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Main Index
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THERE WAS ONCE A MAN NAMED MOJUD. HE LIVED IN A TOWN WHERE HE HAD OBTAINED A POST AS A SMALL OFFICIAL, AND IT SEEMED LIKELY THAT HE WOULD END HIS DAYS AS INSPECTOR OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
ONE DAY WHEN HE WAS WALKING THROUGH THE GARDENS OF AN ANCIENT BUILDING NEAR HIS HOME, KHIDR, THE MYSTERIOUS GUIDE OF THE SUFIS, APPEARED TO HIM, DRESSED IN SHIMMERING GREEN. KHIDR SAID, "MAN OF BRIGHT PROSPECTS! LEAVE YOUR WORK AND MEET ME AT THE RIVERSIDE IN THREE DAYS' TIME." THEN HE DISAPPEARED.
MOJUD WENT TO HIS SUPERIOR IN TREPIDATION AND SAID THAT HE HAD TO LEAVE. EVERYONE IN THE TOWN SOON HEARD OF THIS AND THEY SAID, "POOR MOJUD! HE HAS GONE MAD." BUT, AS THERE WERE MANY CANDIDATES FOR HIS JOB, THEY SOON FORGOT HIM.
ON THE APPOINTED DAY, MOJUD MET KHIDR, WHO SAID TO HIM, "TEAR YOUR CLOTHES AND THROW YOURSELF INTO THE STREAM. PERHAPS SOMEONE WILL SAVE YOU."
MOJUD DID SO, EVEN THOUGH HE WONDERED IF HE WERE MAD.
SINCE HE COULD SWIM, HE DID NOT DROWN, BUT DRIFTED A LONG WAY BEFORE A FISHERMAN HAULED HIM INTO HIS BOAT, SAYING, "FOOLISH MAN! THE CURRENT IS STRONG. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?" MOJUD SAID, "I DON'T REALLY KNOW."
"YOU ARE MAD," SAID THE FISHERMAN, "BUT I WILL TAKE YOU INTO MY REED-HUT BY THE RIVER YONDER, AND WE SHALL SEE WHAT CAN BE DONE FOR YOU."
WHEN HE DISCOVERED THAT MOJUD WAS WELL-SPOKEN, HE LEARNED FROM HIM HOW TO READ AND WRITE. IN EXCHANGE, MOJUD WAS GIVEN FOOD AND HELPED THE FISHERMAN WITH HIS WORK. AFTER A FEW MONTHS, KHIDR AGAIN APPEARED, THIS TIME AT THE FOOT OF MOJUD'S BED, AND SAID, "GET UP NOW AND LEAVE THIS FISHERMAN. YOU WILL BE PROVIDED FOR."
MOJUD IMMEDIATELY QUIT THE HUT, DRESSED AS A FISHERMAN, AND WANDERED ABOUT UNTIL HE CAME TO A HIGHWAY.
AS DAWN WAS BREAKING HE SAW A FARMER ON A DONKEY ON HIS WAY TO MARKET. "DO YOU SEEK WORK?" ASKED THE FARMER, "BECAUSE I NEED A MAN TO HELP ME BRING BACK SOME PURCHASES."
MOJUD FOLLOWED HIM. HE WORKED FOR THE FARMER FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS, BY WHICH TIME HE HAD LEARNED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT AGRICULTURE BUT LITTLE ELSE.
ONE AFTERNOON WHEN HE WAS BALING WOOL, KHIDR APPEARED TO HIM AND SAID, "LEAVE THAT WORK, WALK TO THE CITY OF MOSUL, AND
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