The First Book of Samuel - SAREJESS (chrysanthemum read aloud TXT) 📗

have gone to their rest? Pray tell me what you know of it?”

“Ah the question is difficult said the figure of Ramses, did you not forbid a place of rest to the holy one of Israel? Even now you deny me my rest accursed one. Did you not send the Holy one off to be born in a lowly stable? How then when the answer is before you do you still not see it?” asked the figure, the luminous blue glow growing bright as the deity grew angry at the question.

“I do not know. I expected to find the answer here at Karnack” replied Samuel, in fear as he beheld the anger of the deity. “Leave me now lest I cast another curse upon you said the figure of the long dead pharaoh. You will not find the answer here.”

Returning to the pylon once more, Samuel and the dog headed Thoth found a sacred barge waiting for them. Boarding the barge they set out. They had not traveled far before they encountered another barge. When the two vessels drew closer it became apparent that the deity Osiris great and wondrous was aboard. Drawing together, the two vessels stopped next to each other. “Who dares to interrupt the nightly journey of the sun barge?” thundered the god Osiris. “Who would put the world at danger for his own evil ends?” the angry deity continued. “Thoth speak for I am exceedingly angry” said the deity.

“Oh good Osiris” said the dog headed god speaking for the first time, “I bring before you one Samuel, a Jew who was cursed to live forever and a day. He seeks rest for his soul but cannot find it. He wanders here and he wanders there seeking that which he cannot find. Now he has come among the gods of Egypt seeking that which is elusive. Oh great Osiris, be not angry, rather find pity for this accursed thing. “Indeed he is an accursed thing, more then a mortal yet less, for he will not find his rest here, for he is not of the two fair lands. Jew you will not find what you seek among the gods of Egypt. Depart from us you accursed one. Leave us to our rest. Leave us to our tasks allotted by father RAH.”

Samuel drew back as the god became angrier and angrier. This was not what he had expected. Now in real fear he turned to Thoth and asked “Can you return me to the land of the living?” To this the dog-headed god did not reply but began to howl. A hand shook Samuel. It was one of the Bedouins waking him. Today they would journey on to Karnack but Samuel was beginning to believe it was a task which would be wasted


CHAPTER EIGHT
11 September 945AD The gardens of Arbiy
26 Muharram 334 Islam date
Samuel awoke, the sound of the call to prayer now almost three centuries old was been sung from the towers of Akbar.
"Come worshipers of Allah. Come to prayer. The voice of the servant of Allah Mohammed his prophet is calling you. Come to prayer you servants of Allah come to prayer" sang the voice on the wind. For a moment Samuel considered turning over and going back to sleep. But on further contemplation he rose and washed himself before hurriedly pulling on the linen cloth. Covering his head in a turban, he made his way down the staircase to the ground floor of the vast guesthouse. He found others had risen and were making their way to the mosque.

Today he would discover more of the words of the prophet he thought excitedly. Had not the leaders of the faith promised that every day following in the footsteps of the prophet would bring him closer to Allah? Arriving at the mosque he removed his shoes like so many others around him. He was anxious to find a place near the teachers of the Koran. Hurriedly he made his way inside. The crowd around him jostled for a better position then his neighbor. The service began behind the lattice work. He sensed, rather then saw movement, which meant that there were women present, faithful to the prophet and to Allah. The prayers began. Samuel bowed his head low his head, touching the mosaic floor as custom and ritual demanded. He had not been a Moslem long, about five years. To Samuel it was not strange that he a Jew could serve the prophet. Had not the prophet Mohammed, Blessed be his name, had two Hebrew wives? It had come about that on his travels he had chanced to arrive in Arabia. Here the prophet was revered and Allah worshipped with the continuing pressure on him from those who lived around him. Samuel had converted to the faith of the prophet for it was prudent to do so. For if he had not, his business would not have done well. He would not have found much in the city of Akbar that would help him if he had remained a follower of Moses. However being a converted Jew, he had a major difficulty that he would first have to overcome. For to read the Koran, which was written in Arabic, the language of Allah, Samuel had first to learn the language and then learn to read it well if he was to find any thing of enduring worth. Thus on this day Samuel had come to the realization that he had at last reached the stage when he was fully competent to read the book of the prophet.

