Qamar Al-Zaman

Chapter Two

The onset of the town's election season was the subject of today's philosophy lesson. After Bint-Khair finished talking about the election, she gave her students the opportunity to ask questions. Qamar al-Zaman asked, "Why am I not allowed to vote in the elections even though I have reached the age of eighteen, which is the legal age for voting?"

"Because if you vote, you will vote wrongly, and this will therefore harm your own interests," answered Bint-Khair.

"And how do you know I would vote wrongly?"

"Because you do not have the intellectual, psychological, and living state necessary for a person to vote objectively," Bint-Khair replied.

***

Mr. Yaghlub was running for office, and the first decision he made was to fire Qamar from his job so that people would not say he had a black-eyed person in his house. Qamar was hurt significantly by that decision because he had been planning to undergo a major medical operation to relieve him of the chronic pain of migraine after the lavender remedy had failed to do so. Now, without any source of income, he did not know how to bear the costs of this surgery.

Qamar had no option but to ask the Absolute for money. The Absolute then sent him to one of the country's banks to ask for a loan. The bank agreed to this after Qamar promised them that he would find a job in the near future.

The fortuneteller explained how the operation would go. She would essentially be digging a hole in the skull for air to pass through to the brain. She explained that this would in turn cure him of his migraine. Qamar, however, was surprised by this method and told her that according to his knowledge, the migraine operation was performed by decompressing certain nerves. The fortuneteller then explained to him that the operation he spoke of was only performed at the town's hospital and cost a lot of money he could not afford. Ultimately, Qamar did not agree to the trepanation. The idea that a part of his brain, however small, would not be protected by a skull made him nauseous. Instead, he decided to return to the bank and ask for a bigger loan for an operation at the town's hospital. At the bank, they told him that they didn't have that much money because the town's economy had been weakened by the gray-eyed people's refusal to continue paying money towards HELPING THE POWERFUL fund.

Later, at the fortuneteller's, Qamar al-Zaman was conscious when they punctured his skull as he could not afford anaesthesia.

On his way home after the procedure, Qamar noticed strange things in the streets such as huge tanks and groups of soldiers. He asked some passers-by about it, and they told him that the newly-elected president of the country had declared war on the gray-eyed people, and he would be addressing the nation shortly.

Qamar arrived at the public square where the whole town was waiting patiently for the arrival of the new president, Mr. Yaghlub. The Absolute arrived first and set the stage for Mr. Yaghlub, who, as soon as he ascended the pulpit, began his speech without any introduction:

"The gray-eyed people are jealous of the happy life we live and they have caused us all this harm in the hope that they will have a life like it. But they do not know that by harming us, they automatically harm themselves, for the safety of Earth and every living thing on it depends on our safety. So, will you allow them to do that?"

Everyone, including Qamar, answered in one firm voice: "No."

After the speech, Qamar wished for his town to win the battle. Qamar's wish came true, for his town achieved a landslide victory over the gray-eyed villages. The prisoners were taken to the center of the public square for the stoning ritual. Qamar al-Zaman was among those throwing stones, and he did so with a lot of anger. From his perspective, the grey-eyed people were the reason for his pain, for If they hadn't weakened the country's economy, he would have gotten treated in the hospital and avoided all that pain.