The Story of the Clay Heart
When the following night arrived and Shahrazad was in bed with King Shahrayar, her sister Dinarzad said, "Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us a little tale." Shahrazad replied, "With the greatest pleasure":
It is said, O wise and happy King, that once there was a talented girl named Fatima who was blessed by Allah the Magnificent. She was unsurpassed in the holy art of golem-making, and by her fourteenth year she was renowned and praised from Baghdad to faraway Andalusia. Travelers from across the seas and mountains came to Fatima to have her fashion a golem servant for them; her golems became builders, soldiers, guards, and servants. Soon, it seemed as if there was a golem for every person, and the people prospered.
Alas, the world is too cruel, and this happiness was not to last. There had always been resentment among the people that a woman would be so blessed by Allah's great will; the ability to create life was surely one that Allah treasured and did not share carelessly. How could a woman, and one so young, possess such a holy skill? But even the wildest and most furious of them held their tongues, for she provided a great service to the kingdoms by making such useful servants.
As time went on, others learned the golem-maker craft. More and more rabbis and priests of the most holy lifestyles had finally granted God's grace, but their creations were inferior in every way to Fatima's; they were slower, stupider, and less resilient. The lesser quality mattered little to the people; they came to the conclusion that Allah the Almighty had finally decided to share His gift with others more worthy than lowly Fatima. Fatima was cursed and laughed at. Betrayed by the people who had praised her so strongly, she left her home and traveled to the mountains to the East. Those who dared to search for her, perhaps to acquire superior golems, were halted by Fatima's golem sentries and sometimes killed. All in all, no one disturbed Fatima's self-isolation for twenty-five years.
As Fatima was reaching her forty-third year, a man was traveling towards her home in the mountains. He walked for many miles, never stopping for rest nor food. When he came to the foot of her mountain, he was stopped by her golem sentries, but they could not stop this man. The man searched the mountain for Fatima's home and finally found it in a hidden cave. Fatima had dug out a section of the mountain the size of a king's palace.
She was startled by the sudden appearance of a another human after living so long without them. "Who are you stranger? How could a human get past my sentries and guards?" she said. "I am not a human," he replied. "I am a golem far superior to your own. My name is Raja." "So golem-craft has come this far has it? To make such a human-like golem with the power of speech and the ability to conquer the defenses of my mountain; I could never accomplish such a feat nor would I want to. To delve in such magic is dangerous and foolhardy, but I digress. So what is your purpose, golem? Why have you made such an effort to find me? Perhaps those fools down there have ordered you to end my life," Fatima spat. Raja shook his head. "I have not come to end your life, blessed Fatima. I require your help," he said. "Then I have no time for you. Now leave." With that, Fatima turned her back to Raja and ventured deeper into her home.
Raja ignored her order and followed, albeit warily. He had a mission to fulfill, as did all golems, but he could not fathom how he was supposed to succeed in his task. As Raja crossed the threshold and passed through two more rooms, he came upon a strange sight. Before Raja there stood a two-foot tall golem. It was so ugly, though; by all accounts, it was more like a mound of mud with stumps for arms and legs. If you tried hard enough, you could make out small dots that should have been its eyes. It did not even have a mouth, although that should have been expected. "You must be my ancestor. What a stupid, pitiful beast," he said. "Don't talk to Iman like that, although you are right about him being stupid." Raja turned his head and saw Fatima leaning against the doorway with her arms folded against her chest. She left her position and kneeled down to height of the smaller golem. "Iman, go and play somewhere else." Iman looked at Fatima with a face lacking in any emotion or humanity. After a moment, as if contemplating her words, Iman ran off to an unknown section of the house. After watching Iman run off, Fatima stood up and turned to Raja. "I will repeat what I said earlier. I will not help you, so don't bother bewitching me with pretty words. I have abandoned the human world, just as it has abandoned me. Since I know my golems cannot stop you, you are free to do as you wish. You will soon find that I won't bend to your will, nor the will of men." Once more Fatima stalked off, leaving Raja to himself.
For many weeks and months Raja stayed in Fatima's home and observed her life. Fatima mostly experimented with golem-making techniques and theory. Raja could plainly see how she gained so much fame in her youth. She made new sentry golems to replace the ones he had destroyed as easily as if she were breathing. Truly, she was blessed by God. Occasionally, he would see the midget golem, Iman. The creature would typically walk around without purpose, as if it were a newborn child. 'Why would Fatima tolerate the presence of such a lowly golem in her home?' he thought. 'I have seen her skill at making high grade golems, although none possess the sentience that I am blessed with.' Raja observed the way Fatima interacted with Iman, and got the impression of a mother and her child. Fatima would chastise Iman whenever he made some error, such as his incapability of making any food except kabob; the dumb creature could not even brew a simple pot of coffee. 'I feel sorry for Fatima', he thought and Raja took it upon himself to help around her home. He also observed the way that Fatima cared for Iman. It only took a couple of months for the life-giving spell to wear out for Iman, and Fatima had to restore it every time. 'It was unusual,' Raja thought, 'that she would put so much effort into preserving such a useless thing. If she wanted to have some sort of pet golem, she could have easily made a new, more efficient model.' At least Raja knew why Iman looked so terrible and worn-out now; the life-giving spell didn't protect the golem from wear-and-tear and such a prolonged use of it on such mediocre materials made the golem's body unstable and crude.
