I occasionally, if appropriate, used some of the stories from the “Tales from the One Thousand and One Nights” – often referred to as the “Arabian Nights”. The tales found in that magnificent work of literature are thousands of years old; they are full of humour, excitement and above all gentle wisdom and feature such famous characters as Ali Baba and Sinbad. Legend has it that they came about because Scheherazade a young wife of the cruel King Shahryar wanted to change her husband’s violent and murderous intentions. She did this by each night, for a thousand and one nights, telling him a story which, she hoped. would slowly change his mindset and encourage him to become a wiser and more loved ruler.
As I have watched Trump and Vance savagely and publicly make their disingenuous and hateful comments in recent days and weeks I was reminded of one of Scheherazade’s tales. It seems apposite to relate it today, and if I was still working as a teacher it would definitely be my theme for my next assembly. The tale goes something like this:
“There was once a great drought, no rain fell and the rivers, even the mighty Euphrates was but a trickle and the wondering tribesmen of the land, the Bedouins with their flocks of sheep and goats were desperate for the life giving water as they moved from the dried up rivers to the increasingly dry oases. After many weeks of searching for Allah’s blessed water the chieftain of one of these tribes commanded his six best young men to ride far and wide across the wilderness to seek water that their flocks and their tribe might drink of Allah’s sweet water. And so, these young men left on their important mission; “Do not return until you have found water, our very lives depend upon you” commanded the elderly Sheikh as they left.
Hassan, the youngest of these brave men, rode hard. For days he searched in vain and his own water bottle was empty and dry – with no water for himself or for his fine stallion. At last, on the sixth day, as the light was fading, he fell exhausted from his horse and lay on the desert sand hardly breathing. Many hours later he was awoken by the sound of wolves crying as they hunted and he realised that his faithful horse was nowhere to be seen. Stumbling to his feet, and by moonlight he followed the horse’s footprints which led into a dark cave. Hassan crept to the very back of the cave and again fell exhausted into a deep sleep.
He awoke as dawn sunlight reached the back of the cave, and suddenly realised that his arm and garments were wet and that his faithful stallion was lapping at a small spring of water that was bubbling from the dirt of the cave floor. Hassan knelt and cupping his hands greedily drank of the cool water. Then he threw water upon his burnt face and filled his water bottles to the brim and kneeling he gave thanks to mighty Allah and taking, his horse, he rode off into the morning sun to bring the good news to his people.
All day he rode and as evening fell, he came upon a group of riders, fine rich men out hunting with their hawks. They stopped Hassan and two of them roughly dragged him from his horse asking why he rode so swiftly across the Caliph’s lands and where was he travelling to in such great hurry. What was his business they commanded of him. He was taken in front of a fine gentleman sitting astride a magnificent stallion and was told to bow before the mighty Caliph Harun al-Rashid, Emperor of all the Arab lands.
Hassan, terrified, bowed before the Caliph and answered “Master, I am called Hassan by my brothers, I am but a poor goat herd, a Bedouin, and my tribe have suffered much under the burning sun with no water, our oases have dried up and there is but little water in the rivers. Our flocks are perishing for the want of Allah’s blessed water. I have been commanded by my Sheikh that I seek water and today, Allah has been good, for after six days of searching I have found the sweetest and purest water, truly the water of paradise”.
The Caliph, the wise, merciful and just Harun al-Rashid, looked down upon Hassan and smiled saying “Do not be afraid Hassan. I am pleased for you and your people, but tell me, what does the water of paradise taste like? Hassan turned and took his water bottle from this saddle and handed it to the Caliph saying, “Master, would you taste Allah’s blessed water?” A servant passed the Caliph a golden goblet and Hassan poured his water into it. At the sight of the water the Caliph’s friends gasped, for it was brown and filled with dirt, but the Caliph smiled and bowed in thanks, and putting the goblet to his lips drank deeply. When the goblet was empty he smiled and looking down at Hassan said, “My friend, truly you have found the water of paradise, I am honoured that you shared your precious gift with me. I wish you well. Go now, you must return to your people in all haste with the good news and guide them to this spring from paradise”.
Mumbling his thanks Hassan bowed and turned to remount his horse, but as he did so, the Caliph continued and said “Here, Hassan, take this small gift, use it well for your people” and he took from his saddle bag a small leather purse filled with gold dinars. Hassan gasped, never before had he seen such wealth and he fell to his knees before the Caliph who continued, “When your people have drunk and watered their flocks with the water of paradise then I command you to come, with your Sheikh, to Baghdad, to my palace and make yourself known to me. I would dine with you and will then send workmen with you to the spring. They will build a well that your people might never thirst again. Now, go you home and tell the good news. Allah is great”.
Again, bowing and mumbling his thanks Hassan climbed back on his horse and fled both in terror and amazement at what had occurred, and disappeared into the evening sunset. As he disappeared, the Caliph’s friends gathered around the Caliph in amazement and his Grand Vizier, Yahya bin Khalid asked “Sire why did you drink of that water, it was dirty and unfit for your majesty’s mouth. We have crystal clear water enough in our water bottles. We could have taken him to Baghdad and given him clean water; he would have seen the great fountains that decorate our halls and drunk his fill of Allah’s water and he would have seen your mighty power and known truly the cool, clear water of paradise”.
Harun al-Rashid smiled and looked at his Vizier and his friends. “No, my learned friend, on this you are wrong” he replied. “It was right that I drank his water. He was offering me the most precious thing that he had in his whole world and yet he was prepared to share it with me. To him it was the water of paradise, and who knows it may be so if it gives life to his people and his flocks. It would have been ungracious and churlish and tactless of me to refuse to drink, or to ridicule him, or make him think that what to him was the most precious thing in the world was unworthy. Such words from me, his Caliph, would have belittled him and made him feel of little worth. I command you all to remember that a Caliph is not made great by the size of his army or the sharpness of his sword or the magnificence of his palace or the beauty of his wives but by the love of his people and the wisdom, justice and understanding that he brings to them. When Hassan returns to the bosom of his people he will tell them of what has passed and they will marvel and give praise and love him and love their Caliph. I command all of you, the great men of my kingdom, remember this as you go about my business”. And so saying the Caliph rode off leaving his friends to think on these things.”
As I remembered this tale from my past I wondered if it would be understood in the Oval Office. I somehow doubt that the intellectually challenged and emotionally immature President and Vice President of the USA would be capable of understanding its message or its nuances – and certainly it would be lost on the millions of Republican supporters in America and elsewhere who mindlessly follow and worship these two charmless individuals. The recent treatment of President Zelenskyy, the manner in which hard working and honest US government employees in Washington and elsewhere ("drain the swamp"!), the unforgivable comments about Mexico, Canada and, in the past few days, Vance's comments on the soldiers of the UK and France tell us so much about the perverted and pernicious mindset and the impudicity, amorality, an animus in the seats of power in Washington. America and, It seems, many Americans (and we in the UK are not far behind), have misunderstood the qualities that one needs in a leader. Leaders do not need to be business men skilled in making "deals" or intellectually brilliant able to quickly solve some particular problem in a flash, or tough and able to brush aside all before them. These qualities may or may not be desirable but they are side issues. A leader needs to be above all wise - and that doesn't mean clever or quick or sharp. But wisdom, it seems to me, is in short supply in today's world and almost non-existent in the USA and we should all be worried. Children invariably understood this and in my assemblies were always quite capable of understanding the message of the story and its implications for their everyday lives. And that, perhaps, is the saddest verdict upon the current state of the body politic in the USA.
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