Tales from Arabian and Persian Deserts

In the Desert of Emptiness, or also famously known as Empty Quarters (Arrob’o in Arabic), located in the Arabian Gulf countries, there lived one poor man. The poor man’s name was Fairuz bin Haddad. He lived with his mother, wife, and son, who was known as Saqr (the meaning of this name in Arabic is a “falcon”). Saqr had reached adolescence; he was already a young adult. His body was big and well built, and he was very handsome. Even at this age, he was taller than his father. He had the opportunity to study both religious and earthly education. In spite of the hard life they led, his father made sure that Saqr would get all the education he needed. So he worked hard day and night to provide for his family and pay for his son’s education. So every morning, Saqr would go to the Quran class before going to his other school, where he learned language and other subjects on human issues and how best to be a better person.