A Donkey Named Jack
And Other Stories
by
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It had been a reasonably quiet day for Mr. Razi, if it was possible for any day to be quiet among the braying of thirty donkeys. But he was well used to their raucous chatter, and it no longer bothered him a bit. For he had been growing and selling donkeys for over twenty years here on his farm at the foothills overlooking the Tigris River. He had been modestly successful, as he supplied most of the nearby farmers with a beast of burden that they then used in their everyday affairs. He was an honest and fair man, and he took good care of the few old and many young donkeys that roamed the several pastures of the farm. Mr. Razi walked past the East pasture and came to a shelter. He threw out a bundle of dried hillside grassed that he had cut and collected earlier in the spring, grasses that he often saved for his best young donkeys, so that they would be fat and healthy for the buyers. In the paddock were several young donkeys, now rapidly growing and almost ready for sale. Among them was a wise and stately old donkey, with long, wrinkled gray whiskers, named Harris. He was an elderly donkey that had been on the farm for generations, and Mr. Razi liked to keep him with the young donkeys because it somehow made them look more mature. It was almost as if Harris was teaching the little ones how to behave as proper donkeys. Whenever Harris started braying, all the others always started braying, and their racket was deafening at this end of the farm. Mr. Razi spread out the hillside grasses among the donkeys and then ambled down past the fence toward the other pastures. Harris watched him go as he stood chewing his lunch and brushing away the ever present flies with his tail. In front of him the young donkeys were jostling with each other for the privilege of standing right in the center of the hay. One donkey named Jack was standing by the edge quietly eating when, all of a sudden, he was belted away from the pile by his brother Arthur, a silvery brown youth with short stubbly hair that looked as if it should itch. Harris had noticed that Arthur had a nasty streak in him, and he was worried about Arthur’s future. Arthur’s rudeness and arrogance would be sure to give donkeys a bad name. Harris had even warned Arthur about this, but Arthur was young and brash, and didn’t pay much attention.
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About the Book
A Donkey named Jack is a children’s book consisting of four stories. Each story revolves around a Qur’anic verse, and watercolor paintings, painted by Hajja Safa Thiele, further develop the stories. The stories are meant to be read aloud, and it is hoped that interest in spiritual matters will be nurtured.
About the Author
David S. Bell, MD, is a partly retired pediatrician with a long interest in Christianity and Islam. He became Muslim in 1972 and performed his pilgrimage in 1976. His Muslim name is Hajj Dawud Bell. In 1977, he moved to Rochester, New York, and along with a few friends, opened a small mosque. His ongoing passion is to encourage dialogue and friendship between Christians and Muslims. In 1988, he first published An Introduction to Islam. It has since been republished by Trafford Press. The central theme of this book is the similarity between the Qur’an, the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, the teachings of Jesus, and the basic tenets of the Old Testament. God has tried to get His message across for a long time now, and He has not changed the message. In 2013, he published a children’s book, A Donkey named Jack. This book is a collection of four stories, with each story revolving around a passage in the Qur’an. The book is illustrated with watercolor paintings by Hajja Saffa Thiele and is meant to be read aloud for children. A third book, The Sermon on the Mount: A Muslim Perspective is due to be published soon. Written primarily for Muslims, the book is an explanation of the beautiful teachings of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, with references to many passages in Qur’an demonstrating that the message brought by the Messiah Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad were the same. His hobbies include Islamic calligraphy and talking to Western audiences about Islam. He can be reached at . . .