Before the Throne

47

HORUS HERALDED, “Halim al-Aswani!”

A tall, withered man walked in his winding sheet until he stood before the throne.

Osiris requested his testimony.

“I was a fruits-and-vegetables seller from a large family, half of which converted to Islam. As it happened, the leadership of the Muslims had shifted to a new family — during my time there was a caliph called Abu Jaafar al-Mansur. A series of governors came in succession, none of them lasting more than a year, sometimes less. There was no chance for anyone to think of reform. Things deteriorated to the point that the Copts revolted in Sakha. Conditions got so bad that plague and famine reigned until the people were eating both their animals and each other.”

“How did the Muslims fare in this?” the Sage Ptahhotep inquired.

“They suffered as we did,” answered al-Aswani. “They grew so extremely bitter that they accused the governor of violating the sharia, the sacred law. Regardless of our religious differences, our feelings were united, but those in power were stronger than all of us together.”

“If you had all adopted the faith of the One God, then that would have saved you,” claimed Akhenaten.

“The problem was one of bread, not of God,” Abnum corrected him.

“Perhaps you will find justice in your final trial,” Osiris consoled him.