Faith's Intent

By Damien Pardow

The central character of Faith’s Intent is Zulaikha, the woman known for imprisoning the biblical Joseph (referred to as Yusuf in this book). Zulaikha’s never ending love for Yusuf is the focus of this story. Obsessively and fanatically, Zulaikha enters in and out of truth during her pursuits of Yusuf. This story is about commitment, trust in one’s self, and overall faith. The path she chose was long and difficult. For her, this path was necessary in order to achieve enlightenment. Suffer and despair is required for some to accomplish this journey.

This book has two parts: a brief version of the story, and a lengthy poetic version. The poetic version is the main body of the book and differs from previous renditions. Narration has been added to give Zulaikha a voice. The Palace of Seven Chambers was created to depict Zulaikha’s perseverance and determination over the many obstacles she faced when lustfully pursuing the pious Yusuf. The seven chambers and dialog between Yusuf and Zulaikha are strictly fictional, and are not included in biblical texts. The development of this rendition is greatly due to R.T.H. Griffith and David Pendlebury interpretations of Jami. Many parts were added to convey depth for some aspects of the story are not part of the original by the above mentioned authors/translators. This book should be deemed as fictional, based on a biblical story. If further research is desired, please refer to the above author's renditions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Damien Pardow
• Release date: Oct 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9780615184692

Damien Pardow

Damien Pardow was born in San Francisco, California, and now resides in Portland, Oregon. He received his B.A. in English from California State University, Hayward, and his M.B.A. from Marylhurst University. He plans to explore the many genres of writing.

Book preview

Introduction

The central character of Faith’s Intent is Zulaikha, the woman known for imprisoning the biblical Joseph (referred to as Yusuf in this book). Though, Yusuf's wondrous life is described in some detail, many periods are purposely omitted. The choices to omit certain periods of Yusuf's life were not meant to lessen his accomplishments, for he is revered as a Prophet – a descendent of Abraham. Partial omission of Yusuf’s life directs attention toward Zulaikha’s account of events.

Zulaikha’s never ending love for Yusuf is the focus of this story. Obsessively and fanatically, Zulaikha enters in and out of truth during her pursuits of Yusuf. This story is about commitment, trust in one’s self, and overall faith. The path she chose was long and difficult. For her, this path was necessary in order to achieve enlightenment. Suffer and despair is required for some to accomplish this journey.

This book has two parts: a brief version of the story, and a lengthy poetic version. The poetic version is the main body of the book and differs from previous renditions. Narration has been added to give depth to the story and give Zulaikha a voice. The Palace of Seven Chambers was created to depict Zulaikha’s perseverance and determination over the many obstacles she faced when lustfully pursuing the pious Yusuf. The seven chambers and dialog between Yusuf and Zulaikha are strictly fictional, and are not included in biblical texts. The development of this rendition is greatly due to R.T.H. Griffith and David Pendlebury interpretations of Jami. Many parts were added to convey depth for some aspects of the story are not part of the original by the above mentioned authors/translators. This book should be deemed as fictional, based on a biblical story. If further research is desired, please refer to the above author's renditions.

The Story

Yusuf was the youngest son of Jacob, the Seer. Jacob realized Yusuf was blessed with the gift of prophecy as were several of his ancestors. Yusuf’s dreams as a youth portrayed him as one that would receive praise from his family and nation. He had eleven half-brothers that were jealous of his gifts, and the attention he received from others, for he was quite beautiful (it is believed he possessed two-thirds of the world's beauty). The brothers devised a plan to do away with Yusuf by casting him into a well. Travelling traders soon discovered Yusuf when they stopped to draw water. As they raised Yusuf out of the well, the brother's had returned to claim Yusuf. They delivered false news of Yusuf's laziness and inability to complete daily tasks. The brother's sold him to the travelers for a tooth’s shell. The traders brought Yusuf to Egypt’s markets where his sale would bring a fortune to Pharaoh. He was sold as a Hebrew slave to Potiphar and Zulaikha.

Zulaikha had reached Egypt through a dream she had of no other than Yusuf himself. When the young princess Zulaikha played in childhood, she imagined herself as a beautiful queen married to a dashing and handsome king. Her example was that of her father who was king of her land and had married a beautiful princess from another land. Her parents loved and cherished her, as she was the most beautiful woman in the known world. Nobleman and princes and kings traveled from other continents willing to grant half their kingdom to ask for her hand in marriage. During that time, Zulaikha pleasured a dream of the beautiful Yusuf holding a crown standing near a beautiful stream - she instantly fell in love. Yusuf was lovelier than all she had ever known. Her dreams of him carried on for several years until he finally spoke to her. In the dream, he told her he could be found in Egypt as the Grand Vizier. At the time, that title belonged to Potiphar, a loyal military servant to Pharaoh. The dream Zulaikha experienced was that of the future, not the present. Unknowingly, she pursued this path with her father’s blessing.

Zulaikha's father sent a message to Pharaoh of his desire to marry his daughter into the Pharaohs’ kingdom. Pharaoh was confused, as all of his top military servants, counselors and aids were eunuchs. He eventually agreed as he saw the union as a gain for his growing kingdom. Upon her initial view of Potiphar, Zulaikha was confused since he was not the vision in her dream. She marveled at the strength of Pharaoh's God to overcome her with false dreams.

Years had passed before Yusuf was brought to Egypt by a travelling group. Zulaikha realized she had married the wrong person when she viewed Yusuf being sold at the market. She persuaded Potiphar to purchase Yusuf to treat as him a son they would never have. With each opportunity, she made advances towards Yusuf, who evaded her approaches, for he prepared himself for the pious life of a prophet.

Zulaikha became frustrated, but desired Yusuf even more. Her love became evident to everyone as she erected a