That beautiful home next to it was
built by the greatest architect in the province; it belongs to a
greedy and substantial man who devotes all of his time to amassing
gold and grinding the faces of the poor. He has a wife of supernatural
beauty, bodily and spiritually, but she is like the rest, a victim of
early marriage. Her father committed a crime by giving her away to a
man before she attained understanding age, placing on her neck the
heavy yoke of corrupt marriage. She is thin and pale now, and cannot
find an outlet for her imprisoned affection. She is sinking slowly and
craving for death to free her from the mesh of slavery and deliver her
from a man who spends his life gathering gold and cursing the hour he
married a barren woman who could not bring him a child to carry on his
name and inherit his money.
In that home among the orchards
lives an ideal poet; he married an ignorant woman who ridicules his
works because she cannot understand them, and laughs at his conduct
because she cannot adjust herself to his sublime way of life. That
poet found freedom from despair in his love for a married woman who
appreciates his intelligence and inspires him by kindling in his heart
the torch of affections, and revealing to him the most beautiful and
eternal sayings by means of her charm and beauty."
Silence prevailed for a few
moments, and Madame Hanie seated herself on a sofa by the window as if
her soul were tired of roaming those quarters. Then she slowly
continued, "These are the residences in which I refused to live;
these are the graves in which I, too, was spiritually buried. These
people from whom I have freed myself are the ones who become attracted
by the body and repelled by the spirit, and who know naught of Love
and Beauty. The only mediator between them and God is God's pity for
their ignorance of the law of God. I cannot judge, for I was one of
them, but I sympathize with all my heart. I do not hate them, but I
hate their surrender to weakness and falsehood. I have said all these
things to show you the reality of the people from whom I have escaped
against their will. I was trying to explain to you the life of persons
who speak every evil against me because I have lost their friendship
and finally gained my own. I emerged from their dark dungeon and
directed my eyes towards the light where sincerity, truth and justice
prevail. They have exiled me now from their society and I am pleased,
because humanity does not exile except the one whose noble spirit
rebels against despotism and oppression. He who does not prefer exile
to slavery is not free by any measure of freedom, truth and duty.
"Yesterday I was like a tray
containing all kinds of palatable foods, and Rashid Bey Namaan never
approached me unless he felt a need for that food; yet both of our
souls remained far apart from us like two humble, dignified servants.
I have tried to reconcile myself to what people call misfortune, but
my spirit refused to spend all its life kneeling with me before a
horrible idol erected by the dark ages and called LAW. I kept my
chains until I heard Love calling me and saw my spirit preparing to
embark. Then I broke them and walked out from Rashid Bey Namaan's home
like a bird freed from his iron cage and leaving behind me all the
gems, clothes and servants. I came to live with my beloved, for I knew
that what I was doing was honest. Heaven does not want me to weep and
suffer. Many times at night I prayed for dawn to come and when dawn
came, I prayed for the day to be over. God does not want me to lead a
miserable life, for He placed in the depths of my heart a desire for
happiness; His glory rests in the happiness of my heart.
"This is my story and this
is my protest before heaven and earth; this is what I sing and repeat
while people are closing their ears for fear of hearing me and leading
their spirits into rebellion that would crumble the foundation of
their quavering society.
"This is the rough pathway I
have carved until I reached the mountain peak of my happiness. Now if
death comes to take me away, I will be more than willing to offer
myself before the Supreme Throne of Heaven without fear or shame. I am
ready for the day of judgment and my heart is white as the snow. I
have obeyed the will of God in everything I have done and followed the
call of my heart while listening to the angelic voice of heaven. This
is my drama which the people of Beyrouth call 'A curse upon the lips
of life,' and 'An ailment in the body of society.' But one day love
will arouse their hearts like the sun rays that bring forth the
flowers even from contaminated earth. One day the wayfarers will stop
by my grave and greet the earth that enfolds my body and say, 'Here
lies Rose Hanie who freed herself from the slavery of decayed human
laws in order to comply with God's law of pure love. She turned her
face toward the sun so she would not see the shadow of her body
amongst the skulls and thorns.' "
The door opened and a man
entered. His eyes were shining with magic rays and upon his lips
appeared a wholesome smile. Madame Hanie rose, took the young man's
arm and introduced him to me, then gave him my name with flattering
words. I knew that he was the one for whose sake she denied the whole
world and violated all earthly laws and customs.
