I was under a waterfall, my head tilted upwards. My face was drenched and water was dripping downwards. Slowly, I saw my whole self and I found that I… that I… was bathing! Bathing in the water, completely bare!
A short scream escaped my mouth and I realized where I was! Sweating and panting, I found myself lying crouched on my ‘matrah’ (mattress), under the star lit night of Saudi Arabia!
It’s just a dream I reassured myself and tried to drift into sleep again. But why would sleep come to me so easily when I didn’t even deserve to be free from chains and shackles!
What was this dream all about I wondered! I had been haunted with such meaningless dreams since a very long time. I had a friend Abu Ishaaq who too seemed to be disturbed by such dreams.
He once told me, “I dreamt about you yesterday, Sadeeqy (friend)!” I said joyfully, “well, so what did you dream about me?” Abu said in a low tone, “I dreamt that you and I were walking towards the barren hills. There was an enormous hole dug there for mining purposes. I turned to tell you that a notice should be put up there so that people would not fall in the ditch; just then you pushed me into the hole and wept helplessly afterwards!”
“Aah! Nevermind these dreams… they keep bugging you all the time. Why don’t you just forget about them? Dreams never come true. Trust me! Otherwise, I would have been a millionaire today.” I joked.
Today, I regret advising Abu not to take that dream seriously!
It was only one month later that I realized I had to repay a heavy loan that my father had taken few years before his sad demise. Luckily for me, the debtor hadn’t seen me ever. Unfortunately however, he knew what my first name was, Abu… Abu Ahmed!
Shaikh Kashif entered the Arabian market with the pride of a Sultan. He instructed his men to disperse in every direction, asking every vendor in the market about the whereabouts of Abu! “Where is that debtor Abu? I demand, where is he?” the whole market seemed to echo these words.
They caught hold of Abu Ishaaq. When he refused any debt, they threatened him of dire consequences. Abu called me and asked if these men were looking for me, but I, out of fear of my life, refused! And so… Abu was imprisoned, somewhere far from where he used to live...
That dream, I would think often, that dream came true. I pushed Abu into a ditch and then cried profusely.
Ever since, I had disturbed sleep, horrifying nightmares and an unstable frame of mind. I held myself responsible for all that happened to my friend, and why not? I did lie to save myself from the utter torment of not paying up the debt that my father owed!
After seeing the dream where I was bathing under a waterfall, I decided to put an end to this absurd trend of watching meaningless dreams, dreams which held no significance, but kept making my heart pound as if I were to be killed at that very moment!
I invited a dream interpreter. He came to my house, we exchanged greetings and we sat on the divan. At first I was hesitant. But the puny man sitting across me smiled widely and reassured me that he would not think that I was out of my wits.
Slowly, I began reciting the whole incident to the interpreter, beginning right from Abu Ishaaq’s dream till date, making special references to my dreams about being buried alive to wearing a shrunken shirt to the recent dream of bathing without any clothes!
The interpreter saw how deeply affected I was by these instances and how much I would love to understand my psyche. He told me that dreams held a lot of significance. "Even if you seem to not derive any rational explanation from them, there definitely is an underlying message." he announced.
The messages in my dreams were diverse, he said. Being buried stands for great sorrow, whereas a shirt signifies adherence to religion. A short shirt, he explained, is a sign of less adherence to the principles of the religion.
He further explained that the fact that I lied and also put my friend in trouble for no fault of his, clearly reflected my sorrow and my deviation from the religion in my dreams.
But he said that God however, had been merciful enough to grant me forgiveness. Bathing signifies acceptance of repentance. The interpreter said that I had undergone a lot of pain and hence, God decided to relieve me of the burden that I carried on my head.
But divine forgiveness was not enough. I had to bring my friend back and ask him to forgive me.
So I set out on a mission. I decided to work hard enough to pay off the debt and release my friend. I started off by riding camels, and then I moved on to trading. I worked with a company which would supply Kaleen or carpets to other countries in the middle-east. I had become rich by then and had enough money to pay off twice as much debt as I owed.
But where was Abu?
I asked every acquaintance of mine in different countries about the whereabouts of Shaikh Kashif. Ultimately, I did hit the jackpot. A wholesale supplier of carpets in Jeddah was to make a delivery to the Shaikh in the coming week. I jumped at the opportunity. I accompanied the vendor and met Shaikh Kashif, for the first time.
I knelt before him and pleaded guilty. I offered my money in exchange of my beloved Abu’s freedom. Shaikh ordered Abu to be released and brought before me.
When he finally came, my eyes flooded with tears. Surprisingly, so did his. I hugged him and said I was sorry for the lie that had I said, for which Abu had to suffer.
Abu said he knew deep down in his heart that one day I would come to his rescue. And that day had come!
Abu said he had no grudge against me, for I undertook the effort of repaying the debt and releasing him.
