Nur-jan and Raisham rushed into my room. They seemed embarrassed at my shouting and began fussily to prepare my toilette. I tried to tell them about my dream as they worked.
“Oh, how nice,” giggled Nur-jan as she presented my tray of perfumes.
“Yes, it was a blessed dream,” murmured Raisham as she brushed my hair.
I was surprised that as a Christian, Raisham wouldn’t be more excited. I started to ask her about John the Baptist but checked myself; after all, Raisham was just a simple village woman. But who was this John the Baptist? I had not come across the name in what I had read so far in the Bible.
Torn Between Two Books
For the next three days I continued reading both the Bible and the Koran side by side, turning from one to the other. I found myself picking up the Koran out of a sense of duty, and then eagerly turning to the Christian book, dipping into it here and there to look into this confusing new world I had discovered.
Each time I opened the Bible a sense of guilt filled me. Perhaps this stemmed from my strict upbringing. Even after I had become a young woman, Father would have to approve any book I read.
Once my brother and I smuggled a book into our room. Even though it was completely innocent, we were quite frightened reading it.
Now as I opened the Bible, I found myself reacting in the same manner.
The Woman and Her Accusers
One story riveted my attention. It told of the Jewish leaders bringing a woman caught in adultery to the prophet Jesus. I shivered, knowing what fate lay in store for this woman. The moral codes of the ancient East were not very different from ours in Pakistan. The men of the community are bound by tradition to punish the adulterous woman.
As I read of the woman in the Bible standing before her accusers, I knew that her own brothers, uncles, and cousins stood in the forefront, ready to stone her.
Then the Prophet said: “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7).
I reeled as in my mind’s eye I watched the men slink away. Instead of supervising her lawful death, Jesus had forced her accusers to recognize their own guilt.
The book fell into my lap as I lay there deep in thought. There was something so logical, so right about this prophet’s challenge. The man spoke truth.
The Perfume Dream
Then three days later I had a second strange dream: I was in the bedchamber when a maid announced that a perfume salesman was waiting to see me. I arose from my divan elated, for at this time there was a shortage of imported perfumes in Pakistan. I greatly feared running low on my favorite luxury. And so in my dream I happily asked my maid to show the perfume salesman in.
He was dressed in the manner of perfume salesmen in my mother’s day, when these merchants travelled from house to house selling their wares. He wore a black frock coat and carried his stock in a valise.
Opening the valise, he took out a golden jar. Removing the cap, he handed it to me. As I looked at it I caught my breath; the perfume glimmered like liquid crystal. I was about to touch my finger to it when he held up his hand.
“No,” he said.
Taking the golden jar, he walked over and placed it on my bedside table.
“This will spread throughout the world,” he said.
Awakening and Wonder
As I awakened in the morning, the dream was still vivid in my mind. The sun was streaming through the window, and I could still smell that beautiful perfume; its delightful fragrance filled the room.
I raised up and looked at my bedside table, half expecting to see the golden jar there. Instead, where the jar had been, now rested the Bible!
A tingle passed through me. I sat on the edge of the bed pondering my two dreams. What did they mean? Where I had not dreamed in years, now I had two vivid dreams in a row. Were they related to each other? And were they related to my recent brush with the realities of the supernatural world?
To be continued…
Miraculous Monday: 17th July 2023
Miraculous Monday 048
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