Commencing With Part Of The Thirty-Sixth Night, And Ending With Part Of

THE FORTY-FOURTH.

THE STORY OF GHÁNIM THE SON OF EIYOOB, THE DISTRACTED SLAVE OF LOVE.

It hath been told me, O happy King, said Shahrazád, that there was, in ancient times, a certain merchant of Damascus,[VII_1] possessed of wealth, who had a son like the moon at the full, of eloquent tongue, called Ghánim the son of Eiyoob,[VII_2] the Distracted Slave of Love; and this son had a sister, named Fitneh,[VII_3] on account of her excessive beauty and loveliness. Their father died, leaving them large property, among which were a hundred loads[VII_4] of silk and brocade, and bags[VII_5] of musk, and upon these loads was written, This is intended for Baghdád:–it having been his desire to journey to that city.

So, when God (whose name be exalted!) had taken his soul, and some time had elapsed, his son took these loads, and journeyed with them to Baghdád.–This was in the time of Hároon Er-Rasheed.–He took leave of his mother and relations and townspeople before his departure, and went forth, placing his dependence upon God (whose name be exalted!), and God decreed him safety, so that he arrived at Baghdád, whither there travelled in his company a party of merchants. He hired for himself a handsome house, and furnished it with carpets and cushions, and suspended curtains in it; and there he deposited those loads, together with the mules and camels, and remained until he had rested himself; and the merchants of Baghdád, and its great men, came and saluted him. He then took a wrapper containing ten pieces of costly stuff, with the prices written upon them, and went forth with them to the market of the merchants, who met him and saluted him, treated him with honour and welcomed him, and seated him at the shop of the Sheykh of the market; and he sold the pieces, gaining, for every piece of gold, two. So Ghánim rejoiced; and he proceeded to sell the stuffs by little and little, and continued to do so for a whole year.

After this, on the first day of the following year, he came to the same market, but found its gate shut, and, inquiring the cause of this, he was answered, One of the merchants hath died, and all the rest of them have gone to walk in his funeral-procession. Wilt thou then, added his informant, gain a recompense[VII_6] by walking with them?–He replied, Yes;–and he asked respecting the place of the funeral. So they guided him thither; and he performed the ablution,[VII_7] and walked with the other merchants until they arrived at the place of prayer, where they prayed over the dead. The merchants then walked all together before the corpse to the burial-ground, Ghánim following them, until the procession arrived at the burial-ground outside the city, and they proceeded among the tombs until they came to that in which the corpse was to be deposited. They found that the family of the deceased had pitched a tent over the tomb, and placed there the candles and lamps; and they buried the dead, and the readers sat reciting the Ḳur-án at the tomb. The merchants sat with them; and so also did Ghánim the son of Eiyoob; but he was overcome by bashfulness, saying within himself, I cannot quit them until I have departed with them. They sat listening to the recitation of the Ḳur-án until the period of nightfall, when the servants placed before them the supper and sweetmeats, and they ate till they were satisfied, and washed their hands, and resumed their seats.

The heart of Ghánim was now troubled with reflections upon his merchandize, and he was fearful of the thieves, and said within himself, I am a stranger, and suspected of possessing wealth, and if I pass the night far away from my abode, the thieves will steal the money and the loads. So, fearing for his property, he arose and went forth from among the company, asking their leave to depart on account of some business that he had to transact, and followed the beaten track until he came to the gate of the city: but it was then midnight, and he found the gate of the city shut, and saw no one coming or going, and heard not a sound save the barking of the dogs, and the howling of the wolves; whereupon he exclaimed, There is no strength nor power but in God! I was in fear for my property, and came hither on account of it, and have found the gate shut, and now I have become in fear for my life!–He then returned to seek for himself a place in which to sleep until the morning: and, finding a private burial-place enclosed by four walls, with a palm-tree within it, and a gate-way of hard stone, open, he entered it, and desired to sleep; but sleep came not to him.

Tremor and gloom overcame him, thus lying among the tombs, and he rose upon his feet, and, opening the door, looked out, and beheld a light gleaming in the distance in the direction of the city-gate. He advanced a few steps, and saw the light approaching in the way which led to the burial-place in which he was taking refuge; whereupon Ghánim feared for himself, and hastily closed the door, and climbed up into the palm-tree, and concealed himself in the midst of its branches. The light continued to approach the tomb by little and little until it came very near; and as he looked attentively at it, he perceived three black slaves, two of whom were bearing a chest, the other having in his hand an adze and a lantern; and as they drew near, one of the two slaves who were bearing the chest said, What aileth thee, O Ṣawáb?[VII_8]–to which the other of the two replied, What aileth thee, O Káfoor?[VII_9] The former rejoined, Were we not here at the hour of nightfall, and did we not leave the door open?–Yes, answered the other: what thou sayest is true.–See then, resumed the first speaker, it is shut and barred.–Upon this, the third, who was carrying the adze and light, and whose name was Bakheet,[VII_10] said, How small is your sense! Know ye not that the owners of the gardens go forth from Baghdád and repair hither, and, evening overtaking them, enter this place, and shut the door upon themselves, through fear, lest the blacks, like ourselves, should take them and roast them and eat them?[VII_11]–Thou hast spoken truth, they answered; but there is none among us of less sense than thyself.–Verily, he replied, ye will not believe me until we enter the burial-place and find some one in it: and I imagine that, if any one be in it, and have seen the light, he hath betaken himself to the top of the palm-tree.

