They left Muhammad’s family home and made for Yetto’s. Yetto’s father
was standing in the doorway of his home. As Hassan, Ismaïl and Abdelaziz were
approaching him, he unleashed his dog and set it on them.
“I know what you came for!” Yetto’s
father thundered, ablaze with rage, while his dog growled at the students, who
were backing away. “But I warn you for the last time: keep away from me or else
I’ll drive you away from these lands! Go! Get the hell out of here!”
The students had already moved
away, led by Muhammad. They stood in the middle of the village. All the men and
the children crowded round them. Then Muhammad stood on a rock and began a
speech:
“I am Muhammad Bin H’mad
Amgoon, as you all know. I was absent for many years, and when I came back I
saw Yetto, my aunt’s daughter. And I loved her without her knowing. And I
wanted to marry her. I knew I had no money, but now I have some money. These
men around me are my students. They have come over to me because they know I am
not a fool. And today they came over with me to Yetto’s home because they know
I am not a fool. Yetto’s father has refused to receive us. We don’t blame him
for that. We respect him. And I love him just as much as my father. I respect
him just as much as my father. Now let the story end here! Let us respect one
another! I don’t want anybody speaking ill of Yetto or of her father or of my
father or of me. There is no disgrace for a man in loving a woman. There is no
disgrace for a man in being denied a woman he loves. There is no disgrace for a
man in refusing to give his daughter to a man he doesn’t like. Love is not a
disgrace. And I am not ashamed of what I have done. And my students are not
ashamed of coming with me today. That's all I had to say. God bless Azlu!"
Everyone said,
"Amen!"
Muhammad descended from the
rock and led his students out to the shacks.
As they arrived there, Muhammad
faced all the students and said:
"I am sorry for the
trouble I made for you today. As I once told my brother Hassan, when he first
came to me, lovers sometimes make crazy mistakes, and some go crazy altogether.
I am sure I haven't gone crazy, but I'm not quite sure whether what I did today
was a crazy mistake or not. I was not going to ask for anything from you. But some
of you said I should have got married. And I told them that I couldn't get
married as long as the woman I loved was not married. This is not only a
question of choice. This is not only a question of love. It's a question of
faith. This is something that has to do with hope and despair. If you believe
that a good Muslim should not despair, then why should I despair as long as I
can hope? I love Yetto, and I hope to marry her. I know she is beautiful. I
know her father dreams of a better husband for her. But why should I despair
while there is still room for hope? As the Quran has it, only the infidel give
up hope. So if I lose hope, then this means that I don't trust God; it means
that I don't believe that God can grant my wish. Now, please, let's forget all
about this. And let me hope and dream in peace! This will not affect me as a
teacher. And let me once again welcome the new comers. I am happy you came to
join us. Now, you can have a rest. We'll meet again immediately after
mid-afternoon prayers. God bless you!"
Two weeks later, Muhammad was
lecturing to his students on hope versus despair when water suddenly began to
pour through the roof. Some of the students started to their feet. Muhammad too
stood up and took slow steps towards the door. His heart throbbed as he saw the
rain bucketing down. He was at a loss for words. Suddenly, Hassan walked up to
him and whispered:
"Don't worry, teacher!
I'll see how to handle this!"
“What are you going to do?”
said Muhammad in a mumble.
“We’ll move from here, if need
be.”
Muhammad turned to the
bewildered students, and said:
“I don’t think we could stay
here any longer. We have to move to a safe place. Our brother Hassan will
handle this.”
All the students looked at
Hassan, who raised a smile, then said:
“Just say, ‘Khalaqany,
razaqany, âllamany; hadany' and everything’s going to be alright, insha Allah!”
Muhammad stepped outside,
saying:
“Khalaqany, razaqany, âllamany;
hadany…”
And all the others followed
close on his heels, while the rain went on drumming on their heads.
A month went peacefully by, and
then, one day, there was a thud. Muhammad’s heart went pitapat. A woman’s
shriek made him prick up his ears. He then started to his feet and hurried to
the road.
“What’s going on?” he asked the
first passer-by.
“You don’t know?” gasped the
other, struggling to rein in his horse. “Ait Mimoon are on the way to invading
us. Rumour has it that they’ll be here within nine to twelve days! May God help
us!”
The passer-by urged his horse
on and Muhammad collapsed to his knees and held his head in his hands.
A moment later, he struggled to
his feet and trudged on. The road reeled before his eyes. “What shall I tell
the students when they come back from market?” he thought gloomily. “What shall
I tell Hassan, who is from Ait Mimoon? Now Yetto is gone! Hassan, too, is gone.
All Azlu is gone. What can I do? Oh, my God!” He sighed. Then, all of a sudden,
he broke into a run. He flew into the reed-mosque and burst into prayer. A
little later, he heard a hubbub around the mosque. He wiped his eyes and
dressed his jellaba and went out. The students rushed to him, their faces sunk
in gloom.
