Jabberwocky

"O my brothers and sisters! The battle between the mice and the cat, in the Land of Ridiculam-terram, was still enduring," Professor Nightingale uttered. "But before we jump onto the next apologue, I'd like to give warning to my own-soul, as well as you all, that human beings, can give rise to a lot of misfortune in this dunya, for themselves and for others. Thus, the suffering borne by humans, is often—not always—a consequence of human's misbehave, committed through the free will gifted by Allah. The discomfort borne, is a warning, to relinquist from the type of actions that bring about the adversity, if people perceive and take to heart, the ominous. Sometimes, troubles, are caused by the actions of a group. Because human beings are all linked, the bakclash of the action of some can impact others. This can be seen very undoubtedly in the verse,

ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي النَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُمْ بَعْضَ الَّذِي عَمِلُوا لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ

"Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by—reason of—what the hands of people have earned so He—i.e., Allah—may let them taste part of—the consequence of—what they have done that perhaps they will return (to righteousness)." [QS. Ar-Rum (30):41]

The corruption—oppression, evil etc.—that human beings unleash in the world, causes suffering for many people. The free will, intelligence, and abilities, granted by Allah to the human being, are blessings for growth and perfection. But humans, abuse these and create difficulties in life for themselves and others. Let this verse remind me, as well as all of you, that actions have consequences, both in this world and the Hereafter, and we should be careful about the consequences of our actions.

Allah also censures those who look to other than the believers for support and nobility. Whoever wants power, let him seek it through obeying Allah. He, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, says,

مَنۡ کَانَ یُرِیۡدُ الۡعِزَّۃَ فَلِلّٰہِ الۡعِزَّۃُ جَمِیۡعًا ؕ اِلَیۡہِ یَصۡعَدُ الۡکَلِمُ الطَّیِّبُ وَ الۡعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ یَرۡفَعُہٗ ؕ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ یَمۡکُرُوۡنَ السَّیِّاٰتِ لَہُمۡ عَذَابٌ شَدِیۡدٌ ؕ وَ مَکۡرُ اُولٰٓئِکَ ہُوَ یَبُوۡرُ

"Whoever desires honor—through power—then to Allah belongs all honor. To Him ascends good speech, and righteous work raises it. But they who plot evil deeds will have a severe punishment, and the plotting of those—it will perish." [QS. Fatir (35):10]

The tribulation that we, the servants of Allah, is afflicted with, affects one of four things: ourselves—either by death or something less than that; our property; our honour; or our family and those beloved to us. The severest of these, is tribulation in ourselves. We may often forget, that no affliction, O my brothers and sisters, happens except by the will of Allah. And whoever has faith in Allah, He will guide his heart. This means, that whoever suffers an affliction, must know that it occurred by Allah’s decree. Therefore, he patiently endures the hardship and anticipates Allah’s reward. If he does so, Allah will guide his heart, grant him certainty in faith, and replace whatever he lost with something equal or better. So, asking Allah for help, is one of the best ways we can come closer to Him and express our vulnerability and need for Him.

Tribulation and hardship, prevents one from evil, vanity, boastfulness, arrogance, ostentation and oppression. The state of hardship and tribulation causes the servant to turn towards Allah. The state of ease, well-being and blessings, causes the servants of Allah, to turn away from Him. Being pleased and content with the tribulation, it would lead to the pleasure of Allah. This is because, both the righteous and sinner, is afflicted with trial, hence, whoever is malcontent at its onset, for him is displeasure and misery in this life and the Hereafter. Whoever is pleased and content with it, for him, lies in store the good pleasure of Allah and that is greater than Paradise and what it contains.

So let's jumping in to the coupling apologue.

The bel proposal, spread everywhere. The whole community knew and understood, why often, things like that, happened. Once, seven mice, members of the Mice Council, interviewed by a reporter, witnessed by many mice. The first member, was asked for his opinion, "Sir, do you know Wakanda?" The member guessed with proud, "Of course we know, by the name, it's a small land in Africa, but our land, better then they are." The reporter comment, teasing the second member, "Do you know, Sir, that Wakanda, like many places in Africa, is home to a great wealth of natural resources. Shielded by the powers of vibranium, the element mined beneath its surface that enabled the country to develop the world's most advanced technology, Wakanda resisted invaders while its rulers constructed a beautiful space-age kingdom. Are you sure you can conquer them?" The member, somewhat hesitantly, nodded.

The third member interviewed about Wakanda as well, "Sir, Wakanda, officially known as the Kingdom of Wakanda, is a small isolationist landlocked country located in Africa, surrounded by mountain ranges and a thick forest. Shall we, cooperate with the Kingdom?" The member anwered, "We have studied it, looking for possibilities we can do. And we came at a conclusion, we would propose it to be able to work together on a win-win solutions."

The fourth member was challenged, "Sir, Wakanda is rich, because its citizens can use Gigajoules per day at little or no cost if they want. This is far more than the citizens of any other country in the world can use. Thus Wakandans are extremely rich. In the real world, a country can be very rich regardless of their exports. So, will you do business with them?" The member respond, "This is interesting, we will try to offer imports of their goods into our country. We will propose to the foreign minister."

