The Tale of Ja'far and His Brothers

A merchant once had three sons. When the merchant grew old and felt that his end was near, he divided all his wealth into four parts. One part went to his wife, and the remaining three were divided among his sons. Everyone received an equal share.

Soon after, the merchant passed away. The two older sons were dissatisfied with their father's division and began to sue their younger brother, Jaudar, over the inheritance. They kept suing until all of their father's property was spent on legal fees. Jaudar was left penniless as well. Then the older brothers took everything from their mother and drove her out of the family home to beg for alms.

But the youngest son, Jaudar, did not abandon his mother. He got a net and a boat and began to fish. He sold or exchanged his catch for bread and fruit, and in this way, he and his mother managed to scrape by.

Meanwhile, the older brothers squandered their mother's share. They began to starve and eventually came to their mother to beg for bread.

The mother did not turn them away. She gave them her last piece of bread, ate nothing herself, and said nothing to Jaudar. Jaudar soon figured out what had happened but remained silent: he was the kindest man in the world, working tirelessly to feed both his mother and his brothers.

One day, he was sitting in his boat, gazing sadly at the water. He had cast his net into the lake many times but caught nothing. Just then, a man riding a mule passed by. He stopped and asked Jaudar:

"Aren't you Jaudar, the son of the merchant from this town?"
Jaudar was surprised that a stranger knew him and replied:

"Yes, that's me."

The stranger then dismounted and said:

"I am a Maghrebi, a resident of the Maghreb. Grant my request, Jaudar, and you will not regret meeting me today."

With these words, he handed Jaudar a rope and asked him to tie him up and throw him into the water. Jaudar flatly refused, but the stranger kept persuading and pleading:

"Tie me up, don't be afraid," he said. "Then throw me into the water. If my hands emerge from the water, cast your net and pull me out. But if my feet appear above the water, know that I have drowned. Then don't think about me anymore and don't try to save me. But take this mule to the city market, where you'll see a man who looks like me standing at the warehouse door. Give him the mule, and he will give you a hundred dinars."

The stranger kept persuading Jaudar for a long time, and finally, Jaudar agreed to fulfill his strange request. He tied up the Maghrebi and threw him into the water. Jaudar waited a while and then saw two feet emerge from the water. Realizing that the stranger had drowned, he took the mule by the reins, led it to the city market, and there, a man who looked exactly like the drowned man came out of the warehouse. Without saying a word, he took the mule and gave Jaudar a hundred dinars.

Jaudar returned home and shared the money with his brothers. His heart was as soft as wax, and his kindness knew no bounds! The next day, he went out to fish again. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even catch a single minnow.

As he was packing up to go home, he suddenly saw a stranger riding a mule, looking exactly like the drowned man from the day before. The man dismounted and confronted Jaudar:

"Tell me what happened here yesterday!"

Jaudar was frightened and at first didn't want to say anything, but the man's commanding gaze paralyzed him with fear, and he told him everything.

The poor fisherman, trembling with fear, expected punishment for what he had done the day before. But Jaudar was astonished when the stranger made the same request as the Maghrebi: he wanted Jaudar to tie him up and throw him into the water. If his hands appeared, Jaudar was to pull him out with the net, but if his feet appeared, he was to do nothing except take the mule to the market, where he would receive a hundred dinars.

Jaudar finally agreed, tied up the stranger, and threw him into the water. He waited a while, and when feet appeared above the water, he took the mule to the market. Once again, Jaudar received a hundred dinars, shared them equally with his brothers, and vowed never to fish again.

But the next morning, he couldn't find peace. Some force drove him back to the lake. Unable to resist, Jaudar went there again. He cast his net into the water just for the sake of it: he didn't need the catch anymore, as they now had plenty of money. He sat there, cursing himself in his heart for returning to the lake.
And suddenly, a man appeared on a mule, resembling those two drowned men. The stranger told Jaudar that he was from the Maghreb and asked the fisherman if he was Jaudar, the son of a merchant from this city. Jaudar nodded and immediately told the stranger everything that had happened the day before and the day before that.

"O stranger," Jaudar pleaded, "do not ask anything of me. I will not bind you or throw you into the water. I will not do that anymore."

