The Circle Of The Qur'an #2[The Arkaan Series|Book One]

19 |The Marabout's 1000 Profound Steps.[I found...]

"What has he found who has lost God? And what has he lost who has found God..?"

-Ibn 'Ata' Allah Al-Iskandari

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Inheritor of the Marabout's Legacy??! The whole Sky Legacy Haven, there was only one person who could be referred to as that, and Abdul Bâqi didn't really have the qualifications to make such a request for a random audience with him like that. This thought ran through all of the other scholars' minds, including his own master, the Doyen Sheikh Burhan.

This however, did not go unnoticed by Abdul Bâqi's sharp eyes. It seemed the person he was requesting to speak to, was of a very high level here in Sky Legacy Haven.

Could he be someone among the High Doyens of the school.. Or could he be someone infinitely close to the level of the Grand Doyen himself?

Whichever one it was, it really did not matter to him. Whoever it was, that would be the only person Abdul Bâqi was prepared to disclose his answers to. No one else would appreciate the answers he found, except the one who equally knew the secret of the the quest. He was sure that, if the Grand Marabout truly had left an apprentice behind, then that apprentice would know something about what he had seen of the inscriptions.

"Young lad," Elder Luqmaan sighed. He was filled with disbelief at the boy. The bemusement caused by his words just now, had failed to be dispelled for the scholars and even the Doyens, as a tense air held them all captive, muted to a sudden silence like a grave spell. It seemed that at that moment, only that aged scholar could talk. "Do you know of the person whose audience you're seeking?"

When Abdul Bâqi didn't answer back, but had a confused expression on his face, the one next to break his own spell of silence and answer him was his own master, the Doyen Sheikh Burhan,"It seems to me the one you're looking for, -is the only surviving former apprentice of the Grand Marabout, the Grand Doyen of Sky Legacy Haven."

The Doyen Sheikh Burhan's words had hardly landed when a hubbub of harsh murmurs burst out among the dense crowd of the student populace nearby. The person whose audience was being requested for by the Sayyid was indeed no ordinary person in SLH. How could he make such a request like that?! Did he know that the number of times some of they, the veteran students of the school had seen the Grand Doyen could be counted on one hand, and there'll still be fingers left for counting!!?

These were the rampant thoughts being voiced by most of the students. Not one of them but was bewildered by the very mention of the Grand Doyen; and how the Sayyid had made his request so casually, as though he was seeking audience with a long lost bosom buddy was strangely humorous, inasmuch as it was mortifying to them. It left the very scholars feeling solemnly grave at first, and then, filled with great disbelief at the boy. When you add to it the determined and calm facial expression the Sayyid made, some of them wanted to laugh and shed tears at the same time.

Eh?!! No matter how astute and composed Prince Firdaws usually was, he never could have seen this coming. What was the Al Aswâdi talking about? Had he suddenly lost it.

"I can't believe him..! So the Revered Inheritor he was asking to meet was the Grand Doyen? But I've never even heard of such a title since I came to SLH, and I can say that I have spent the longest time here even as an infant, when my father would bring me here to consult with the Grand Doyen!" Prince Firdaws said, as he turned to Shabaan.

However it was the expression on Shabaan's face, that told him that something was up.

The second sign.. He will ask to meet with.. Jaddu?!!! Shabaan couldn't believe this. Everything was going just as the Grand Doyen had predicted, in the case where the Sayyid had found the secret to the Qur'an quest! Before, when Abdul Bâqi had mentioned that he'd like to meet someone as a condition to revealing his answer, Shabaan had only shook his head lightly, dismissing it as a coincidence. With his arms folded across his chest, he had thought that it couldn't be right, and when Abdul Bâqi mentioned an audience with some 'Revered Inheritor', he had chuckled, saying that his Jaddu had said he'd request a meeting with him, and not some 'Revered Inheritor'. Now though, everything was clear and he couldn't deny it anymore, thus the befuddled expression on his face as he stared at the Sayyid.