Loyalty among Friends [Archives:2002/32/Last Page]
August 5 2002
Written by Abdulrahman Mutahhar
Translated by Janet Watson
M An Arab poet once said, How many friends you have when you count them, but in times of misfortune how few!
Ma How true! You can never gain from what your brother has, nor can you use his lamp to light your way. But people are like metals: theyre not all alike some are pure gold, some silver, some iron, and some of them arent metal at all, and these are the people who are many when you count them, but in times of trouble and need you wont see them for dust.
M Bless you! Really, Musida, you do have good insight!
Ma The best way to gain insight is from lifes lessons and experiences and by getting to know people and how they differ. This is far more reliable than all the books you could read!
M Lifes lessons and experiences are certainly the best way of learning about people, whether they are from your own family or from outside.
Ma Quite!
Ma Thats right, but between me and you, some people look out for calamities to befall their relative and gloat when something happens. Youre not stupid, Musid, you know what people are like!
M Dont worry about that, Musida, the Yemeni philosopher Ali ibn Zayid said, He who means to cauterize other people will find himself cauterized even more! And he who delights in his cousins misfortune will meet a sticky end!1
Ma How right! God bless you, Ali ibn Zayid, He who means to cauterize other people will find himself cauterized even more! And he who delights in his cousins misfortune will meet a sticky end!
M Listen here! Some people act as if they love their brothers and are really loyal to them, but all the time theyre plotting behind their back, just looking for something awful to happen. And youve no idea what theyre doing until their plotting rebounds back onto them. As God said in His Holy Book, Double-dealing comes back to the perpetuator. God Almighty has spoken truly.
Ma God indeed has spoken truly, but Ive got another story to tell you, Musid.
M Whats that?
Ma My nephew Husayn loves having his friends around, and nothing makes him happier than having his mafraj full of friends. Youve seen for yourself that he hardly ever has lunch or supper without inviting at least seven or eight friends. They all love him. They would lay down their lives for him and fawn around him like lap dogs!
M They all love him and fawn around him as long as hes got the 5 million riyals his mother bequeathed to him! Ive seen what people are like! They rush around those whove got money, and disappear as soon as they havent.
Ma Youve hit the nail on the head! Thats exactly whats happened my nephews friends got to know he had an inheritance, and suddenly people popped up all around him, like bees round a honeypot!
M Quite! And when the 5 million riyals hed inherited ran out and he found himself stripped penniless once more, his friends all disappeared into thin air and he was left regretting spending his money foolishly and not choosing his friends wisely. As the Arab poet said, How many friends you have when you count them, but in times of misfortune how few!
1 Cf. Qanun Sana, p. 14.
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