Who are you?

Shahryar was lying on the bonnet of his Thar when he heard a faint sound. He opened his eyes and looked around. Perhaps this had happened before, the sound seemed strangely familiar to him.

Shahryar remained lying there. Then the sound came again, this time mixed with the sound of water. He opened his eyes and saw those kohl lined eyes looking around as she slowly moved toward the beautiful flower.

Shahryar sat up. He made no movement. She walked toward the flower with slow, careful steps. First, she touched it to her face, then said something to it before plucking it. She brought it to her lips and hugged it to her chest.

"Who are you?"

At the sound of that deep voice, Zara turned around. Her dupatta back.

Shahryar began walking toward her. She said something, but Shahryar couldn't make out what had come from her throat.

"Where have you come from? Why do you steal these flowers?"

As soon as Shahryar stepped into the water, perhaps startled by the movement caused by his footsteps, she stepped back. Her foot slipped, and she fell into the mud.

"Bhaijaan."

The word escaped her lips. Shahryar stopped where he was. Looking at a woman like that was against his principles.

He turned away and said, "Cover yourself with your shawl and leave this place."

He remained standing there. Then he heard the sound of her falling again, followed by her crying.

Shahryar felt splashes of water on his back. He squeezed his eyes shut. The little girl had already gone.

Shahryar turned around. Her voice came from the other side of the sugarcane field.

"You are very bad."

Then he heard her running away. He stood there for a moment before turning around.

"What kind of crazy girl was she? She took the flower and ran away. Thief."

Shahryar turned back toward the fields.

Zara was coming from the back side of the mansion when her foot fell into a pit. She fell heavily into the soil that had been prepared for planting trees. This time, she was hurt too.

She lifted her head and saw that the flower had scattered.

She suddenly felt like crying, and the next moment, she burst into tears.

"Bhaijaan."

The pain of seeing that precious thing scattered, something so close to her heart, was greater than the pain of her injury.

Abbas, who was passing by, heard Zara's voice. He came running toward her.

"Child, what happened? What are you doing here?"

He looked at Zara's condition. Her white suit had turned yellow with mud.

"Abba Ji..."

Zara began crying even harder. Abbas helped her stand.

"Good girl, stand up. Tell me, why did you come here? How did you get hurt?"

Zara said, "My flower."

Abbas knew how much his daughter loved trees, flowers, and birds.

"You could have asked one of the maids to bring you another one, child. You didn't get hurt, did you?"

Zara's eyes remained fixed on the flower that had disappeared somewhere in the mud.

Seeing her cry like that, Abbas became worried. He picked her up in his arms and carried her inside.

"Mumtaz, Mumtaz, come here. Zara is hurt."

"Ammi is here?"

She asked between her sobs.

"Bring some water."

Abbas nodded. Just then, Mumtaz arrived.

"What happened? Oh, my child, what have you done to yourself? I've been searching for you all over the house."

"Ammi..."

She began crying even more.

Abbas looked at the maid and said, "Clean her face."

Then Haider's voice came from behind.

"What happened? Why is my doll crying?"

"Bhai Jaan..."

Seeing her crying so much, Haider quickly came to her and pulled her into his arms.

"What happened?"

Abbas said, "She fell into the mud and got hurt."

"Who put this soil here? Who was working here?"

Haider took some water in his hands and wiped the mud from her face. Then he poured water over her feet and cleaned them.

Abbas said, "You've dirtied your clothes, Haider."

"It's fine, Abba Ji. Look how much she's crying."

He placed his hand on Zara's head.

"She's crazy, crying over a single flower breaking."

Haider pulled her against his chest.

"I'll spread all the flowers in the entire area beneath your feet. Why are you crying, my doll?"

After calming Zara down, he carefully cleaned her feet.

"Go to your room and take a bath. Then we'll go outside."

Zara nodded and walked away. A little further ahead, she bumped into a table.

Mumtaz Begum put a hand on her head.

"What will become of this girl?"

Haider picked her up in his arms and carried her toward her room.

Abbas said, "There was once a man who tried to trample a woman mercilessly, and here is another man who is washing a woman's feet."

"That was a matter of those times, Haider's father. This generation isn't like that anymore. They know both how to lower their gaze before a woman and how to bow before her."

