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Little
Aihpos
A Story by Jamil Momand
Once a long time ago there lived an old
man whose name was Ahmed. He lived by himself in the mountains.
Well, almost by himself--with him lived two jinns who were his servants.
One jinn was big and powerful. His name was Ifrit. The other jinn
was small and weak. His name was Aihpos. For many years they lived
in the mountains with no one else around for miles and miles.
One
morning Ahmed came to his two jinns to ask them a favor. He needed a new
well dug because he had run out of water. "I'll do it!" said
Ifrit jumping to his feet. He ran outside leaving Ahmed and little Aihpos
behind. A moment later they heard a terrible crash. Hurrying to the
door they looked out and opened their eyes wide in wonder. Ifrit was
standing by the newly completed well with a big smile on this face.
"How's this master?" said Ifrit. "Why yes, yes, this is
fine," said Ahmed, stroking his soft white beard, "Thank you so
much." Ahmed slowly turned and went back inside the cabin.
That was
the first time. From then on Ifrit did everything his master asked.
A road was built in one day; the cabin repainted in another day. Soon,
little Aihpos felt sad and useless. He wanted to help also but Ifrit was
just too big and too powerful. Aihpos prayed to Allah to help him do
something good for his master. Ahmed was a kind old man who loved Ifrit
and Aihpos equally.
One day
Aihpos was sitting on the edge of the well. The sun was shining but Aihpos
felt gloomy inside. Aihpos started to cry and as he cried his tears rolled
off his cheeks into the well below. He sobbed until there were no more
tears left in him. Then he heard his master from inside the cabin.
"Aihpos, Ifrit, please come here my two jinns," called the old man.
Aihpos walked slowly to the cabin while Ifrit ran gleefully past him with a big
grin on his face. "I have just received a message from a distant land
where my granddaughter lives. Her name is Fatima and she is coming to
visit me for the first time. I would like to give her a gift but alas my
hand are too stiff to make anything beautiful. Could you two make me
something beautiful that I may give her?" asked Ahmed. The big
jinn answered, "Sure, I'll be back in a flash," and with that he was
gone in a whirlwind.
Out in the
woods Ifrit looked for some flowers. Every time he picked one, it wilted
in his hand. Because he was so strong he squeezed the life out of it.
Next, he captured a white rabbit but killed it instead of bringing it back
alive. Ifrit was confused; this had never happened before. He was
always able to do anything his master wanted. It was getting dark so the
frustrated jinn stomped home. He was very upset. He told Aihpos and
Ahmed that he could not make anything beautiful. Upon hearing that Ahmed
said, "Well, let us give Aihpos a try at it." The big jinn
laughed and said, "Aihpos is useless. He can never make
anything." Aihpos became deeply hurt. He turned away and
started to weep. One tear rolled off his cheek and fell down to the floor.
But somehow the tear became hard and white. When it hit the floor it
bounced once and then rolled toward Ahmed. "Why this is
beautiful," exclaimed Ahmed, "I believe this is a pearl like the ones
that are found in the oceans far away." Ifrit's mouth hung open in
pure amazement. He was speechless.
Aihpos was
happy now that he finally did something for his master. He couldn't make
any more pearls because his tears were all dried up. But Aihpos remembered
the well, and how he cried for so long just a few hours ago. He asked
Ifrit to come with him to the well and bring up the bucket that was at the
bottom. Ifrit toiled and brought the heavy bucket up. Inside the
bucket were hundreds and hundreds of pearls all white and glistening.
Ahmed was very pleased with Aihpos and thanked him for making something so
beautiful for his granddaughter. That night, before he went to sleep,
Aihpos thanked Allah for His Kindness and His Mercy because Aihpos knew that it
was Allah who made the pearls from his tears. Good night Aihpos.
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