[Illustration]

When Ghánim heard these words of the slave, he said within himself, How cunning is this slave! May Allah disgrace the blacks for their malice and villainy! There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great! What will deliver me from this difficulty?–The two who were bearing the chest then said to him who had the adze, Climb over the wall, and open to us the door, O Bakheet; for we are fatigued with carrying the chest upon our necks: and if thou open to us the door, we will give thee one of the persons whom we take, and we will fry him for thee excellently, so that not a drop of his fat shall be lost. But he replied, I am afraid of a thing that my little sense hath suggested to me: let us throw over the chest behind the door; for it is our deposite. They said to him, If we throw it, it will break.–I am afraid, he rejoined, that there may be, within the tomb, robbers who slay men and steal their property; for when evening overtaketh them they enter these places to divide what they have taken.–O thou of little sense, exclaimed the two others; can they enter here?–They then put down the chest, and climbed up the wall, and descended, and opened the door, while the third slave, Bakheet, stood waiting for them with the light, and a basket containing some plaster: after which they seated themselves, having closed the door; and one of them said, O my brother, we are tired with walking and taking up and putting down, and opening the door and shutting it, and it is now midnight, and we have not strength remaining to open the tomb and to bury the chest; wherefore we will sit here three hours to rest ourselves, and then rise and accomplish our business: but each of us shall in the mean time tell his story, and relate all that hath happened to him from beginning to end. So the first, who carried the light, told his story; but it was of a nature unfit to be here repeated;[VII_12] after which, another of the slaves thus began.

Moral

Patience and perseverance in pursuing truth reveal what hasty judgment obscures. The wise Sultan’s measured investigation contrasts sharply with quick condemnation, showing wisdom’s value.

Historical & Cultural Context

The Arabian Nights (Alf Layla wa-Layla) is a Middle Eastern frame-tale collection compiled across centuries from Arabic, Persian, Indian and Egyptian sources, in which Shahrazad’s nightly tales weave romance, adventure and moral reflection for King Shahryar.

This thirty-sixth night tale belongs to the core of the Alf Layla wa-Layla as compiled in Mamluk Cairo manuscripts. The Sultan’s role as ultimate arbiter of justice reflects Fatimid and Mamluk judicial traditions, where the ruler’s wisdom faced testing through riddling cases and moral puzzles. Shahrazad’s inclusion of such tales presented the ideal prince as thoughtful and merciful rather than merely powerful, serving pedagogical purposes for actual rulers who heard these stories read aloud in palace gatherings.

Reflection & Discussion

1. How did the Sultan’s patience help him discover truth that rushing would have missed?
2. Can you find a modern example where hasty judgment hurt someone unfairly?
3. What skills did the Sultan use that an impulsive ruler would have lacked?

Did You Know?

• The Arabian Nights, also known as ‘One Thousand and One Nights,’ was compiled over many centuries from Persian, Indian, and Arabic sources.
• The famous tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba were actually added to the collection by French translator Antoine Galland in the 18th century.
• Scheherazade, the narrator of the Arabian Nights, is considered one of the most iconic storytellers in world literature.

What This Tale Teaches Us Today

Old stories keep their power because their lessons never stop being useful. Here is how this one still applies:

• Folk tales teach ethics without lecturing. A good story can reshape a mind more powerfully than any rule.
• Every folk tale is also a time machine – a small window into how our ancestors thought about the world.
• Stories that have survived for centuries have done so because their lessons still work.

Why This Story Still Matters

Commencing With Part Of The Thirty-Sixth Night, And Ending With Part Of joins a vast global library of folk tales that human beings have been telling one another for thousands of years. Every culture has produced its own stories, but the deepest themes – courage, kindness, cleverness, loyalty, the cost of greed – appear again and again in different clothes. Modern readers who spend time with folk tales inherit something precious: a sense that people have always wrestled with the same basic questions, and that good stories can still help us find good answers. That is why these tales persist. Each one is a small tool for living, handed down quietly through generations.

Cultural Context and Continuing Influence

Folk tales like this one survived for hundreds of years through oral storytelling before any scholar thought to write them down. Grandparents told them to grandchildren, travelers traded them along roads and rivers, and mothers repeated them to babies who would one day repeat them to their own children. Each small retelling sharpened the story, discarded unnecessary parts, and polished the essential lesson. That long process of refinement is why a good folk tale feels so weighty – it has been shaped by thousands of listeners across generations, each contributing something small to the story we read today.

Modern readers sometimes wonder whether folk tales are still relevant in an age of apps and smartphones. The answer is yes, perhaps more than ever. The technology changes, but the underlying questions – about kindness, courage, loyalty, greed, family, fear, love – do not. These are the same questions that children asked around a fire in ancient India, around a hearth in medieval Ireland, around a campfire in 19th-century Korea. And they are the same questions children ask their parents today, just phrased differently. That is why a family that reads folk tales together is doing real cultural and emotional work, not simply entertaining itself.