Our interview with the pig was one of
the most tough and difficult interviews especially for me. After all, you can imagine what it is like to
make an interview with a creature that is considered to be one of the filthiest
and disgusting creatures. To see it,
simply to see it, creates a feeling of disgust in any respected human
being. But of course, it does not
disgust those who are like it in both nature and behavior.
I stood at the
door of the barn…and I hesitated for a period of time…shall I enter or
not?! Foul smell and terrifying odors
caught my nose. I wondered how such
terrible smell can come from a living being?!
It was inevitable but to enter as we have to penetrate and discover this
world of pigs to know more about it, and reveal some of its attributes,
characteristics, and conditions. I
opened the door gently and carefully.
And I took my first steps inside the barn. As soon as I saw the scene, I was about to
turn back and leave immediately. But my
firm desire to complete the interview that I have decided to pursue, regardless
of the hardships and suffering I face, forced me to continue.
In brief, the
scene was full of dirt, filth was all around, and piles of garbage and crumbs
here and there …A countless number of pigs were examining and searching in
these piles…they eat, drink, and breathe these disposals. They roll inside and over it as they wash
themselves with it. They feel nothing
around them. All their concern and
interest are in these piles of garbage.
Even the pigs themselves, their shapes and features became almost as if
they is part of this garbage itself. No,
rather, it is even much worse than the garbage!
Flies are everywhere and cover everything to the extent that everything
looks black! The smell, boy the smell! It is worse than opening a grave!
A group of
pigs came quickly towards me…making sounds which hurt the ears, as their
appearance hurt the eyes. They were
shaking their lumps of fat while pushing each other in an ugly manner. There was an idiotic and careless look in
their eyes. They thought that I had
brought them more garbage and crumbs.
They didn't care if I was an enemy, stranger or trustee. The important only thing to them is…”Do you
have crumbs?” When they saw that I have
nothing, they left not caring for anything, except one of them who kept on
circling here and there as if he was looking for something. It placed its hideous nose on earth, smelled,
sniffed, and raised its nose again. It
kept on doing that and I said to myself, I will not loose this chance. So, I closed my nose…and I tried to not focus
my eye. My feet took me towards it …and I
started the dialogue with the pig.
Author: Do you allow me to interview
you, Oh Pig?
The Pig: (while searching on the earth
and sniffing carelessly) Interview… what is an interview? Do you have crumbs? Do you have garbage?
Author: An interview…is words that you
and I exchange with each other. It
carries thoughts…and describes conditions with statements. It reveals the hidden and is understood by
every mind.
The Pig: (was still in the searching conditions) Thoughts! Words!
Where are the crumbs?!
Conditions! Statements!
Mind! Where is the garbage?!
Author: (I was starting to
loose my patience) The crumbs and garbage are around you everywhere, so
what do you want?
The Pig: More and more…much more and much
more…more crumbs…and more filthy garbage!
Author: Isn't all this garbage, dirt,
and waste disposals, piles and piles around you enough for you?
The Pig: No…it is not enough…isn't life
anything but trash?! Isn’t this life
anything but crumbs?! Isn’t its
pleasures and beauty nothing more and more crumbs?!
Author: Is this your vision towards
life, its world, and beauty?
The Pig: It is not my vision alone
sir. But it is also the vision of man.
Author: Man!! Which man are you talking about?
The Pig: Any man and every man. This life is his barn…and its pleasure is his
garbage.
Author: How is that? Can you clarify
that to me?
The Pig: Man spends his lifetime running
after the ornaments of this life. And
what is the end of the ornaments of this life?
It ends as garbage and trash. So,
we can say that what man runs after all his life is in reality garbage. And the ornaments of this life, if you
compare it to what Allah (SWT) has in the Hereafter, they are like crumbs. So, the life which man runs after is really
just crumbs. You can understand my words
if you understand mathematics.
Author: Yes, I can understand you
now. But, this is the view of people who
lives a pig-like life like you.
