Tawfiq al Hakim

The Church bells rang in Christmas; their resonance vibrated through the very being of Rome as holiness echoes through and through the being of a pious monk. At that moment a stranger descended upon the city and headed towards the Vatican. His ears were intent upon the words of the Gospel that were being intoned from all directions around him. “And She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” On the winter wind came the music of Handel's Messiah and Bach's Christmas Oratorio: the master works of religious music were hailing Jesus Christ who brought mankind, laden with the burden of its own selfishness, His message of love that would wash away all sins.

The Gospel readings came to these words: “And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it may be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world, in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

And here the stranger sighed, and exclaimed from the depths of his heart, “I wish I had obeyed him then.”

He reached the palace of the Pope, where he asked to be granted an immediate audience. It was not easy to stand in the way of such a person: his eyes had the gleam of a power that could not be challenged. No one, neither priest nor cardinal, dared block his path. The doors were open before him and he entered, with his head humbly bowed, into the throne room of the head of the Church.

The Pope looked fixedly at his visitor, as he stood before him in the image of man and his voice trembled as he exclaimed, “You?”

“Yes, it is I.”

“And what do you seek of me?”

“To enter into the haven of faith.”

“What are you saying, you cursed creature?” The Pope spoke in a whisper, lost in bewilderment, but the visitor said in a voice ringing with truth and sincerity:

“I no longer deserve to be called the Accursed. I have come to you in repentance, and misfortune it will be for me should you mock me or even doubt my intention. Everything has an end. Surely the day had to come when I should see the truth and return to the paths of righteousness? Was it not inevitable that one day I should yearn for the bosom of God, and tire of this long, futile war, that I should want to abandon my stubborness, shun the banquet of evil, and long for the taste of good? Yes, take of me what you will, submit me to the most abhorrent of tortures, inflict your severest punishment upon me, but in the name of the Lord of all the heavens do not deprive me of the taste of good for a moment longer. What is the taste of this thing which you call Good, this thing which you hold in your hands and which you deny me? I have been living since time began; I have forever been arrogant and vain, forever I have held on and held out, always claiming that what I possessed was all, which I was self-sufficient, needing nothing further for myself or for my followers in my Kingdom. There is no one, no one at all, who has not followed me for some portion of time. My subjects are everywhere, even here within these walls, in spite of the monastic robes and the crosses. But what use is my fabled kingdom as long as I feel only deprivation? Save me, in the name of your God! Let me, if only once, know the taste of Good, and then throw me down into hell. I have laid down my arms and renounced the struggle. I am a believer and nothing else: this is now my greatest wish - to become one of those faithful worshippers at this moment crowding the churches, kneeling before God and singing hymns of praise to Him, rejoicing in the birth of Christ, repeating His words and hailing His deeds. O Your Holiness, O Vicegerent of Christ, I have come to kneel at your feet for you to baptize me with your own hands and for you to receive me into the faith - and you shall find me one of t he truest and best sons of your church.”

The Pope was visibly stirred by this fervent plea, yet he could not overcome his surprise, nor prevent himself from exclaiming: “You? You, Satan? Now you want to embrace the faith?”

“And why not? Did not Christ say, ‘I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance’ ? Did Christ ever draw a distinction between one person and another? Are we not all equal before forgiveness and redemption? Why do you wish to shut the door to redemption in my face? I am forsaking sin. Take me into the faith. Hear the cry of faith that now comes from my heart.”

The Pope was greatly perplexed. He shuddered at the idea, over¬whelmed by it. He exclaimed, as though speaking to himself, “No. . no .. This I cannot do.”

At that moment the room filled with the strains of Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli, and the Pope's imagination soared with the melody. If Satan should enter the faith, then where will the glory of the Church lie after that? What is to become of the Vatican, its museums and treasures and magnificent religious monuments? Every¬thing stands to lose its meaning and its splendour and be left without purpose for the rest of time. The Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's frescoes... the Temptation of Eve… the Prophets… the Flood… the Last Judgement… And the murals of Raphael in the halls and chambers. . Fiat Lux… the Expulsion from Paradise… the Baptism of Jesus. ...

