Some People's Tongues: Long Between Probing and Babbling

-        People talk ...in their sessions in coffee shops....on many topics between stories of money and love and politics and war and family....but stories of personal istighabah and political istighabah...the conversants spend longer time on those topics in conversation!!....My friend "Thaliya" told me about a session he had ..in which he drank a cup of mint tea with his friends in one of the cafés...in the evening..in the city center....!!.But he was telling me while his body was poisoned.!!.So I said to him, what's wrong, aren't you happy.!!.He said..what I heard from the session.!...I said to him..my friend...is everything you hear of boasting and talk true?.?..In reality..people brag and some of them do not fear their Lord.!..and they are descending into the abyss of this world..!!...He told me...the fear is that all or most of it seems true!!.....The world is ruined .!!.I hear them say .the one who fixed his situation is comfortable ...and God and the group are pleased with him....!!!And the one who could not set himself up...is lost ..safety deliver you...sitting talking to himself..!!!.....And because those who spoke in the coffee where my friends sat....did not emigrate a day ....and their generations are still alive !!! but not fortunate.!!..they do not lie...I said to him remind me of the proverb that says.."There is no liar more than a young man who emigrated..the old man or elder whose generations died.".!!.So what they say is considered true ..as long as the opposite is not proven...So my friend "Thalbah" laughed and said..man don't exaggerate things !!...I said to him bring it on....what you heard.!!!..He said that one of his friends..told him that he had submitted a job application some time ago for his daughter, a university graduate for two years..and he cannot find her a job..it is not working for him....so he decided to pray the istikhara prayer...he prayed it...and it was revealed to him that a sheikh appeared telling him...go submit your daughter's application to the head of the kom!!!.at the workplace...and its owner, according to his words..did not sleep on the talk...and went looking for the head of the kom in the department where his daughter had applied for the job...and asked about him some mediators and do-gooders..you know..the director of the department..so-and-so..!!...most of them told him yes this man...good..his name is "Nafidh".!! but you must be clever...in presenting your request to him....They told him what clever..as if I don't know how to speak like people...!! They told him things will work out with him...present your case to him....and see what you can negotiate with him.!!.Fear overcame him. Although the friend of Thalbah..."the Haj" as he is referred to..is strong-willed and smells talk from afar!!..he went to the relevant department...and asked for the big boss (head of the kom)..!! They told him ..there, go to the secretary...and request a meeting...He went to the director's lair...and passed by the secretary...a young woman approaching modern life!!....She said to him yes, uncle the Haj...He said to her I want to submit this mazbatah to the boss director...She told him you have a prior appointment ..He told her no ...by God my daughter..!!!...there is no...appointment...He told her okay but I only want to hand it to him...and then I'll take an appointment...at another time...She told him..okay sit let me see if I can arrange for you to enter to see the professor...(the director.) .He said oh God oh Lord..She went in for minutes and returned to him..and said to him, come in..to the professor...She passed by the boss director..in his office...the spacious....an impressive place...without envy, mashallah...and the Haj said..to himself..I see this man here...where..where..then he remembered...and it turned out the boss works more than one shift in multiple departments...and wears more than one cap on his head.!!..The Haj extended the salaam to the boss director....the director replied good morning..oh Haj....and the Haj began addressing the director with words aimed at him, the professor..oh Beyk I saw you before like this..He told him where...I myself work in more than three jobs and am an advisor ..to some foreign institutions..that serve the country...and conduct workshops for capacity building and empowerment for employees. And all these jobs..we serve the cause.!!..The Haj said....what cause ?..He told him the cause of Palestine.!!...He said and indeed you....but I see you God-fearing at a department that used to distribute winter rations and hiramāt to the needy...and I remember you did not want to respond to me ...I told you I wanted winter ihramayn for the children in that winter..and despite my shouting and being in the front lines among the public demanders...and they were many...and I know that you heard me..but I do not blame you may God help you..for this responsibility on your shoulders...you have to answer to whom and whom..!!.He thanked him maybe I did not hear you..but I was tasked with supervising at times the operations of distributing in-kind donations..to the people..and we