“The reward for goodness is nothing but goodness.”
During the colonial era, names of leaders and officials emerged who became notorious for their cruelty, harshness, and domination over the lands and people. Among them was a commander whose reputation spread throughout the regions of Doukkala, Abda, and who was known for his tyranny, as mentioned in books and witnessed by many. This commander would issue judgments that resulted in burying people alive in vertically dug pits, where bodies were planted like trees, including many innocent individuals. Hussein was one of the assistants (storekeepers) entrusted by the commander to carry out execution sentences. His role was to tie the hands and feet of the condemned, seal their mouths, blindfold them, and place them in a bag that would be securely closed (knotted), handed over to the storekeepers who executed the burial without knowing who it concerned.
One day, Hussein was assigned, as usual, to carry out the sentence of burying a living person. As he was driving the cart towards the designated location, he heard a groaning that made his heart pound and his emotions soften. The sound would subside briefly, only to rise again, accompanied by the stretching and contraction of legs, as if a lamb were being led to slaughter. The place was not far, yet for the first time, Hussein felt that the journey was getting longer, and he experienced mental turmoil that clouded his thoughts, questioning the fate of those thrown into the pits: Were they really guilty as the commander claimed? Then his mind would remind him that seeing the “commander” above all senses, he found himself at the doorstep of the grave. He started pulling the bag, and the groaning intensified, accompanied by gasps resembling those emitted by a ram that had just sensed the knife’s proximity for slaughter. Just as they were about to throw the bag into its prepared pit, the groaning transformed into something similar to the cries of a goat being taken away from the herd. Hussein wondered what made him hesitate to this extent. His self and his limbs collectively urged him to pause. He stopped for a moment, then threw the bag into another pit and covered it with a heap of straw. Then he began to cover the grave with soil and mud. Before leaving, he addressed whoever was inside the bag, urging them not to make any sound until he returned.
After darkness fell over the village, Hussein sneaked into the graves and began to remove the heap of straw to begin untying the prisoner. The young man, fifteen years old, was named Bashir. After recounting his story to Hussein, he revealed the injustices he suffered at the hands of a prominent figure in his village, affiliated with the commander’s entourage. This man wanted to get rid of Bashir to have his way with his orphan sister outside the institution of marriage, and he had his way. After that, the sister threw herself into the well to prevent the sixty-year-old friend of the commander from molesting her and to mourn her brother, who was told that the commander would execute him. Before being put in the bag, one of the commander’s executioners informed Bashir of his sister’s fate, deepening his sorrow. Hussein felt happy because his intuition did not betray him regarding the truth of the condemned, who provided him with a water jug and some bread, pleading with him not to return to the area again, or else death would be their fate.
Bashir had nowhere to seek refuge, and no relatives to protect him from the tyranny. He headed to the city of Azemmour, where he stayed briefly before departing to Casablanca. There, he worked in various jobs until he ended up managing one of the Jewish shops in Derb Omar. In that year, news spread of the seizure of the tyrant’s properties and his death in Salé, far from his confiscated assets, just like he had taken them from others.
The Jewish man, Ben Azar, lived alone after his wife joined their daughters in the city of Marseille, France. Ben Azar saw in Bashir signs of loyalty and devotion, so he grew fond of him and brought him close, eventually entrusting him with all his affairs. After a few years, Ben Azar would leave for France after liquidating his assets, giving a portion of them to Bashir without any compensation. Among what Bashir acquired was a large commercial store in Derb Omar, a luxurious villa in the California neighborhood, and a warehouse full of goods in Sidi Moumen. In a short period, Bashir became one of the elite in the economic capital and married a wealthy woman. His successes continued, and he began traveling to conduct numerous deals between China, America, and Germany, following the openness that followed the French colonial departure.
Despite all the achievements Bashir had accomplished, he couldn’t forget the bag that was tightly bound within him and the circumstances that accompanied it. Nor could he forget El-Husseini, the warehouse keeper, who was the reason for his return from the waves of the Dead Sea, where the tyrant had thrown him.
His wife, Rayhana, could see deep-seated sadness in his eyes, which she couldn’t explain. She avoided asking him due to his depressive state whenever she attempted to inquire about his past. But she wanted to help him overcome the mystery of his past and its tragedies, so she insisted until she succeeded in pushing him to reveal the hidden secret. Her tears flowed, and she became saddened by her husband’s story and the injustice her sister had endured. It occurred to her to search for El-Husseini, whose story with her husband extended over thirty years. Therefore, she called her cousin, the lawyer, to inform him of the urgent need for his presence at the house. As soon as he arrived, they started planning a search, starting from the last known location. They assigned one of the elders of the area to search the archives of the Interior Ministry to find out the whereabouts of El-Husseini.
El-Husseini lived alone in a miserable cottage after his wife passed away. He had fallen victim to diabetes and couldn’t afford proper treatment, leading to the amputation of his leg after it became gangrenous. He lived with only one leg, without any means of support, children, or family, except for his neighbors who showed him compassion by providing him with meager bread, despite the extreme poverty they lived in. Bashir’s joy had overshadowed the sadness that still dominated his face. He couldn’t wait any longer, so he took his car and headed to the remote roundabout of El-Husseini, accompanied by his driver and his wife, Rayhana, who insisted on attending the meeting. Bashir was emotionally disturbed, his mind wandering, counting the kilometers one after another, and his eyes barely shifting away from the car’s odometer. After two hours, they all stood in front of the cottage. They knocked on the door and entered, causing Bashir to burst into deep tears at the sight of the misery in which the man lived, the man he had offered a second chance at life after God.
Bashir wanted to compensate El-Husseini for years of deprivation, so he asked him to accompany him to Casablanca, but he refused, clinging to his village where his wife was buried and where memories of his life resided. At that moment, Bashir acquired the best estate in the village and registered it under El-Husseini’s name. He took responsibility for paying the workers’ wages and assigned a medical team to visit him every 15 days to monitor his health. He also provided a driver to take him wherever he wished. Bashir arranged for El-Husseini to marry his neighbor’s sister, who used to provide him with bread, and allocated a monthly amount for her, along with providing all the household necessities. He sent her supplies every week. Additionally, Bashir built a magnificent villa for El-Husseini in the heart of the estate as a tribute to his good deeds.
El-Husseini insisted that his poor neighbor and her destitute family move to live with him in the estate, as a gesture of gratitude for the bare bread she used to generously offer him.
The lesson that can be derived from this story is that goodness is like seeds that you sow without knowing the time of reaping its fruits, confirming the saying: “Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it.”
By : Aziz Charhabil
