Gold Dust

14

Sheikh Musa had mediated between father and son during their first falling out. At that time, Ukhayyad’s father had wanted his sons to inherit the title of chief, to keep it from falling into the hands of outsiders. The man was determined to marry his son to his sister’s daughter. The girl was sister to a nephew, Mukhammed, who was preparing to take over as chief. In a message Musa delivered to Ukhayyad, the father emphasized that this was their one chance to secure the title within their household. For if his sister’s daughter married Ukhayyad and they produced a boy, then the family’s honor would be guaranteed. It never occurred to Ukhayyad to think of Mukhammed’s sister. She was a dim-witted girl with dull eyes, lacking all spark and poetry — she was an ordinary, even sickly girl without charm or talent. To him, there was nothing womanly about her, nothing feminine — so how then could he marry her? He cursed the idea of becoming chief, and sent a message to his father: he would not do it. The man never said a word about his son’s rudeness until now. Today, he had replied to Ukhayyad’s earlier insult in kind: “Marry her and be damned.” The message burned Ukhayyad to the core.

He did not need Sheikh Musa to remind him of the significance of this message. Every young man in the desert knew that heaven opened its doors each morning to receive the prayers of fathers.

Ukhayyad had inherited his father’s obstinacy, but not the man’s desire to lead the tribe. He had taken up the man’s tenacious nature, but not his love for status among men — and stubbornness was far more useful in the struggles against the desert. From his perspective, being chief brought nothing but headache. He who has visited the houris of paradise and who has drunk from heaven’s river would never seek to inherit the title of chief!

So he made up his mind and chose Ayur. He fled the throne and plunged into the embrace of a goddess of charm and allure. He married the young refugee and repeated the very mantra his father had taken from the Prophet: “The dearest things to me in your world are three: women, perfume, and — most of all — prayer.”

He chose woman. But, in time, this same woman would be the one to bring about the piebald’s ruin. And the camel Ukhayyad had pledged to the saint so long ago, the camel he had left to fatten up in the pastures, would be the same camel he slaughtered instead for the feast on his wedding night.