The Monk, the Boy, and the Tyrant King… The Story That Began With an Arrow and Ended With an Entire Kingdom!
The Monk, the Boy, and the Tyrant King… The Story That Began With an Arrow and Ended With an Entire Kingdom!
There was once a tyrant king who had an old sorcerer in his service. The king relied on the sorcerer to maintain his power and deceive the people.
But the sorcerer grew old and realized that his death was approaching.
So he said to the king:
— I have grown old. Send me an intelligent boy whom I can teach magic, so that he may succeed me after I am gone.
The king chose a boy and sent him to the sorcerer to learn from him.
Every day, the boy would travel to the sorcerer. On his way, he would pass by a monk.
One day, the boy sat with the monk and listened to his words. What the monk said about God and faith touched the boy deeply.
From that day on, the boy began sitting with the monk before going to the sorcerer.
But that was when the problem began...
The boy would arrive late to the sorcerer because he had been sitting with the monk, so the sorcerer would beat him.
And whenever the boy returned home late, his family would beat him as well.
So the boy complained to the monk.
The monk said to him:
— If you are afraid of the sorcerer, tell him: “My family detained me.” And if you are afraid of your family, tell them: “The sorcerer detained me.”
Days passed...
Until one day, everything changed.
The boy was walking along the road when he saw a huge beast blocking the way and preventing people from passing.
The boy thought to himself:
“Today I will find out... Which is better: the sorcerer’s way or the monk’s way?”
He picked up a stone and said:
— O Allah, if the monk’s way is more beloved to You than the sorcerer’s way, then kill this beast so that the people may pass.
Then he threw the stone...
And the beast was killed!
Word of what had happened quickly spread among the people.
The boy began healing the blind and the lepers, and he cured people of their illnesses by Allah’s permission.
People began talking about him.
Eventually, news of the boy reached one of the king’s companions, who had become blind.
He went to the boy and brought him many gifts, saying:
— All of this is yours if you cure me.
The boy replied:
— I do not heal anyone. Allah is the One who heals. If you believe in Allah, I will pray to Him, and He will cure you.
The man believed in Allah...
And Allah cured him.
Then the man returned to the king’s court and sat in the very place where he had once sat before losing his sight.
The king stared at him in disbelief.
— Who restored your sight?
The man answered:
— My Lord.
The king’s face changed.
— Do you have a lord besides me?
The man replied:
— My Lord and your Lord is Allah.
The king could not bear to hear those words.
He seized the man and continued torturing him until the man finally revealed the boy’s identity.
The boy was brought before the king.
The king said to him:
— I have heard that you do such-and-such, and that you heal people...
The boy replied:
— I do not heal anyone. Allah is the One who heals.
The king’s anger grew.
He tortured the boy until the boy revealed the monk.
The monk was brought before the king.
He was told:
— Renounce your faith.
But he refused.
So the king placed a saw upon the monk’s head...
And sawed through him until he was split in two.
Then the king’s companion was brought before him.
He was told:
— Renounce your faith.
He refused.
So they did the same to him as they had done to the monk.
Then it was the boy’s turn.
The king said:
— Renounce your faith.
The boy refused.
So the king ordered his soldiers to take him to a mountain.
He said:
— Take him up the mountain. When you reach the summit, ask him to renounce his faith. If he refuses, throw him from the top.
The soldiers took the boy.
When they reached the top of the mountain...
The boy raised his hands and said:
— O Allah, save me from them in whatever way You will.
Suddenly, the mountain shook!
The soldiers fell...
But the boy survived.
He descended the mountain and returned to the king.
The king asked him:
— Where are your companions?
The boy replied:
— Allah has taken care of them for me.
The king’s anger intensified.
He ordered his soldiers to take the boy onto a ship and sail with him into the middle of the sea.
Then he said:
— If he does not renounce his faith, throw him into the sea.
They did as they were ordered.
But the boy said:
— O Allah, save me from them in whatever way You will.
The ship overturned...
And the soldiers drowned.
The boy returned to the king once again.
At that point, the king realized that things would not end this way.
The boy said to him:
— You will never be able to kill me unless you do exactly what I tell you.
The king asked:
— And what is that?
The boy replied:
— Gather the people in one place. Tie me to a tree trunk. Then take an arrow from my quiver, place it in the bow, and say:
“In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy.”
Then shoot me with it.
Only then will you be able to kill me.
The king agreed.
He gathered the people.
And the boy was placed before them.
The king took an arrow...
Placed it in his bow...
And said:
“In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy.”
Then he released the arrow.
It struck the boy...
And the boy died.
But something happened at that very moment that the king had never expected.
The people looked at what had happened...
Then they cried out:
“We believe in the Lord of the boy!”
“We believe in the Lord of the boy!”
“We believe in the Lord of the boy!”
The king had wanted to kill the boy in front of everyone...
But instead, he had caused all those people to believe in Allah.
The king’s fury exploded.
He ordered trenches to be dug in the ground and filled with fire.
Then he said:
— Whoever refuses to renounce their faith, throw them into it.
One after another, people were brought forward...
They had only two choices:
Either they abandoned their faith...
Or they were thrown into the fire.
Then came a woman carrying a small child.
She hesitated, frightened to throw herself into the fire.
Then Allah caused her child to speak.
The child said:
— Mother, be patient. You are upon the truth.
So she threw herself and her child into the fire.
And so...
The king had wanted to silence the voice of faith by killing a single boy.
But the boy died...
And his message remained.
The king’s followers died in the fire...
But their faith remained as a testimony to them.
And what happened to them became a story told for generations...
The story of the boy, the monk, and the tyrant king.
The story of people who recognized the truth and chose to remain steadfast upon it...
Even when the price was their very lives.