There was a war
between king of
Bahrain and an
Arab Sheikh. The
Arab Sheikh and
his men were
captured and the
king ordered that
every tenth men
of the captives
should die with
the Sheikh. So they
led Sheikh Sayyad
out to be
beheaded in front
of the entire
camp. Suddenly
the king
recognized
Sayyad. “Are you the
Youngman who gave
me water
once when I was
out hunting and
was thirsty?”.
“Yes”, replied
Sayyad. “Then ask
for any favor
except your life,
I want to repay
your favor”. “I
want to see my son
for the last time
before I die. Spare
my life till I
come back after seeing
my son”. “You may
go if
somebody will
stand hostage for
you”, said the
king.
Sayyad’s nephew,
Ishaq agreed to
stand hostage
for him. So they
freed Sayyad and
bound Ishaq.
Sayyad rode
away. Every one in the
camp mocked at
Ishaq. “What a
fool you are
Ishaq? Do you think he
will come back?
None wants to
walk into a trap
willingly after
having been
freed once.” “He will
come back”, said
the simple,
trusting Ishaq.
Days passed and
Sayyad did not
return. So one day
they led Ishaq
to be slayed. Ishaq
begged them to
wait till sunset.
Sunset also came
and no sign of
Sayyad. Ishaq
was led away and the
swordsman raised
his sword to
strike his head
off---……wait.
What is that
noise? Horses hooves
becoming louder
and louder and
someone, “wait”.
Wonder of
wonders! Sayyad
came galloping
fast, jumped
down from the saddle,
clasped Ishaq to
his bosom and
whispered, “I am
here, dear
nephew”. The
king could not
believe his
eyes---astonished, he
cried, “I have
never seen anything
like this
before. ‘One’ stakes his
life on the word
of his uncle and the
other comes back
to welcome
death! It is
unbelievable. Now I
have to pardon
you both. You
followed the
command of Quran”.