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| By Kamal Ghazal |
Suddenly, he heard a mysterious voice, reciting verses he had never heard before:
"She strode boldly into the camp of the noble ones,
and on her sides, little bells tinkled with every step.
I called out to her: 'O Lady of the Open Plain, turn away from me!'
But she answered: 'I shield you from the misfortune that clings to me.'"
There was no one in sight. Yet, Ubaid felt an unsettling chill as if these words carried a hidden warning, one he could not fully grasp. Shaking his head, he pressed onward into the night, unaware that this cryptic omen would one day come true.
The Mysterious Message: What the Djinn Meant
In Arab folklore, djinn are ancient supernatural beings made of "smokeless fire." They often dwell in deserted places, and some are believed to communicate riddles or warnings to humans through dreams, whispers, or visions.
The verses Ubaid heard are rich in symbolic meaning:
"She strode boldly into the camp of the noble ones" - A mysterious figure (perhaps representing fate, death, or doom) enters confidently among people.
"On her sides, little bells tinkled with every step" - The jingling bells signal an unseen danger approaching, much like a distant warning.
"I called out to her to turn away" - The poet senses imminent danger and tries to avoid it.
"She answered: 'I shield you from the misfortune that clings to me.'" – The figure acknowledges her association with misfortune, offering a cryptic kind of protection that hints at inevitable tragedy.
Rather than a direct threat, the djinn was delivering a prophetic warning — a glimpse of fate veiled in poetic symbolism.
The Inevitable Fate: The Day of Doom
Years later, Ubaid ibn al-Abras sought an audience with King Al-Nu'man ibn al-Mundhir, the ruler of the Arab kingdom of al-Hirah (then a vassal state under the Persian Empire). Little did Ubaid know, he had arrived on a fateful day known as "The Day of Doom."
King Al-Nu'man had established a grim tradition:
On The Day of Blessing, he would honor the first person he met.
On The Day of Doom, he would execute the first person he encountered.
Ubaid, the unlucky visitor, was seized. Realizing the peril he was in, he tried to plead for his life through poetry, saying:
"Life is but a lush grove;
when one side thrives, the other withers."
A poignant reminder of life's fleeting fortune and the inevitability of decline.
Yet, King Al-Nu'man remained silent. Without mercy, he ordered Ubaid to be thrown under the royal elephant - a brutal and symbolic method of execution.
Thus, the poet who once received a cryptic warning from the djinn, met a tragic, foretold end.
A Prophecy Fulfilled... or a Tragic Coincidence ?
As word of Ubaid’s death spread, those who had heard his story remembered the eerie warning whispered to him years before:
"I shield you from the misfortune that clings to me."
Was it truly a message from another world? Was Ubaid given a glimpse of his fate, only to misunderstand it?
Or was it all a dreadful coincidence a fatal twist of chance rather than destiny ?
This story unfolds in the 6th century CE, during a period known as the Age of Jahiliyyah (the Time of Ignorance) - the era before Islam. At that time, poetry, prophecy, and mythology were deeply woven into everyday Arab life. People believed that words could unveil unseen worlds, and that fate often whispered through riddles to those who dared listen.
Final Reflection
The tale of Ubaid ibn al-Abras stands at the crossroads of legend and reality, fate and free will. It invites us to ponder:
Are we sometimes warned about our future through signs we fail to understand until it’s too late ?
Or is life governed by pure chance, indifferent to omens and warnings?
In either case, the haunting verses of a hidden djinn continue to echo across the ages, a reminder that destiny may be closer and stranger than we think.
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