If even Ukashah was stunned by Zak's recital just now, how much more the other boys!!

Arkaan was in a daze, and so was everyone else, so they couldn't realize at the moment that even Ukashah was shocked.

It was just a phrase...

It wasn't even a Qur'anic verse...

Yet, it caused great transformations amongst those who heard it, and the surrounding which witnessed it. Fate seemed to flow back in time,...

To a period two years ago and beyond..

When there was a Scholar and five of his chosen best students on a mountain..

"Sor-.. Urwah, recite, so our hearts would soften.."

"..Ustadh, why tell me to recite, when it's obvious among us five, Zayn and Abdul both are the best in recitals?"

The boy looked at his Ustadh, his dark eyes tearstained, twinkled above skin with permanent depression marks. One would think him the victim of some great injustice.

Yet, even in his invalid state, with skin as pale as death, and parched lips, he didn't seem to reduce in pleasantness.

If one didn't know this particular boy's past, one would say he was the embodiment of angels and saints.

And why was he like this? Well, sometimes, the greatest saints were birthed from the most heinous of villains. Those who perpetrated, and broke every law and command of God..

When they turned back, they couldn't hold back their remorse. Thus, there are piteous implorations to the Heavens every night..
Just to seek for forgiveness.

"Recite..for only yours, truly has what it takes.. to bring fear and sorrow to the heart.

Only yours can convey the message of the Creator to the hearts, and soften the hearts, so even the sinner would reflect.

The best reciter carries the fear of Allah in his voice.." He held his hand to tousle the boy's head, but then stopped midair.

He remembered, this was not his same Urwah from before.

The boy smiled a sorrowful smile. He understood he would never be truly accepted. His current identity was proof.., as well as atonement.

"Ustadh.. Do not forget. The promise we made.."

At this, the scholar smiled sadly, replacing his hand at his back. Within the next moment, the boy's voice suddenly drifted in the air,

"Wa siiqalladhīna kafaruu ilaa jahannama zumaraa(And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups).."

Ba-dum! Ba-dum!A clear heartbeat rang in the still air.

Thump!

Before he could even proceed, he had fallen down in a writhing mass, shaking all over in a tremor.

Sobbing sounds could be heard by the scholar, and those about him.

Urwah's teeth were clenched tight as he could not control himself. His whole body was shaking and he could not stop. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, he couldn't hold them back.

Images flashed within his mind, ghosts of his past..

A bloodied katana held above pleading eyes...a contented smile at death. A freedom and escape from the pains and trials..The boy fell before him.

His final words were,'I forgive you.' But why was it that, at that time, he felt the boy had rather transferred all his sins in this life to him, and..something more.

Again, why was his 'release' that which brought him salvation. Why was his death a tribulation that would never fade.

Not once had he remembered a face.

Not once had he remembered a name.

He had only carried out his missions,

No strings attached. No hard feelings..

Urwah..

No matter what anyone would do, it would not help. Unless the boy passes this stage of stupor and distraught.

Must we pity our own fate, we'll truly have no time to pity that of others..

The Scholar and the boys around had tears flowing from their eyes.

This Urwah was the same as that Urwah, but in appearance alone..Their characters were different in a way only a close person to him would know.

Yet, the sorrow he endured,.. only seemed to have increased exponentially.

The tears had began at the very start of his recitation. Before the first words were formed, the hearts had already softened in deep sorrow, and the eyes had welled up..

The scholar bent down, and carried the weak form of the boy in his arms, taking him into the safety of the masjid, his friends left behind, all playfulness gone, replaced by gloom, so one would think some beloved had just passed away.

Zak had this uncanny ability to memorize things perfectly with all his five senses, even voices and reproduce them exactly. Only, since the time of the halaqah previously, he'd never succeeded in exactly reproducing any of the other four's voices.

That was because, they each had their distinct effect that evolved from the heart, according to their different understandings and bond with the Qur'an.

"Reflection, There's no shame in tears.." Ukashah murmured, his heart lurched in a profound pain as memories started flowing back."Two Urwahs in one lifetime, two tribulations.."

At this point, all the boys there were left in a profound emotional state. It was as if from somewhere, all the cold feelings of the world had suddenly enveloped them. It was like being plunged into the depths of an ocean of anguish and pain, a profound sorrow and remorse..

Arkaan, Abdullah, Rafik, Arafat, Humayd, all the boys without an exception had fallen into a deep unsettling silence. Even the birds and the winds seemed to still, draped in the effects of intense desolation.

The scene was one of woe and melancholia. Arkaan was the first to get out of it.

Damn Zak! Recite in an amazing tune to make your opponent's to pale in comparison. You go and recite like we're in a procession to meet the darkest fate of our lives..