Next, the fifth member turn, "Sir, Wakanda has an army of a few hundred, maybe two thousand men. Most of them use swords and sticks; a few have energy spears, which are not significantly different from modern rifles. Will we, match them, Sir? " Nodding, he acknowledged, "Sure, we will. Otherwise, we would invite them, cooperate in the weapons field." The reporter hold back laughter, but kept going to interview the sixth member, "Is Wakanda, a slang?" He solved, "No, it's a real country, how could it be a slang?" The reporter commented, "Okay, but there is a slang, meaning "the mysterious"!

The last member, quized, "What is the slogan of Wakanda?" The member explained, "We haven't reviewed it, but you could find it in many history book!" The reporter smiled, and informed, "Okay, I'll look for it in the history books."

A young mouse, who could no longer hold back his laughter, shouted, "Hey gentlemen! That Wakanda slogan, is "Wakanda Forever." You can't find it in history books, but rather, in popular comics, or on the motion pictures. Is it all you've got? If it is, how my generation would become?"

"We have to do something!" said the stakeholders. So, the bell proposal, immediately launched. Instead of making their own bells, the importers were chosen. In order to get more support, recommendations and certifications from the World Bell Association, were published.  The legal basis, had been made, that the price of bringing the bell, was a catastrophe cost. 

Some local bell makers, developed quite effective and inexpensive bell's, but seemed not to have any recognition. People said, business in cheerless times was rewarding, as was the bell business. The importers, generated a lot of profit. They gained a very expensive margarine, compared to ordinary citizens, who could only afford cassava.

There were a few obstacles to bring the bells. The sellers, however, were only able to drop the bells, as far as 60% to 70% of the cat's location. The rest, required mousepower to lift it up. So, a rule was issued, that every mouse, was required to lift the bell up, to the cat's location. Whoever had carried it out, was given a certificate, and whoever hadn't done so, didn't get public services. And whoever deliberately refused to do so, would be subject to a very heavy fine. Some protested, "This is against the constitution!" Who cared? The rules might be amended anyway.

Meanwhile, on the underground, there were many talks about the cat threat issue, consulted what was best to be done for the preservation of the public, from the jaws of the devouring Cat. They discussed, one scholar, stated, "I think, the existence of the cat, does not come by himself, but rather, someone nurtures him. This is a conspiracy!" Many agreed, as well as nay. Lastly, a prudent mother of mice, experienced in cat behavior, expressed her opinion, "Our current situation, is as blur as Lewis Carroll's nonsense-poem, Jabberwocky. 

There was a book lying near Alice on the table, and while she sat watching the White King, she turned over the leaves, to find some part that she could read, “For it’s all in some language I don’t know,” she said to herself. At first, Alice colud not read it.  She puzzled over it for some time but, at last, a bright thought struck her. “Why, it's a Looking-glass book, of course! And if I hold it up to a glass, the words will all go the right way again.

This was the poem that Alice read,

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand:

Long time the manxome foe he sought—

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And as in ufflsh thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood.

And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”

He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves.

And the mome raths outgrabe.

“It seems very pretty,” she said when she had finished it; “But it’s rather hard to understand!” You see, she didn't like to confess, even to herself, that she couldn’t make it out at all. “Somehow, it seems to fill my head with ideas—only I don’t exactly know what they are! However, somebody killed something; that’s clear, at any rate. “But oh!” thought Alice, suddenly jumping up, “If I don’t make haste, I shall have to go back through the Looking-glass, before I’ve seen what the rest of the house is like! Let’s have a look at the garden first!”

In the end, none other than Humpty Dumpty could tell the meaning of the poem.

So, I came to this resolutions, first, pray more, draw closer to Allah, ask for His help and protection. Second, keep yourselves close in your holes. In my opinion, this is what all of us think, coming from us, and at no cost."

The Cat, observing the Mice no longer came up, as usual, hungry, and disappointed of his prey. The Cat was no longer able to get at them and perceived that he must tempt them forth by some device. For this purpose, he jumped upon a peg, and suspending himself from it, pretended to be dead. One of the Mice, peeping stealthily out, saw her and said, "Aha, my good friend, are you there? There you may be! I would not trust myself with you, though your skin were stuffed with straw."

Did the cat dead? Some said he did. Others said no, someone helped him. The rest, abstained. For a fact, the struggle of the mouse against the cat, sustained, three to five years further."

"O my brothers and sisters!" the professor wrapped up, "Prudent folks, never trust those a second time, who have deceived them once. We cannot be too much upon our guard against fraud and imposition of every kind; and prudence, in many cases, would rather counsel us to forego some advantages, than endeavour to gain them at a risk of which we cannot certainly ascertain the amount. We should more particularly suspect some design in the professions of those who have once injured us; and though they may promise fairly for the future, it is no breach of charity to doubt their sincerity, and decline their proposals, however plausible they may appear; for experience shews that many of the misfortunes which we experience through life, are caused by our own too great credulity. And Allah knows best."

References :

- Al-Imam Al-Izz bin Abissalam, Trials and Tribulations : Wisdom and Benefits, translated by Abu Rumaysah, Daar Us-Sunnah Publishers
- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, HM Caldwell Co.
- Thomas Bewick, Bewick's Select Fables, Bickers & Sons

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