Aymal, without looking at Yusuf said, ‘Lucifer will inflict an insulting defeat upon the one who has made wrong claims.’ This prophetic statement that Aymal made seemed dangerous to Yusuf. He slowed down the car. The sun had already set. Everything was covered in darkness. Along the road, there seemed to be a field where a few vehicles were parked. There was a restaurant nearby. He turned the car towards the field. He parked the car under a tamarind tree and switched on the lights in the car. Aymal continued what she was saying. ‘In the Middle East a few centuries back, a secret community in Iraq was given a holy treatise, Bil Haya, which means the Book of Life and Existence from Lucifer. This was probably the first treatise ever given to Satan believers by the one they worship. This community, which had many similarities with the Zoroastrian, still exists and believes Satan to be one and divine. They worship him in the form of a copper peacock. It is called Mulik Taus or the prince peacock. This community finds Satan’s decision to not bow down before Adam absolutely appropriate. I …’

She stopped speaking and looked at Yusuf, meeting his eyes. There was belief and confidence in her. Yusuf seemed to be lost in her eyes. There was a deep darkness that surrounded the car. A tube light outside the restaurant attracted a lot of insects that were now flying, crawling and dying around it. On the other hand, the things in the area engulfed by darkness seemed to be at peace. Darkness was the reason of the satisfaction of their being, whereas the light was the reason of the conflicts and disturbances among the self, ego and the soul. On seeing Yusuf peek into her eyes, she lowered her gaze and said, ‘I mean to say that I am a part of that community.’

The tamarind tree was old, and its bark had expanded quite a lot. There were mice holes near the roots. A snake had crept into one of them during noon. Had the car not been parked there, the snake would have already left the hole and climbed up the tree. Hundreds of doves sat on the branches of the tree. These doves were attractive prey for the snake. Since the time the car had stopped there, the smell of Aymal and Yusuf was reaching its sense of smell. When Aymal’s words sent vibrations through the air, the snake flicked out its tongue to feel the vibrations.

Wardatul Sa’adat copied the following paragraph from the book she was reading and when she started writing her thesis, she began with the same paragraph: