A Story of the Scholar and the Ruler

In the traditions of the wise, there is a story about a scholar who refused to bend the truth to please a ruler. The ruler demanded agreement; the scholar offered sincerity. For this, he was imprisoned. Yet he remained firm, saying only: “My duty is to speak what is right. Your duty is to answer for what you do with it.”

When the scholar passed from this world, the story says a great inquiry began in the Hereafter. The angels asked the ruler why he had imprisoned a man who spoke only what he believed was true. The ruler answered, “He opposed me.” The angels replied, “And who taught him the truth he spoke?”

So they went to the scholar’s teachers.

And the teachers said, “We taught him what we learned.”

And the angels asked, “And who taught you?”

The chain continued — from teacher to teacher — until it reached the earliest generations, then the Companions, then the Prophet, then the Qur’an itself. Finally, the inquiry reached the Pen, the one mentioned in the verse:

“Nun. By the Pen and what it writes…”

(Qur’an 68:1)

And the Pen said:

“I wrote what was true before the world began. The scholar only repeated what was written.”

The story ends with a simple lesson:

Power can imprison a body, but it cannot imprison truth. Truth belongs to the One who wrote it.

This is why a community must preserve its teachings with dignity.

This is why a Temple must guard its foundation with honor.

This is why Temple No. 9 preserves these teachings as a sacred responsibility, ensuring that history becomes service and that truth remains alive among strong men and women who uphold it.