When the prayers were over, there lingered about a number of persons who wished to speak with the holy man who had led the service. The holy man was in great demand having spent many years in the study of the Koran and in the desert, seeking the wisdom of Allah following the words of the prophet.

Samuel would have liked to ask the holy man a question but the fact that there were so many people who wished to speak to the man kept Samuel from coming forward. For one thing Samuel had noticed that people tended to hang around once their question had been answered, in order to hear the questions or the dilemmas of others and how the holy man would answer them. Samuel had no desire to have his question to the holy man spread abroad. The very nature of Samuel’s problem would, if revealed, make him an outcast; and unclean in the eyes of the population of the city and of the congregation of Allah.

Now through out the five years that Samuel had spent in Akbar he had been appointed a mentor, an older man by the name of Aliban Mohamet, a venerable old philosophic sage with a long white beard, who instructed him in the ways of the prophet. Aliban Mohamet was a wealthy merchant of the city who would spend much of his day meditating on the words of the prophet as put down in the Koran. It was he who first began to teach Samuel the beauty of the flowing language of the Koran. It was he who taught Samuel the precepts of the book, and it was he to whom Samuel would often return to ask questions that had puzzled him. Since the beginning of his stay in Akbar, they met often in the garden of this venerable merchant to discuss the problems that beset Samuel. It seemed since he had become a follower of the prophet that there were so many things, which a man could do which would cause him to sin and fall from the path of the prophet.

The garden was filled with many fruit trees and many flowers. The scent of jasmine was one which permeated the whole garden, bringing it a sense of peace and reflections. The roses, which the old man cultivated, were another thing of beauty. Aliban had tended them with loving care for a long time. Generations of roses had grown up in this garden tended by the caring hand of the old man, having long since surrendered his business activities to three of his sons.

The retired merchant looked upon Samuel as an adopted son to whom he could teach all the things he had learned. Thus their conversations in the scented garden revolved not only around the study of the ridged law of the prophet but also horticulture, at which the old man was a master. Some times they would discuss travels the old man had made. Samuel listened as the old man described things which he had seen in his life. Sometimes Samuel would smile and nod in agreement at other times Samuel would let the old man talk. It was good to hear what other people thought of things he too had seen. Samuel found himself reliving some of the time he had spent in Egypt through the words of the old man. Sometimes Samuel longed for a glass of good cool wine but these things were forbidden to the followers of the prophet.

Once the day was over and Samuel had closed the doors of the vast villa he retired to his room to meditate on the activities of the day. Thus on this evening he retired at his usual hour to reflect on the days activities and to once more read a section from the Koran. While he was yet reading he fell into a deep sleep leaning on his arm and hand.

While Samuel slept he began to dream that he was once more in the scented garden. The old man’s chair was vacant but on a tree stump near by sat a man in the dress of a desert warrior. His appearance gave Samuel the impression that this man was lost, sitting in the garden at night. The smell of Jasmine filling the air Samuel approached warily not wishing to surprise the man who seemed to be in deep meditation over a copy of the Koran. "Peace be upon you' he said to which the man replied the same greeting. “Pray tell me stranger” said Samuel “what has happened to Ali bin Mohamet the owner of this garden?" "I know not friend” said the man a little confused “I once owned this garden but that was many years ago. Now I own nothing". The moon light reflecting of his face made Samuel wonder why he seemed so familiar.

"I think that I have seen you before sire” said Samuel “of what tribe are you?” He asked the desert warrior who now stood up and plucked a rose lifting it to his face to take in the aroma of the delicate blossom. "Alas poor man I was in my life a merchant, a robber, and a charlatan who deceived many into following me" said the desert warrior.

"I was the follower of the Moon and by my actions I caused many peoples of many nations to follow after me to believe as I do in Allah". "Alas I was deceived. I followed the ancient gods of my people then made sure that only one of them was the Supreme Being; now there are many lost souls who follow after my ignorance and pride." "Poor man if you have yet a chance to escape from the gardens of Aribiy do it now for the road to hell and hades is to be found following the path I laid out for many millions who even now find the pit open to them. The way of destruction is made plain to those who fall into the pit but alas poor man they only realize it when it is too late for it to make a difference."