand Mosque? It is Friday" …The son cried and said: " Oh Ruler, they have arrested my father". The Ruler said: "Enough son, come to my office tomorrow morning, tell the security guard your name, you will be let in". The son of 12 years old was let in the next morning into the ruler's office, a most magnificent place. Between tears the son recollected the plight of his father. The ruler called his private secretary and said "Tell the colonel to come here with the file, meanwhile send some dates to Akbar in his cell". The colonel came with the file. The ruler's face was very dark and the colonel was shaking. He asked the boy,in front of his colonel: "When did you find that money?" The boy replied: " On Saturday night, Esteemed Ruler". Then the Ruler asked the colonel: " When was a complaint lodged for theft of that amount? " "Friday noon", answered the Colonel The ruler said: "The complainant is a very bad man, because I am the witness to Akbar, I was praying with him at the Grand Mosque. Rush and go free Akbar and do your duty colonel, for today is your last day in my employ. Arrest this man, as he is now the cause of your misery, and you were the cause to a stain on a good man's name due to your laziness. Justice is done". As he recited the aayat : "…. And when yea judge between man and man, that you judge with justice…" -3/3-The Prostration Mark- Copyrighted Rahman, brigitte Arlette- All rights reserved.