The Pig: They are the majority…most of
the majority…we can almost say everyone except the chosen ones. Usually, you judge by the wide majority, and
not based on the very rare minority.
Author: What are you looking for
now? Tell me, maybe I can help you?
The Pig: I am looking for a piece of
rotten bread…which I have dropped a while ago…I love it and I have a desire and
interest in it.
Author: Why do you exhaust yourself so
much and waste your time, while the garbage in front of you has a lot of
spoiled bread and food?
The Pig: Exhaustion! No, my pleasure is in the process of looking
for every rotten thing. My time is
wasted only if I am not searching for filthiness. Looking for crumbs is the pleasure and not
the crumbs itself. Seeing and owning
more and more is the desire and not an exact crumb.
Author: Are you hungry?
The Pig: You still don’t understand! The matter is not about hunger, but it is the
desire. That's why you find us doing the
same thing all day long.
Author: But we know than any animal does not eat except if it is hungry.
The Pig: Except us, sir. For, we eat out of love of searching in the
waste, and we do not become satiated, out of love for more waste.
Author: Doesn't this foul and disgusting
smell bother you?
The Pig: Where are these foul odors? I do not smell except every good smell. Your nose smells it bad because Allah (SWT)
raised you over me and gave you the truth.
As for me, Allah (SWT) put me down and this is His Wisdom. And he made me blind from seeing the
reality. That's why I see ugliness as
beauty, and I smell the bad as perfume.
Allah (SWT) made me as an example for you.
Author: But why do you eat anything and
everything? And there is no other animal
that does that but you?!
The Pig: Because all what I'm concerned
of is the meaning of the crumb.
Any crumb! Crumbs of food or
paper! Crumbs of bread or wood! Crumbs of meat or ashes! The most important thing is that it is a
crumb! And a crumb is what is leftover
from a thing…anything…that has been left and abandoned…so it is valueless and
that is why it has been abandoned. I
live on everything that has no value, and is rejected and abandoned regardless
of its nature or name.
Author: But why do you prefer dirtiness
from all things, and why do you choose the worst from the crumbs?
The Pig: Because Allah (SWT) has put me
down. So everything changed upside down
to me. What you see as most ugly I see
as most beautiful. And what you see as
most clean, I see as most dirty. And
what you see as big, I see as little.
Author: But don’t you think about
sicknesses, diseases, lowliness, and look of contempt which your gathering of
crumbs and eating of filth will bring to you?
The Pig: Think? (he laughs carelessly
and shakes his body fat) I never
think, sir! For my mind has become
influenced by my food. So it also became
crumbs and filth. And my brain became
trash and garbage. So I forgot about
thoughts, thinking, and contemplation. All my life is Dirtiness x Waste x Trash
x Garbage x Crumbs.
Author: Do you know why people raise you
and supply you with food from all this garbage and gather it for you?
The Pig: Yes, I know. They love to eat our meat and they benefit
from our skin, fats, and bones…even from our body organs and blood.
Author: So you do know! How do you feel about that? And how do you enjoy your life when you know
your fate very well?. And you know the
purpose of those who throw these crumbs to you and what they want to do with
you. And what they hide behind all these
crumbs.
The Pig: Feelings (laughs with an ugly
voice)! Sir, I have no feeling or
sensations, and this is the case with those whom Allah (SWT) puts down. Everything I have is appetite for crumbs and
searching for crumbs and running after them, and running after every filth, garbage,
and dirt. That is all what concerns
me. As for what will happen tomorrow, I
don't care. What they plan for me is not
important. Who is the enemy and who is
the friend…I don't care. Why they feed
me… is not important. To look at what is
clear and obvious … is not important.
The only important thing…is crumbs…crumbs…and more crumbs!
Author: Do you also know that they
choose you specifically because your food is cheap since it is just
garbage? And your raising is simple,
because it is simple more of filth. That is why your trade is very profitable.
The Pig: I know…and I don’t care.
Author: And do you know that they really
despise you in the bottom of their hearts, and they hate you and are disgusted
from you?