"Those two who drowned here were my brothers," said the Maghrebi.

"There were four of us with our father. Our father taught us to perform miracles and to cast spells, and when he died, he left us many treasures and a book of wisdom. We quarreled over this book. We argued for a long time about who would get it, and finally, we went to a sheikh. The sheikh said, 'The book will go to the one who brings me the Mirror of the Universe, the Ring of All Roads, and the Sword of Lightning. The one who becomes the owner of the sword will defeat any army: all he has to do is raise the sword, and a bolt of lightning will fly out and destroy everything. The one who possesses the mirror can look into every corner of the world. He will find any person, no matter where they are hiding. The one who has the ring can go anywhere they desire: all they need to do is turn the ring on their finger once.' The sheikh also added that only Jaudar, the son of a merchant from such-and-such a city, could help us obtain these things. 'You will find him by the lake outside the city, where he catches fish,' said the sheikh.

"And when you find him, ask him to bind you and throw you into the lake. At the bottom of the lake, you must fight the two sons of the sorcerer al-Malik, defeat them, and take them captive. The one who overcomes them will then go with Jaudar to search for the three magical items." When the sheikh finished, we consulted among ourselves, and one of us, the one who bought two mules from you at the market, renounced his claim to the book. We asked him to find you and let us know. And so, the three of us, one after another, set out to find you. What happened to my two brothers, you already know well. Today, I will try my luck for the last time. Bind me, Jaudar, and throw me into the water."

Jaudar's head spun as he listened to this long tale. In his heart, he cursed himself for getting involved in this story with sorcerers. But he could not refuse anyone, and this time was no exception—he bound the stranger and threw him into the water.

The Maghrebi disappeared beneath the water, and Jaudar already thought that the stranger had met the same fate as his brothers. But suddenly, the lake rippled, and a minute later, two hands emerged from the water, each holding a red fish. Jaudar quickly cast his net and pulled the Maghrebi out of the water.

The Maghrebi shook himself off, opened the bags tied to either side of the saddle, stuffed one fish into each, and said:

"Thank you, Jaudar! But I still need you. Here is a thousand dinars. Give them to your mother so she lacks nothing while you are gone. Tell her you are going to wander the world. Do not tell her what happened here or what you heard from me. We will go with you to the city of Fas, where you will help me obtain the three magical items. You will not regret coming with me. I will make you a sultan."

Jaudar took the thousand dinars from the Maghrebi and brought them to his mother.

"I am going to wander the world," he told her. "Do not worry about me; I will return soon."

Jaudar warmly bid farewell to his brothers and asked them to take care of their mother in his absence.

The next day, the Maghrebi and Jaudar were already on their way. At noon, the Maghrebi asked Jaudar:

"Would you like to eat, Jaudar?"

"Oh, of course, I would," replied Jaudar.

"What would you like?"

Jaudar asked for a piece of bread with cheese.

"You deserve a better meal," said the Maghrebi, tapping the bag tied to the saddle. "Would you like roast chicken? Or rice with honey, or perhaps you prefer candied grapes?"

And he listed more than forty dishes for Jaudar.

"But there's no way all that food could fit in that bag!" exclaimed Jaudar. "You'd have a hard time fitting even two chickens in there."

"Just watch," said the Maghrebi.
He opened the bag and took out a golden platter with roasted chickens. Then he pulled out another platter—this one with rice—followed by a third, a fourth, a fifth, until soon, forty golden platters stood before Jaudar. Each one held a different delicacy, each more exquisite than the last.

Astonished, Jaudar couldn’t utter a single word.

"Eat," said the Maghribi. "The fish I pulled from the lake and placed in the bags are the children of the sorcerer al-Malik. Now they serve me."

Jaudar said nothing, for this was the fourth day in a row that miracles had unfolded before his eyes. He sat on the ground and began to eat.

Afterward, they continued their journey, and a week later, they arrived in the city of Fes. The Maghribi found a half-ruined palace, and there they stopped. The Maghribi left Jaudar to guard the mule while he searched through the ruins until he found what he was looking for. The sorcerer called Jaudar, and they descended a crumbling staircase to a pair of copper gates.

