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The Story of a Beggar

Najati Al-Bukhari

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

It should be mentioned that before going out of the house, I quite knew where I would go in the quarter. Naturally and as expected, I took as a destination the square of the quarter where I would go there to the hidden corner of the square where the strange small beggar was standing night and day.

It did not take me a long time to arrive at my destination. I almost walked to that place closed eyes. I was totally stupefied and even petrified when I arrived at the square of the quarter. At the same time of my arrival the heavy rainfall has already stopped and it was easy for me to move from one place to another in the wide and spacious square.

It was a surprise to find out that the small mysterious beggar was not in his usual place, the dark hidden spot of one of the corners of the square. Instead, the small boy was standing in the centre of the square where, the small boys of the quarter had the habit to play and to amuse ourselves throughout the days of the weak.

It was a surprise for me to find out that the small and mysterious beggar was not in his usual place, the dark hidden spot of one of the corners of the square. Instead, the small boy was standing in the centre of the square where, the small boys of the quarter had the habit to play and to amuse ourselves throughout the days of the week.

Also, and even a more surprising discovery was concerning the wooden bowl carried in the hand of the small beggar which was supposed to be full of the small money coins offered by some of the passers-by, the generous and the benevolent people. Furthermore, the inside of the wooden bowl, was sending out, in a very miraculous way, a multicolor smoke.

At that particular time of the night, nobody was there in the wide and spacious square which was completely empty. It was a deserted place. I could notice that even the night guard of the mosque of the quarter was not there near by the mosque. Perhaps, he was hiding himself somewhere around the mosque because of the bad weather.

I looked around in the square to see whether there was someone who was passing by or who was walking around. Nevertheless, I found nobody at all. I guessed that all the inhabitants were at that moment sleeping in their houses. The sky at that time was encrusted by an unlimited number of shining and twinkling stars. I thought that the black clouds of the night were chased away by the shining light of the sky.

Silence again prevailed in the square of the quarter. Abruptly, I heard the voice of a small boy of my age who was addressing to me some words, or in fact, a message. Really, it did not take a lot of time to discover that the voice coming to me was that of the small beggar. With some hesitation and reticence and even some feeling of fear and perplexity I went close to the place where the marvelous boy, the beggar, was standing.

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I was at that moment perplexed because at that time I thought that this small beggar could neither speak nor hear or even see. He was deaf, dumb and blind. This was also what I told the other small boys of the quarter, my friends. All of the small boys thought that the beggar was really blind and deaf.

"Come and see this marvelous and wonderful world with me. Come near, Amin, and you will find in front of you a miraculous and a magnificent world. Come here and have a look inside the small wooden bowl. Come, please to me. Don't hesitate," asked me the small beggar who was having a smile on his shining face.

I heard what the small beggar was telling me and I got surprised and stunned. I asked myself what could there be in the small bowl. Anyhow, I decided at once to obey what the small beggar told me. I advanced towards him in very steady steps.

All what I had of a feeling of fear and panic has disappeared. I walked towards the marvelous small boy, the beggar. I went towards the source of light, the wooden bowl. There in the bowl I saw light manifesting itself in the shape of a rainbow, a magnificent and a marvelous rainbow.

The moment I saw the light and the illuminating rainbow coming from the small wooden bowl I really forgot all my fear, and my panic. I became all of a sudden happy, excited and full of joy. I really felt myself in the midst of a world full of wonders, marvels and miracles.

The more I was near to the marvelous boy and his wooden bowl the more I was faced by an illuminating and shining light. I could not believe what I was seeing. Really I was feeling that I was in a wonderful world where there was nothing but light. At last, when I was almost very close to the small boy and his wooden bowl, I had the courage to talk, to say something to the small beggar.

"I thank you very much, my friend, for inviting me to witness and see this miraculous phenomenon inside your wooden bowl. I can see marvels and miracles." I said to the small beggar in a somewhat trembling and low voice.

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"Don't be afraid. If you please, what you are seeing now is at the same time real and not the world of dreams and imagination. This is my world. This is my fascinating world. Nothing is like my world which you see in front of you," explained the small beggar.

As soon as the small wooden bowl was just before me and nothing separated us, I was extremely surprised to see before me a marvelous and a miraculous world. I saw a treasure inside the wooden bowl that was endless and without limits in quantity. The treasure was composed of all sorts of the precious stones that could ever be imagined. The bowl contained an endless amount of precious stones and jewels of all sorts and sizes as well as of all colors. The value of this treasure was inestimable. It could be said that the bowl contained all the precious stones of the world.

The shining light was continuously emanating from inside the bowl and I had to put my hands on my eyes just to protect them from the strong illumination of the light coming out of the wooden bowl. At that particular moment, seeing myself facing a miracle, something unbelievable, I was under the impression that I will not be able to say a word, to express myself and to talk to this small beggar.

I was really afraid to have been bewitched by the sudden appearance of this fascinating treasure in the middle of the square of the quarter. For a moment I was thinking I was living in a dream, or I was living a dream. As I usually did, I rubbed my two eyes several times to be sure that I was not dreaming. I looked around me to examine what was there in the square.

What a strange world, I could not see anything because the whole square of the quarter was full of light and nothing but light. At that time I was astonished to discover that I was totally fixed, planted, in that place. In other words, it was impossible for me to move, or, in other words, to escape, to save myself. Therefore, I decided to stay there and to face the reality, the new world as it was presented to me by the small beggar. In other words, there was no escape from this mysterious but fascinating situation. I had to accept it and to live with it.

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The Story of a Beggar

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