The Pig: I know…and I don’t care (still
keeps on searching among the garbage).
Author: Do you know that you have become
from the most despised creatures to man?
The Pig: I know, and I don’t care. But, I wonder and am full of wonder!
Author: And why all that wonder?
The Pig: Because man… especially man…many
and many, rather millions of them live a type of life that resembles my life,
with the same style, characteristics, and behavior. Despite that, they elevate themselves over
me. And they claim to be disgusted from
me and from my appearance and from my way of life. While their lives is not much different from
mine. Rather, in the end, I am better
than them, and I am the one who should be disgusted from them and mock them.
Author: Why you consider yourself better
than them?
The Pig: Because Allah (SWT) has put me
down, but He (SWT) raised them. Allah
(SWT) created me this way and I have no choice.
As for them, Allah (SWT) has honored and elevated them. He (SWT) sent prophets, messengers, saints,
and guardians to guide them to the light, and to show them the reality of life
and how to exit safely from it. Then He
(SWT) gave them the freedom of choice.
So they chose to live by their own free will a pig-like life. They accept be like me, without any force or
pressure. So which of us is better now?
Author: But how do they live like your
life? I don't understand. Can you clarify that more?
The Pig: (still searching in the dirt with his nose) If you thought a little bit, and understood
the meaning of things, and didn't focus your thinking in names only, you will
come to understand a lot of things. For
example, if you explain your view and understanding of the word
"crumbs", you will find that it refers to every valueless thing. What I run after, seek, and love all the time
is crumbs to you, but not to me.
Similarly, what you run after is also crumbs with respect to your Lord
and what awaits you from resurrection and accountability, Siraat (bridge of
hell), reckoning, and punishment, and judgment from Allah (SWT). So it is either reward or punishment; either
gardens, rivers, and best of food and drink, or Hellfire. So, isn’t what you consume your lives in
compared to that nothing but crumbs?
Money and children, power and knowledge, celebrity and luxury compared
to what Allah (SWT) has are nothing but crumbs.
According to that meaning, you humans are doing exactly like me,
spending your lifetime running after and seeking the crumbs. What you hoard is not worth to Allah (SWT)
anything but crumbs. What you enjoy is
not worth anything to Allah (SWT) but garbage.
What you fight for is not worth anything to Allah (SWT) but waste. What you love and desire is filth in Allah’s
eyes. What you see valuable is trash,
and what you run after is waste. Your
lives and what you occupy yourselves with is dirt, waste, trash, garbage, and
crumbs. But you don't feel the reality
of your life just like I don't feel the reality of my life. Both of us run and seek after the same thing,
although the name is different, except for a big difference. And that is, Allah (SWT) put me down, but He
(SWT) did not put you down. He (SWT)
didn't give me the choice, but He (SWT) gave you the freedom of choice. He (SWT) will not set me alive, but He (SWT)
will resurrect you. He (SWT) will not
reckon me, but He (SWT) will hold you accountable. So I am more happy and lucky than you and in
very good shape compared to you.
Author: Is that why I see you happy,
joyful, and careless?
The Pig: Yes, of course! Both you and I…each of us live a pig-like
life that is very much similar. But, we
are happy while you are miserable. We
did not choose our lifestyle, rather, Allah (SWT) chose it for us for a
specific wisdom, and to make us an example and lesson for others. So we are happy with Allah’s choice. But you are miserable, even if you faked
happiness because you have disobeyed your Lord and rejected His honor to
you. You refused the human honorable
life which He (SWT) approved for you.
Instead, you preferred the pig-like life with all the negatives you see
in our lives. How miserable you
are! And how weak your minds are! And how poor your choice was!
Author: I’m starting to understand what
you want to say, but I am not able to gather all of that in my mind.
The Pig: Sir, money to you is like this
pile of garbage and its crumbs to me.
Cars to you is like this piece of rotten fruit to me. Positions and power to you is like this trash
bag and its crumbs to me. Scientific
academic degrees and certificates to you are like this pile of filth and its
crumbs to me. Houses and palaces to you
are like these masses of wasted and its crumbs to me. The life of this world and its luxuries to
you is like this barn and all its content and its crumbs to me.