"Now, Jaudar," said the Maghribi, "you will enter through these gates into a dark passage. Do not look back. Walk forward until you reach a golden curtain. Pull it aside and enter the room. There, you will see your mother sitting on a silver chest. Do not be afraid when she tells you to strike her face. She is not your mother. The guardian of the treasure has taken her form to confuse you. When you strike her, she will turn into a snake and slither away. Do not fear; she will not harm you. Then, open the chest and take from it the Mirror of the Universe, the Ring of All Paths, and the Sword of Lightning. Bring them to me. I will ask nothing more of you."

Jaudar trembled with fear. He knew there was no escaping these mysterious affairs now. But it was too late to turn back. He should never have gotten involved with that first Maghribi.

His companion knocked three times on the copper gates, and finally, they opened. The Maghribi pushed Jaudar into the dark passage. Jaudar walked forward, his knees weak with fear, but he kept going, not looking to the sides, until at last, he saw the golden curtain before him. He pulled it aside and entered the room. Inside, there was a chest, and on it sat a woman. She lifted the veil from her face, and Jaudar recognized his own mother. He froze, as if struck by lightning.

"Jaudar," the woman exclaimed, "it’s good that you’ve come. Strike me, my son!"

Though Jaudar was a timid man, he would sooner fight a dragon than strike his own mother.

"Strike me, Jaudar," the woman repeated. "Your brothers would have had no trouble doing so."

She rose from the chest and offered her face to Jaudar. In vain, he recalled the Maghribi’s words that this was not his mother but the guardian of the treasure, who had taken her form to deceive him. Tears streamed from his eyes, his throat tightened, and instead of striking her, he kissed her wrinkled face. The room instantly darkened. The woman vanished. When the light returned, Jaudar saw that the chest had opened on its own. Without hesitation, he grabbed the Mirror of the Universe, the Ring of All Paths, and the Sword of Lightning, turned, and ran back.

The Maghribi thanked Jaudar and rejoiced over the magical items like a child. Jaudar was afraid to tell him what had happened in the room, but the Maghribi began to question him, and Jaudar had to confess everything. The Maghribi smiled when he heard the story and said:

"You are a good son, Jaudar. If you had struck the woman, we both would have paid dearly for it. The truth is, no one but you could have endured this trial. For you, respect and love for your mother are worth more than all the treasures."

Then the Maghribi untied the two bags from the saddle, set the mule free, turned the Ring of All Paths, and wished silently for them to appear in Jaudar’s hometown. In an instant, they were there.

The travelers entered the city, and right at the city gates, Jaudar saw his mother. The poor old woman was begging for alms. With tears, she told him that as soon as Jaudar had left home, his elder brothers had taken her money and thrown her out into the street. Jaudar comforted her as best he could.

"From now on, until the day you die, you will know neither sorrow nor need."

He invited the Maghribi to his home, asking him to stay as his guest for at least a day. But the Maghribi said:

"I must deliver the magical items to the sheikh. Every day is precious to me. Take the enchanted bag and remember my words: the time will come when you will become a sultan as a reward for helping me."

The Maghribi gave Jaudar the enchanted bag, bid him farewell, and left the city. Jaudar and his mother went to their home. When they arrived, his brothers were not there. His mother was afraid to stay, but Jaudar said to her:

"Mother, do not fear anything. I will handle everything with my brothers myself." Soon, the brothers returned home and, with curses, lunged at Jaudar.
— How dare you, you lazy good-for-nothing, enter our house? But Jawad immediately told them about the magic bag, showed them the wonders it could perform, and began pulling out dish after dish of rare delicacies. The brothers took advantage of Jawad's kindness and pretended to love him more than life itself.

They lived like this for a week, then another, until the brothers finally conspired to get rid of Jawad forever and take the magic bag for themselves. They went to the harbor and found a man who hired sailors. They lied to him, saying they had an evil brother who mistreated both their mother and them.

"Help us get rid of him," the deceitful brothers asked. The man agreed and said:

"Very well, bring your brother to me, and I'll deal with him somehow."

That same evening, the brothers lured Jawad out of the house, inviting him for a stroll along the waterfront. At the agreed-upon spot, the sailors pounced on the poor man, tied him up, and dragged him onto a ship.