After nearly a year in her home, Raja felt it was time to ask Fatima his question once more. "O Fatima, I feel that it is time I speak to you about my mission." "Go on then, but do not expect a response." He acknowledged her reply and said, "If you remember, I told you that I needed your help. I believe it would be helpful to clarify the situation. Since you left civilization so many years ago, golem-craft has come very far in both innovation and abundance. It seemed as if golem-making was as common a skill as blacksmithing. The people were so very proud of ourselves that they believed they were under Allah's complete blessing and protection. The rabbis and priests decided to delve into higher magic: giving true life to their golems. I am one such golem, granted the power of speech and thought. But, the holy ones soon realized that this was not magic humans should play with. Golems with sentience began to break off from their masters, and they learned the magic to sustain themselves. Now we have golems living like rogues in the deserts and hills. No, they have become like demons, killing and destroying without rhyme or reason. The kings do not know what to do. Our very best warriors and golems cannot match them; these bastardizations of life have moved beyond what we can match. After observing you for nearly a year I can confirm that you would be able to help us greatly. The discoveries you have made simply by studying myself will already be of great use to the fight. I ask that you come with me and help rid us of these demons." Fatima was stunned. For a long time she simply stared at the far wall. And finally she answered, "No. I will not help you."
"Why do you refuse to help?" Raja asked. "Why should I help those fools? What a perfect mess they have made for themselves. They coveted the golem-making skill that I was so good at. They wanted to be closer to God and in their foolishness they tried to give their golems souls. They are reaping what they have sown. Why should I save them? I am happy with my life here in this mountain. I do not have to suffer the hypocrisies of men here. For one moment, I am God's favorite child, the Blessed, the revered asset to society. The next moment, I am the upstart witch who dared to dream of being close to God. Hah! As soon as I help the people they will cast me off and curse me. Why would I help them? What a funny story you have told me, Raja. I will cherish it for years to come."
"You speak as if you are so different from those you call fools, Fatima. You say that they dared to create imitations of life, to go so far as granting souls to golems, while you do the same." "What nonsense do you speak?" she asked. "In this past year I now understand you and your motives. You abandoned humanity to live among imitations of it. Even now, you long for human companionship without the fear of being rejected. Simply look at Iman if need proof. Why else would you keep such a ragtag golem? Why else would you care so tenderly for it? You long for a child of your own. You long for something human, and you create golems to fill that void. But, you should know in your heart that you cannot do so. Look at what happened to those other golems who were given souls. They rampaged and caused chaos. Even I cannot be a substitute for humanity; I lack free will. Even now, I cannot do anything that would go against the orders given to me by my master. Such is the life of a golem, no matter how well made."
Fatima looked to floor and began to weep into her hands. As she wept, Iman entered the room and walked to her. The simple beast could not understand Fatima's sadness and only stared; it probably wanted to play or have some attention. Fatima looked up from her crying and when she saw Iman, she embraced him. "O Iman. You were my very first creation. Back then you were my only friend, my only companion. You alone comforted me when the others teased me and my parents ignored me. When I left and grew older, you were my only child, the only thing I ever loved. But I can see now, that such a love was misguided. Your comfort was fake and cold. You could never understand the pain or sorrow of loss and humiliation. But I accepted it anyway, because I had no other comfort. O Iman, how could I have fallen so far? Even now I look to you for guidance when I know you cannot even speak." Fatima continued her weeping and Raja left her to grieve the years she wasted in that mountain. He left without trying to soothe her pain for he knew that as a golem, he could not understand her pain anymore than Iman could.
After a time, Fatima rose from her sorrow and made her decision. "I cannot run anymore," she said. She destroyed Iman, finally leaving him to rest, and left the mountain with Raja to aid her people in their plight. Many years passed and humanity succeeded against their wayward creations. On the final night of celebration, Fatima had this to say to the crowd:
I am Fatima, the one you betrayed, but it has taken me a long time to realize that I was a traitor, too. By running, by hiding I was betraying my people, my heritage, and my God the Almighty. Praise Allah that I finally saw the truth. This world is bigger than me, than you, than all of us. It was under Allah's grace that we were granted life; it should his alone to give. We were so caught up in our own greed and selfishness that we could not see the lesson Allah was trying to teach us. He did not want to share his gift because He somehow felt that we were more worthy or blessed. He granted us a situation to come together as humans and realize that, as I said before, this world is bigger than all of us. Let us learn from the past, learn from our mistakes, and move towards a better future. Running, hiding, hate, bitterness are all things that aren't worth the time and energy. Let us create our future with eyes unclouded with greed or hate. Friends, let us praise Allah for his Greatness.
But this story is not as strange or as amazing as the story of the merchant…