A Handful of Dates

Many years ago, there was a young boy who greatly respected and looked up to his grandfather. The boy would spend more time with him than his actual father, and would go everywhere with him, except the mornings when he would venture to the mosque to study the Koran. The boy loved studying the Koran because it pleased his grandfather very much, and he hoped to grow up one day and be just like his grandfather, a tall, pure man, who walked with great strides. One day the boy questioned his grandfather about their neighbour Masood, and why he did not like him very much. His grandfather told him that Masood is an indolent man, and that of all the land he inherited from his father, two thirds of it now belonged to him. He said that he wasted his money on marrying women, and would sell off his land to pay for them. Later on, Masood comes by to invite the two to join in on the date harvesting. Many people had gathered at the harvest, and as a boy hacked away at a date palm, Masood warned him not to cut the heart of the palm. After the date harvesting ended, the boy's grandfather, a merchant, and the owned of the field next to Masood gathered around the sacks of harvested dates. They all ate a few, while Masood picked up a couple and had a quick smell before returning them to the sack. The young boy's grandfather handed him some dates, which he munched on and enjoyed. The boy watched as the men divided up the sacks and each took their share. When the bags were divided, Masood was left with none and the young boy was surprised. He looked at Masood and felt sorry for him, and felt himself drawing closer to Masood. Then the boy overheard his grandfather saying that Masood was still in debt with him. The young boy then realizes that his grandfather is not as pure and good as he once thought, and comes too see that he now hates him. The boy runs away from his grandfather, ignoring his cries to come back, and comes up to a river and purposely throws up the dates given to him by his grandfather.