must scrutinize the employees...better than any favoritism.!!..and this was a time...four years ago....But what do you want from here today...He said to him..by God I wrote this mazbatah for you so that we employ this girl ..she has been at home for two years since she graduated...but since I saw you..there is no need for the mazbatah..The director asked what is your daughter's major...He told him....She told me financial and banking sciences, they call it abroad....finance..!!...They told him oh Haj this is Finance.FINANCE.and we find nothing other than this major that they leave it to study...There are more than one hundred thousand graduates of this major..our universities..it has no taste..opening such majors in large numbers...even though the market is saturated with graduates...!!.And this is her job only in banks....and our banks..are few..they cannot employ large numbers of the unemployed....He told him that the unemployed..He said to him oh Haj I mean the unemployed from work..I do not mean anything else...and their number is large they say half a million unemployed..in the country...The Haj said no..is this number plausible...the director said..okay did you submit applications to the Civil Service Bureau..- the Civil Service Bureau...for example ..they said yes we submitted to many places..but no one called us..The director said..what do you do oh Haj.Your honor.?..He told him I continued to work in a company..and they told me that they do not want us..they want he said New blood....The director said ah he means New blood .....ah ..they are right ..those who graduate from abroad like Europe and America have modern knowledge....the latest that science reaches from theories in management and technology..and they know languages...so they must be the ones to take over the country..!! And then your salaries may be high so they bring two or three employees for your salary...The Haj told him..no by God oh Beyk I swear to you..we give them salaries..the last salaries we received..and multiples of them..by God in our lives we never expected such salaries....and they start with them ..and those we did not obtain them..except after decades of years..The director told him you by God oh Haj you make me feel affectionate ...let us ask you for a cup of coffee ...because in ten minutes I must dash to the other job.!!!..The Haj thanked him I am fasting today Monday ..I fast Mondays and Thursdays every week...The Haj also said that my daughter ..fasts too...I raised them on religious principles...The director said indeed good upbringing...Give me this summons you have with you ..Did you put in it the CV and the address...He said maybe the girl put it..but we put the address through our nasib..and this nasib of ours only works with the influential.!!..He asked what is your nasib's name?....The Haj said his name is.. "Wasel"...The director's features relaxed and he said he is your nasib "Wasel" He said yes....He said why did you not say from the start when you came...this is my friend and a graduate of my year from university in London we were ten sent at the state's expense ...so that after we graduate..we return to serve the country..!!.And to confirm the Haj's words the boss "Nafidh" asked for his telephone number..oh Haj..He said the Haj yes..and the Haj wrote the number on a small piece of paper in front of the boss...!! And when he saw the telephone number..for his friend "Wasel" to confirm the Haj's statements..because the boss knows him...he told the Haj...greet "Wasel"...and tell him "Nafidh" greets you...and God willing there will be nothing but good for you oh Haj...The Haj told him God willing good ..done !! meaning I put my hand in cold water..They told him let her come to attend duty ..next week..maybe we smuggled her in with the group !!...who have contracts and then I will confirm her...after a few months !!! but the important thing is to put her name on the list..although the number we have in the department ...is multiplied over the number required to fill the department..where half the current number of employees could do the work...!!.But we try to solve this unemployment problem..in the country..!! The Haj said..God bless you by God you are noble ..The director said we are at the service of good people and greet "Wasel" and tell him...let him arrange what is in the paper he sent him...two days ago....And the Haj, well-intentioned..said to the boss..what is written on the paper....He said to him although it is not necessary...I will tell you..but since you are companions. You and "Wasel"....It doesn't matter ..we want to employ the son of the owner of the branch ...a large merchant ...his son does not need the job....but he wants him for his son....he knows how to deal with people in this job....and introduce him to practical life..and make friendships and then he wants to place him in his company..!!...The Haj bid the director farewell ..and left saying, may God prolong your life our nasib!!...who associates with such people...and it is clear that he who does not have companions like these ...his children's lives will never be counted....at the door of a company or department.....!!.

