Once upon a time there lived in the city of Cairo a shoemaker named Maruf with his wife Fatima. This witch is a real witch! - she mocked him so much, rewarding him for his goodness, that she began to seem to the poor shoemaker a fiend of hell and the embodiment of stubbornness itself. One day, driven to extreme despair by her cruelty, Maruf fled to an old ruined monastery outside the city and prayed:
- Lord, send me deliverance, help me get away from her and find the desired peace and hope.
He spent several hours in prayer, and then a miracle happened: a creature of enormous stature and terrible appearance emerged from the wall, which, undoubtedly, was Abdel, the “changed” - a man who had developed special abilities that far exceeded the abilities of ordinary people.
“I am Abdel Makan, the servant of this place,” said the vision. -What do you want?
Maruf told of his grief, and then the Changed One put him on his shoulders, and they flew through the air with incredible speed; waking up a few hours later, Maruf saw that it was already dawn. He was in a beautiful and rich city on the very border with China. Some townsman stopped him wandering aimlessly through the streets and asked who he was and where he was from. Maruf began to tell his story, and when he reached the miraculous flight through the air, the crowd of onlookers surrounding him began to make fun of him and throw stones and sticks at him, calling him crazy and a swindler. The mob was mocking and mocking the unfortunate shoemaker, when suddenly a merchant passing by on horseback shouted:
- Hey, shame on you! The foreigner is our guest, and you are trampling on the sacred laws of hospitality and torturing him instead of giving him a worthy welcome.
The crowd parted, and the merchant, riding up to Maruf, who was cowering in fear, dismounted and began to calm him down.
The merchant's name was Ali. He brought the shoemaker to his house and told him how he himself got out of poverty and became rich in this strange city of Ikhtiyar. The merchants here seem to be even more trusting than other residents and are ready to take anyone’s word for it. Thus, they will not help a poor man improve his life, because they believe that poverty is predetermined by man’s fate, but as soon as someone declares that he is rich, they all, without doubting his words at all, immediately surround him with honor, present him with gifts and willingly lend as much as they want. Having learned about this, Ali went around to several of the richest merchants of the city, explaining to each of them that he was a passing merchant and that his caravan had not yet arrived, so he needed money. Having collected a lot of money in this way, he put it into circulation, trading in a large bazaar, and soon not only paid off all his debts, but also became a rich man. Ali advised Maruf to do the same.
And so, dressed by his new friend in magnificent clothes, Maruf began to go around the rich merchants and borrow money from them. But, unlike Ali, he, being by nature a man of extraordinary generosity, immediately distributed all the money to the poor. A month passed, his caravan still did not come, but Maruf did not even think about engaging in trade. His generosity increased every day, for rich people, seeing that he was spending all their money on alms, competed with each other in charity, and each tried to give him more than the others. They thought that their money would still return to them when the caravan of this amazing rich man arrived, and also secretly hoped to share with him the heavenly blessing that inexorably follows generosity.
But a little more time passed, and the merchants were overcome with anxiety. A terrible doubt crept into their souls. After consulting, they came to the ruler of the city and told him about their fears. The king immediately sent for Maruf. To find out the truth, he wanted to experience it himself. The king had a rare gem, which he decided to present to Maruf as a gift and see whether he could appreciate it or not. If Maruf appreciated the gift and thereby showed that he was accustomed to dealing with treasures, then the king, being a very greedy man, intended to give him his daughter as his wife. But if Maruf does not value the stone, then he is truly a fraud, and then the king will imprison him.
So Maruf was brought to the palace. They brought him a precious stone, and the king said:
- Accept this as a gift from us, good Maruf, and tell me why you don’t return the merchants’ money?
“Because my caravan has not arrived yet, Your Majesty,” answered Maruf, “and it is better to keep this precious stone for yourself.” It is worth nothing compared to the priceless treasures that my caravan carries.
