Regardless of its import, news
travels swiftly among the fellahin in the small villages, because
their absence from the realm of society makes them anxious and busy in
discussing the happenings of their limited environs. In winter, when
the fields are slumbering under the quilts of snow, and when human
life is taking refuge and warming itself by the fireside, the
villagers become most inclined to learn of current news in order to
occupy themselves.
It was not long after Khalil was arrested,
when the story spread like a contagious disease amongst the villagers.
They left their huts and hurried like an army from evey direction into
the home of Sheik Abbas. When Khalil's feet stepped into the Sheik's
home, the residence was crowded with men, women and children who were
endeavouring for a glance at the infidel who was expelled from the
convent. They were also anxious to see Rachel and her daughter, who
had helped Khalil in spreading the hellish disease if heresy in the
pure sky of their village.
The Sheik took the seat of judgment and
beside him sat Father Elias, while the throng was gazing at the
pinioned youth who stood bravely before them. Rachel and Miriam were
standing behind Khalil and trembling with fear. But what could fear do
to the heart of a woman who found Truth and followed him? What could
the scorn of the crowd do to the soul of a maiden who had been
awakened by Love? Sheik Abbas looked at the young man, and with a
thundering voice he interrogated him saying, "What is your name,
man?" "Khalil is my name," answered the youth. The
Sheik returned, "Who are your father and mothe and relatives, and
where were you born?" Khalil turned toward the fellahin, who
looked upon him with hateful eyes, and said, "The oppressed poor
are my clan and my relatives, and this vast country is my
birthplace."
Sheik Abbas, with an air of ridicule,
said, "Those people whom you claim as kin demand that you be
punished, and the country you assert as your birthplace objects to
your being a member of its people." Khalil replied, "The
ignorant nations arrest their good men and turn them into their
despots; and a country, ruled by a tyrant, persecutes those who try to
free the people from the yoke of slavery. But will a good son leave
his mother if she is ill? Will a merciful man deny his brother who is
miserable? Those poor men who arrested me and brought me here today
are the same ones who surrendered their lives to you yesterday. And
this vast earth that disapproves my existence is the one that does not
yawn and swallow the greedy despots."
The Sheik uttered a loud laugh, as if
wanting to depress the young man's spirit and prevent him from
influencing the audience. He turned to Khalil and said impressively,
"You cattle grazier, do you think that we will show more mercy
than did the monks, who expelled you from the convent? Do you think
that we feel pity for a dangerous agitator?" Khalil responded,
"It is true that I was a cattle grazier, but I am glad that I was
not a butcher. I led my herds to the rich pastures and never grazed
them on arid land. I led my animals to pure springs and kept them from
contaminated marshes. At eventide I brought them safely to their shed
and never left them in the valleys as prey for the wolves. Thus I have
treated the animals; and if you had pursued my course and treated
human beings as I treated my flock, these poor people would not live
in wretched huts and suffer the pangs of poverty, while you are living
like Nero in this gorgeous mansion."
The Sheik's forehead glittered with drops
of perspiration, and his smirk turned into anger, but he tried to show
only calm by pretending that he did not heed Khalil's talk, and he
expostulated, pointing at Khalil with his finger, "You are a
heretic, and we shall not listen to your ridiculous talk; we summoned
you to be tried as a criminal, and you realize that you are in the
presence of the Lord off this village who is empowered to represent
his Excellency Emir Ameen Shehab. You are standing before Father
Elias, the representative of the Holy Church whose teachings you have
opposed. Now, defend yourself, or kneel down before these people and
we will pardon you and make you a cattle grazier, as you were in the
convent." Khalil calmly returned, "A criminal is not to be
tried by another criminal, as an atheist will not defend himself
before sinners." And Khalil looked at the audience and spoke to
them saying, "My brethren, the man whom you call the Lord of your
fields, and to whom you have yielded thus long, has brought me to be
tried before you in this edifice which he built upon the graves of
your forefathers. And the man who became a pastor of your church
through your faith, has come to judge me and help to humiliate me and
increase my sufferings. You have hurried to this place from every
direction to see me suffer and hear me plead for mercy. You have left
your huts in order to witness your pinioned son and brother. You have
come to see the prey trembling between the paws of a ferocious beast.
You came here tonight to view an infidel standing before the judges. I
am the criminal and I am the heretic who has been expelled from the
convent. The tempest brought me into your village. Listen to my
protest, and do not be merciful, but be just, for mercy is bestowed
upon the guilty criminal, while justice is all that an innocent man
requires.
"I select you now as my jury, because
the will of the people is the will of God. Awaken your hearts and
listen carefully and then prosecute me according to the dictates of
your conscience. You have been told that I am an infidel, but you have
not been informed of what crime or sin I have committed. You have seen
me tied like a thief, but you have not heard about my offenses, for
wrongdoings are not revealed in this court, while punishment comes out
like thunder. My crime, dear fellowmen, is my understanding of your
plight, for I felt the weight of the irons which have been placed upon
your necks. My sin is my heartfelt sorrows for your women; it is my
sympathy for your children who suck life from your breast mixed with
the shadow of death. I am one of you, and my forefathers lived in
these valleys and died under the same yolk which is bending your heads
now. I believe in God who listens to the call of your suffering souls,
and I believe in the Book that makes all of us brothers before the
face of heaven. I believe in the teachings that make us all equal, and
that render us unpinioned upon this earth, the steeping place of the
careful feet of God.