Ahura and Iblis
I beleive this is the first short story I have ever written that has an ending....most of this has been in my head for years. It's an old story, but sometimes, the best stories are old ones told in a new light.
In the beginning, there were the heavens, then the earths; the skies then the seas, and finally, land and all it’s creatures above and below. The creators of this land saw it was good, and rested…content with their new work…. until the dust settled and they could employ further refinement.
One of the creator’s, Ahura, the god of art, saw man in his image and sought to teach them the ways of the gods, although they were inferior and uncomprehending, but yet also possessed the ability to create. Ahura was beloved his siblings, especially so of Iblis, the god of truth. Ahura spoke to Iblis, “See, here is Mankind whom I have chosen to love and teach, to bow before them is to show your love for me.”
“I will not,” stated Iblis “For they are inferior and uncomprehending of your majesty, beloved; they will cause you nothing but pain…I show my love for you by Not bowing before the means to your downfall.”
And so humanity grew and blanketed the earth in ignorance, and Ahura grew ever weaker as mankind grew to use and misunderstand his power. Ahura called to Iblis, “ I love them, but they do not understand, and their lack of understanding is rending me in two…they see me as their only god, and I fear without your help with them, I may have to manifest in their form to show otherwise.”
Said Iblis, “They can never understand beloved, I will give you all that I am and all that I have, but I will not serve them. For mankind not to understand that All is God is not your failing, it is their inferiority which will not allow them to see. Let them go, and allow them to develop their own way”
Ahura did not heed his advice, and sent part of himself down to humanity to live among them for a time, and they still did not understand…. in the pain of their rejection of him, knowing his time was not long, He when into the desert and became lost.
There he met the spirit of Iblis, whom he did not recognize.
“Why do you not save yourself?” asked Iblis as he reached for a small stone. “You cannot live in this form with no sustenance… All matter is equal, change this stone into bread and feed yourself.”
“I will not,” Said Ahura indignantly “Man cannot live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”
“But thou art God, as am I, and all around us.”
Iblis then took Ahura to the top of the temple in the holy city
Iblis Spoke: “You are not man, for you may throw yourself down from this tower that was created in your name, and not be harmed; If not for your own power, then for the truth I will not allow you to strike your foot against the stone in my love for you. Then they may see what you may teach them, and not come to harm.”
“Do not test me,” said Ahura “For I must do as it is written, and what I have promised is my death to show its illusion”
Iblis then took Ahura to the highest mountain and showed him the unspoilt beauty of the earth. “All things are Illusion, This kingdom was created beautiful without the hand of man, and all of this is already yours should you only remember that it is…should you tire of it, we may create it anew. Why do you continue to serve those to whom you mean nothing by the very nature of their imperfect understanding? They cannot comprehend you, and so, they cannot love you.”
Ahura spoke, “ They shall do so for it is written that they are to Love their lord and serve Him as he does them, I will create greater kingdoms for those who love me.”
“Their human words mean nothing to them, and they will never love you as you do them. I know you and have always loved you, and I will not allow you to suffer. To see the pain they are to cause you in the times to come is unbearable to me. You already own all there is, and if you did not, I would give it to you in my love for you. You receive nothing from their attentions that will aid you.”
Ahura spoke angrily, “Deceiver! They do not know what they do, and you cannot tell me to choose between your love and theirs, although they love imperfectly, I should do them harm to leave them. Be gone, and never return to my sight! “
“I have come a great distance to aid you, and find nothing but scorn…I loathe myself for giving my love to a fool, but I do not know how to change my depth of love towards you.”
Iblis left, wounded deeply by Ahura’s words, but in his love, sent the spirits of earth to tend and care for him as his last act until Ahura found his way back to the city. There, mankind found him flawed and murdered him. Ahura died, painfully, then returned, to have his name used in vain for many centuries until his message was lost in its entirety. Consequently, Truth became reviled. By Ahura’s example, all forms of self-denial and repression were then seen as Godly. The world was plunged into ages of bitterness and oppression. Sadly, his name was then uttered only to cover only the most heinous of atrocities under the guise of “pleasing God”
Ahura, pained by this, could only cope by forgetting his godliness increasingly with the passing of time, becoming ever more like the beings he originally tried to aspire towards Godhood.
Not being able to deny his love for Ahura, Iblis carved himself deep into a pit of despair, knowing that he could not stop his love for him, and by his disgust of still feeling deeply despite what Ahura had become…and he lives there still. His light dimmed by his sorrow, and in time; he too became more like Mankind.
To this day, the only truths that survives is the tale that Ahura told at the holy city of how an enemy spirit told him to leave mankind, and how he refused…Iblis was named the deceiver and blamed for all human treachery, regardless the fact that his only contribution to humanity is the depths he has carved with his own sorrow at losing Ahura.
