I paid rent in my own son’s house

On the same day that our Lord blessed him with 3 children, life took away the most precious one of his life.

At the age of 27, Mahmoud al-Sioufi came out of Mansoura General Hospital, carrying 3 baby chairs and a small bag containing his wife’s needs.

Sarah was still the mother of three twins, but she didn’t live more than a few minutes after giving birth. She heard her children’s screams, but she didn’t catch up until she took them in her lap.

Mahmoud returned to their country in Kafr al-Nakhil, on the outskirts of Dakahlia governorate, where he had a life of misery.

An old mud-brick house, 16 acres of dry land full of stones, a goat, and above all the debts of his father, who died and saw him.

His mother, Hajja Fatima, was the first to see her grandchildren, her eyes filled with tears.

One after the other, she said to Mahmoud:

—You are not alone, my son… As long as I live, your back is propped.

But both of them knew that

The house from today has lost the most joyful thing.
Mahmoud passed for many months, during which he learned how to prepare 3 bottles of milk at the same time, and how to sleep while he was standing because he was afraid that one of the children would wake up.

During the day he used to go down to work on the land.

At night, he would wrap around the children’s beds the wood he had made by hand, reassuring them one by one.

But the world did not intend to let him rest.

The drought has increased.

The planting began to die, and the well descended about two meters, and the goats were left with very little milk.

One day, the bank issued a final warning:

You have 30 days to repay… Otherwise, part of the land will be seized and sold.

Mahmoud hid the paper from his mother, but he did not know how to hide it.

Hajja Fatima with her.

She sat down in front of him and said quietly:

—Sell Hatta, my son… The kids are more important. They need food and clothing, not land that eats each other.

Mahmoud looked out the window on the dry ground,

I remember Sarah’s last words before she entered the operating room.
She took his hand and said to him:

—Mahmoud… He promised me that our children would never be far from this house.

Since then, Mahmoud has kept his promise in front of his eye.

He didn’t live.

But the calamities are not over.

After a short while, Hajja Fatima got tired.

Exhaustion, stress, and long months in which she had to forget herself to raise her grandchildren, let her health collapse.

And one night, she slept asleep… And you didn’t wake up.

In less than a year, Mahmoud lost his wife… And then his mother.

He was left alone with 3 children, dry land, and suffocating debts.

His brother Hossam, who lives in Cairo, called him to offer his condolences.

He said to him:

« O Mahmoud, enough stubbornness! Sell this land and come to Cairo. Here you can work and start your life anew. But this land? There is no use in it.

Mahmoud was silent for a while.

Then he said:

—This is the last need of her father… Sarah promised I wouldn’t sell her.

Hossam sighed:

—You are like this

You are wasting your life and your children with you.
Mahmoud hung up the call without answering.

That night, he went into his father’s old room.

Everything in it was the same as it had been for years.

An old wooden table… A dilapidated cupboard… And a small box full of worthless things.

But Mahmoud thought of a hidden staircase, and his father always warned him to approach him.

Open it.

Inside him was an old green notebook, a map drawn on part of the land, a folding carpenter’s ruler, and a bumper key attached to a small piece of paper that read:

« The Safe ».The day that God gave him 3 children