Author: But tell me, how do you accept
that crumbs and garbage be thrown to you, and you pay the price of that from
your life, your fats, your meat, your blood, and your organs? It is a non-profitable deal and an unfair and
loosing trade.
The Pig: Sir, I am not the only one who
does that. If you look carefully and
think about it, you’ll find that you humans resemble me in this also.
Author: How is that? Tell me, I beg by your crumbs and garbage?
The Pig: Don’t you have rulers who throw
crumbs to their people and take in return their loyalty, lives, and resources
and suck their blood? While at the same
time they step on their dignity, violate their honor, and kill their
children. Yet the people accept that and
don't feel that it is a loosing trade and unfair deal! Isn’t this exactly what's happening with
me? Don’t you have superpower? And great nations which throw to your
countries and your nations crumbs and garbage?
And export to you all trash, waste, and filthiness? They take in return your resources, to gain
your support, and control your political decisions and power. While they suck your blood, corrupt your
children, and violate your honor. Your
nation and population accept and agree, and don't even feel or realize that
unfair and unprofitable trade? Isn’t
this exactly what happens with me?! Do
you want more examples?
Author: No, no thank you. You made me see lot things which I never
thought about. Such that I came to hate
this pig lifestyle which we humans live.
But how did we not see all these truth and facts?
The Pig: Because you feed on crumbs, that's
why your minds became like crumbs. It
does not see, think, understand, or know except crumbs.
I noticed in his eyes a look of
victory, as he shook his filthiness proudly while he is still busy looking for
crumbs. Then, I heard the noise of a big
truck stopping outside the door. And I
saw our pig and a lot of other pigs rush towards the doors, bumping into each
other and making their characteristic noise and chanting, “Crumbs…crumbs, more
crumbs, crumbs.. crumbs …give us crumbs, crumbs, and crumbs…how lovely is the
filth! Fotat…fotat…the life of this
world is just a waste, fotat..fotat..we don't need except crumbs, we don't want
except crumbs.. fotat..fotat..fotat..more and more of fotaat!”
The door
opened, and workers entered as they carried bags and loads that are full of benefits, positions, houses, cars, and
money…sorry…I mean, crumbs, garbage, filth, waste, and trash. They threw it and opened it. The pigs rushed towards it. It was a disgusting scene that caused a
feeling of disgust…to see creatures pushing and fighting, looking for filth and
does not see except garbage. It does not
care about anything except more of waste.
The rotten smell is renewed and decayed fumes widespread. At the same time and from another door,
another truck stopped which is specialized in loading animals. Hundreds of pigs are carried in the
truck. These pigs are going to face
their fate. Their meet will be eaten,
their blood will be sucked, their skin will be used, and their fat will be
dissolved. I looked at their faces as
they were driven to their destruction. I
was surprised to see them careless while still chanting, “Fotat, fotat, fotat,
more of fotat!” It looked like they were
not aware of their fate. Or they were
aware, but they didn't care. And all
their concern is the crumbs and filth, and that is their world. I turned my face and I saw their fellow
pigs. They weren't concerned or care
about what was happening to their fellow pigs.
They were just busy rummaging in the piles of garbage and trash, to look
for more crumbs and more rotten trash.
They do not see…they do not think…they do not care…and they do not interpret. Their slogan is “Crumbs to the end” and their
chanting is “More garbage bags!” This is
exactly the life of the pigs in the barn.
I came out of the barn, and I closed the door behind me. I walked out while I was thinking about this
issue. How can a man live and accept
such a pig-like life? The resemblance is
very clear! And the similarity is
obvious! My body shivered, my feet felt
heavy, and I was not able to escape from reality. It is bitter, but it is the reality. It is the reality of human pigs. Its appearance is human, and its clothes are
fashioned. But in reality, they are just
pigs! Here, I wondered, when Allah (SWT)
changed some of the sons of