CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE THE SON

Section Five Brothers

Brothers do not fight. They are not envious. They are kind to one another, cooperative and magnanimous. The older brother does not count the good he does for his younger brother. The younger brother does not hold his help over his older brother. Brothers never leave one another out: they get together to prepare gifts for their parents; they get together to buy one another cars and houses; they compete in doing good to one another. If everyone follows this rule equally, everyone is content and happy. If one side follows it and the other side acts irresponsibly, things fall apart. Brothers always stand together, forgive one another's mistakes and bear one another's temperaments; when the older brother rides in a carriage, the younger brother is not left on the ground; when the younger brother speeds along in a vehicle, the older brother is not on foot. Out of deference to his older brother, the younger brother cannot even ride in a vehicle, thinking, “How could I before my older brother?” He says, “First my older brother, then me.” The older brother, too, offers the best things he has to his younger brother. Women may sow hostility between brothers; for this reason brothers do not backbite their kin to their wives, and honey drips from their mouths when they say “my older brother” or “my younger brother.” They impress upon their children, “Your uncle is a father in my place.” Brothers can arrive from any corner of the earth to help one another. Brothers feel happy in their mutual unity. Brothers offer their very first kindness to one another. So as not to upset their parents, brothers cover up one another's faults and show their parents only goodness and beauty. If one among the brothers goes astray, they can bring him back to the right path with affection and compassion, with upbringing and admonition. Brothers create conditions for their children to be close and friendly, and often visit one another's homes. They organize communal work days (hashar). Not even a hair can pass between brothers. The unity of brothers conquers worlds; their enmity sets the world on fire. Brothers never give up on one another — what blood relative in the world is closer than a brother?! The younger brother obeys his older brother's admonitions and guidance; for the younger brother, the older brother's command is in place of a father's command. The younger brother is ashamed to leave his older brother's word unheeded. The older brother is always the head over his younger brother and never abandons him to his fate. The older brother is both mentor to and, in other necessary respects, caretaker of and responsible for the younger brother's family, and the younger brother likewise for the older brother's family.

Akrom MALIK