The Lion who Caught Both Father and Son

It might be said:

Al walaaled wal walad bayna fakayil asad

The Lion who Caught Both Father and Son

A judge sent two of his workers, Jubayr and ^Uthman, on a work trip between Baghdad and al Kufa. It had not even been mid-day when Jubayr returned to the judge yelling, “The lion has caught ^Uthman, sir.” The Judge became bothered and asked, “Where did the lion take ^Uthman?” Jubayr said the lion had gone to the red woods behind the mountain.

The Judge got a strange look on his face. He said, “SubhanaAllah (all praise is due to Allah) exactly ten years ago on this day, a lion took ^Uthman’s father into the same set of trees and he has not returned since that day. We lost all hope of him coming back.” The Judge worried the entire day.

Rather early during the next morning, a guard arrived and proclaimed, “Sir, ^Uthman has returned.” ^Uthman entered while the Judge and all those present looked at him amazed. Only a day had passed since his absence, but everyone had thought he was dead. The Judge sat him down, wanting to hear the details of all that had happened.

^Uthman said, “When the lion took me he carried me in his mouth like a cat carries its young. He did not harm me at all. He dragged me to his den and I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I did not see the lion. I inspected my body to find everything was intact.”

^Uthman said, “When I looked around, I saw many bones. So I became very bothered. I realized I may be in a very bad situation. So I started making du^a to Allah that He help me escape this situation. I took a deep breath and cautiously stood. All the while, I was afraid that the lion would surprise me and jump onto me. I slowly got to my feet. Then when I was steady enough to walk, I tried to leave.”

“I walked a few steps and felt something. It was a leather wallet. I took it then felt my way around the lion’s den until I was able to exit. The den was surrounded by trees. I followed the trees until I reached a small cave, which I entered. I hid the entrance by putting some sticks on it. There I spent my night.”

^Uthman took a deep breath. Then he said, “In the morning, I left the cave to find a passing caravan that could take me home. When I opened the wallet I saw a paper in it. The handwriting on the paper was very much like my father’s writing. May Allah have mercy on him. He wrote on it the number of dinars left inside. I counted the money and found that the amount in the wallet was what was written on the paper.”

The Judge looked at the handwriting. He confirmed that it was ^Uthman’s father’s writing. Then he looked at ^Uthman and he said, “SubhanaAllah. This is a strange occurrence that does not often happen. Allah answered your supplication and you were saved from the lion. This wallet belonged to you father, now it is yours.”