Daily Excerpt: When You're Shoved from the Right, Look to Your Left (O. Imady) - For a Few Silver Coins
.jpg)
Excerpt from When You're Shoved from the Right Look to Your Left: Metaphors of Islamic Humanism (Omar Imady)
FOR A FEW SILVER COINS
Once a man heard about a place where people worshipped a tree.
“These people are under a delusion. They have replaced the glory of the transcendent God, the secret of all that is alive, with a mere tree? I must save them from this path. I must cut down this tree.”
And so, the man climbed on his horse and headed toward the
tree. When he got there, he picked up his ax and began to strike at it. People
ran to him, yelling, “Stop! This is our most sacred tree.”
But everyone who tried to push him away from the tree
failed. He was simply too strong and too determined. When everyone was about to
give up, an old man approached him and said, “Listen, my friend. The truth is
that you have severely surprised these people. They are all very devoted to
this tree, and they will be very hurt if they see it cut down today. However,
if you were to wait just until tomorrow, they will be far more prepared
mentally to see their special tree cut down. Meanwhile, here is a bag of silver
coins. It’s not a bribe, of course. Give it away in charity, or use it for some
good purpose. Then come back tomorrow, and you can cut down the tree. I promise it will still be here waiting for
you.”
The old man’s words seemed very convincing. After all, what
would a day possibly change? And as for the silver coins, it was true that he
could think of many good ways to spend them.
And so, he returned to his own
town. First, he used a few silver coins to help an old widow he knew, but later
he began to use the coins to buy meat, milk, and honey.
“It’s OK,” he would comfort
himself. “I’m simply trying to stay strong and fit so I can perform good
deeds.”
When the last silver coin was
spent, ten days after he had taken them from the old man, he decided he would
now return and cut down the tree. When he arrived, he found the old man, along
with others, prostrating to the tree.
“Move away!” he screamed. “The
time has come for your tree to be cut down.”
But no sooner had he said these
words than a woman approached him and pushed him to the ground. Surprised, the
man stood up and again walked toward the tree. This time a child no older than
seven approached him and pushed him to the ground. Suddenly, everyone appeared
to be stronger than he, far stronger than he. The faces that only ten days ago
were full of fear were now full of contempt.
“Cut down our tree? Who do you think you are to cut down our tree?”
“We’ll cut your head off if you try this again!”
But the words of the old man
echoed within him the most:
“There is nothing weaker than
that which can be stopped with silver!”
For other posts about Omar and his books, click HERE.
Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter
Follow MSI Press on Twitter, Face Book, and Instagram.
in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book?
Contact editor@msipress.com.
Want an author-signed copy of this book?
Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25)
and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.
Comments
Post a Comment