Naguib Mahfouz - Before the Throne

Osiris invited Antanash to speak.

“I took up the profession of scribe in Coptic due to my deep knowledge of the language,” Antanash responded. “In the vice-regency of Abdullah, brother of Caliph al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, it was decreed that Arabic would replace Coptic in all official documents. I was fired from my job, which was taken by a man from Homs in Syria. Our governor, I knew, took bribes — though his religion forbade it. After him came Qurrah ibn Sharik, a total despot who sometimes burst into churches to stop the prayers.”

“What happened to the pact of Amr ibn al-As?” asked Abnum.

“How quickly rulers forget their religion,” answered Antanash.

“What did the people do?” followed up Abnum.

“We were not able to mount any resistance,” admitted Antanash.

“I’m sorry that the pharaohs were no longer in power,” said Ramesses II.

“I’m sorry for the people in the period that you have erased from history!” barked Abnum at Ramesses II. “As for the pharaohs, the majority of them were crueler to the people than foreigners have been!”

“I will not permit …,” Ramesses II began to reply.

“I am the one who permits or does not permit,” Osiris interrupted him.

For a moment, all were silent. Then Osiris turned to Antanash, “May you go with good fortune to your Christian proceeding.”

HORUS CALLED OUT, “Damyana al-Suwayfiya!”

A woman of medium height came in, walking forward until she stood before the throne.

Osiris asked her to speak.

“A peasant from Beni Suef,” Damyana told them, “I became a widow with one young son. At that time, the chief tax collector was Usama ibn Yazid, infamous for his cruel and arbitrary behavior. Usama ordered that every priest wear an iron signet ring on his finger, with his name engraved upon it, that he would receive from the tax collector to prove he had paid his due. He threatened to amputate the hand of anyone who disobeyed this rule. He also imposed a fee of ten dinars upon anyone traveling by boat on the river. My financial circumstances compelled me to voyage by sailboat, and it happened that my son — who was carrying my ticket — bent down to drink, and a crocodile snatched him. They would not let me go, despite the word of eyewitnesses, and I was forced to sell all that I had with me.”

“The religion was Islamic, and the law was Roman,” opined Ptahhotep.

“During the age of darkness, the peasant knew only gloom, whatever the oppressor’s name, or his nationality,” fumed Abnum.

“As the people’s patience dwindled, they grouped as revolutionaries,” Damyana resumed. “The uprising lasted until the caliph in Damascus died. Then things quieted down, in hope of a new policy.”

“May the gods bless you for the first pleasing piece of news they’ve heard,” lauded Abnum.

Osiris turned to her, “Let justice be your portion in your final trial.”

HORUS HERALDED, “al-Hajj Ahmad al-Minyawi!”

A tall, strong man walked in until he stood before the throne.

Osiris bid him speak.

“Originally from the family of Mikhail al-Minyawi,” Ahmad said, “God guided me to Islam, so I converted. I learned the Arabic tongue, and memorized the Noble Qur’an. Then I became a teacher, and the Lord enabled me to go on pilgrimage. In my day, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was caliph, one of the Right-Guided Ones among the earliest leaders of Islam. When the Copts complained about their treatment under Usama ibn Yazid, the caliph ordered his arrest and removal. Sent in shackles to the caliph, he died on the way. Usama’s place was taken by Ayyub ibn Sharhabil, who was very pious, and who compensated the Copts for what they had suffered in persecution.”

“Why did you switch to Islam?” asked Akhenaten.

“Belief erupts in the heart without any warning,” said al-Minyawi.

“I believe you,” said Akhenaten, “and no one can believe you like an expert such as me. But didn’t my hymns have anything to do with your faith?”

“Your name was unknown till a thousand years after this man’s time,” Osiris informed Akhenaten.

“Maybe you just wanted to escape the head tax?” Khufu prodded him.

“No — there was a military commander, Hayyan ibn Shurayh, who demanded that even those who become Muslims pay the head tax. When this reached the caliph, he ordered it to be cancelled, and that Hayyan be given twenty lashes, telling him that God sent Muhammad as a guide, not as a tax collector.”

“May success go with you to your Muslim trial,” said Osiris.

HORUS HAILED, “Samaan al-Gargawi!”

A muscular man walked in, then stood before the throne.

Osiris invited him to speak.

“A blacksmith, descended from blacksmiths,” said Samaan al-Gargawi. “At the start of the caliphate of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, the Copts rose up in revolt, in which I took part, losing my life in one of its skirmishes. Hanzala ibn Safwan was the governor then, a thoroughly oppressive character. He wasn’t satisfied with just taxing the people — he taxed the animals as well! For this reason, he was removed when a rebellion broke out.”

“I praise you as liberator and a son of the people,” said Abnum. “But I do wonder what caused your uprising to fail?”

“The caliph’s power was overwhelming,” answered Samaan al-Gargawi. “We were a small, isolated people who had lost the martial spirit. And we lacked the participation of our brothers who had switched to Islam — which made them loyal to the caliph.”

“This invasion from within had never happened before,” replied Abnum.

“Go to your Christian trial,” Osiris said, “with our praise and blessings.”

HORUS HERALDED, “Halim al-Aswani!”

A tall, withered man walked in his winding sheet until he stood before the throne.

Osiris requested his testimony.

“I was a fruits-and-vegetables seller from a large family, half of which converted to Islam. As it happened, the leadership of the Muslims had shifted to a new family — during my time there was a caliph called Abu Jaafar al-Mansur. A series of governors came in succession, none of them lasting more than a year, sometimes less. There was no chance for anyone to think of reform. Things deteriorated to the point that the Copts revolted in Sakha. Conditions got so bad that plague and famine reigned until the people were eating both their animals and each other.”

“How did the Muslims fare in this?” the Sage Ptahhotep inquired.

“They suffered as we did,” answered al-Aswani. “They grew so extremely bitter that they accused the governor of violating the sharia, the sacred law. Regardless of our religious differences, our feelings were united, but those in power were stronger than all of us together.”

“If you had all adopted the faith of the One God, then that would have saved you,” claimed Akhenaten.

“The problem was one of bread, not of God,” Abnum corrected him.

“Perhaps you will find justice in your final trial,” Osiris consoled him.

HORUS CALLED OUT, “Sulayman Tadros!”

A thickset man of medium height came in, walking until he stood before the throne.

Osiris asked him to speak.

“A skilled engraver,” said Sulayman Tadros, “I lived through the rule of four caliphs: al-Mahdi, al-Hadi, al-Rashid, and al-Ma’mun. And tens of governors all in a row, most of them conquered by wantonness, bribery, and oppressiveness. In their day, numerous uprisings broke out, and in some of them the Copts — the native Egyptians — both Christian and Muslim, and the Arabs, would all unite against the persecution, cooperating with each other to drive it out. Finally, al-Ma’mun himself came to restore order, and justice prevailed. Conditions improved for all the people, whatever their religion.”