Ramadan Karim and Happy Eid
Tonight, we will conclude our tale for this Ramadan, the “Tale of Fatima, Halima and Karima”.
We will soon learn the fate of the three sisters, as well as that of Mishkah and Rima — but first, let’s have our little chitchat.
I truly hope you enjoyed this year’s Ramadan tale and that you didn’t find it boring. And if you understand Arabic, I hope you also enjoyed the televised version of the story.
Most of all, I hope you took away its message: that the truth eventually comes to light, no matter how many try to bury it beneath lies.
And now, without further delay, here is the 702nd episode of our Arabian Nights Egyptian radio show — the 30th night of this year’s tale, and the final episode of The Tale of Fatima, Halima, and Karima.
Episode 30: The world gives nothing to the needy.
And when it was the second episode after the hundred and seventh night, on the following evening, King Shahryar took his seat in the council as he had the night before. Shahrazad entered at the appointed time, greeted him, and sat beside him. She then continued her narration, linking the beginning to the end as she brought the tale to its conclusion.
Shahrazad: “I have heard, O fortunate king of wise counsel, that Sultan Golan, the King of the Jinn, when the truth was revealed before him, and reality shone upon his face, rendered judgment upon the heroes of the tale and granted them the most beautiful ending.
All of this, O my lord, was recounted by Fatimah before Sultan Safwan, when Prince Wardan spoke of her to him. And the girl herself spoke, sighing and weeping, as all those present drew near to listen, seized by curiosity and astonishment, as she said:”
Fatimah: “Have you seen, O my lord? Have you seen how the world treats one?”
Sultan Safwan: “And then, O Fatimah?”
Fatimah: “Nothing, O my lord. I was in my father’s house, sitting alone. I mourned my fate and wept for my two sisters, whose whereabouts I do not know. In my sorrow and despair, I spoke to myself of them, longing for them to return to my memory.”
And Fatimah returned in her mind to that moment, whispering to herself:
“Where have you gone, Karima and Halima? I wonder — where are you now? Are you alive, or have you passed from this world?”
Suddenly, Abu Faraj appeared in the girls’ house, shouting and laughing:
“Alive! Hahaha!”
Fatimah: “Allah?? Abu Faraj!!”
Abu Faraj: “The world gives nothing to the needy!”
Fatimah: “Where did you come from?”Abu Faraj: “Later, later… rise.”
Fatimah: “Rise… where?”
Abu Faraj: “Rise and meet your fortune that waits for you… there… at the window.”
Fatimah: “What window?”
Abu Faraj: “Have you forgotten?”
Fatimah: “Forgot what?”
Abu Faraj: “What I told you.”
Fatimah: “What?”
Abu Faraj: “Did I not tell you that your fortune shall come to you and reach you through the windows? Hahaha! Rise, rise, lie down — your fortune awaits you. Have you seen the palace built for you?”
Fatimah: “What are you saying, uncle? Leave me… leave me! Leave me to my grief and my sorrow!”
Abu Faraj: “You don’t yet know what has happened, my child.”
Fatimah: “Enough! You’ve exhausted me, confused me!”
Abu Faraj: “You have your time, and I have mine.”
Fatimah: “A question?”
Abu Faraj, almost losing patience: “Without questions… do you not know who killed Sheikh Kaab al-Ghazal?”
Fatimah, shocked: “What?? My father??”
Abu Faraj: “Do you know what happened to your sister, Karima?”
Fatimah: “Karima?”
Abu Faraj: “Do you know what happened to your sister, Halima?”
Fatimah: “Where are they? Where did they go?”
Abu Faraj: “They are here… hahaha! You will see them, and they will see you when they come to visit you each night in the palace built for you.”
Fatimah: “But it’s impossible! My father… murdered?”
Abu Faraj: “That tale is long and needs telling.”
Fatimah, weeping: “Tell me, uncle… tell me the reasons for their suffering and humiliation.”
Abu Faraj: “Tell you? What shall I say, my child! But not now — there is no time. Come, come, my child.”
Fatimah: “Leave me… leave me!”
Abu Faraj: “Are you afraid of me?”
Fatimah: “I don’t understand anything, uncle.”
Abu Faraj: “I said I will tell you, I will tell you, but not here in your palace.”
Fatimah: “O my Lord!”
Abu Faraj: “Will you rise with me alone, or shall I take you?”
Fatimah: “No, I will rise with you alone.”
Abu Faraj: “Come, my child!”
Fatimah: “I am coming, my child.”
Abu Faraj: “Go ahead.”
Fatimah paused to close the door.
Abu Faraj: “If you close one door, another shall open — say, ‘O Wahab.’”
Fatimah: “O Wahab…”
And with that, the door opened, and Fatimah closed the door of Kaab al-Ghazal’s house behind her.
Fatimah continued recounting the events to the court of Sultan Safwan:
Fatimah: “He took me by the hand, my lord, while I was bewildered, and brought me to this palace — the one you see before you — and he told me these tales that I have now shared with you. Here, O my lord, is my story, here is my tale.”
