Before the Throne

46

HORUS HAILED, “Samaan al-Gargawi!”

A muscular man walked in, then stood before the throne.

Osiris invited him to speak.

“A blacksmith, descended from blacksmiths,” said Samaan al-Gargawi. “At the start of the caliphate of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, the Copts rose up in revolt, in which I took part, losing my life in one of its skirmishes. Hanzala ibn Safwan was the governor then, a thoroughly oppressive character. He wasn’t satisfied with just taxing the people — he taxed the animals as well! For this reason, he was removed when a rebellion broke out.”

“I praise you as liberator and a son of the people,” said Abnum. “But I do wonder what caused your uprising to fail?”

“The caliph’s power was overwhelming,” answered Samaan al-Gargawi. “We were a small, isolated people who had lost the martial spirit. And we lacked the participation of our brothers who had switched to Islam — which made them loyal to the caliph.”

“This invasion from within had never happened before,” replied Abnum.

“Go to your Christian trial,” Osiris said, “with our praise and blessings.”