The gods do not smile upon those who neglect the ancients, by: Muhammad Al-Sahil

What is the action to achieve the stubborn ancestors' smile? Some say it is to listen carefully to the future in their call. Others say it is to detach ourselves from them so that our connection is with equals, not shadows. A third suggests encouraging them to engage in the joyful celebration of knowledge, in the dance of thought. The gods do not smile upon those who neglect the ancients: the gods show annoyance at those who ignore the old, reveal their anger at their suspicious retreat into themselves, and express disapproval of those who are not troubled by "the decline of fathers and grandfathers." In this bleak scene, the gods relinquish their condition: "You must not turn away," and instead impose a new condition: "And to pass through a world filled with calls that deafening your ears, turn toward the whisper sent by the ancestors so that you deserve their companionship." Every reader of ancient culture today stands against forgetfulness at the graves of the dead to place a wreath of roses and then depart with humility and shame. Every interpretive effort to awaken the dead (and make their echoes extend against mortality) becomes a magical ritual that makes them somehow contemporaries of ours. Hamadi Taqwa Number of pages: 184