The Book of Khalid · Chapter
X: The Vineyard in the Kaaba explained
The narrator and his companions visit Father Abd'ul-Messiah, a hermit living in a vineyard near Mt.
What happens
The narrator and his companions visit Father Abd'ul-Messiah, a hermit living in a vineyard near Mt. Sanneen. The hermit, despite his ascetic lifestyle, is healthy and content, cultivating his vineyard with scientific care. The chapter contrasts the hermit's simple, productive life with the superstitious practices of the monks who sell masses to grieving women, highlighting the hermit's sincerity amidst institutional corruption.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and Solitude
The hermit's vineyard is a symbol of productive solitude, contrasting with the barren wilderness and the corrupt world.
Critique of Modernity
The chapter critiques the commercialization of religion, as seen in the selling of masses, and contrasts it with the hermit's sincere labor.
Characters to notice
- Father Abd'ul Messiah
The hermit, described as an 'up-to-date hermit' who is healthy, young-looking, and devoted to his vineyard and prayers.
- Khalid
The narrator, who reflects on the hermit's life and contrasts it with the world's corruption.
Key passages
“Let everyone cultivate with pious sincerity some such vineyard as my Hermit’s and the world will not further need reform.”
If everyone tended to their own meaningful work with sincerity, the world would not need reform.
Khalid's reflection on the hermit's life as a model for personal virtue.
“But the flesh is inured to it, as the pile, in the course of time, is broken and softened down.”
The body becomes accustomed to suffering, just as a pile of hair is softened over time.
The hermit explains how he endures the sackcloth.