1. Mahmoud's Philosophy: Monism

This is what I think: that Mahmoud Ahmed and Bobby Patterson are brothers. It goes without saying, of course, that Mahmoud is older, that Bobby idolizes him, that Mahmoud is in his second year of college, that Bobby is in his junior year of high school, that Mahmoud studies philosophy, that Bobby plans to study philosophy (though he doesn't know what it is). It's probably the case that after Mahmoud's first semester, he returned home to Philly for the first time since he left to study in Addis Ababa. It's certainly the case that he tried to explain to Bobby the concept of monism.

"There is only one thing," Mahmoud instructed. "Everything that you view as distinct from something else, is in fact identical to that thing and everything else."

Bobby: Wait a minute... What about mom and dad?
Mahmoud: The same.
Bobby: The United Nations headquarters and the fattest cat in the world?
Mahmoud: (holding up three fingers) How many fingers am I holding up?
Bobby: Three!
Mahmoud: Not even close, man.
Bobby: But...

Once Bobby understood and everyone had opened their Christmas presents, Mahmoud returned to Ethiopia. Bobby went back to school and told all of his teachers and classmates about his brother and his wonderful idea. Almost all of them immediately recognized the obvious truth of monism, and only a few skeptical cohorts asked questions like:

"But what of lice and concepts? Surely these are separate?"

Or "Isn't a Michigan sandwich something other than the Brandenburg Concertos?"

To which Bobby would reply, "I'll ask my brother and get back to you tomorrow." And the next day: "Mahmoud assures me that lice, concepts, a Michigan sandwich, and the Brandenburg Concertos are all one thing."

***

2. Mahmoud's Music: Soul

After his first year, Mahmoud came home for the summer. He brought his band with him. Every night after dinner, Mahmoud and the band would set up their gear in the Ahmed-Patterson backyard and serenade the family with a rendition of "Tezeta." No matter how many times Bobby heard the song, he never tired of it. In fact, it seemed to him that each night's performance was significantly hotter than the previous night's. The bass always bored deeper, the organ grew ever more lively, the guitar more romantic, the vocals more fluid, and the glorious flute more... Until the intertwining pentatonic runs became so seamless that it rendered the individual parts indistinguishable from one another. By the end of the summer, Bobby could hear the song only as a whole. The various instruments, the late summer's breeze, the moonlight: all were one.

Bobby decided then that he would form a band of his own. After all, even though it probably wouldn't be as good as Mahmoud's, it would in some sense be exactly the same.

Bobby Patterson - "If I Didn't Have You"

[Buy Mahmoud, Bobby]