Abbas took a deep breath.

"Let's hope that is true."

A little later, Haider's voice echoed throughout the mansion as he scolded the servants working in the garden. Salima Begum, who was standing upstairs, watched him.

"He certainly loves his sister a little too much."

She turned and walked away.

Ifra was sitting on the ground with her head resting in Jahangir Alam's lap. The soft grass felt comforting beneath her. He was explaining the translation of Surah An-Naml to her.

When he fell silent, Ifra lifted her head and looked at him.

"Do you want to ask something?"

Ifra nodded.

"Dadu, were these Gazi people ever our own?"

He said, "In the Quran, Surah Al-Hujurat says, 'The believers are but brothers, so make peace between your brothers and fear Allah so that you may receive mercy.'"

Hearing this, Ifra said, "Then why hasn't our enmity ended? As far as I know, Rasulullah ﷺ also said in a hadith,

'The believers are like one body; when one part of the body suffers, the entire body is affected by fever and restlessness.'

And this too, 'A Muslim is the brother of another Muslim. He neither wrongs him, abandons him, nor humiliates him.'"

"Then why haven't we made peace with the Gazis?"

He tried to read her eyes deeply.

"The desire to make peace with the Gazis is awakening in your heart."

She said, "Dadi says that one of the rules of enmity is that when you know why peace with your enemy cannot happen, you must always keep that reason in your heart."

He placed his hand on Ifra's head.

"You know that the one who violates a woman's honour is deserving of death. Do you know how painful his punishment is? Allah has said, 'For those who oppress women, there is a painful punishment.'"

"The punishment exists in this world, the punishment exists in the grave, and it will exist on the Day of Judgment as well. Everything will end, and then the judgments will be made. Even on that day, there will be punishment for this sin."

Ifra remained silent for a few moments.

"What is your point of view, Dada Sai? Do we have to continue this enmity with them?"

Now Ifra was trying to read his expression.

Baba Sai took a deep breath.

"We too committed a sin once. In a state of anger and pain, your Dada Sai forgot that the girl who had entered his home was also a woman, someone's daughter."

"That is why the atonement for that sin is that we will neither maintain enmity with the Gazis nor friendship. A line has been drawn between our territories. It will remain for the rest of our lives. These boundaries will not be crossed."

"At the same time, I want to tell you something. We made you this strong so that you could protect yourselves. When necessary, become your own protectors. The One who truly keeps you safe is only Allah. You are not a part of this enmity."

Ifra stood up.

"You told Bhai the same thing, didn't you?"

At this, he smiled.

"Of course. We told him the same thing. His questions were the same."

Ifra said, "I'm like Bhai."

Baba Sai said, "No, you are like your Chachu. He was the first one to question us."

Shifa shouted from upstairs,

"Did you two have the whole conversation without me, or is there something left for me too?"

Ifra said, "Dada Sai, should I take you there, where the land dispute is going to be decided?"

"No, Ifra. We know that wherever you are, a storm is bound to come."

Shifa sat down and said, "Dada Sai, please, I'll stay in the car."

He looked at Sher Mohammad.

"Tell Shahryar to reach there as well. The storm and the hurricane are coming with us."

"Ji, Abba Sai. I'll tell him."

Ifra quickly took the driving seat.

After some time, they reached a place. Baba Sai stepped out of the car and said,

"There are gardens behind. You two can go there if you want. I have something to discuss."

Both of them nodded.

Baba Sai walked away.

Looking at a man, he said,

"Tell me, Atif Sahib, what is the matter?"

"Baba Sai, the land currently occupied by your farmers, the land on which they cultivate crops, Haider Abbas Gazi claims that the land belongs to him. He wants the land back."

"Is there any proof? Where is your Haider Abbas Gazi?"

"There is proof, there are witnesses, and Haider Abbas Gazi is here."

Haider was approaching from the other side. The same commanding personality, the stern face from which arrogance seemed to radiate.

"Assalamualaikum, Baba Sai."

A voice came from behind,

"Wa Alaikum Assalam. And how are you, sir? Is everything fine? Is the wife and children doing well?"

Haider froze at the sound of that voice.

Baba Sai immediately turned around.

"Ifra, be quiet."