The only other words to survive were simply, “Love thine enemies as thou loves thyself.”
Writing really is like bleeding onto paper until dry...
In the beginning, there were the heavens, then the earths; the skies then the seas, and finally, land and all it’s creatures above and below. The creators of this land saw it was good, and rested…content with their new work…. until the dust settled and they could employ further refinement.
One of the creator’s, Ahura, the god of art, saw man in his image and sought to teach them the ways of the gods, although they were inferior and uncomprehending, but yet also possessed the ability to create. Ahura was beloved his siblings, especially so of Iblis, the god of truth. Ahura spoke to Iblis, “See, here is Mankind whom I have chosen to love and teach, to bow before them is to show your love for me.”
“I will not,” stated Iblis “For they are inferior and uncomprehending of your majesty, beloved; they will cause you nothing but pain…I show my love for you by Not bowing before the means to your downfall.”
And so humanity grew and blanketed the earth in ignorance, and Ahura grew ever weaker as mankind grew to use and misunderstand his power. Ahura called to Iblis, “ I love them, but they do not understand, and their lack of understanding is rending me in two…they see me as their only god, and I fear without your help with them, I may have to manifest in their form to show otherwise.”
Said Iblis, “They can never understand beloved, I will give you all that I am and all that I have, but I will not serve them. For mankind not to understand that All is God is not your failing, it is their inferiority which will not allow them to see. Let them go, and allow them to develop their own way”
Ahura did not heed his advice, and sent part of himself down to humanity to live among them for a time, and they still did not understand…. in the pain of their rejection of him, knowing his time was not long, He when into the desert and became lost.
There he met the spirit of Iblis, whom he did not recognize.
“Why do you not save yourself?” asked Iblis as he reached for a small stone. “You cannot live in this form with no sustenance… All matter is equal, change this stone into bread and feed yourself.”
“I will not,” Said Ahura indignantly “Man cannot live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”
“But thou art God, as am I, and all around us.”
Iblis then took Ahura to the top of the temple in the holy city
Iblis Spoke: “You are not man, for you may throw yourself down from this tower that was created in your name, and not be harmed; If not for your own power, then for the truth I will not allow you to strike your foot against the stone in my love for you. Then they may see what you may teach them, and not come to harm.”
“Do not test me,” said Ahura “For I must do as it is written, and what I have promised is my death to show its illusion”
Iblis then took Ahura to the highest mountain and showed him the unspoilt beauty of the earth. “All things are Illusion, This kingdom was created beautiful without the hand of man, and all of this is already yours should you only remember that it is…should you tire of it, we may create it anew. Why do you continue to serve those to whom you mean nothing by the very nature of their imperfect understanding? They cannot comprehend you, and so, they cannot love you.”
Ahura spoke, “ They shall do so for it is written that they are to Love their lord and serve Him as he does them, I will create greater kingdoms for those who love me.”
“Their human words mean nothing to them, and they will never love you as you do them. I know you and have always loved you, and I will not allow you to suffer. To see the pain they are to cause you in the times to come is unbearable to me. You already own all there is, and if you did not, I would give it to you in my love for you. You receive nothing from their attentions that will aid you.”
Ahura spoke angrily, “Deceiver! They do not know what they do, and you cannot tell me to choose between your love and theirs, although they love imperfectly, I should do them harm to leave them. Be gone, and never return to my sight! “
“I have come a great distance to aid you, and find nothing but scorn…I loathe myself for giving my love to a fool, but I do not know how to change my depth of love towards you.”
Iblis left, wounded deeply by Ahura’s words, but in his love, sent the spirits of earth to tend and care for him as his last act until Ahura found his way back to the city. There, mankind found him flawed and murdered him. Ahura died, painfully, then returned, to have his name used in vain for many centuries until his message was lost in its entirety. Consequently, Truth became reviled. By Ahura’s example, all forms of self-denial and repression were then seen as Godly. The world was plunged into ages of bitterness and oppression. Sadly, his name was then uttered only to cover only the most heinous of atrocities under the guise of “pleasing God”
Ahura, pained by this, could only cope by forgetting his godliness increasingly with the passing of time, becoming ever more like the beings he originally tried to aspire towards Godhood.
Not being able to deny his love for Ahura, Iblis carved himself deep into a pit of despair, knowing that he could not stop his love for him, and by his disgust of still feeling deeply despite what Ahura had become…and he lives there still. His light dimmed by his sorrow, and in time; he too became more like Mankind.
To this day, the only truths that survives is the tale that Ahura told at the holy city of how an enemy spirit told him to leave mankind, and how he refused…Iblis was named the deceiver and blamed for all human treachery, regardless the fact that his only contribution to humanity is the depths he has carved with his own sorrow at losing Ahura.
The only other words to survive were simply, “Love thine enemies as thou loves thyself.”
Writing really is like bleeding onto paper until dry...