The Full Chapter from the Book of Jibril on the Occasion of His Knighting
1. Into the kingdom came a man. 2. He was only a man, nothing more and nothing less, bestowed with the gifts which all men may access. 3. He took a name for himself, and was called Jibril. 4. This man could have taken his own gifts and done with them for himself. Many men do this, neither to their credit nor demerit. They are not judged. 5. Jibril took his gifts as though they were the seeds of fine trees. Each one he planted and tended.
6. After many years the trees did grow, to the height of a man, each green with leaves. 7. Though the growth was slow, he nurtured them with his deeds. The things he did for himself made the leaves brighter. The things he did for others made the trunks stronger. The things he did because they were the right things – those went deep into the soil.
8. In time the trees gave shelter and shade. Each limb he trimmed was fashioned into an object of beauty or a finely wrought weapon. The trees became a grove where people gathered around him in friendship. 9. All had come to respect this man who so tended his grove and was generous with his property and riches it had granted him. 10. One day Jibril was with his beloved company among the grove he had planted when, in the heat of the summer sun and its monsoons of rains, every tree burst into bloom. 11. The blossoms shone in the light, reflecting the gifts he had planted long ago, each branch weighty with his virtues.
12. The trees could now be named: Courage, with blossoms red as blood; Justice, blooming with orange fire; Generosity, as gold as honey; Hope, as green as the first spring; Mercy, as blue as lapis lazuli; Nobility, as purple as the dusk; Prowess, indigo so dark as to be night. 13. The last tree which opened did so at dusk, and it bore a flower of the most pure and shining white ever seen. All who saw it understood that Jibril, in all his ceaseless tending, had brought forth the rarest flower of them all – Chivalry.
14. And so it was that a blossom from this tree was shown to all the land. 15. Thus was Prophet summoned before the King and Queen in his own garden with those of greatest honor, each of whom wore about them the white of the sun reflected in the moon. 16. They bade Jibril sit vigil in his garden to consider the deeds of his life. 17. After the moon had set, the white blossoms fell before him and a single great fruit grew upon the tree. 18. When the crowd returned, the white-bearers plucked this blossom and did open it into the hands of Jibril. This was the fruit of his labours and love – a belt of white and a chain of gold. 19. It is said that this, while seeming miraculous, was indeed not so, for it was merely the fruits of labor well-earned. 20. And so it was that he who was known as Prophet was now known also as Knight.
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The Abbreviated Court Version as read by Queen Kiena at Pennsic’s East Kingdom Court
upon the Knighting of Sir Jibril al-Dakhil
Into the kingdom came a man.He took a name for himself and was called Jibril. Jibril took his gifts as though they were the seeds of fine trees. Each one he planted and tended.
Though the growth was slow, he nurtured them with his deeds. The things he did for himself made their leaves brighter. The things he did for others made their trunks stronger. The things he did because they were the right things – those went deep into the soil.
In time the trees gave shelter and shade. Each limb he trimmed was fashioned into an object of beauty or a finely wrought weapon. One day Jibril was with his people among the grove when every tree burst into bloom. The blossoms shone in the light, reflecting the gifts he had planted long ago, each branch weighty with his virtues.
The trees could now be named: Courage, with blossoms red as blood; Justice, blooming with orange fire; Generosity, as gold as honey; Hope, as green as the first spring; Mercy, as blue as lapis lazuli; Nobility, as purple as the dusk; Prowess, indigo so dark as to be night. The last tree which opened, did so at dusk, and it bore a flower of the most pure and shining white ever seen. All who saw it understood that Jibril, in all his ceaseless tending, had brought forth the rarest flower of them all – Chivalry.
Thus was Prophet summoned before the King and Queen in his own garden with those of greatest honor, each of whom wore about them the white of the sun reflected in the moon. After the moon had set, a single great fruit grew upon the tree. The white-bearers plucked this blossom and did open it into the hands of Jibril. This was the fruit of his labours and love – a belt of white and a chain of gold. And so it was that he who was known as Prophet was now known also as Knight.