19.
in the midnight hour
nawfal sat upon his throne
alone
in the darkness
with only the light of the moon
sharing his company
until a torrid odor
embraced him
he knew immediately
who had entered the room
“will you not change those clothes
and bathe
the stench has become intolerable”
“i will not
you know what is more intolerable
your claim of friendship
is your promise broken or long overdue
for if this is the summation of your will
the full moon’s light is a beautiful escort
for my return to the wilderness”
there was a silence
majnuun began to walk around the throne
encircling it with despair
and piercing words
“i am amazed by your remarkable ability
to unite lovers with their beloved
a bloody battlefield strewn with corpses
men meeting the sunset of that day
maimed and forever scarred
yet do i behold layla’s hand
within the warmth of mine
or instead do regrets and emptiness
coax my empty grasp
“this is surely what i desired
that those i hoped to become my family
are now even more my enemies
filled with even more rage for me than before
and layla
crying and mourning
her clan kissed repeatedly by death
and her affections for me
perhaps turned by her deep sorrow
the road to our union
is now barred by a thousand more graves
a thousand more hatreds toward me
these thousands added to the thousands of barriers
already impeding my union with her
“so when i say our friendship is over
do not blame the enemy
it is my so-called friend
who slit the jugular vein of our shallow intimacy
a pitiful imitation of camaraderie
i am choked by the very hand that fed me the food
which broke the fast of my starvation
it is your generosity
which has placed me in such debt
that i am now the lowest
of the lowliest of desperate beggars
“thank you so much,
oh great nawfal”
the circle was broken
as the stinking corpse started toward the door
but it paused as nawfal spoke
“give me ear
as i have been audience
to your cruel words
“although i cannot fault your intensity
i have reason to encourage your patience
in my rush to fight for your cause
i was heedless
i went ill-prepared with not enough men
that mistake is being corrected even as we speak
i have already sent emissaries
to clans from madiinah to baghdaad
to hire them out as warriors
at a cost that is no small portion of my wealth
“i may have offered the enemy peace
but my fingers are still at war
i may seem to be at rest this very moment
but within,
i am active with anger
“i will avenge the death of every man of mine
who died on that battlefield
i will extinguish regret from my every soldier
who lost even a drop of blood,
a scratch of skin,
a chip of their fingernail
in that struggle
“and for you
i will deliver the prize i promised
i will win layla
for the friend who has already discarded me
as his friend”
❍ ● ❍