The next morning five boats were ready. The students, the children, the
boys and many men from the village fixed their eyes on Muhammad as he stood up
and faced them all.
“Now,” said Muhammad, looking
right and left, “we shall put our lives in God’s hands and try to cross the
wadi. For this I need volunteers. I need brave men or boys who are ready to
sacrifice their own lives for the sake of the others. I shall be the first to
volunteer. I'll be in the vanguard.
“Here are five boats. I'll go
aboard one boat. This boat will go first. It will pull along another boat with
a rope. The second boat, the one just behind, will be tied up with a rope to a
boat from every side. The boats on the four sides will help the boat in the
middle to stay steady as it moves on.
“On our first trip, only one
man will go in each boat. But if all goes well, Insha Allah, there will be five
men on each boat on the four sides and one woman and two to three children on
the boat in the middle. The women and children will not have to row. But on
each of the other boats, two men will sit on either side of the boat and the
fifth will sit in front, and they all have to row and see to it that all boats
are steady and moving straight ahead.
“So –as I said– I will go
first. Then three will follow me simultaneously. And the fifth will move along
at my signal.
“Now, who’s going with me?”
“Me!” said Ismaïl, raising his
hand.
“And me!” said Sêed zealously.
And three more students rushed
forward and lowered the boats, while the other students filled the air with
their chanting, “Khalaqany, razaqany, âllamany; hadany…” At that moment, Ismaïl
took Muhammad aside and said:
“I don’t think the women and
children would be safe on the boat in the middle without at least two boys
rowing the boat for them.”
“We’ll try that out right now
and see what happens. And thanks for your advice!”
With a beating heart, Muhammad
stepped into the boat and started rowing. The boat swayed a little, but it soon
righted itself and moved on. Now it jerked. For a moment, it even stopped.
Muhammad felt the weight of the boat that had just started off behind him. But
then, little by little, his boat started moving again. And without glancing
back, he raised his hand as a signal for the fifth boat to follow.
And soon after, the tip of
Muhammad’s boat brushed the reed on the other bank. But he kept on rowing until
he got to a solid rock, on which he set foot. Then he started towing the boat
in the middle until he clutched Sêed’s hand. At that moment, shouts of “Allahu
Akbar!” nearly deafened him.
“Now, tell me, Sêed,” said
Muhammad suddenly, “did you have to row your boat?”
“Yes, I did!”
“Can you row back now?”
“Yes, if you want!”
“Good! Now, please, go back and
tell the village men to join us. Tell them to help us with making the boats,
the ropes and the oars. And tell them that we’ll carry the women and children
first, then the elderly, then people’s belongings, then the men and the boys,
right?”
“Right, sir!”
“Then go in God’s name! Wait a
minute! Go back in this boat, the one which I came in.”
Muhammad did not wait there to
watch Sêed step back into the boat and go over. He was on the verge of tears,
and he did not want Sêed to see his tears, although they were tears of joy. So
he slipped through the reed and hid himself and wept to his heart’s content.
Then, suddenly, there was
Ismaïl’s voice resounding through the reed. Astounded, Muhammad rushed to him.
“What’s the matter?” he said.
“I just wanted to know where
you were.”
“Here I am! So?”
“What are we going to do now?”
“Well, listen! Go back to the
other side! Send me four students to help me clear narrow paths through the
reed so that people could move out of here. Then split up the men into small
groups and show them how to make the boats, and so on. Let Sêed organize the
villagers, especially the women and children. If they ask about their
belongings, tell them that we’ll carry as much as we can later on. Now go!”
“Before I go, teacher! I have
an idea!”
“Yes?”
“I think we can make bigger
boats that could hold more than five. And I think we don’t necessarily need
five boats on each trip to carry three or four people. And what if we made
boats of palm-trunks instead of reed?”
“Alright! Do what you can! Now
go!”
Muhammad was busy cutting down
the reed when one of the four students with him suddenly stood up and said:
“Look over there! The women are
coming!”
Muhammad dropped the reed and
the saw and looked on as the women straggled down towards the men who were busy
working on the boats. Then he tripped up to the water's edge and signed to the
students to send him a boat immediately.
The boat came and he jumped
into it and rowed to the other bank. All eyes were on him, but his eyes were
fixed on the women. Sêed rushed to him.
“What are we going to do now,
sir?” he said.
“We’ll start evacuating the
women and children,” said Muhammad. “But tell me, where’s Yetto?”
“I don’t know,” said Sêed in
surprise.
“Will you please look for her
and keep an eye on her for me? I am worried about her.”
“Don’t worry about her, sir!”
Then Muhammad turned to the
men, and sighed. He saw his own father among them. He rushed to his side and
squatted down, and said:
“Father, please try to persuade
all reluctant men to cross with us. Everything’s going to be alright, Insha
Allah!”
His father went on with his
work and said nothing.
At that moment, someone cried:
“Hassan is back! Hassan is
back!”
Muhammad started to his feet
and looked round. His eyes met Hassan’s. Muhammad smiled and opened his arms.
Hassan rushed to him like a child.