Nobody realized from beginning to end, Zak had only recited that one phrase, - The Ta'awwudh. Meaning, - he had not really read anything from the Holy Qur'an.
Yet, the very recital just now, had toppled all their hearts.

Since it wasn't a perfect reproduction of Urwah's voice, it didn't reach the peak of its profundity, so tears had not flowed from Ukashah's eyes like that time.

Although, it'd shake him to his very core and soul. He had never been devastated within his soul like this since Urwah.

"Urwah.." His heart felt pain all over again. Why was it that that boy made his own sufferings in this world seem inferior when compared to him?

A scene of an assassin and a pleading boy appeared in his mind both before him,

Once he had the blade before him, like countless others..

Only that, he was the first to survive those cold merciless eyes, and emotionless voice, at a grave price.

He didn't really know yet, whether it was all a dream, or everything was just his imagination.

But he knew that, when he awoke next, the Urwah he had known was lost, to be replaced by another.., only, his pain was more pronounced, and his aura, - sharp from the soft of before.

Yet, the time after that, those same new eyes and voice moved even his own heart to sorrow..

Zak raised his head which was lowered as he sank in a deep mental state just now. So he had not yet perfected it eh..

He felt disappointed..

Urwah.. That time, Ustadh basically called yours the best, even though Zayn and Abdul..

As everyone soon enough got somber again, they turned to watch the one who would decide the outcome. As Arkaan said, if their recitation was truly that exceptional, even their opponent would bow in defeat. So they weren't expecting it, when they all turned their eyes to the stranger Asian boy, and - ..saw tears flowing freely from his eyes.

The whole gathering, only he had truly reached the place where he could no longer be unmoved by the recital. Only he had attained to the state of heart and mind where tears flow..

"Eh??" Arkaan was at a loss for words.

Even Zak and Ukashah were shocked as well. Obviously, this was not even to the level of one-third Urwah's recital, which was why no one had shed tears even though they had all felt a dolorous state.

The boy's previous gentle smile was gone, replaced by a disconsolate look.

Without a word, he picked his zither, and strapped it to his bag. With his back turned on them, he began making his way down the mountain.

"If what you did was done just to make me leave your mountain, ..you didn't have to go so far."His voice sounded bleak.

Turning skyward, the boy said, almost in a whisper,"When I hear the verses of your onetime enemy, I think of you..

Everywhere, anytime..

The winds I sent forth with many a message,
But never did I receive a single reply
telling me you were alright,
And so I shouldn't worry that much."

"Have you heard from him?" The boy suddenly turned to Zak, asking. A pair of lines had already formed on his cheeks like two rivulets.

"No." Zak said lowly. It seemed he was actually saddened by his own answer. He could guess who the boy was referring to. Urwah was a mystery to them all, after all..

The boy nodded his head, though painfully one could see it."My name's Haru.."Then he was no longer in sight, haven descended the mountain.

Nobody did anything to stop him.

Nobody said anything after him. Even Arkaan who wanted to ask about the deal of him joining their halaqah, just kept quiet.
They had only just watched him, as if covered by a cloud of glumness as he descended the hill.

"Guys, have you noticed it's already Maghrib.." Abdullah's soft voice reached their ears. Arkaan could not help but notice they lost their usual gleaming colour.

"Let's go pray."

"I'm off!" Said Arafat, and he was no longer by them, already scramming down the mountain.

"See you guys later!"

"My parents will be searching for me."

"I've homework to do.."

Like this, all the other kids Abdullah brought one by one scampered away, even Humayd and his group.

"You.." Abdullah raised a finger, but had it dropped weakly. After all this effort spent in finding and chasing them with threats, and painfully coercing them.. It seemed he was too tired to comment anymore.

Zak smiled, holding his younger brother by his shoulder he pulled him towards the masjid."You did well today.."

Even though they didn't really do any much on the Qur'an and ahadith, at least it was a memorable first day..

In shaa Allah, the next meeting would be better, and they'll start at full swing, ..with everyone!

Abdullah smiled, though weakly. It seemed he had really overdone things this time, coupled to his elder brother's recital. Actually, he had long speculated Zak had copied someone else's recitation. Zak's real recitation was different from this. His was the way of the harf, a symphony of all sorts. Combined with his perfect voice copy, he could reproduce his own composition.

As the five boys walked toward the masjid, Arkaan silently listened in on Zak and Ukashah's conversation.

"Did you notice it too?" Zak turned to Ukashah with unconcealed shock in his eyes.

"En."Ukashah nodded, a sharp glint in his eyes which were otherwise expressionless.

"He's like a younger version of Sora." Zak finally said,"Nay, he's like Sora when he first joined the halaqah."

"Who's Sora?"Arkaan asked.

"Urwah.. Urwah Al Awwâh. The Best Reciter."a light shining in his eyes.

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