Sultan Safwan and Prince Wardan (in unison): “Remarkable…”
Prince Wardan: “Is this even real, or but a dream?”
Fatimah: “No, I have lived through these days.”
Sultan Safwan: “Truly, my child… from the moment I first saw you, I felt at ease with you, and my feelings grew after hearing your story.”
Fatimah: “May God prolong your life, protect you, and grant you victory over those who oppose you.”
Prince Wardan: “Father…”
Sultan Safwan: “Wardan, my son, I bless your marriage to the most beautiful maiden my eyes have ever seen.”
Fatimah (in surprise): “Ah…”
Sultan Safwan: “But the matter is not yet finished. It will be completed, as the King of the Jinn began it, I will finish it, O Marjan.”
Marjan: “At your command, O Sultan.”
Sultan Safwan: “Send a force of men to the house of Kaab al-Ghazal to bring Rima immediately.”
Marjan: “At your command, O Sultan.”
Sultan Safwan: “The criminal must face justice; it is not right for the wrongdoer to keep the reward of their crime.”
Fatimah: “We were happy, content… and we continued in that state until our mother passed away, and then Rima reappeared in our lives.”
Marjan: “O my lord, O Sultan, O my lord, O Sultan!”
Sultan Safwan: “What is it?”
Marjan: “Hurry, my lord, O Sultan!”
Sultan Safwan: “What, what is it, Marjan?”
Marjan: “The palace… and the garden!”
Sultan Safwan: “What palace? What garden, Marjan?”
Marjan: “The ones that were before us, my lord, O Sultan.”
Fatimah: “What of them?”
Marjan: “They have vanished from their place.”
Everyone: “Vanished?”
Marjan: “And the place returned as it was.”
Sultan Safwan: “How is that possible?”
Marjan: “Please, come this way, my lord.”
Sultan Safwan: “Come along.”
Prince Wardan: “Open this balcony, Marjan.”
Marjan: “Look, my lord.”
Sultan Safwan: “Allah…”
Prince Wardan: “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.”
Fatimah: “The palace… it has disappeared!”
Marjan: “The palace and the garden!”
Sultan Safwan: “Can one believe one’s own eyes?”
Prince Wardan: “How could it vanish?”
Marjan: “And yet, it had appeared before him?”
Sultan Safwan: “What can one even say?”
Fatimah: “See for yourself, my lord.”
Sultan Safwan: “It means you will stay here with us.”
Fatimah: “Ah! Pardon me, my lord… I prefer my father’s house.”
Sultan Safwan: “And so it shall be,, Marjan?”
Marjan: “At your command, my lord, O Sultan.”
Sultan Safwan: “And the woman named Rima — didn’t you bring her here already?”
Marjan: “Since that time, my lord.”
Sultan Safwan: “Very well. Now I want you to have them bring the two hammers, gather the stones, and go to Kaab al-Ghazal’s house and demolish it at once.”
Fatimah in shock: “Demolish it?”
Sultan Safwan: “And make the surrounding land part of it, expanding the space so that a great palace may be built for Wardan and his bride.”
Fatimah and Prince Wardan’s faces lit with joy.
Marjan: “At your command, O King of the Age.”
Sultan Safwan: “Go forth now.”
Soon, the guards returned, and with them came Rima.
Guard to Rima: “Come in with me, don’t resist.”
Rima: “Then don’t push me.”
Guard: “Come, don’t shout.”
Sultan Safwan: “What is this?”
Fatimah: “That is my aunt, Rima.”
Guard: “This is Rima, my lord.”
Sultan Safwan: “Come here, Rima.”
Guard: “Step forward.”
Rima: “Yes, let us speak, sir — a strike will bring your hand down.”
Sultan Safwan: “Speak to me — I am here.”
Rima (stammering): “Save me, my lord… oh… Allah… Fatimah?”
Fatimah: “Rima, you here… you criminal?”
Sultan Safwan: “She is indeed the criminal.”
Rima: “They have exposed me everywhere, O Sultan, and being far from you, I could not speak.”
And then Rima began to cry.
Sultan Safwan: “Amazing!”
Rima: “If only you knew what they did to me, the shame that filled the world…”
Sultan Safwan: “You can tell me, Rima — where is Karima?”
Rima: “Karima??!!”
Sultan Safwan: “And Halima?”
Rima: “If I tell you her story… all the deeds she did!”
Sultan Safwan: “Very well… but who killed Kaab al-Ghazal?”
Rima, suddenly shocked: “He… killed him??”
Sultan Safwan: “Isn’t that what happened?”
Rima: “Kaab al-Ghazal? Who said that?”
Sultan Safwan: “Do you know who said it?”
Rima: “Who?”
Sultan Safwan: “Sadd al-Hanak.”
Rima, confused: “Haah?”
Sultan Safwan: “Who put the poison in Sadd al-Hanak?”
Rima, trembling: “No… ah… Sadd al-Hanak!”
