Arkaan could barely make out the faces of the new group which seemed to wear matching attire - cyan thobes, the colour of cascading waterfalls.
"Eh.., what's going on over there?"، he said, a little stubbornly. He could even sense the tension building up down below from the way the two groups faced each other, like the proverbial 'swords drawn'. Quickly, he rushed down the staircase, not wishing to lose out on the excitement.
He quickly got to the ground floor, and rushed through the archway formed by the giant southern pillars. As he approached the mountain path, he began walking calmly with a relaxed expression; To Arkaan, it was best to examine every situation in a composed mindset, than to just join the fray and act heedlessly.
If there was really any need to join, one had to be the 'calm in the storm'. In that way, not only would one earn the attention and respect of those present, but also succeed in managing the situation. He could almost hear his grandfather lecturing him on this, even as his mind wandered from the boring talk. But he ought to give the old geezer credit for that. But if there was any need for the alternative...
He had really become a notorious person in Tâ Hâ after his dad left, even with his not so bulking structure, he could be considered fit, for his age. Though he became more refined through the coaching of his grandfather, if there was any necessity for being harsh and silver-tongued, Arkaan wouldn't hesitate to show who's boss!
Even as Arkaan approached, he studied the two groups; the group above the mountain path, some steps from those below, composed of Zak, Ukashah, Harun, Musa, and Abdullah. Apparently, Old man Abdul Sattâr, Ismail and Ishaq weren't present, probably on an errand of their own. The group stood there with tensed expressions on their faces even as they held their clean-up tools, dressed in their working attire. They looked like they were helpless, and could only boil in their anger from within as they silently endured the taunts from the group, a couple of steps below them.
"I thought this was the exalted place where the infamous halaqah of South district, 'Inâbah' was established. Could I have heard wrong?..."، a guy in a cyan thobe and red-checkered ghutra and egal called out, as if in sincere shock at haven been disappointed about something. If not for the guffaw that followed the remark, by his companions, one might not have realized it was meant to be derogatory.
As Arkaan looked at their faces, he could clearly see the disdain hidden within, and the contempt with which they held the halaqah of the South district.
" Or could it be that the esteemed 'Inâbah' were just a bunch of good-for-nothing empty barrels blowing their trumpets. Tsk, tsk...I'm almost at a loss for words."، the guy continued. Among the group, he was the only one with a ghutra and an egal, the rest only wore the same-matching cyan thobes, but the condescending aura with which they faced Zak and the others could not be mistaken; as if they could look down on all creation!
"Brother Abdul Majid, this is going too far..."، Zak said in a tone of respect, yet there was no self-abasement in his voice and expression.
" Tsk, tsk. I thought younger brother Zakariyya was a sensible young man, but it seems I was mistaken - 'Inâbah' seems to have bred a couple of nitwits"، Abdul Majid who was with the ghutra and egal continued, without any respect in his voice, " I only asked a sincere question. Yet, instead of answering like a mature and smart kid, you'ld rather expose your dimwittedness. "
"Elder brother Abdul Majid is right. We only came here to give our sincere condolences right?"، a guy with a baby face, right behind Abdul Majid exclaimed in jest, then smacking his shaven bald head as if he forgot something, continued," wait, no - - - greetings! "
At this, his whole group broke into a hearty laughter as if they were having a really good time.
"Good one there, brother Layyin! Hahaha..."، a guy next to the Layyin guy said, amidst laughter whilst holding his abdomen with one hand from excessive laughter, and the other tapping Layyin's shoulder approvingly. They didn't bother to hide their derision.
" Brother Haashim, I thought you and your group came to meet us on the basis of cordiality, and our being first cousins. I never thought or would have expected such a lack of civil etiquette from you~"، Harun said harshly, apparently he was already at the peak of his patience, and would flare up any moment soon.
At this, a boy within the group of ten in cyan thobe, with the fairest of complexions, and beauty like polished jade, looked up with helplessness in his eyes. He was of similar age with the rest, but against his whole group, to talk in opposition seemed difficult for him, and he could only but lower his gaze helplessly. Until now, Arkaan didn't notice him, because of his position in the middle, and his quietness. Also, he didn't seem to join in the demeaning behaviour of the others, though he didn't or couldn't also do anything to stop it.
After raising his head and looking at Harun and Zak, it seemed almost as if he wanted to talk, but then looked at Abdul Majid's back and sunk down, his eyes downcast. Even in his helpless state, he still exuded the beauty and refinery of a gentle youth.
At his reaction, Zak and the Maghribi brothers scoffed in disappointment.
"So what if he's your first cousin, and a part of the Maghribi clan. Our Haashim here, is one of the pride of our Eastern Waterfall halaqah - one of the three 'Kings' halaqat of the East district, and much less show cordiality, what position are you in, to demand respect from a thriving halaqah like ours, much less on the basis of relation to our Eastern Waterfall Halaqah number one Qaari who has almost finished memorization of half the Surat of the Holy Qur'an!"، a guy in the back sneered.
" You guys are a bunch of losers who do not know what's good for you"، another guy who was olive-skinned in their group said," Rather than dwelling on past glory and sticking your noses up, demanding people's respect, why don't you go around with more humble faces, perhaps some low beggar somewhere might show pity on you!"
