Ain Mosbeha was located in Al-Qaisi, Qalansiya village, on Socotra. It was a beautiful and sacred area. The area and its people had been proverbial examples of generosity, liberality, benevolence, and giving. It was a destination for many people on Socotra for hundreds of years.
It was a blessed area whose trees are sheltered for the poor and to which they go in the autumn season to eat its fruits and drink its blessed water.
It was not only the destination of the poor, needy, orphans, and widows, but it was also indispensable for the rich. That was because it was the marvel of the age.
The holiness of Ain Mosbeha went back to the story of the events that took place a long time ago and were passed on to the generations.
Once upon a time, there was an old woman who lived in that place. It was a place of serious concern in a water-scarce area, except that there was a very small waterhole in which water did not collect but was hard. It took a very long time to collect. Once, the woman could collect a little water during the whole day. The next day, she went to collect water, as it was not enough for drinking or the housework. She used to collect water every day.
One day, the woman went to collect water as usual. Collecting a little water in the water bag took a very long time. When she was about to leave, she saw a man moving towards her and riding a mare. He must have been tired after such a long trip. He was badly in need of water. Therefore, he told her that he was very thirsty. The water in her water bag was not enough for both of them. She had an intense desire for water. However, without hesitation or thought, she preferred the man over herself.
She said to him, “Praise be to God, whose grace is great.”
She gave him the water she had collected, which almost did not quench the man’s thirst. Once again, she began collecting a little water for herself while the man looked at her, recognizing that water collection caused her great hardship and suffering.
When he saw her collecting a little water, he said to her, “The mare is thirsty, and I want to give it water. The woman looked at him and the little water she collected, and without hesitation, she said to him, “Praise be to God. God’s grace is abundant.”
And she gave him water, and his mare drank it.
Once again, she returned and collected some water, which took several hours.
The man said to her, “We are exhausted because of the travel, and I want to sprinkle water on my head and the mare as well.”
The woman gave him as much water as she could have collected for the third time. At that time, the sun was about to set, so the woman could not collect water again. Before she went home empty-handed, the man called her, saying, “Tomorrow early in the morning, you must be here before sunrise.”
He went on his way to complete his journey.
It was narrated that that particular man had toured all the tribes of Socotra, but he did not find such a woman in her generosity and liberality.
The next day, the woman went to the place of water, as the man had asked her to do. She saw something that her eyes had never seen before. The woman began looking right and left because she could not believe what she had seen. She touched the palm trees with her hands and unbelievably scooped up water from the springs. She thought that what she had seen was just a dream and not a reality, but eventually, she realized that everything around her was real and not a dream. Now, the woman realized that the man with whom she was generous yesterday was not a human being but rather a gracious angel sent by God to give her and honor her as a reward for her good deeds and actions.
Since then, Ain Mosbeha has become famous due to that tale, and people began visiting the place and living on its banks, eating from its fruits and drinking from its pure water.
The tale of generosity and liberality in that tribe did not end but continued from that time to the present. They are still planting palm trees and preserving the grace bestowed on them by God. They welcomed visitors and delegations from the needy and others with great generosity, honoring them with what God had honored them.
They took care of the palm tree and planted it abundantly. Although they did not get much profit from that tree, they did not think about that as much as they thought about how they got the reward from God Almighty when people ate and lived by the sweat of their brows.
Ain Mosbeha has been a place of visitation for most of the Socotra people. Since it is located on the way of most of the tribes of the west of the island, they pass by it, disembark their backpackers, be shaded under its shade, eat from its given sustenance, drink from its water, take their provisions for themselves, and then continue on their way.
