Accountability

Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, was travelling from one city to another for the purpose of preaching when a cleric met him on the way and greeted him thus: "O man of God, I desire your companionship on this journey."

While walking, as the two travellers grew tired and the sun d also reached its peak, the cleric suggested that in order to seek protection from the heat, hunger and thirst they should spend a while under the shade of a tree. So, Prophet Jesus' and the cleric stopped to rest under a tree. As the tree gave them protection from the blistering sun and as their nerves settled, the cleric respectfully suggested: "Come, let us eat." Prophet Jesus(as) and the cleric unpacked their meals at the same time. The cleric saw that Prophet Jesus(as) had two pieces bread on his spread, whereas the cleric had three. The cleric said to Prophet Jesus(as) that "I'm older in age than you, and we need water with our meal [so you should be the one to fetch it. “As Prophet Jesus left to fetch water, the cleric quickly finished one of his three pieces of bread. When Prophet Jesus(as) had fetched the water and both the travellers were about to start their meal, Prophet Jesus(as) saw that the cleric had only two pieces of bread on his spread.

He asked, "O person, you had three pieces of bread, where did the one go?" The cleric said, "You are mistaken, I only had two pieces of bread."

After the meal, the cleric lay down for a nap and fell asleep Prophet Jesus(as) got up and made three piles of sand. He blew upon them, and they turned to gold. As the cleric woke up he was surprised to see the three piles of gold at a little distance in front of him. His voice filled with surprise and incredulity he asked Prophet Jesus(as), "Whose gold is this?"

Jesus'' replied: "One is mine, the other yours, while third belongs to the person who ate the third piece of bread."

Instantly, the cleric blurted out, "It was me who ate piece of bread." Then a little while later he requested, " Your holiness, you are a Prophet of God—what concern do you have for worldly wealth! Why don't you give the third pile [of gold] to me as well?"

Jesus' said, "There is one condition. That is, you should cancel the agreement we had made to travel together so that 1 can go my own way."

The cleric said, "That is fine—you may go on. I shall travel alone."

The cleric said, "That is fine—you may go on. I shall alone."

Prophet Jesus(as) placed his blanket on his shoulder and left the spot by the tree. He had not gone far when, suddenly, three men appeared. One from among them called out to the cleric in a loud voice, "O person, what are you doing here? Are you here to usurp what is rightfully ours?"

At hearing this, the cleric started to reproach the man, but when his reproach was not heeded, he started to beg and plead. The three men, however, argued that there were of them, and likewise, there were the three piles of go. As the cleric started to cry and wail, the chief among three men said, "There is one way that you can take one of these piles of gold."

Having no other choice, the cleric agreed [to settle for one pile]. The agreement they settled on was that the cleric would go to the market and fetch them food, and not warn the authorities about them. The cleric, after buying food from the market poisoned it so that the three thugs would die after eating it and so that he could gain possession of all that gold. On the 'her side, one of the three men came up with the plan that they should kill the cleric as soon as he would bring the food. The result was that the cleric was murdered, while the three Hell died [shortly] after eating the [poisoned] food.

*

 When we reflect upon our society, our mind, negating time, travels 37 years back into the past. One day, during 1947, I was settled in a large and expansive mansion in the Patiala district of Eastern Punjab. There was chaos and uproar all around. The sound of bullets fired from machine guns had suspended consciousness and weakened the nerves. Those leaving their homes were thrown into the clutches of death. Fire was set upon the houses of those who had chosen to remain in their homes. Nature planned it so that after being relieved of seven days' misery of hunger and thirst and confinement, members of the mansion I was in] were cast out of the house. In order to go from this side to the other I had to walk across a road. After pausing for a moment, and waiting, not in the realm of dream, but in full consciousness, I wished to cross the street in such a way as to avoid stepping on the corpses [that lay on the ground]. But the road was filled with corpses and I had no choice but to walk on my toes, passing over the dead bodies to reach other side of the road. Blood flowed from rooftops. Drains and gutters were filled with bloody water. Children were crying. Women, cast out of their homes and unveiled, presented a horrific spectacle. Heaps of wealth and bundles of currency had become cheaper than dirt.

As the sun rose on the 14'h of August, it carried in its rays a message that, 'today a nation having gained its independence from another nation will establish a state that will promote the welfare of its people.' Nature opened up its treasures upon the nation that had been hungry and in tatters so that, that nation would not have to complain of the scarcity of resources and so that no one would be able to interfere in the welfare promoting works of that nation.

One generation has passed away. One generation having reached adulthood is moving on towards old age, and another generation is reaching adulthood. Angels had been inspiring all three of these generations, but as nature's blessings became more and more abundant, the nation became more and more greedy for material possessions, and today this greed has become a cancer upon the existence of this nation.

The history of the rise and fall of nations tells us that only those nations that remember their past, and that are accountable for their present actions, can continue to survive.