At these words, greedy hopes stole the king’s mind, and he released Maruf. The king ordered the merchants to calm down and patiently await the arrival of the caravan. What the king heard from Maruf haunted him, and he finally decided to give him his daughter as his wife. True, the chief vizier tried his best to dissuade his master, proving to him that Maruf was an obvious liar, but the king, remembering that the vizier himself had been seeking the princess’s hand for several years, saw in all his warnings only a manifestation of jealousy and therefore did not pay any attention to them. Maruf, when he was informed that the king wanted to make him his son-in-law, said to the vizier:
“Tell His Majesty that until my caravan with priceless treasures arrives, I will not be able to arrange the princess’s life in a worthy manner and therefore I ask his permission to postpone the wedding.”
The monarch was delighted with this answer, which undoubtedly testified to Maruf’s modesty and honesty. He immediately opened his treasury before him and offered to take from it everything he needed in order to adequately gift the princess and lead a life with her befitting a royal son-in-law.
Very soon Maruf and the princess celebrated a wedding richer than which the world had never seen. Pearls and gold were scattered in handfuls among those present; even those who did not attend the feast, but only heard about it, received generous gifts. This wonderful festival lasted forty days and nights, and its splendor and pomp are beyond description. When Maruf was finally alone with his wife, he said to her:
“I have already taken so much from your father that I am tormented by shame.”
Because he was ashamed, and he wanted to somehow justify himself. But she answered him:
- Don’t worry and don’t burden your heart; when your caravan arrives, everything will be settled.
Meanwhile, the vizier continued to warn the king and express to him his suspicions about Maruf, so that, finally succumbing to his persuasion, the ruler asked his daughter to somehow call Maruf to open up and find out the whole truth about him. And then one night, lying in bed with Maruf, the princess with caresses bowed his heart to her and asked him to reveal to her the secret reason for the absence of the caravan for such a long time. Just that day, Maruf assured his friend Ali that he was in fact the owner of a caravan of priceless treasures, but he decided to confess to her.
“I don’t have any caravan,” he said, “but although the vizier is right, he has no other motives than envy.” Your father also made me his son-in-law only because of his greed. But why did you give your consent to the marriage?
“You are my husband, and I will never disgrace you,” answered the princess. - Take 50 thousand gold and quickly leave our country. As soon as you are safe, let me know and I will follow you immediately.
Now hurry up on your way without delay and don’t worry about anything, I’ll sort everything out myself.
Dressed in the clothes of a servant, Maruf, under the cover of darkness, led his horse out of the stable and set off. And Princess Dumiya, when the king and the vizier called her to them the next morning, told them this:
- Beloved father and you, precious vizier, as soon as I started asking questions to my husband, when suddenly a very strange event happened...
- What event?! - the king and the vizier exclaimed at the same time.
“Ten Mamluks in the most magnificent clothes approached the windows of our palace and, calling Maruf, gave him a message from the leader of his caravan. In this message, the chief said that a large gang attacked the caravan, and 50 of the five hundred guards died in this battle, while the Bedouins managed to recapture two hundred camels with valuable goods.
- And what did Maruf answer?
“He just said that 200 packs and 50 lives are a mere trifle for him.” And with these words, he jumped on his horse and galloped with the Mamluks towards the caravan in order to quickly bring it here.
In this way the princess thought of gaining time. Maruf, meanwhile, rushed as fast as he could on his horse wherever his eyes looked. After some time, he saw a peasant plowing his piece of land to the side of the road. Maruf reined in his horse and greeted him. The peasant responded to the greeting and, out of the kindness of his heart, immediately said:
“O great servant of the royal majesty, be my guest today.” I'll bring some food now, share it with me.
With these words he hastily departed, and Maruf, greatly touched by his kindness, decided to continue the peasant's work until he returned, in gratitude for his hospitality. Before he could make even one furrow, the plow hit a stone. Maruf pulled him aside and saw the steps leading to the dungeon. Having gone down them, he, to his amazement, found himself in a huge hall full of treasures. By chance his gaze fell on a transparent crystal box in which the ring lay. He took out the ring and rubbed it: at that same moment a strange creature appeared in front of him, exclaiming in a thunderous voice:
- I'm here, my lord!
