Midaq Alley Chapter 11
Chapter 11

Dear  God, grant  me Thy  relief  and  show me Thy  mercy!"
So said Mistress Umm Hussein as she made her way toward the house of Master  Radwan el-Husseini, the relief and mercy relating to the despair, rage, and vexation from which she was suffer­ing. The attempt to make  her husband see reason  had  exhausted her and  she had  been  powerless  to make  him obey. In  the end,  she could find  no  alternative but  to go and  see Master Radwan el-Hussein in the  hope  that  he, with  his righteousness and  prestige, would  succeed where  she had failed. She had never previously  broached this appalling subject  with Master Radwan. However,  despair on the one  hand, and apprehension over  how  her  enemies would gloat  if  their  arguments and  wrangling should  become  public on the other,  had  driven  her  to knock on this good  man's door as a last resort. At the house, she was received by  Master Radwan's wife  and  the  two  sat  together for  a while.  Master Radwan's wife  was  in  her  mid-fifties,   an  age  which many  women delight in  as  the  acme  of  feminine maturity.  In  her case, however, the woman  was haggard and wasted, body and spirit alike displaying the  marks  of  the  arrows that  time  had  loosed  at her as, one  after  another, each  of  her  children had  been  snatched from her  arms.  She  therefore  brought to her  quiet  house  an atmosphere of sadness and gloom  whose pall even Master Radwan's deep faith could not  dispel  and  presented a  contrast, in  her  emaciation and  melan­ choly, to her  beaming, serene,  and  effulgent  husband. She was weak, and  her faith, deep-rooted as it was, could  not lift her out of the debil­ itating decline  into  which  she had  fallen.
Umm  Hussein, knowing  how things  stood with her, launched into a  complaint over  her  own  grief  and  anxiety,  confident of  finding a sympathetic ear.  Then she  asked  if  it  would  be  possible  for  her  to meet  with  Master Radwan. The other woman absented herself  for a few  minutes,   returned to  invite  her  to  go  in  and  see  him,  and  con­ ducted her  to his room.

Master Radwan was sitting on a sheepskin  rug, telling his beads, the brazier  before him and a pot of tea to his right. His private  room was small and  elegant  with sofas lining its sides and  a Shiraz  carpet, in  the  middle  of  which  stood  a  round  table  on  which  old  'yellow­ paper' books  were  stacked,   a  large  gas  lamp   suspended  above  it. Master Radwan was wearing  a capacious gray gallabiya  and  a black woolen skullcap from beneath which his ruddy face shone  out like the full moon.  He spent  a lot of  time alone in this room,  reading,  telling his beads, or meditating. Here  too he would meet with the scholars of religion, Sufis, and leaders  of the dhikr who were his friends, and who would  study  together the  history  of  Islam,  relate  traditions of  the Prophet, and discuss their different  opinions. Master Radwan was not considered a scholar with a deep knowledge of the technicalities of religion,  or a man of  outstanding intelligence, or, on the other hand, one of  those who, unaware of  the limitations of  their capacities,  exer­ cise  these  on  whatever  topic  they 'VVish.  He  was,  however,  a  sincere believer, pious and god-fearing, who, with his forgiving heart,  his toler­ ance, his sound sense of what was right, his affection, his kindness, and his mercy, had  captivated the souls of the scholars,  and could thus, in truth, be considered one of God's  Righteous Friends.
Averting  his gaze,  he  rose  to  receive  Umm Hussein,   and  she, swathed  in her  milaya  and  with  face fully covered,  approached him and shook his hand, wrapping hers in the edge of her garment so that she wouldn't invalidate the ablutions that he had made in preparation for prayer. The  man  invited  her in with  the words, "Welcome to our virtuous  neighbor!"  and  asked  her  to sit, so she  took  a place  on  the sofa opposite him, the man sitting cross-legged on the sheepskin, and launched into  prayers  for his well-being:  "May  God  be generous  to you, by the grace of the Mistress, and grant  you long life, by the grace of the Chosen One!"
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Irritation showed on the other's handsome  face as he said vehe­mently,
"Not so! It is the will of the Devil! Shame on you for saying otherwise!"
"When God wills that I be guided, then ..." murmured Boss Kersha.
"If you stop obeying Satan, God will guide you to what is good for you. Have no more to do with this youth, or let me send him peace­ fully on his way."
Now Boss Kersha grew annoyed, and panic seized him. No longer able to conceal his emotions, he said firmly,_ "No, master. You must not do so." Master Radwan stared at him with indignation and contempt and said in a grieving voice, "Now do you see how you prefer temptation to guidance?"
"Our Lord is the guide." Despairing of the man, Master Radwan said angrily, "I'm telling you for the last time, leave him and let me send him peacefully on his way." "No, master," said Boss Kersha stubbornly, shifting forward on the sofa as though preparing to leave. "I beg you to forget the matter until God commands that I be guided." Amazed at the man's impertinent obstinacy, Master Radwan asked him disgustedly, 'fue you not embarrassed to be so devoted to this dis­ graceful behavior?''Sick of the master and his homilies, Boss Kersha now rose, saying, "Men commit many disgraceful acts, and this is one of them, so leave the matter to God's guidance, and don't be angry with me but accept my apology and my regrets. How far can a man control himself?"
Master Radwan smiled a sad smile and said, as he too rose, "He can control himself completely if he so desires, but you will never understand the meaning of my words, so it is in God's hands," and he extended his hand to him and said, "Go in peace."
Boss Kersha left the house frowning and muttering, cursing people, the alley, and Master Radwan.