Chapter 6
The Leper Messiah ~ continued from Chapter 6 | How Much Will You Pay
Days later Arlemay disappeared from the busy streets of Damascus and journeyed into the Persian desert once again. Before he left he kissed Haga the cook and his beloved Uncle Hussein al-Rashid good-bye and bestowed all his fine clothing and belongings to his loyal servants, Ali and Omar.
“But, Master,” Ali said as he pulled the bright-colored tunic over his head. “We come with you.”
Omar stood proudly as he tried on a long coat. “Yes, like we always do.”
“I must go alone now.”
The traveler smiled at the two servants.
“My friends, my brothers,” he said.
They stopped looking at the beautiful clothes and surrounded the man with tears and hugs.
“But why?” Omar said through his tears.
Arlemay hugged his brothers. He brought both of them close.
“All will be revealed,” he said softly. “All will be shown.”
“When?” Ali cried gently.
“Soon.”
He closed his eyes and remembered visions from many years ago and saw letters dancing in front of him. He could not see deep into the meaning of the string of characters that brought him such joy years ago but knew he must follow them wherever they led.
He remembered that the one who brought the scorpion and viper together would be king. The vision took hold of his soul and danced all along the great desert sands.
At night he would not sleep but stared at the stars in the sky, hoping and praying for a sign. During the days he would wander past watering holes, searching in vain for a glimpse of her, a whisper of her voice. He looked into pools of water, hoping not to see his reflection but hers… The Desert Rose.
The desert sands were not as hot as his desire to reach her again. With feverish energy he moved deeper and deeper into the wasteland. But on his lonely travels he heard faint whispers on the desert wind:
“My desert lover, you know not what you do for I am The Mystical Rose, the light of the burning bush that burns brighter than the sun.
The light of The Rose will guide thee and the path of The Rose will lead you from east to west and beyond.
Fear not, my desert lover; I am the soul of the world!”
As he passed the caravans that dotted the barren landscape the traders would yell and wave but he did not answer. His world was no longer the world of men. He had left behind the cares of the world and was searching for something greater, something deeper within himself.
Day after day, he pushed on relentlessly until he stumbled over a dune and into a dry gully. His mouth was caked with dust and his clothes were torn as he held his hands up in prayer and called out in the lonely dusk.
“Please, show me the way, show me the path,” he said gasping for life.
He fell backward and lay still throughout the cold desert night.
At dawn she came to him, a shimmering image of white who hovered over the ragged scarecrow of a man. Her wings protected him as she looked down but not directly at him. She swirled in the wind and dust around the threadbare man.
Her voice was cool water that he drank in hungrily.
“Go to the land of Canaan; there will I speak to you again.”
“The land of Canaan,” Arlemay muttered as he sat up to behold an oasis full of spring water. The blue water glistened in the sunlight and was surrounded by fruit trees with branches of low-hanging oranges and grapes in abundance. The traveler drank from the spring and ate the fruit.
Arlemay traveled with renewed spirit and purpose as he pushed along the trade routes and over the great expanse to the whispered destination:
“The land of Canaan.”
He stood high on a valley peak and surveyed the ridges and sand spread before him. The sun was a thousand daggers that pierced his very soul.
The dust of a caravan led him to an area where the sand swirled. He tucked his tunic around his ears and fell into the sand. The wind beat at him with a vengeance. The storm raged and the desert shook. Then just as it had come the storm subsided.
Arlemay looked up and in the distance saw a fire burning. As he came closer he saw a bush that burned continually with flames rising higher and higher into the orange sky.
Around the bush roses grew in abundance, and as the fire grew, so did the beauty of each single rose until there were 876 varieties in a garden untouchable by man.
He fell prostrate in front of the burning bush, his head buried in his hands, not daring to move or look up:
“And go down to Jebus and there meet the one they call David and heed his call.”
The desert sands swirled around the burning bush.
“But before you do this, go forward and bring my laws and codes to the east and the west so that people shall know how to live with each other.”
The fire subsided as the rose garden was in full bloom.
“I will give you the path so that you may bring these codes to those who know. To those who don’t know my eyes are blind.”
A great crack burst out of the subsiding fire.
“Go to the cool waters of Galilee to find these scrolls.”
Continue reading… Chapter 6 | I Know the Path
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