Before the Throne

42

HORUS HERALDED, “Athanasius the Egyptian!”

A waif-like man of medium stature walked in, wrapped in his winding sheet, until he stood before the throne.

Osiris then proclaimed, “This court is assembled to try Egyptian rulers. This man was not a ruler, yet he represents the return of Egyptians to government. Therefore, his testimony is not lacking in historical significance.”

“I began as a translator of Coptic into Arabic,” stated Athanasius, “when Coptic was the language of the treasury accounts. Egypt lived in peace and stability until the reign of the Caliph Uthman, whose policies divided the Muslims. They plunged into internecine strife, ending in his murder. The Muslims in Egypt were also divided, splitting into two groups — those who were loyal to Uthman, and the others, his opponents. Wars broke out between them, which the Egyptians suffered as they raged in the country, until the caliphate fell to Muawiya — who appointed our governors from among his followers. In general, we did not have the luck to have a ruler as gentle as Amr ibn al-As again.

“During the governorship of Abd al-Aziz Marwan,” continued Athanasius, “there were some reforms, but he also obliged the priests to pay a one-dinar tax. After they were absolved of this duty, he levied a tax of three thousand dinars upon the patriarchate, instead.”

“How did the priests and the patriarch react to that?” asked the Sage Ptahhotep.

“Their reaction was a Christian one, based upon love and peace, sublime over the demands of this world.”

“They didn’t plot a revolution, as their ancestors had against me?” wondered Akhenaten.

“The conditions overall were good,” answered Athanasius, “if you compare them with what they were under the Byzantines. Yet we were angry when some members of our community converted to the new religion. To us, it seemed that they had blasphemed themselves for profit, in order to avoid paying the head tax on non-Muslims. They, in turn, alleged that Islam was nothing more than a Christian sect, and their embracing it was not an act of apostasy.”

“You eased the way for them to change their original religion,” Khufu rebuked Akhenaten, “and laid the foundation for the practice of trading in beliefs.”

“There is nothing wrong with a person changing their religion,” retorted Akhenaten, “if his principal reason for doing so is honorable and enlightened. Yet I am amazed that the Arabs were guided to my faith, when my own people had spurned it for generation after generation.”

“I see no reason to defend this man,” offered Isis, “so long as no one is accusing him of any offense.”

“We wish you the best possible outcome, Athanasius,” Osiris told him, “in your Christian tribunal.”