Part 1
“Who is ALLAH?”. He asked the man who was walking ahead of him. The man appeared in his late twenties, but all his hair was white, reaching to his shoulders. The shine in his black orbs made it hard for Nahyan to maintain eye contact with him.
The man was dressed in a long white thobe, with a black shawl draped over his shoulders. He held a white stick in his right hand, which he used to walk despite his youth. The man stopped and turned around with a soft smile on his face.
“Someone... your soul desires to burn for”. He replied, his voice was honey-coated. Nahyan wanted to ask more, but the scorching sun was burning his skin.
He raised his hands to shield himself from the sun, but the man with the white hair stood there, barefoot in the desert. He wasn’t sweating, nor did he seem discomforted by the heat. There was no trace of unease on his face—only calmness.
“What is a soul?”. Nahyan asked again, but the man resumed walking. That was when Nahyan noticed two black rosaries on the man’s wrists. He hadn’t seen them before, as the thobe had covered them completely.
The only visible parts of his body were his face, hands, and feet. Nahyan couldn’t quite describe the texture of his skin; it seemed pale or golden, which made him even more captivating.
★★★★★
“Where were you, Nahyan? We were looking for you everywhere”. His mother exclaimed, and there was worry and anger in her voice.
“I went after that dervish, Mother”. He replied excitedly, but Zulfa looked at him, all confused.
“Which dervish? There’s no dervish in Daar city”. She said, wiping the dust from his face with her scarf.
“The young dervish with white hair, who had two red rosaries wrapped around his wrists, and who visited...”. Nahyan began to explain but Zulfa pressed her palm over his mouth. Her eyes widened and her body started trembling. She signaled her daughter to close the door and windows. Zulfa turned back to him and whispered.
“We don’t talk about Ayla-Yuaan-Daar”. Removing her palm from his mouth, she added,
“Don’t you dare to speak to him. If you see him, don’t .... I repeat Nahyan, don’t go after that man ever again. Don’t even let his name cross your lips or the royal family will punish us all”. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked around nervously as if the walls themselves could hear
her. “Ayla-Yuaan-Daar”. Nahyan whispered under his breath as he watched his mother and sister. They were peering out of the window to make sure no one was there.
★★★★★