“What’s the matter?” he said,
forcing a smile.
“A misfortune is about to
befall us, teacher!” said one voice.
“Ait Mimoon tribes are said to
be on the way to Tensift, teacher!” said another.
“Where’s Hassan?” said
Muhammad, striving to look calm and composed.
“We left him back at the market
together with three other students,” said Ismaïl rather soberly. “They’re all
from Ait Mimoon, you know, and they are fearing for their lives.”
“They are right,” said
Muhammad, looking down. “This is what I feared,” he thought. Then, he looked up
and said:
“Now you are looking to me for
help, aren’t you? I am sorry to say I can’t help you. Let’s pray to God to help
us!”
“But, teacher,” interrupted one
of the students, “time is running out! We have to do something to save
ourselves!”
“If you are worried about your
own life, then you’ll not be saved!” said Muhammad, fixing the speaker with an
angry glare. Then, he turned round and said in a subdued voice, “Those who want
the Hereafter follow me!” And he set off, chanting: “Khalaqany, razaqany,
âllamany; hadany…”
And as he went along he felt
that there was only one man following him. And that was Ismaïl, who suddenly
interrupted him, “Shall I go and call Hassan back?” Muhammad turned and
favoured him with a smile, and said, “No, please! Leave him alone!” Then he
looked up. The other students were coming at a trot towards him. And so he had
a lovely smile on his face when all the students crowded round him, and said,
“Take us wherever you want, teacher! We shall go with you!”
“Then, let’s go in God’s name!”
said Muhammad. And he set off again, with the students following right behind
him, and chanting: “Khalaqany, razaqany, âllamany; hadany…”
And there, in the middle of the
village, Muhammad stood on the rock, and said:
“O Students! “Now is the hour
of truth. Ait Mimoon tribes are on the way to you. They are not coming to teach
or preach you, but to take your lives if they can. At best, they’ll take your
money and you’ll be reduced to begging. You’ll say you have no money? Alright!
But you have knowledge, a lot of knowledge. That knowledge may end here, if you
are killed. But if one –at least one of you– managed to escape, then he’ll be
able to carry that knowledge to other people; he’ll be able to light the way
for others. So now you have to choose for yourselves. As to me, I have made my
choice. I shall cross the wadi. The wadi we call Igri and you call Tensift. I
shall cross it together with those who are willing and ready to go; otherwise,
I’ll go it alone! God Save Azlu!”
As he stepped down, Ismaïl
shouted:
“We shall go with you, teacher!
We shall cross the wadi with you!”
Then another student shouted,
“Allahu Akbar!” (God is Great!), and all the others echoed his words, then
started chanting: “Khalaqany, razaqany, âllamany; hadany…”
At that moment, an old man
tottered towards Muhammad and said:
“Do you really mean to cross
Igri?”
“Yes!” said Muhammad.
“Oh, how funny! Last time I
believed you when you said you were not a fool because you loved Yetto. Now I
believe you are crazy! You want to cross Igri at this time of year? Go!”
The old man’s words raised a
roar of laughter from other village men. Muhammad cast a last glance at them
and turned his steps to the wadi, while the students filled the air with their
chants. Soon Muhammad began to hear children’s voices: they too joined in the
chanting.
Once they had reached the wadi,
Muhammad faced the students and said:
“Last time you cut down the
reed to build your shacks. Now cut them down to make boats. Those who know will
show those who don’t. And let me remind you that God helps those who never tire
of invoking His help. God Help You!”
Then he turned to the children
and said:
“And you, dear children!
“If you want to cross with us,
please fetch us as many saws and knives and ropes as you can! I’m waiting for you!”
The children nodded
respectfully and skipped up towards their homes.
Within less than an hour, the
students were busy cutting down the reed, the doum and palm-branches.
At midday, the children lined
up for prayer behind the students. And while in prayer, Muhammad heard hurried
footsteps. When the prayers were over, he looked up to his right, wondering
whether he was in a dream. A dozen teenage boys were standing up patiently and
looking at him with almost pleading eyes. Among them was seventeen-year-old
Sêed, Yetto’s brother. Muhammad struggled to his feet and shuffled up to them.
“Are you going to join us?” he
said, his voice shaking with emotion.
“Yes, if we can be of
assistance,” said Sêed in a rather confident voice.
“We’d be very grateful to you
then,” replied Muhammad, looking tenderly at Sêed.
“What shall we do?” said Sêed
eagerly.
“Well, we need reeds, doum,
palm-branches and ropes to make boats. We’ll use these boats to cross the wadi.
I know this operation entails a risk. But we have no other choice.”
“Alright!” said Sêed, glancing
at the other boys.
“We also need some food and
water,” said Muhammad.
“No problem!” said Sêed,
beckoning the boys to follow him. Muhammad watched them with glistening eyes as
they trotted away towards the other end of the village.