The fiend is the pivotal point in the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments alike. How could he be eliminated without destroying all the symbolism and legend, even the teachings about good and evil that quicken the hearts of the faithful and stimulate their imagination? “What significance would the Day of Judgement have if the spirit of Evil were wiped out of Man's world? Would the fallen angels who had followed Satan be brought to judgement? Or would their own sins be expunged, since Satan's repentance would have been accepted? Then how would the world fare without evil? The wars that made Christian Europe the mistress of the world? And these spiritual rivalries, the mental and material conflicts which set off the spark of thought and produced the light of knowledge through their friction? No, that would be a very grave matter. The Pope ought not to make a binding decision upon it. To demolish Evil, to raze it off the face of the earth, would cause an explosion so great that the mind could not grasp it.

The Pope raised his head, looked at Satan, irritated and embarrassed.

“Why did you choose to come to me? Why did you choose Christianity and not one of the other religions?”

“It is the Christmas celebrations which have made me reach my decision.”

“Listen.. I do not know by what name I should call you.. Do you see the predicament? Even what name you should have after your conversion causes quite a problem. No: the Church cannot accept your request. If you wish, try one of the other religions.”

And the Pope turned his back upon him.

* * *

Disappointed and humiliated, Satan left the Vatican. But he had not lost hope. There were many gates which led to God. He would try another. And he turned his steps towards the Grand Rabbi.

The religious Head of the Jews received him in the same manner as the Christian Pontiff. He listened patiently to Satan's wish. Then he asked him, “Do you wish to become a Jew?”

“I want to reach God.”

The Grand Rabbi pondered carefully upon what Satan had said. If God were to grant Satan forgiveness and wipe Evil off the face of the earth, what would then distinguish one people from another? The Jews are the chosen people of God. But if this were to come about, there would no longer be any justification for regarding them as a people apart, a people especially favoured. Even the supreme mastery of finance which had been theirs for generations would disappear with the disappearance of Evil out of men's hearts, with the annihilation of greed and avarice, with the total elimination of selfishness. Satan's finding of faith would make the structure of Jewish privilege collapse, and destroy the glory of the sons of Israel.

The Rabbi raised his head, and said in sarcastic tones; "It is not our habit to conduct missionary work. We have never sought to per¬suade any others to embrace our faith… even if he who asks be Satan himself. So, be gone from here, and seek for yourself another religion".

* * *

Satan came away from the Rabbi crestfallen, but he did not despair. There was still one gate left open before him: the religion of Islam. He made straight for the Sheikh of El Azhar.

The Sheikh received him and listened to what the Fiend had to say. When he had understood what he was seeking, he said:

“For Satan to find faith is a good thing, but…”

“But what? Have not people the right to enter God's religion in their masses? Does it not say in His Holy Book ‘And Praise thou the mercy of your Lord and seek His forgiveness, for He is the redeemer’? So - here I am, praising the mercy of God and seeking His forgiveness. Wholeheartedly and in all sincerity, I want to enter His faith, to become a Moslem, a truly good Moslem, and the best example for others who are seeking the Faith.”

The Sheikh of El Azhar considered the consequences. If Satan were to become a Moslem, then how would the Koran be recited? Would people be able any longer to recite: “I seek God's shelter from the cursed devil?” And if this verse should be abrogated then it would follow that the same would have to be done to most other verses of the Koran… Comminations of the devil, and cautions against his evil and his temptations occupy a great part of the Book of God. How could he, the Sheikh of El Azhar, accept Satan's conversion without weakening the entire structure of Moslem faith?

And the Sheikh of El Azhar raised his head, looked at Satan and said:

“You have come to me about a matter over which I have no power… this is a matter too great for my capacity and far beyond my authority. What you seek is not in my hands. You have not turned to the right quarters by coming to me with such a request.”

"Who should I turn to then? Are you not the head of all religious teachers? ...”

Excerpt from: The Martyr by Tawfiq el Hakim. Arabic Short Stories, 1945-1965. Edited by Mahmoud Manzalaoui. The American University in Cairo Press, 1985. pp 36-42.