“I am sorry,” said Hassan in a
low voice as Muhammad let go of him. “I–I–”
“Skip it!” replied Muhammad.
“Now get down to work! Ismaïl will show you what to do. But tell me, where are
the others who were with you?”
“They’re hiding out there!”
“Oh! Sêed, go and tell them to
come at once!”
A little later, a woman and two
small children went down to the wadi. Ismaïl and Hassan helped them into one of
the five boats that were rigged up for them. And then two teenage boys jumped
into the boat, and each sat on one side and grasped the oar. Shouts of “Allahu
Akbar!” blended with trilling cries of joy as the five boats sailed smoothly
across the wadi.
The boat in the middle arrived safely, and so Muhammad
turned to the students and said:
"Thank God everything's
gone well. Now, please, I want most of the women and children carried across
before dusk."
"Right, teacher!"
Muhammad moved on along the
edge, thinking. Then, suddenly, Ismaïl caught up on him, and said in a
tremulous voice.
"Teacher!"
"Yes?" said Muhammad,
startled.
"Do you trust
Hassan?"
"Why, he's a great
leader!"
"But he's from Aït
Mimoon!"
"So?"
"I am worried."
"I have a plan. Don't
worry!"
Ismaïl turned to go. Muhammad
looked on in silence. Then his gaze shifted to Hassan, who was helping the
women and children crowding round for a lift to safety. Muhammad moved on.
Hassan saw him approaching. Their eyes met. Muhammad waved to him.
"You want me?" cried
Hassan in surprise.
Muhammad nodded. Hassan
shuffled up to him.
"What's the matter,
teacher?" he said.
"I want you to cross to
the other side," said Muhammad in a rather shaky voice.
"Don't you trust me,
Muhammad?"
"Are you going to cross or
not?"
Muhammad was trembling all
over.
"No!" said Hassan,
moving away towards the women.
Muhammad cursed himself for
what looked like a gaffe on his part, and moved on towards Ismaïl. Heartbroken,
Muhammad put his arm round Ismaïl and led him towards a grassy spot.
"Now, let's sit down!"
said Muhammad, his face ablaze with embarrassment.
"Right, teacher!"
said Ismaïl reassuringly as both sat down.
"Now, what I'm going to
tell you is for your eyes only. Listen well!..." And so Muhammad told
Ismaïl all he had to do once he got to the other bank, then said, "Now go
in God's name! And don't care about Hassan or anybody else! If I'm gone, it's
you who'll lead the people!"
Ismaïl crossed the wadi. Hassan
rushed to Muhammad and said:
"I'm sorry, teacher!"
"Never mind!" said
Muhammad, moving away.
Sêed hailed him.
"What's the matter?"
said Muhammad, his heart beating fit to burst.
"Yetto doesn't want to
cross with us!"
"Where is she?"
Muhammad gasped.
"She's up there!"
Muhammad trotted over to her.
She was standing aloof from the other women, who were busy cooking.
"S–S–S–Sêed told me
y–y–y–you're not going to cross with us. Is that true?" Muhammad
stammered.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I am scared."
"Oh, Yetto! Don't be
afraid! I'll cross with you in the same boat. Come along!"
Yetto picked up her bundle and
walked behind Muhammad, who turned to Sêed and said:
"Go and get Hassan's boat
ready for us!"
"Right!"
As Sêed moved off, Muhammad
turned to Yetto and said in a shaky voice:
"We'll take a large boat, Yetto.
Don't fear anything! But what's that you're holding in your arms?"
“It’s my personal belongings.”
“Oh, no, Yetto! Leave that
bundle over here! We’ll carry all the belongings later on.”
“I can’t. I must take it with
me!”
“But–”
Muhammad was too weak to finish
his sentence. For at that moment Yetto lowered her veil and looked him straight
in the eye.
Muhammad held the boat while
Sêed helped Yetto into it. Then Muhammad stepped into the boat and sat close to
Yetto and started rowing. Now, Yetto had removed most of the veil, and so
Muhammad could see more of her face again. And he searched that face for some
sign of affection. That sign did not come out until he stood on the solid rock
to help her out of the boat. She then smiled a smile that sent his heart
fluttering, and said, “Thank you! My bundle, please!” Sêed handed him the
bundle and he passed it on to her with trembling hands.
Muhammad felt on top of the
world as he walked slowly between Yetto and her brother along the empty path.
But hardly had they reached the place where the evacuated women and children
were lounging when an angry crowd flew to them, cutting across the ploughed
fields. Ismaïl too and the other four students joined the lot of them.
“What are you doing here on our
lands?” said one voice.
“We fled an imminent invasion
by Aït Mimoon,” said Ismaïl, panting.
“Where are Aït Mimoon?” said
the voice in an angry tone. “We only see Azlu people!”
Muhammad raised his hand and
waited until the uproar subsided. Then he said:
“O Men! Please give us a
chance! Try to wait two weeks, no more! If Aït Mimoon come, then help us until
they go. If they don’t come, then we shall go back to our village and make it
up to you, all the damage we’re doing to your lands now. So please be patient
with us!”
“Alright!” said one voice.
“Let’s wait and see!”