Prince Wardan: “The criminal is shaken.”
Fatimah: “Now I understand — Sadd al-Hanak…”
Sultan Safwan: “Can you tell me — where is Mishkah?”
Rima: “Mishkah… disappeared… gone.”
Sultan Safwan: “Gone? Where?”
Suddenly, in the council hall of Sultan Safwan, the dervish Abu Faraj appeared:
Abu Faraj: “Shall I tell you where he went?”
Sultan Safwan: “By God…”
Fatimah: “Who?”
Prince Wardan: “Who?”
Fatimah: “Abu Faraj!”
Prince Wardan: “You… Abu Faraj?”
Abu Faraj: “The world gives nothing to the needy.”
Sultan Safwan: “You have come at the right time, Abu Faraj.”
Abu Faraj: “I told Fatimah the story of Rima, and I forgot to tell her the story of Mishkah — how he disappeared and was gone!”
Sultan Safwan: “Gone where?”
Fatimah: “And where did he go?”
Abu Faraj: “Shall I tell you, or not? Mishkah would not yield — he was reluctant, but Rima pressured him. Step by step, fate brought him to his end and took revenge upon him.”
Sultan Safwan: “How?”
Prince Wardan: “Why?”
Fatimah: “What happened?”
Abu Faraj: “What I am about to tell you happened exactly as it should. After claiming the price, he waited among the mourners. When the people left, he opened the tomb and went to steal the shroud, intending to sell it and give Rima her reward.”
Sultan Safwan: “Yes…”
Abu Faraj: “While he was carrying out the deed, some burial workers (hanutiya) arrived. Mishkah hid inside the tomb, and the head of the workers came, caught them, made them bring stones and mortar, and sealed the tomb for a long time.”
Everyone except Rima: “And Mishkah was inside?”
Abu Faraj: “Yes… Mishkah was inside!”
Prince Wardan: “So he died, implicated in the crime?”
Abu Faraj: “And his end was a painful one.”
Sultan Safwan: “This gave us judgment in Rima’s case.”
Marjan returned hastily from Kaab al-Ghazal’s house:
Marjan: “O my Sultan, O my Sultan!”
Sultan Safwan: “What is it?”
Marjan: “The treasures, the jewels, they have been discovered!”
Fatimah: “Where? Where?”
Marjan: “In the house of Kaab al-Ghazal.”
Fatimah: “The treasure has appeared!”
Prince Wardan: “This is the best news.”
Abu Faraj: “Ha ha ha! The treasure has appeared, O Rima! Ha ha! See the consequence of crime?”
Sultan Safwan: “And who is guarding it, Marjan?”
Marjan: “Soldiers and knights stand watch.”
Abu Faraj: “Today, all the prophecies have been fulfilled, O my lord. See how fate rules — in Kaab al-Ghazal’s house lay a buried treasure from the time of Qarun. None would have found it except the one it was meant for.”
Sultan Safwan: “And of course, the guards did not search for it, nor did they know of it.”
Abu Faraj: “And so it was discovered… alone.”
Everyone: “There is no god but God.”
Abu Faraj: “My task here is complete. With your leave, I take my leave. Peace be upon you.”
Sultan Safwan began to reply: “And upon you be peace…” — when suddenly, Abu Faraj disappeared.
Sultan Safwan: “By God…”
Prince Wardan: “Abu Faraj!”
Fatimah and Marjan: “The dervish!”
Marjan: “The dervish speaks to us.”
Fatimah: “He disappears before our eyes.”
Sultan Safwan: “He vanished before us, yet we have learned and witnessed. I have judged, and the judgment belongs to God — what befell Mishkah shall also befall Rima.”
Rima, weeping: “I… I am broken-winged.”
Sultan Safwan: “The enemy of life does not deserve to live. Take her.”
Rima, crying: “Mercy…”
Sultan Safwan: “Not a word! Take her.”
The guards: “Come forward.”
Rima: “Mercy…”
Sultan Safwan: “And now, Fatimah and Prince Wardan’s wedding — decorations are set throughout the land.”
Prince Wardan: “Father…”
Fatimah: “My lord…”
Sultan Safwan: “Live for love, live for peace… love, peace, love, peace…”
Shahrazad: And they lived in steadfastness and growth until they were blessed with sons and daughters. And when the destroyer of pleasures and the divider of groups came for them, glory be to the Ever-Living, who never dies, and in whose hand rests sovereignty — our lord.
And here Shahrazad saw the morning light and fell silent, ending the two hundred and seventh night of One Thousand and One Nights
Here is the 30th episode of our tale, televised.
You can check the previous Ramadan Arabian Nights here.
In the spirit of Ramadan, I invite you to support UNICEF’s relief efforts in Gaza and Sudan, as well as elsewhere on the globe. Every pound, dollar, or euro can make a difference.
Till next Ramadan inshallah.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank You for your comment
Please keep it civilized here, racist and hateful comments are not accepted
The Comments in this blog with exclusion of the blog's owner does not represent the views of the blog's owner.