...If You Ask Me, I Shall Answer You

Q — ...I take great pleasure in eating bread, and have a hearty appetite for it. And at times a weariness in the stomach comes over me. Is toasted bread, then, to be distinguished from soft bread as regards difficulty of digestion? And why?!
A Beneficiary

A — There is no doubt that toasted bread is easier to digest than soft bread, and does not tire the stomach. For the carbonized matter that coats toasted bread helps it to absorb the acids of the stomach, and these break it down and assist its digestion.

Q — Here I am, returning with my husband from an absence abroad that lasted twenty-five years — returning with a modest fortune in our bag, with which we wish to settle in the mother homeland and secure for ourselves comfort and an easy life. Which, then, is the sounder course for us: to invest this money in the ownership of real estate, whose rent would yield us enough to secure our living? Or to establish an agricultural enterprise which would, in the end, cover our expenses?

We have every confidence in your counsel; our greetings to you, with thanks in advance.
A Woman Returning

A — How welcome is the return to the homeland, for in it you have the dignity of the citizen and the pride of the homeland. As for choosing between the two projects, that is a matter that depends on how much love of continued striving, and energy for work, you possess. If you feel this energy within you, and find in yourselves an inclination toward the countryside, then in agriculture you will find the fulfillment of a hope. But if a withdrawal from active work is your aim, and repose, then real estate, and profit from its rent, will more amply secure that side of comfort — and with a handsome result.

Q — We often hear reports, some true and some fabricated, about the workings of nature and its wonders, among them this: is it true, as is said, that milk turns sour while thunderbolts are striking? Does science confirm this? And why?
An Inquirer

A — Many strange things and circumstances in the workings and properties of nature fall beyond our knowledge, and science labors diligently to solve their riddles. As for the souring of milk while thunderbolts strike, it is a matter science confirms and explains: the thunderbolt forces the gases in the air to combine, and from their combining there arises an acid called "nitric," and it is this that sours the milk.

Q — I have loved him for more than a year, and my love for him grows stronger day by day, even though we are not in one country; but I make it my aim to see him about once a month, and at those times he shows me such affection and tenderness as assures me of his love. Even so, I am not certain whether my beloved will ask for my hand or not! His love is nearly killing me, and this conduct of his bewilders me. How do you explain it? And what is the best course to follow? To your good self, all thanks and esteem.
A Woman

A — Your persisting in this love is a straying from the path. Your pursuit of him, and your writing to him, without any reciprocation on his part, is a grave mistake on your side. You must go no further (and it is he, rather, to whom that part belongs). To turn away from him is sober sense; and if the complete suitor should come to you, one who satisfies your heart and your mind, do not refuse him — before your heart is cracked by failure and disappointment and long waiting.

Q — Are the articles and the pieces of verse published in our magazine (The Woman's Voice) obtained from their authors for set prices, or free of charge? I should also like to know on what day, and in which month of the Christian year (January, February...), each of the following falls:

15 Rajab of the year 1940 A.D.
5 Rajab of the year 1936 A.D.
1 Rabi' al-Awwal 1938 A.D.
2 Sha'ban of the year 1950 A.D.
10 Shawwal of the year 1944 A.D.

I await the answer on coals hotter than embers, and my abundant thanks to you.
Samar, from Iraq

A — The articles and pieces of verse published in our magazine (The Woman's Voice) are presented to it free of charge, without any recompense. Rather, it is a lofty cultural mission through which we look out upon a refined society and upon a wholesome and useful world. And here is what you ask — the equivalent of each:

15 Rajab of the year 1940 A.D. — July 24
5 Rajab of the year 1936 A.D. — September 6
1 Rabi' al-Awwal of the year 1938 A.D. — April 8
2 Sha'ban of the year 1950 A.D. — March 6
10 Shawwal of the year 1944 A.D. — September 14

Q — It is a thing from which hearts filled with love of good for this homeland recoil, and at which souls sensible of the responsibility of life contract: what we see of the wanton moral slippage in our young generation — the generation whose ripening we await, that it may take up the keys of our progress and stand in our renaissance as a high and impregnable tower, repelling moral decline with the elements of our elevation, and defending our firmly-knit being with strength and immunity.
Who, then, is responsible for these elements? Pray answer.
An Enthusiast

A — For the raising up of peoples and the setting firm of the pillar of progress, four inseparable, indivisible foundations join in shaping and sustaining it: the home, the school, the government, and society.
However high this hoped-for edifice may rise, if one of these pillars fails to store up the essence of its substance and to press on in consolidating its formation, the building will be defective however lofty it stands, and however each pillar, taken by itself, may embellish itself in its artistry.
And the nation will never advance unless these foundations cooperate and join hands and work together with strong faith and unbroken steadfastness; otherwise the striving will be corrupted, and the winnings meager.