The satisfied brothers returned home, immediately kicked out their mother, and never left the magic bag's side. They ate, drank, and thought of nothing else.

But after a few days, the brothers began to quarrel over the bag. Finally, they took their dispute to a judge, and in their heated argument, they let slip about the wonders the bag could perform. When the judge heard this, he ordered the bag to be taken from them and threw them in prison. Then the judge took the magic bag and reported it to the sultan. He told the sultan about the magic bag and presented it to him as a gift. The sultan promoted the judge in rank. From then on, the bag prepared dishes day and night for the sultan, yet the food never ran out.

Meanwhile, Jawad became a sailor, sailing the seas in heat and storm, suffering from thirst and hunger. One day, a terrible storm arose, the ship was wrecked, and almost all the sailors perished. But among the survivors was Jawad.

He wandered as a beggar in a foreign land until he came to a large city. Jawad roamed the streets, exhausted from the heat and weakened by hunger. Suddenly, he heard someone call out:

Jawad turned around and recognized the Maghrebi, the very man he had helped obtain the three magical items. The Maghrebi immediately embraced him and took him to his home. There, Jawad told him how he had gone for a walk with his brothers along the waterfront, how the sailors had dragged him onto a ship, and all that he had endured during the voyage, and how he ended up in this country.

The Maghrebi ordered a bath to be prepared for Jawad with refreshing water. Jawad bathed, the Maghrebi dressed him in fine clothes, and fed him delicious food. When the guest had eaten his fill, the host said to him:

"This is the city of Maghreb. Come with me to the sheikh, and you will learn what is happening at your home."

The Maghrebi introduced Jawad to the sheikh and said that this was the very man who had helped him obtain the Mirror of the Universe, the Ring of All Paths, and the Sword of Lightning. Then he asked the sheikh to allow them to look into the Mirror of the Universe. The sheikh led them to another hall and pulled back the covering from the wall; beneath it hung a mirror that Jawad knew well: the mirror was the size of a platter. The sheikh rubbed it with his fingers, and shadows began to flicker across the glass, and a noise emanated from the mirror, as if someone were speaking in the distance. Suddenly, the shadows took on the shapes of people, and Jawad recognized his brothers. He heard them conspiring to get rid of him and persuading a stranger at the harbor—in short, he learned everything. Finally, he saw how the judge took the bag from his brothers and ordered them thrown in prison, and how the bag ended up with the sultan, who held lavish feasts every day. Jawad's heart ached with pity when he saw his mother begging for alms at the city gates. But he also pitied his brothers, for life in prison was not easy for them.

When they had learned all they wanted to know, the sheikh covered the mirror again, and the Maghrebi and Jawad returned home. The Maghrebi urged Jawad to stay as a guest, but Jawad wanted to return to his homeland as soon as possible to help his mother and brothers.

The Maghrebi did not try to stop Jawad. But before parting with him, he hung a chain around his neck, and on that chain was a copper ball.

"I promised to make you a sultan," said the Maghrebi. "The time has come for me to fulfill my promise. The sheikh, with the help of the Ring of All Paths, will deliver you home. Tonight, you will find yourself on the outskirts of your hometown. Take the ball hanging around your neck in your hand, rub it with your fingers, and speak aloud your wish for a palace a hundred times more magnificent than the sultan's to rise on the spot where you stand. Then wish for the magic bag to be yours again. The sultan will send his army against you, but with the help of this ball, you will withstand the battle and become the sultan yourself."

That very night, Jawad was on the outskirts of his hometown, which he had not seen for so long. Jawad rubbed the ball with his fingers, as the Maghrebi had instructed, and wished for a palace a hundred times more magnificent than the sultan's to rise on the spot where he stood. Immediately, a wondrous palace with a golden roof, golden towers, and balconies appeared.

Servants surrounded Jawad and led him to luxurious chambers where music played and dancers twirled—beauties the likes of which Jawad had never seen in his life.

