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ibrahim al-koni
come before it is too late?”
“This is the nature of wisdom.
This is the secret of wisdom.”
He was silent, and so was she.
After a lengthy pause she
repeated to herself, “This is
the secret of wisdom.”
6
The day of the confrontation,
the disclosure began with
a stern question. “Do you
understand that a man can
bear being betrayed by a
bosom friend but not by a
sweetheart?”
She drew the scarf around
her captivating cheeks,
which were draining of color
and losing their beautiful
complexion.
Anger overwhelmed him,
immediately robbing him
of a wise man’s dignity. He
shouted in a voice that was
totally unlike any he had ever
used: “I have come to hear
the truth from you now.”
Pallor assailed her entire face,
and its beauty retreated in
alarm. Worry’s shadow peered
from her captivating eyes. She
muttered, “What do you want
to hear?”
“I want to hear what must be
heard.”
“What’s the point of hearing
what you will hate to hear?”
“I want to double my pain.
Perhaps the draft of poison I
consume will prove poison’s
antidote.”
She looked down at the earth.
Anxiety disappeared from
her eyes, where enigmatic
mystery now settled.
She gazed up at him suddenly.
Then mystery turned to
defiance in the wink of an eye.