The Officer, a Repentant Criminal and a Chicken Coop

When Officer Mohammad Amin Sheikho assumed the leadership of the police station in the districts of al-Midan and al-Shaghour his daring deeds certainly equalled those he had previously carried out in the regions of al-Salhiyeh and al-Akrad. He became the chief topic of conversation of the criminals of these two quarters since he had destroyed their evil ways. On the one hand he saved people from the wrongdoing and evil actions of these criminals, and on the other he released the spirits of these criminals from the wrongful intentions settled therein, which would cause them to lose forever their eternal life, yet to come, as they would forfeit the donation which God had prepared for them because of the crimes they committed against humanity during their mortal lives.

In fact, there is a certain type of men who, in their distorted point of view, think that true manhood belongs only to them and that all other men are mere lesser specimens of manhood. This was the belief of many men during the time of our officer. They were deceived by the appearance of their huge bodies and taut muscles, not to mention their gruff voices and overbearing manner of speaking, by which they thought they displayed heroism and bravado before ordinary, law-abiding people.

They were so proud of their long twirled moustaches, to the extent that they might spend a considerable period of time standing vainly before a mirror, waxing and twirling them, as proud as peacocks at what was reflected back at them. Such moustaches were considered the measure of manhood in their society. They considered that they, and they alone, were the “real” men at that time while all other men were lesser mortals and of no value. To kill somebody did not matter much according to the “Law of the Jungle” they adopted. They were concerned only with themselves, and considered that all other men had been put on this earth to be destroyed or humiliated and humbled at their hands, and according to their whim. It was quite clear that their behaviour was no better than that of brutal wild animals, and lacked any sense of humanity.

Such were the appalling principles of the criminals of the towns before Officer Mohammad Amin Sheikho took up the reins of security in many regions, for it was his wisdom, genius and courage which would stamp out the injustice perpetrated by these culprits and help them regain their sense of rationality.

The story we are about to relate tells of one of these transgressors: he was one of the strongest and most arrogant of all the criminal leaders.

Nevertheless, he did not lack sound thinking, for having seen that many of his like had repented to God at the hands of our awe-inspiring officer, he decided to repent after he thought of the line he had followed all his life, and the horrible end that was awaiting him.

He thought and thought until he realised that death would be his inevitable destination, as it would be for all mankind, so how would he meet his Provider? He was aware of his crimes and evil deeds; so what would his situation be before God when He saw how he had hurt His servants, killed some and stole from others? This sound logic led him to take a positive decision, to change the course of his life and to repent faithfully to God. He determined to turn his back on all kinds of wickedness and shameful deeds, to refrain from his disobedience to God and his practising whatever is forbidden. He made up his mind to return to God in repentance, just as many of his friends had done, and follow the right path. There and then, he carried out his decision and started a new stage of his life, marked by straightness and obedience.

The amazing deeds of the bold officer, Mohammad Amin, were the talk of the people of both quarters, al-Midan and al- Shaghour. Even the comrades of this repentant criminal often told of the schemes and exemplary punishments the officer employed for chasing and arresting them. Indeed he always managed to curtail the progress of their criminality and curb them with his fearlessness. And so, because of the heroic deeds of our officer this repentant criminal had heard about him, but since he had never met him or even seen him accidentally, he set about imagining various pictures of the officer’s appearance, ‘He’s a tall, strong, brawny man, endowed with a huge, muscular body... and surely he has a thick, black moustache with curled ends covering much of his face.’ This was the vision he had of the great officer, for such features were the marks of manhood and courage amongst this type of man. It was grossly exaggerated, as he imagined him to be much bigger and broader and taller than any one of his own criminal acquaintances.

One day, it happened that the repentant man was sitting on a chair at the door of a wheat store in al-Midan quarter, chatting with the owner of the store, a wheat merchant, when the conversation turned to the head of the local police station: how he chastised all criminals and defeated them, to the extent that they were afraid of him and took to their heels whenever they saw him. The merchant mentioned many incidents when the officer had pursued the criminals in the al- Midan and al-Shaghour quarters.

This was the subject of their conversation when Officer Sheikho, the man they were talking about, crossed the street before them, his willowy stature clothed in his smart khaki uniform. He advanced briskly, so fleet of foot that one might say he appeared to be flying. The merchant saw him and pointing in his direction, he said to the repentant criminal, ‘Look! That’s him, the head of the police station, Officer Sheikho.’

With great curiosity, the repentant man turned to have a look at the superman whom he had imagined to be huge and powerful. But... how strange! He did not see the coarsefeatured man he expected to see according to his own, colourful imagination, and to what he had heard about the officer and his overwhelming success when chasing the former leader’s criminal friends!

Very strange indeed!

The officer was not endowed with a gigantic body and taut muscles nor did he have a thick moustache, long and curled at the ends; he was not a strutting, mighty man who had bared his brown, powerful arms and stomped around causing the earth to shake beneath his feet! The former criminal failed to find any semblance of the physical shape he had imagined. Instead, he saw a young, handsome man, like a shining moon encircled with glory, walking with graceful, but vigorous steps! How far removed was the fact from the fiction!

‘I’m so confused!’ he thought. ‘Could this really be the man who overpowers culprits, causes them sleepless nights and instills horror in their hearts? Is this the officer that controlled them all and caused them so much trouble, who shredded their hopes with his iron fist and formidable character?’

With that, the tradition of his criminal ignorance, the seeds of which were still implanted within him, crept once again into his mind to reveal itself through his words and actions. So, being clearly annoyed because of the unexpected sight he had just seen, he said in a loud voice, ‘Is this the man whose very name has instilled terror in the hearts of tough men? Shame on you, men of al-Midan! Shame on you, ha... ha... powerful men! Is this person whose appearance is as soft as that of a woman, the officer who caused you so much trouble that you’re afraid even to whisper his name? Again I say shame on all of you!’

But Godly Will refused to allow this repentant criminal to continue with this wrongful judgement, so It gave him the experience of a practical lesson to help him regain his sense of reason and make him understand that courage should not be judged according to physical shape and size, but is born in the hearts of men who have an unwavering belief in God that leads them to love justice and assist it. And on the other hand, God holds victory in His Hands and He grants it to those who follow His Straight Path and seek truthfully to establish what is right and true.

So, in the evening of the day when the repentant criminal had met our officer for the first time, he also met a criminal from his old gang, who went by the name of Abu al-Lail. He greeted him, ‘Hello,’ said Abu al-Lail, ‘How are you, man? Welcome... welcome... master of all strong men! Where have you been, man? We haven’t seen you for a long time. We’ve really missed you, all the men have been asking about you. They’re longing to see your handsome face. Don’t you miss your friends and hanker after the good old days? Don’t you remember how great they were? By God, we miss you so much.’ The repentant criminal replied to his friend, ‘Oh Abu al-Lail! I’ve left behind my old wrongful path and don’t have any more inclination for it. For how much longer shall I continue to disobey my Lord and hurt all those around me? No... I’ve had enough... it was no way to live, I want to enjoy a safe and peaceful life.’

‘As you like my friend, it’s your own life and you’re free to choose the path you want to follow. But don’t forget us, my friend; let’s see you from time to time. And today I’m inviting you to come to an evening entertainment with our friends, just for them to see you and have a chat... you don’t have to drink if you don’t want to; but it will make us happy just to have your company.’

‘But...’ the repentant man replied, ‘how can I sit with you while you drink wine, and break God’s Orders?’

‘What’s wrong in that my friend? We’ll be the ones drinking, not you. You only have to sit with us so we can enjoy each other’s company. We just want to see you because the men...