The Seven Owl Questions
In the oasis of the "secrets" located on the borders of the sand, where the trees of ghada hugged the valley stream and the winter cold stayed long in the bones, the people of the desert were reporting the news of the owl inhabiting an ancient palm above a high hill. They said that they were older than the tribes that settled the land, and even older than the ancient inscriptions that were drawn in the rock before the columns and buildings were raised. It was not an ordinary bird; it was the "guardian of questions." Who is lurking in wait for fools and arrogant people who dare to approach to hear her voice. Those who were unable to solve its mysteries were swallowed up by the night of the desert, but those who believed in their answer returned with souls that were no longer the same. Adnan, the son of the Sanite, was neither foolish nor arrogant, but he was anxious in search of certainty. He climbed the hill on a moonlit night, and the serenity perverted existence, to look for the owl. The first question in feathery tiles
Among the palm's antique fronds and shadows, The owl stood out, its feathers sparkling like silver under the moonlight. "Seven questions, Adnan... answer them all and I will give you a truth that human minds did not realize, and if you fail... you will not see the light of dawn," she said in a voice with the prestige of frost on a chilly night. The first question: “What rises without feet, falls without hands, and clad the world with its scarf?”
Adnan thought of the cold covering the Lord, and replied, “Snow.” “One truth,” the owl nodded. The Owl's Second Question: The Wing Between Worlds
The owl tilted its head and said, “What carries the dead without touching them, and carries the living without touching them?”
Adnan hesitated a little, then remembered the ancestral course: “The name; when we pronounce it, we carry with us the memory.” “Two truths,” the owl said. Question three: The egg of the evening sky
“What holds a world in it, yet it shatters with one touch?”
“The egg,” Adnan smiled and replied. "Three truths," said the owl, rustling her wings, "and the trail narrowed." Question 4: The river without water
“What flows from the past into the future, but never wets a palm?”
“Time,” Adnan replied with certainty. “Four facts,” she said, “very few have come this far.” Question 5: Root Above Ground
The owl deepened her voice until she shook the stillness: “What has branches without leaves, and provides protection without shadow?”
After a long silence and deep reflection, “Family,” he answered; and the owl watched him with eyes like embers and said, “Five truths, and the night is about to depart.” Question 6: The flame that does not burn
“What warms the heart, extinguishes the fire of anger, and never consumes itself?”
Adnan felt the weight of honesty and replied, “Tolerance.” The owl bowed her head in homage and said, “Six truths… you have one left.” Question 7: The shadow of the feather The last question came as the wind whispered in the traveler's ear: "What is lighter than air, faster than the mind, and yet may break a man's soul?"
Adnan realized the right answer: “The lie.” The Truth That Changes Everything
The owl spread out its great wings, and extracted from its feathers a white feather, the tip of which is studded with gold, and said: "This is the truth: the wisest answer is not the one that puts an end to the question, but it is the one that opens the door to a better question." At the first dawn, Adnan came down from the hill and the feather shone a faint light in his hand. In the years that followed, Hakim became the tribe's sage and advisor. When he passed away, they buried that golden feather with him, so that questions would accompany him on his journey towards the Otherworld.