INTRODUCTION

The poem that inspired this story was originally thought of and written in simple Arabic. Its meaning though might be universal as it describes the continuous human search for guidance and need to clarify the confusion about man's destiny and the world around him

In an Arid desert 

With a torrential wind

A scorching sun

serpents, lizards and scorpions

cactuses dispersed 

Here and there

Far in the distance I see a mirage 

I can see the lure of the rain

I carelessly headed toward it

Unwary of any pains

I walked and kept walking 

strained and thirsty

I kept walking and walking 

Finally I reached the mirage 

It was night time, then 

In an arid desert 

With a torrential wind

Its scorching sun

Yielded to a full moon 

And an absolute darkness

It wasn't a vision what I see

The mirage was a truth

That was a lake

Of water, oil or medley

I can't tell 

It was too dark to see

But, I looked around

where is the moon, hidden?

Its light,

Why is it obstructed?

There, inside the lake

I can see the moonlight

Coming from deep within the lake 

Emanating from the moon top

But, is that really the moon 

This is much brighter 

That wasn't the moonlight

What I saw within the lake 

That  was a shrub

A blessed olive 

Neither of the east nor of the west

Its oil lit with the moonlight.