The Fragrance of Forgiveness: A Short Story.

They traveled with the scorching desert sun overhead, their camels expertly maneuvering through the dunes. Two youths, best friends, on a journey through the Arabian Desert.
And as they traveled, they discussed their plans of starting a small carpet business in Aden. They had pooled in some dinars and had decided to open a small shop in the souq in the bustling Yemeni coastal town. Both Omar and Jafar came from poor families in the village of Al-Misrakh and were eager to earn some money to support their respective families. Omar was an orphan and lived with his uncle Ibn Jacoub and had recently been married. He was keen to start a successful business and ultimately ask his wife Maryam to join him in Aden. Besides, he wanted to thank his uncle for raising him by earning enough money to support him in his old age. Jafar, on the other hand had four young sisters to support and his parents were bed-ridden and unable to work. His father, Khalid had failed in several attempts at starting a business. Jafar knew that the reason for his father's failure was that their village was simply too small, and he saw the markets of Aden as a land of opportunity for any young entrepreneur.

The journey would take twelve hours and the two friends, exhausted by the afternoon heat, stopped to pray and rest under some trees.
Jafar said, "Perhaps you should leave your share of the money with me, Omar, four hundred dinars is a lot of money to keep hanging around your neck. What if someone steals it while you sleep? Give it to me, I will keep it with my money in this leather bag."
"But that bag will also go around your neck, won't it?" Omar replied, bemused.
"Just give me the money. I think we both know how capable you are of losing it."
"What do you mean by that? Are you planing to spend it while I sleep? Or worse, run away with it!"
"Is that what you think I am capable of? Your words are not those of a true friend."
There was a sudden tension between the two, Jafar's hazel eyes were now red with anger.
Omar retorted sarcastically, "I think your actions have proven what a true friend you are," referring to an altercation between the two a few months earlier where Jafar had cheated Omar at the ostrich races.
"Come on now, akhi forget the past, we have a business to look after together."
"What guarantee do I have that you will not cheat me, and that our business will not fail!" said Omar, "like all your father's failed businesses," he added.
Jafar, now greatly insulted by the mention of his father, said, "You really shouldn't have said that akhi." And in a sudden fit of rage, punched Omar hard on his face, "Go to hell!"
Omar fell to the floor with a thud, but said nothing. Slowly, he got up, picked up a stick and wrote in the sand- 'TODAY MY BEST FRIEND PUNCHED ME ON THE FACE.' Then, without a word, Omar began to prepare his camel for the journey ahead. Jafar was as surprised at his own actions as bewildered at his friend's response. Still, he said nothing and mounted his camel and with a click of his tongue, set out to face the Arabian desert.

The whistling of the wind was the only sound they heard for the three hours of travel that followed. Omar was thinking about the days when he and Jafar were inseparable, running around shoulder-to-shoulder playing football and racing camels with the other village boys. Jafar occupied himself with surly thoughts of ways he could make a quick-dinar in Aden, with gambling and hashish on his mind.
As evening fell, an oasis approached and the travellers stopped for rest and the evening prayer. Omar tied his camel and went for a swim in the spring while Jafar sat down to rest, lost in his thoughts. He was absentmindedly watching Omar swim when he realised that his friend was drowning! His right leg had struck against a rock and was bleeding heavily. Jafar leaped into the water before he heard Omar cry out for help. With strong strokes Jafar swam towards Omar, lifted his friend upon his back and swam to safety.

As he placed Omar down in the sand and began to tend to his wound, Omar picked up a rock from beside the spring and slowly etched into it- 'TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE'. Jafar looked into his friend's grateful eyes and asked, "When we argued earlier, akhi you wrote in sand, and now, why do you chose to write on stone?" Omar smiled . To Jafar, all the desert's harshness disappeared. Omar said, "That is because when a friend hurts you, we must write it in sand so that its memory can be blown away by the winds of forgiveness and by Allah, Jafar, I had forgiven you before I mounted my camel. But when a friend helps you, it should be engraved in stone so that its memory may last for as long as you live and Jafar, you know I wil be eternally grateful for your kindness and friendship."
The wound had healed on Omar's leg as on his heart as they set out on the final stretch of their journey to Aden.
Truly, 'Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.'

The Prophet Muhammd (peace be upon him) reported that the devil said to God: "I shall continue to lead Thy servants astray as long as their spirits are in their bodies." And God replied: "(Then) I shall continue to pardon them as long as they ask My forgiveness." -Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 742.