Whether of Europe or Asia, the Muslim world or the Christian world, of the chief of a wild tribe or the king of a great state, the stories of the manners, etiquette, environment, and culture of a royal harem are always deeply fascinating. Found in a book of history, this is the story of one such royal harem in which the king’s first wife (*Badi Begum*) wanted to bring her co-wife into the harem as a new bride—even though everyone knows co-wives never get along. In this story, however, the first wife possessed a very noble character; the king was highly pleased with her and adored her immensely. The first wife loved the public dearly; she worked ten to twelve hours every day so that the people of the state would be prosperous and satisfied. Everything was going smoothly; the king and the first wife were on the same page in every matter. Whether internal or external affairs, their views aligned to such an extent that the subjects began to believe the joint achievements of the king and his wife would soon become part of the educational curriculum. The king’s former mistress—who was exceptionally beautiful and popular in her youth—was now in prison, and the king’s relationship with her was considered one of the mistakes and follies of his youth. The working relationship between the king and the first wife was utterly exemplary. The wife was undoubtedly hardworking, but she was unable to give birth to an heir and generate new hope for the kingdom. The king had a strong desire to have a male child from his first wife who could take over the future political legacy. While the first wife had countless virtues, she was also failing to run the economic wheel of the state. Initially, she made grand claims before the king about her skill, experience, and foresight, taking responsibility for improving the economy, but when this task could not be accomplished, the subjects grew restless, even the courtiers began to feel the heat, and media messengers started raising an outcry. The king kept ignoring the complaints and mistakes of the first wife, but one day he called his most trusted minister to consult on what should be done with her, given that the subjects were satisfied neither politically nor economically. The minister was wise and prudent; he first described such virtues of the first wife’s character and moral conduct that were unknown even to the king. Upon this, the king asked the prudent minister that despite having so many virtues, why were the subjects still not satisfied? Looking around, the prudent minister whispered that the first wife was barren, infertile, and childless, and that they should bring in a new bride so the political legacy could continue; once the new bride had children, the economic wheel would also start moving by its grace. The king was astonished by the proposal of a second marriage and asked the minister whether, if they brought a new bride, the first wife might get angry, leave for her parents’ house, and start inciting her family against him. The prudent minister replied that a second marriage is the custom and tradition of kings. The queen of the royal harem should indeed remain the first wife, but the affairs of the realm should be run by the new bride. The king tasked the prudent minister with persuading the first wife regarding the new bride and preventing any potential negative reaction from her parents’ side.

According to this story of the past, through long meetings, the prudent minister persuaded the first wife that the rule would remain hers; the king would be pleased with the new bride, and the subjects would also be amused. At first, the first wife did not agree at all, but when the prudent minister frightened her with the prospect of the king becoming angry, taking power into his own hands, and bringing hardship for everyone again—especially action against her parents’ family—the first wife agreed to bring the new bride herself. The prudent minister was very sensible; taking the most loyal section of the public into confidence, he told them that the system had collapsed, everything had failed, while also adding that the first wife was wonderful. However, only by bringing in a new bride would the system work; the system would have to be changed, and so would the faces. It would be necessary to sit together with the relatives of the former mistress, the first wife’s parents’ family, and the king’s neighbors to reach a consensus on changing the system. It is written in the book of history that the first wife explained to her parents’ family and frightened them a little, so they too became ready for the new bride. The neighbors and the former mistress’s camp agreed as well, and then, with great pomp and show, the wedding procession departed, the second marriage took place, and the guests included red, green, and black alike. Thus, the system of the state changed, and so did the faces; the first wife remained in the harem, and the former mistress came out of imprisonment and began to frolic freely. Up to this point, the book was preserved; the following pages were torn, and nothing is known about what happened next in the story. However, the guess is that after this, the narrator must have written “and they lived happily ever after.”

The story given above has no connection to Pakistan, nor does it apply to current politics. Now listen to the *Nawazi* (*Nooni*) story and know the difference between the two stories. Here there is a democratic system, whereas in that country there was a monarchy; here the Prime Minister is the Chief Executive and the boss, whereas there the king had needlessly made the first wife the head and handed over politics and economy to her. The current government and its hardworking and capable Prime Minister are performing miracles; the country is making progress by leaps and bounds. Granted, some allies of the government and the opposition in the country are indeed raising opposing voices, but these voices carry neither weight nor are they heard anywhere. Everything is green, everything is fine. Excellent governance, a wonderful cabinet, a splendid foreign policy, and an unprecedented understanding and friendship between the establishment and the government—even if the trumpet of Israfil were blown, the apocalypse would not arrive.

First you heard a tale of the past and the story of the king’s second marriage; then you learned the *Nawazi* story; now it is time for a personal story. This humble journalist is a timid husband who, despite religious permission, is terrified of a second marriage; seeing the experiences around him, he does not even dare to think about a new bride. When he went to record an episode of “A Day with Geo” with the late and forgiven Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, that experience was extremely interesting and memorable. One incident from that recording is impossible to forget. Maulana was an open-hearted cleric and possessed a remarkable sense of humor. When asked about a second marriage, he said he had two wives, then looked at me with a smile and uttered a historic and humorous sentence: “The desire for a second marriage exists in everyone, but only a rare brave person can act upon it.” Since this timid journalist is a coward and afraid of a second marriage, he is frightened of the experiment of a brand-new bride instead of a system change or government change in the current political experiment. What if the first wife is lost and the new bride turns out to be short-tempered or inclined toward disloyalty—then what will become of this experiment?

Lest we forget, my benevolent person and leader of leaders, Nawazada Nasrullah Khan, had an Ahrari background and was a witness to the changing loyalties of the Leaguers; so when the Muslim League-Q was formed, he laughed heartily reciting this Persian couplet of Hafiz Shirazi: according to Hafiz, *”Ke in ajuz aroos-e-hazar damad ast”*—the meaning of *aroos-e-hazar damad* is that “this old woman is the bride of a thousand grooms.” It remains to be seen whether, if a new bride comes into politics, the wedding procession will be the same old one or entirely new, and whether this new marriage will actually change the system or if this mill will keep running on the same old grindstone.