There was once a rich merchant who traded in many cities.One day, while traveling to collect money owed to him, the heat became unbearable. So he sat under a tree, took some dry bread and dates from his saddlebag, and ate.
When he finished eating, he threw the date pits away.
Suddenly —a terrifying Ifrit appeared.
He was huge, black, flaming with rage, and holding a naked sword.
The Ifrit shouted:"Stand up! I will kill you just as you killed my son!"
The merchant trembled and said:"By god, how did I kill your son?"
The Ifrit replied:"When you threw away the date pits, one of them struck my son in the chest and killed him."
The merchant cried:"We belong to god and to Him we return! This was an accident! I did not even know he was there. Forgive me!"
But the Ifrit said:"There is no forgiveness. You must die."
He dragged the merchant to the ground and raised his sword.
The merchant wept and recited verses about fate, sorrow, and the cruelty of destiny.
But the Ifrit said:"Enough! You will die."
Then the merchant said:"I have debts to collect, wealth, a wife, and children. Give me one year to settle my affairs. I swear by god I will return to you on this same day."
The Ifrit thought and said:"I accept your oath."
The merchant went home, paid everyone their due, told his family what would happen, and lived with them for a year.
When the year ended, he washed himself, took his burial cloth, and went back to the tree.
As he waited, weeping, an old man arrived, leading a gazelle on a chain.He asked why the merchant sat there, and the merchant told him everything.
The old man said:"Your faith is astonishing. I will stay and see what happens."
Soon a second old man arrived, with two black dogs.Then a third old man came, riding a mule.
All sat together.
Then —the air darkened.A storm of dust came.
The Ifrit returned.
He grabbed the merchant and said:"Now you die."
The three old men wept.
Then the old man with the gazelle stepped forward and said:
"O King of the Jinn! If I tell you my story, and it is amazing, will you spare one-third of this man's blood?"
The Ifrit said:"Yes."
And so the old man began his tale…
The old man bowed before the Ifrit and said:
"Know, O King of the Jinn, that this gazelle beside me is not an animal by birth. She is my cousin — the daughter of my father's brother. I married her when she was a young maiden, and I lived with her for nearly thirty years. But god never gave us a child."
So the old man took another wife, a young slave girl.She bore him a son — a beautiful boy, bright-eyed, strong, and noble. The father loved him deeply.
The boy grew until he was fifteen years old.
One day the old man had to travel for business.But his first wife — the cousin, who is now a gazelle — was secretly skilled in magic.
While he was gone, she used sorcery.
She turned the son into a calf,and turned his mother into a cow,and gave them to the herdsman to be kept with the cattle.
When the husband returned, he asked:"Where is my son? Where is his mother?"
His wife lied and said:"Your slave woman is dead. Your son ran away and I know not where."
The father believed her and wept for a whole year.
When the Festival of Sacrifice arrived, he ordered the herdsman to bring him a fat cow.
The herdsman unknowingly brought the enchanted slave woman.
When the father raised his knife, the cow cried and shed tears.
His heart shook."Bring me another."
But his wife shouted:"No! Kill her! There is none better!"
The cow was killed — but inside there was no meat, only bones.
The father was horrified.
So he asked for a calf.
The herdsman brought the enchanted son.
When the calf saw his father, he broke his rope, ran to him, cried, and licked his hands.
The father's heart softened.
But his wife screamed:"Kill him! He is the best!"
The father refused.
The next day, the herdsman came secretly.
He said:
"My daughter knows magic. She says that this calf is your son, and the cow you killed was his mother."
The father was shocked.
He went with the herdsman to his house.
The girl proved it.
She sprinkled water on the calf and said:
"If you are enchanted, return to your true form."
The calf became a young man.
The father fell on him weeping.
The son told everything.
The girl said she would only help if:
She married the son
She was allowed to punish the wicked wife
The father agreed.
The girl changed the evil wife into a gazelle.
This gazelle you see now is her.