Abu and I went back to OUR home and we never parted again!
A short scream escaped my mouth and I realized where I was! Sweating and panting, I found myself lying crouched on my ‘matrah’ (mattress), under the star lit night of Saudi Arabia!
It’s just a dream I reassured myself and tried to drift into sleep again. But why would sleep come to me so easily when I didn’t even deserve to be free from chains and shackles!
What was this dream all about I wondered! I had been haunted with such meaningless dreams since a very long time. I had a friend Abu Ishaaq who too seemed to be disturbed by such dreams.
He once told me, “I dreamt about you yesterday, Sadeeqy (friend)!” I said joyfully, “well, so what did you dream about me?” Abu said in a low tone, “I dreamt that you and I were walking towards the barren hills. There was an enormous hole dug there for mining purposes. I turned to tell you that a notice should be put up there so that people would not fall in the ditch; just then you pushed me into the hole and wept helplessly afterwards!”
“Aah! Nevermind these dreams… they keep bugging you all the time. Why don’t you just forget about them? Dreams never come true. Trust me! Otherwise, I would have been a millionaire today.” I joked.
Today, I regret advising Abu not to take that dream seriously!
It was only one month later that I realized I had to repay a heavy loan that my father had taken few years before his sad demise. Luckily for me, the debtor hadn’t seen me ever. Unfortunately however, he knew what my first name was, Abu… Abu Ahmed!
Shaikh Kashif entered the Arabian market with the pride of a Sultan. He instructed his men to disperse in every direction, asking every vendor in the market about the whereabouts of Abu! “Where is that debtor Abu? I demand, where is he?” the whole market seemed to echo these words.
They caught hold of Abu Ishaaq. When he refused any debt, they threatened him of dire consequences. Abu called me and asked if these men were looking for me, but I, out of fear of my life, refused! And so… Abu was imprisoned, somewhere far from where he used to live...
That dream, I would think often, that dream came true. I pushed Abu into a ditch and then cried profusely.
Ever since, I had disturbed sleep, horrifying nightmares and an unstable frame of mind. I held myself responsible for all that happened to my friend, and why not? I did lie to save myself from the utter torment of not paying up the debt that my father owed!
After seeing the dream where I was bathing under a waterfall, I decided to put an end to this absurd trend of watching meaningless dreams, dreams which held no significance, but kept making my heart pound as if I were to be killed at that very moment!
I invited a dream interpreter. He came to my house, we exchanged greetings and we sat on the divan. At first I was hesitant. But the puny man sitting across me smiled widely and reassured me that he would not think that I was out of my wits.
Slowly, I began reciting the whole incident to the interpreter, beginning right from Abu Ishaaq’s dream till date, making special references to my dreams about being buried alive to wearing a shrunken shirt to the recent dream of bathing without any clothes!
The interpreter saw how deeply affected I was by these instances and how much I would love to understand my psyche. He told me that dreams held a lot of significance. "Even if you seem to not derive any rational explanation from them, there definitely is an underlying message." he announced.
The messages in my dreams were diverse, he said. Being buried stands for great sorrow, whereas a shirt signifies adherence to religion. A short shirt, he explained, is a sign of less adherence to the principles of the religion.
He further explained that the fact that I lied and also put my friend in trouble for no fault of his, clearly reflected my sorrow and my deviation from the religion in my dreams.
But he said that God however, had been merciful enough to grant me forgiveness. Bathing signifies acceptance of repentance. The interpreter said that I had undergone a lot of pain and hence, God decided to relieve me of the burden that I carried on my head.
But divine forgiveness was not enough. I had to bring my friend back and ask him to forgive me.
So I set out on a mission. I decided to work hard enough to pay off the debt and release my friend. I started off by riding camels, and then I moved on to trading. I worked with a company which would supply Kaleen or carpets to other countries in the middle-east. I had become rich by then and had enough money to pay off twice as much debt as I owed.
But where was Abu?
I asked every acquaintance of mine in different countries about the whereabouts of Shaikh Kashif. Ultimately, I did hit the jackpot. A wholesale supplier of carpets in Jeddah was to make a delivery to the Shaikh in the coming week. I jumped at the opportunity. I accompanied the vendor and met Shaikh Kashif, for the first time.
I knelt before him and pleaded guilty. I offered my money in exchange of my beloved Abu’s freedom. Shaikh ordered Abu to be released and brought before me.
When he finally came, my eyes flooded with tears. Surprisingly, so did his. I hugged him and said I was sorry for the lie that had I said, for which Abu had to suffer.
Abu said he knew deep down in his heart that one day I would come to his rescue. And that day had come!
Abu said he had no grudge against me, for I undertook the effort of repaying the debt and releasing him.
Abu and I went back to OUR home and we never parted again!
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