I have a confession to make. I am no kleptomaniac but I recall stealing on three occasions. Every time it was a book. The first time, I was barely 10. It was a children’s edition of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The book, “Pearls of Wisdom,” belonged to my aunt. She was doing her PhD in education at the time and though she is a little under five feet, she somehow seemed too scary to seek permission from. So instead of borrowing her book, I stole it. And how I delighted in its possession. I soaked it all up, words about how the wound inflicted by the tongue was deeper than one by the sword, how one should go even to China in search of knowledge — words urging patience, kindness, respect and a lot more.
I did not come across “thou shalt not steal” because after all, it was a child’s version. So I struck again and this time it was Thomas Moore’s collection of poems. I was in my teens and ultrasensitive. By this time I was writing poems of my own but shared them with no one because most girls in my class had no interest in either literature or poetry. Thomas Moore somehow filled a void.
His book was kept in the school reference library and could not be borrowed. We had library classes only once a week which seemed too little time to spend with Thomas Moore. I was fascinated by his ability to convert thoughts into a flow of beautiful words. Also I noticed from the library card that the last time someone had borrowed the book had been 10 years ago. This convinced me — wrongly — that I was justified in taking the book since no one cared about Thomas Moore as I did. The book increased my vocabulary and gave me some depth in my thoughts. It also encouraged me to write.
The third book was begging to be stolen. At the time, I was in my late teens and was delighted to find a book which dealt with issues of marriage and relationships from a woman’s perspective. Although it was what many people today would call “trashy” it did make me think about the rights of women in relationships. It made me question the treatment that was meted out to women in my society. I did not think like a libber who fought for women’s equality with men. I realized that women were not men; they had different physical and emotional needs which had to be safeguarded accordingly.
I have thought about these thefts for years and felt morose about them. There is no doubt that I did wrong. Unfortunately, none of the books are still in my possession so I cannot return them and make amends. I am especially sorry for stealing Thomas Moore out of the library. Had it stayed there, somebody else might have benefited from it, as I did. But from all this, I would like to draw a single conclusion. If encouraged, children will love to read. They should be flooded with books at an early age, before television, video games and the Internet get to them.
Also, more libraries should be built. In Saudi Arabia this is something that is very obviously missing. There are no public libraries here where expatriates can borrow quality books in English or other Western languages. A lot has been written in the press about how parents should buy books for their children instead of expensive toys. I believe libraries are what we need. Saudi Arabia is a country with the resources to build public libraries all over the country in cities, towns and villages. Why doesn’t some rich businessman take the initiative? The coming generations would bless him and the country would assuredly benefit.