At this, the group broke into demeaning loud laughter again, praising the olive-skinned guy for his 'sensible' speech. "Brothers Kifayat and Mahâsin, let us not waste many words on this group who feast on past glory. It's far below us. If we'd known, we would have continued on our way and go study, or maybe hifz some new aayat( verses) of the Qur'an.
We'd be earning blessings, rather than waste time on these~. Tsk tsk, after all, we're a fast-rising star in the halaqat of Tâ Hâ!"، the guy who had earlier tapped Layyin, said proudly as he turned his back on Zak and the rest, as if to leave. The others too did the same.
Abdul Majid who was the last to turn, looked at Zak's group, apparently dissatisfied they didn't drag this out for too long. He wished to completely crush the spirit of this group, as he remembered the past, when they rose above his halaqah by defeating he and his team in a competition; that was the former halaqah of South district's time of glory.
They had risen so high and far that they became like untouchable stars in the sky, which he could only look at in envy and pure jealousy. Their names had not only not stop at the borders of Tâ Hâ, but had virtually spread across most of Al Qalb-ul-Ard. At least, all students of Islamic knowledge in the country had heard of them at one point in time.
Looking one last time at them, he hesitantly turned to go. What Harun said was true... The group of ten had come to the South district's 'Chinese Market' to make some purchases, after which they were returning to their Eastern Waterfall halaqah in East district.
The 'Chinese Market' of South district was the only market in that district, and yet was very famous for its peculiar commodities. It seemed to have everything from the east of the world to its west! This was no surprise, as the majority of merchants here were from East Asia, and travelled the world for trade, as well as Arab merchants, and even from the North of Africa.
On their way back, they happened to pass upon Mt. Shirah, and espied the industrious Zak and his group, sweeping the mountain paths to the masjid top. Before they knew it, Haashim exclaimed in pleasant surprise, seeing his fellow Al Maghribi cousins who were in the South district whilst he was in East district, and rushed to go greet them. They followed, and what happened had happened afterward. He sighed satisfactorily. To Abdul Majid, the silence of the South district 'Inâbah' was enough to crown his success at the complete crushing of their spirits.
"Wait! Long-gowned fellas!"، A vibrant voice called from behind.
At this, Zak and his group turned back, not to speak of Abdul Majid and his group who abruptly stopped. They turned back with bulging eyes at the source of the voice. What was tugging their hearts into rage was not the words 'Long-gowned fellas' that seemed inappropriate and thus, insulting due to its ladylike connotation; what was causing their rage to build up was the expression with which the emerald-green eyed boy at the topmost step from any of them, was looking at them with; complete superciliousness, as if he were the Monarch of the world and they, mere servants!
Ukashah gasped in surprise, and this was the first overt expression he had shown since Abdul Majid arrived with his contingent. To Ukashah who had a mysterious background, dignity and nobility seemed to be etched into his very bones, and he could care less to stoop low and exchange words with the the group below. Thus, from their arrival till when they were departing, he was all calm and taciturn. However, rage was towering within him nevertheless.
Abdullah who was quiet due to the seniority boundaries, revealed an expression of pleasant surprise." Yaa Akhii... "، he murmured. Suddenly remembering how quiet he was, throughout the exchange, he felt embarrassed, after all his boasting to Arkaan." Certainly, would have shown them..." Abdullah thought, his fist clenched into small balls. Harun and Musa were also in shock.
Zak was the first to recover from his shock. They had earlier left Arkaan in the masjid, and long since they began work, had forgotten about him. Even when he approached earlier, no one from the two groups took notice of him; hence the shock. Zak was moving over to Arkaan to stop him from saying something and making things worse, when Arkaan continued, " Yeah, you guys in the delicate blue gowns." He made an expression of beckoning, " I thought you were so smart as to call others dimwits, but bless your heart, you're as dumb as a doornail! You don't even understand simple speech. "
Arkaan said, as if in sincere disappointment when he saw Abdul Majid pointing to himself as if asking whether it was him Arkaan was referring to.
At this, everyone else's heart sank. No matter how you looked at it, Abdul Majid, even though not that much older, was way robust than Arkaan, who had a normal physique. If any fighting broke out,...
Abdul Majid though, seemed to have forgotten how to stand, as his pupils dilated in shock and anger," Me~~." His legs trembled with overfilled rage, as he was trying to understand whether he was dreaming this. No one had ever spoken to him like that, ever~
"Tsk tsk. With all your bravado earlier, I would have thought you at least had the galls of an elephant, seems to me you possess its tiny brain too." Arkaan said in a matter-of-factly way.
Abdullah was trying hard to contain his laughter, after all, things seemed to be boiling up.
"You!~"،Abdul Majid shouted in rage as he headed towards Arkaan, but his group held him back."Elder brother, if we cause any raucous here and our Uztaz were to hear of it, we'd be severely punished or even, expelled from the halaqah. "The guy who first turned to leave, advised.
"Brother Luqmaan, if I don't tear this brat up, then I'm not Abdul Majid!"، Abdul Majid angrily gritted his teeth.