After this, the son traveled far away.
The father wandered with the gazelle searching for him.
That wandering led him to this very place — where the merchant was waiting for death.
When the old man finished, the Jinni said:
"Your story is truly amazing. I grant you one-third of this man's life."
Now the second old man stepped forward — the one with the two black dogs.
He said:
"If my story is even more amazing, will you grant me another third?"
The Jinni said yes.
And he began his tale…
The second old man stepped forward and bowed to the Jinni.
He said:
"O King of the Jinn, these two black dogs you see are my brothers. I am the third brother."
Their father had died and left them three thousand gold coins.
Each brother received one thousand.
All three opened shops.
The second old man worked honestly and carefully.
But his two brothers were careless
The eldest brother sold his shop and traveled to do business abroad.
A year later he returned as a beggar.
The second brother recognized him, bathed him, dressed him, and shared his own profits with him.
The elder opened a new shop.
The other brother also traveled.
After a year, he returned poor and broken.
Again, the second brother helped him.
He gave him half of his profits so he could open a shop again.
Years passed.
The two brothers wanted to travel again.
The honest brother refused.
After six years, he finally agreed.
They sold everything.
The honest brother had six thousand gold coins.
He divided them fairly.
Each brother got one thousand to trade.
The other three thousand was buried as emergency money.
They sailed to a distant land.
They sold their goods and made ten times profit.
On the shore, they saw a poor, beautiful woman.
She begged to be taken as a wife.
The honest brother felt pity and married her.
He treated her kindly.
The two brothers became jealous.
They plotted to kill him.
One night, while he slept beside his wife, they threw both of them into the sea.
The wife became a Jinniyah and saved him.
She carried him to safety.
She said she was a believer and loved him.
She wanted to kill his brothers.
But he begged her not to.
Instead, she turned his brothers into dogs.
They would remain that way for ten years.
The man was traveling to his wife's sister to free his brothers.
On the way, he met the merchant who was about to die.
That is why he stayed.
The Jinni said:
"This story is strange indeed. I give you one-third of the merchant's life."
Now only one-third of the merchant's fate remains.
The third old man stepped forward…
The third old man stepped forward and bowed before the Jinni.
He said:
"O King of the Jinn, this mule you see before you was once my wife."
One year, the old man went away on a long journey.When he returned home one night, he quietly entered his house.
Inside, he saw something terrible.
A black slave was lying in his bed with his wife.They were laughing, kissing, and embracing each other.
When his wife saw him, she panicked.She grabbed a jug of water, whispered magic words over it, and threw it on him.
She said:
"Change from this form into the form of a dog!"
Instantly, he became a dog.
She beat him and drove him out of the house.
The dog ran through the streets until he reached a butcher's shop.Hungry and weak, he began eating bones from the ground.
The butcher took him inside.
But when the butcher's daughter saw him, she covered her face and cried:
"Father! You have brought a man into our house!"
Her father said, "What man?"
She replied:
"This dog is really a man. His wife has turned him into a dog by magic. I can free him."
The father said, "Then free him, my daughter."
She took a jug of water, spoke magical words, and sprinkled it on the dog.
She said:
"Return to your human form!"
Immediately, the old man became a man again.
The old man kissed her hand and begged:
"Please give me magic so I can punish my wife."
The girl gave him enchanted water and said:
"When you see your wife sleeping, sprinkle this on her and say the words I used."
That night, he found his wife asleep.
He sprinkled the water on her and said:
"Change from your form into the form of a mule!"
At once, she turned into a mare mule.
And that is the animal standing there.
The Jinni turned to the mule and asked if this was true.
She nodded her head.
So the Jinni laughed with joy and said:
"Your story is amazing. I give you the final third of the merchant's life."
The merchant was now fully saved.
The merchant thanked the three old men.
They went their separate ways.
His life was spared.
As dawn came, Shahrazad stopped telling the story.
The King was deeply interested and decided not to kill her.