WARRIOR OF LIGHT: An Arab creation legend

In his book El Libro del Fantasma, Alejandro Dolina associates the story of sand with one of the Arab people's creation legends.

He writes that, as soon as they had finished building the world, one of the angels pointed out to the Almighty that they had forgotten to put sand on Earth; a grave mistake, considering that humans would be forever deprived of walking alongside the seas, massaging their tired feet and enjoying the feel of the ground. Apart from that, the river beds would always be jagged and rocky, and architects could not use this vital material; the footsteps of lovers would be invisible; in order to remedy the situation, God sent the Archangel Gabriel with a great bag, in order to pour sand in all the places necessary.

Gabriel made the beaches and river beds, and when he returned to heaven carrying what was left over, the Enemy—always alert and ready to ruin the Almighty's work—managed to bore a hole in the bag, which split, spilling its entire contents. This happened in the place we now call Arabia, and almost the whole region became a vast desert.

Gabriel was distressed and went to apologize to the Lord for having allowed the Enemy to come near him unnoticed. And God, in His infinite wisdom, decided to compensate the Arab people for His messenger’s involuntary error.

He made them a sky filled with stars, like no other in the whole world, so that they should always look up. He created the turban, which - under the desert sun - is worth more than a crown. He made the tent, allowing people to move from one place to another and continually be surrounded by new landscapes and without the annoying obligations of maintaining palaces. He taught the people to forge the best steel for making swords. He made the camel. He formed the finest race of horses. And he gave them something even more precious than all the other things together: the word, the genuine gold of all Arabs. While other peoples shaped metal and stone, the people of Arabia learned to shape the word. There, the poet became the Bedouins' high priest, judge, doctor, and chief. His verses are powerful: they can bring joy, sadness, and health. They can unfurl acts of revenge and war, unite lovers, and reproduce the songs of birds.

Alejandro Dolina concludes:

“The errors of God, like those of great artists or of true lovers, bring forth so many joyful rewards that at times it is worth wishing for them.”

Comment:

The word became the Qur’an that no mortal can equal in the beauty of its expressive poetry.

Oil is another compensation that the writer forgot about, but oops! Oil was not only useless at the time; it was unknown when the legend was written. It is this compensation like a magic wand that transformed the Arabian landscapes, turning tents into mansions and palaces, horses and camels into luxury cars, and gazing at the stars at night into gazing at mobile phones, laptops, and monster LCD televisions.

Love the story :-) NLK.