As we sat down, silence
controlled. Each one of us was engrossed in deep thought. One minute
worthy of silence and respect had passed when I looked at the couple
sitting side by side. I saw something I had never seen before, and
realized instantly the meaning of Madame Hanie's story. I comprehended
the secret of her protest against the society which persecutes those
who rebel against confining laws and customs before determining the
cause for the rebellion. I saw one heavenly spirit before me, composed
of two beautiful and united persons, in the midst of which stood the
god of Love stretching his wings over them to protect them from evil
tongues. I found a complete understanding emanating from two smiling
faces, illuminated by sincerity and surrounded by virtue. For the
first time in my life I found the phantom of happiness standing
between a man and a woman, cursed by religion and opposed by the law.
I rose and bade them goodbye and left that poor hovel which Affection
had erected as an altar to Love and Understanding. I walked past the
buildings which Madame Hanie pointed out to me. As I reached the end
of these quarters I remembered Rashid Bey Namaan and meditated his
miserable plight and said to myself, "He is oppressed; will
heaven ever listen to him if he complains about Madame Hanie? Had that
woman done wrong when she left him and followed the freedom of her
heart? Or did he commit a crime by subduing her heart into love? Which
of the two is the oppressed and which is the oppressor? Who is the
criminal and who is the innocent?"
Then I resumed talking to myself
after a few moments of deep thinking. "Many times deception had
tempted woman to leave her husband and follow wealth, because her love
for riches and beautiful raiment blinds her and leads her into shame.
Was Madame Hanie deceitful when she left her rich husband's palace for
a poor man's hut? Many times igorance kills a woman's honour and
revives her passion; she grows tired and leaves her husband, prompted
by her desires, and follows a man to whom she lowers herself. Was
Madame Hanie an ignorant woman following her physical desires when she
declared publicly her independence and joined her beloved young man?
She could have satisfied herself secretly while at her husband's home,
for many men were willing to be the slaves of her beauty and martyrs
of her love. Madame Hanie was a miserable woman. She sought only
happiness, found it, and embraced it. This is the very truth which
society disrespects." Then I whispered through the ether and
inquired of myself, "Is it permissible for a woman to buy her
happiness with her husband's misery?" And my soul added, "Is
it lawful for a man to enslave his wife's affection when he realizes
he will never possess it?"
I continued walking and Madame
Hanie's voice was still sounding in my ears when I reached the extreme
end of the city. The sun was disappearing and silence ruled the fields
and prairies while the birds commenced singing their evening prayers.
I stood there meditating, and then I sighed and said, "Before the
throne of Freedom, the trees rejoice with the frolicsome breeze and
enjoy the rays of the sun and the beams of the moon. Through the ears
of Freedom these birds whisper and around Freedom they flutter to the
music of the brooks. Throughout the sky of Freedom these flowers
breathe their fragrance and before Freedom's eyes they smile when day
comes.
"Everything lives on earth
according to the law of nature, and from that law emerges the glory
and joy of liberty; but man is denied this fortune, because he set for
the God-given soul a limited and earthly law of his own. He made for
himself strict rules. Man built a narrow and painful prison in which
he secluded his affections and desires. He dug out a deep grave in
which he buried his heart and its purpose. If an individual, through
the dictates of his soul, declares his withdrawal from society and
violates the law, his fellowmen will say he is a rebel worthy of
exile, or an infamous creature worthy only of execution. Will man
remain a slave of self-confinement until the end of the world? Or will
he be freed by the passing of time and live in the Spirit for the
Spirit? Will man insist upon staring downward and backward at the
earth? Or will he turn his eyes toward the sun so he will not see the
shadow of his body amongst the skulls and thorns?"
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