Then Jawad rubbed the ball again and wished for his mother to be there. His wish was immediately granted. Jawad's mother could not believe her eyes when she suddenly found herself in this magnificent palace. At first, she did not even recognize her son Jawad, dressed in expensive clothes. Jawad embraced her and said they would never part again. He assigned her lavish chambers and ordered the servants to treat her like a queen. Then Jawad rubbed the copper ball a third time and wished for the magic bag to be his again. This wish, too, was fulfilled without delay. The magic bag seemed to fall from the sky at his feet.

At that very moment, an alarm sounded in the sultan's palace. The sultan was feasting with his courtiers, and the cooks could not keep up with pulling dishes of rare delicacies from the magic bag—when suddenly the bag disappeared, as if it had vanished into thin air. The frightened servants called for the sultan, searched the entire palace, but the bag was nowhere to be found. At that point, the sultan had no time for merriment.
He became even more enraged early in the morning when he saw a huge palace at the other end of the city. Next to it, his own castle looked like a miserable fisherman's hut. The Sultan sent his envoy to the palace to immediately bring the insolent man who dared to rise above the Sultan. The bold offender was to face a cruel punishment. But as soon as the Sultan's envoy approached the gates of Jawad's palace, two burly guards pounced on him and beat him so badly that he barely managed to drag himself away.

The Sultan was beside himself with anger when he learned what had happened. He sent an entire regiment of soldiers to seize the palace and capture the insolent owner. But as soon as the Sultan's warriors found themselves in front of the palace, they stopped as if rooted to the spot. No one could move a hand or a foot, the horses stood still, and everyone seemed to have turned to stone. And all of this was done by Jawad with the help of a copper ball. The enraged Sultan watched from the window of his palace and nearly burst with fury. Then the vizier advised him to go to the palace himself.

"O ruler," said the cunning nobleman, "it seems that the one who owns this palace is stronger than you. There is nothing left but to submit to him, so as not to incur his wrath."

And so the Sultan and his vizier went to Jawad's palace. Jawad received the Sultan with all honors and held a lavish feast. The kind-hearted Jawad immediately impressed the Sultan.

At the feast, seeing such wealth around him, the Sultan said to Jawad:

"I see that your power is great. Would you like to be my ally?" Jawad agreed, and before the feast was over, the Sultan offered him his daughter's hand in marriage. The princess was as beautiful as the day, her skin whiter than sugar, and her slender figure could rival a cypress tree.

When the next day the Sultan brought his daughter to Jawad to introduce them to each other, Jawad fell in love with her at first sight, and the princess immediately gave him her heart. After that, there was no reason to delay the wedding. And at the wedding feast, the cooks could hardly keep up with taking out dishes of rare delicacies from the magic bag.

From then on, the magic bag knew no rest. Jawad remembered well how hard it was to live in poverty. Therefore, he ordered that food from the bag be distributed not only to the residents of the city but also to people from all corners of his kingdom. Every day, crowds of people came for rice, grain, and fruit, and from then on, no one in that country suffered from hunger.

Finally, the Sultan transferred power to Jawad, and he could not have done anything better. There was no wiser ruler in any state in the world. Jawad's brothers had long been released from prison, but they had to leave their homeland. This time, Jawad did not forgive them for their cruel treatment of their mother. He equipped a ship for them and advised them to earn their living by transporting goods somewhere in a foreign land.

"You are not allowed to appear here," he said to his brothers as they parted. And from then on, he never heard from them again.

Soon after the wedding, Jawad went for a walk outside the city with his beautiful wife to show her the lake where he had found his happiness. When they leaned over the water and, laughing, watched the dance of the silver fish, something suddenly splashed, as if a pebble had fallen into the water.

Jawad clutched his chest and saw that the copper ball had disappeared, only a broken chain hanging around his neck.

But what did he need the magic ball for now! Jawad did not even regret it and was only glad that all the wonders had come to an end. Only one magical thing he cherished—the bag. After all, it served not only him but all the people in that country, so that they could live in abundance and never know hunger or need.

For this, the people glorified Jawad and loved him with all their hearts, and since his people lived well, Jawad felt at ease.

For many, many years, he ruled wisely and was happy, and

What happened next, only the moon knows,

Which rises in the sky every night,

It sees everything but remains silent,

Keeping all secrets in the heavens.

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