-        And here I said to my friend "Thalabeh", "Is it conceivable, man, that things here are going along this path?" My friend said, "If you heard the rest of the stories about the NGOs — local and foreign — some of them reserve the jobs, for the most part, for their relatives.... but they publish in the newspapers about the vacancies, and they interview the candidates... normally and naturally, as if nothing happened, and then they send an apology email!!!" I said to him, "And these have reached civil society institutions as well?" He said, "There is no civil sector...! nor a non-civil sector!! You need a wasta or heavy connections — that will fix your affairs. Otherwise, wait until these straight-running institutions take pity on you!!!" He added, "They are few, but there are some in the country, thank God, but their salaries are paltry!! They start below the minimum wage, and then there is no savings fund and no medical treatment for the family... but still, it’s better than a person sitting at home!!" My friend "Thalabeh" said, "I won't keep you long but I want to tell you what I heard from someone who was sitting next to us — we and our friends — they said he is a senior employee... They say he was nothing at first... but they kept whispering to his friends and those who knew them in the workplace, even though they were the ones who brought him and employed him!!! But he turned on them and began going to the big Pasha and whispering to him... saying that so-and-so among the employees are useless!! He curses the government!!... but secretly... and that he meets with some employees in meetings — heaven knows what they do!! — but there is something between them!!" Then "Thalabeh" related about one of his friends who is informed about matters: he told him that those employees who met together were meeting as family... they were either "ada'il" or maternal cousins' children or paternal aunts' children!! I said to him, "Wow — do they hire relatives in the same department?" He told me, "Thalabeh: As far as I know, yes!!" My friend "Thalabeh" continued his story which he told me last!! So the Pasha appointed this person's daughter, the informer, from the start in a position at the grade of Manager A; and the Pasha also ordered granting him an amount of 100,000 dollars as a contribution to buy an apartment for him... so he could be free of rent!! And this man became the Pasha’s right-hand man!! I said to my friend "Thalabeh", "Okay, why does this informer come and sit in the coffeehouse where we are sitting?" He said, "He likes to keep such people around people so that he appears to them to love them and that the Pasha loves people... In addition to that... he used to wait for his driver who had gone to wash the car!! and then the driver would pass by him at the coffeehouse!! Also this man — the informer — received two guards, escorts; he takes allowances for two guards while he employs one or does not employ [one]!! Depending on the situation... and no one follows up or checks the paperwork!! Also this informer does not pay for either gasoline or the driver’s expenses!! It’s all on the Pasha’s account." I said, "And where does the Pasha get the money?" He told me that the Pasha has buildings that he rents out in Cyprus that he built and invested there back when he was responsible for some file — I don’t know what it was... and also his monthly salary is large, and they pay him education allowances for his children... and Mashallah God has favored and bestowed upon him!! I said, "And praise be to God... for these blessings!!"

-        I said to my buddy "Thalbah", "From today on I beg you do not slander me with such news..it seems everyone digs into everyone..and loots from the funds of the poor people of the people attributed to the poor peoples...!!! Please, "Thalbah" do not go to these coffeehouses." He said to me, "Thalbah".."If you want I will go to the mosque...I will perform i'tikaf...and fast the six white days and more than the white days...!!" I said to him, "The best thing....but please keep away from those communities that dig and loot....in this society...and most of what they say...is fabrication upon fabrication..........I will start calling you 'Sheikh Thalbah'...." He said to me, "No.....!! But there are many of those among the Pashas..!!.and they have arranged their affairs..!! So let's stick to the names our mothers gave us....!!"

-        And I bade him farewell hoping that my friend "Thalbah" would perform i'tikaf, though I doubt it.!!.Because circumstances change..and people change....according to circumstances...people talk.....!! And I assert that not everything people say is true..!! There is envy and not fearing God...and showiness and bragging...but our world...does not become free of what was said..!!!..but not as they tell it....perhaps less....because in all countries of the world, especially the Arab ones...there is such talk....no monitor and no accountability..!!