The spirit that appeared at the call of the ring was called the Father of Happiness. He was one of the powerful genie lords. And the treasures belonged to the ancient king Shaddad, the son of Hades. And now the Father of Happiness became the servant of Maruf. By order of Maruf, all the treasures were raised up and loaded onto camels and mules created by the magical power of the genie. In the same miraculous way, expensive fabrics of all sorts were created, but only by other genies who served the Father of Happiness, and the caravan was ready to set off.
By this time the peasant returned, bringing barley stew with beans. Seeing Maruf among such wealth, he imagined that the king himself was in front of him, and fell at his feet. Maruf generously presented him with gold and promised an even greater reward in the future. So, the caravan set off. The jinn, taking the form of guards, slaves and animals, were sent forward. And Maruf, wanting to honor the peasant’s hospitality, ate his beans with barley stew and galloped after the caravan.
When the procession reached the royal palace, the king was incredibly happy and began to reproach the vizier for daring to suspect Maruf of deception. The princess, having heard about the arrival of a caravan with countless treasures, now did not know what to think. In the end, she decided that Maruf was testing her loyalty. Ali, Maruf's friend, believed that the princess arranged all this to save the life and honor of her husband. All the merchants who lent Maruf money and were amazed at his generosity were even more amazed at the abundance of gold, precious stones and other gifts with which he began to shower the poor and needy. Only the vizier could not calm down.
“No merchant has ever thrown his money away like that,” he repeated to the king.
And the vizier decided to find out the truth at all costs. One day he invited Maruf into the garden and, delighting his ears with music, began to treat him with fine wines, refilling him every now and then until he was completely drunk. Succumbing to the wine fumes, Maruf told the vizier his whole story, without hiding anything. The vizier easily removed the magic ring from his finger and, calling the genie, ordered him to take Maruf to a remote desert and throw him there. The genie readily grabbed the shoemaker, scolding him for blurting out such a precious secret, and carried him to the Khidraut desert. Then the vizier ordered the king, his master, to be thrown there; he himself now became a ruler and even tried to dishonor the princess. But the princess, when he visited her, took possession of the ring by cunning and rubbed it. A genie immediately appeared in front of her, ready to carry out her orders. She ordered the vizier to be put in chains and taken back to the palace of Maruf and her father. Once this was accomplished by the genie, the treacherous vizier was put to death, and Maruf became the first vizier.
Now they lived in happiness and harmony. After the death of the king, Maruf inherited his throne. By this time, the princess bore him a son. The ring was now kept by her. But soon she became seriously ill and, dying, gave the ring to Maruf, instructing him to keep it carefully and take care of their son. A little time passed, and then one day, when King Maruf was sleeping in his bedchamber, he felt in his sleep how someone was pulling his hand. Waking up and opening his eyes, Maruf saw in front of him an ugly woman, in whom he recognized his first wife Fatima. Fatima told him her story: after his disappearance, she became a beggar and was forced to earn her living through hard work. Fatima endured endless humiliation and suffering. One night she lay in her bed and cried in despair, without closing her eyes, when suddenly a genie appeared to her, who told her about everything that happened to her husband Maruf after he ran away from her. Fatima began to ask the genie to take her to Ikhtiyar to Maruf, and then, picking her up, he flew into the air and with amazing speed carried her straight to Maruf’s bed. Now Fatima bitterly repented of her previous behavior and begged Maruf to take her as his wife again. He agreed, but warned her that he was now a king and the owner of a magic ring, served by the great genie, the Father of Happiness. She humbly thanked him.
So, Fatima became queen and settled in Maruf's palace, but she disliked the little prince, Maruf's son. Maruf used to take the ring off his finger at night. Fatima, having learned about this, sneaked into his bedroom one night, stole the ring and was just about to rub it to summon the genie, when the little prince, who was watching her, pulled out his short sword and struck the witch to death. Thus, the insidious Fatima found her death on the threshold of her greatest power. And Maruf found that good plowman who unwittingly helped save him, and made him his first vizier. Then he married his daughter, and nothing more darkened their happiness and peace.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru