On the 620th Night

Hasan continued his story - "O Lord, As soon as they departed, I went to do my work and worked until night fell. After my supper I went to bed, and as I was changing my clothes to go to bed, the lead coin fell on the ground. I picked it up and kept it carelessly in a small hole in the wall. Now that very night, it so happened that a fisherman, a neighbor of mine, came to me in need of a small coin to buy some twine for mending his fish-net, as he had to go to catch fish next morning; so he had to keep his net ready in the night. He asked his wife to buy some twine and the woman went everywhere but could not find it anywhere.

The fisherman asked - "Have you been to Hasan's house?" And she said, "No. It is the farthest house among neighbor's houses; and even if I had gone there, I could not have come back." "Oh, You are very lazy. Go now and try his house. Maybe he has some copper to lend us." So the woman, grumbling and muttering, came to my house and said to me - "Hasan, My husband is in sore need of a piece to buy some twine for mending his nets." I remembered that coin which Shaad gave to me. I asked my wife to give that coin to her. She took the coin and thanking me said - "You have showed us so much kindness, so whatever my husband will catch in the first catch, I will give it to you. I am sure my husband will not say "No" to this." When the woman told about this to her husband, he said - "For the first time in your whole life you have taken an intelligent step."

Next day when he threw his net in the river, he caught a fish only a span long and wide, which he kept as my share. After this he threw his net again and again and he caught many fish but none was so big as the first one. As soon as he returned home, he brought the fish for me - "My wife promised that I will give you the first fish I caught, so here it is to show my gratitude for the coin you gave me. If Allaah had given me many fish first time, they would have all been yours, but only this was in your fate." I said - "I did not give you last night so much that I should expect you to give me so much in return." And I refused to accept it. But he insisted that it was mine and he could not keep it, so I kept it. I gave it to my wife and said - "This fish is in return of the coin I gave this fisherman last night. Shaad told me that by means of this coin I will become prosperous." And then I told her the story of that day when Shaad gave me that lead coin.

Seeing the single fish, she said - "How shall I cook it? I will cut it and broil it for the children, because we do not have spices to dress it." So she cut the belly of the fish to cook it and Lo, she found a diamond in it. She thought it was a glass piece or a crystal, so she gave to the youngest child to play with it. His other friends also wanted to have it for its brightness and they all had it for some time. Then the night fell, the lamp was lit and they all saw it shining in the lamp light. They all shouted and cried with joy.

First I did not pay any attention to their noise, but when it exceeded, I went to check the reason of their quarrel. My eldest boy said - "The reason of this quarrel is this glass piece which itself is shining liking a lamp." I enquired my wife as where did she get that piece of the crystal?" She said, "From the stomach of the fish." So I thought that because of that coin, at least now we will not need any lamp and we will save the oil.

On the 621st Night

Still I did not think that it could be a diamond. I asked her to hide the lamp. I placed it at some high wall and its light was so much that we could work in its light. When the children saw me putting out the lamp and using the glass instead of the lamp, they shouted and danced with joy and screamed so much that neighbors came to see what was the reason of so much screaming. But I sent them back to their houses and we also slept.

Next day I forgot about that glass piece and went to work. Now there lived a jeweler nearby us. He used to sell all kinds of precious jewels. He was also disturbed by the noise children made last night. So when he woke up in the morning, he and his wife came to our house complaining that there was lot of disturbance last night. Before she could blame my wife, my wife said - "You know, How children shout and dance on little things." And she showed them the glass piece." Now the jeweler's wife had a long experience of precious stones, so as she saw it she filled with wonder. She asked my wife where she got it. My wife told her that how she found that glass piece. At this the jeweler's wife said - "This piece of glass is much more precious than all glass pieces. I have one such piece of glass which I wear on occasions. If you would like to sell it, I will buy it."

Hearing this the children started weeping and said - "O Mother, Please do not sell it we will not make noise any more." The jeweler's wife told my wife not to tell this to anyone else and if any time she wanted to sell it, just send her a word. And off she went. Then she went to her shop where her husband was sitting and she told him about the glass piece. He said - "You immediately go to her and express your desire to buy it, saying that it is for you. Start with small priced and then increase it."

The Jeweler's wife immediately came to my house and offered 20 Asharfees for it. My wife considered it a lot of money for that glass piece, but she did not accept it. By that time I also  came back home from my work and saw the two women talking at their high pitch. As my wife saw me, she said to me - "She wants to buy that glass piece for 20 Asharfees, but I have not yet given her word, what do you say?" I remembered Shaad's words, "You will get lots of money for this." So I refused to sell it at that price. The jeweler's wife said - "If you are not selling it at 20, I will give you 50 Asharees."

When she increased the price like this, I thought that this glass was more valuable than this, so I kept quiet, and did not speak a word. The she increased its price to 100 Asharfees. Then I said to her - "O Woman, Why do you talk so foolishly, I will not sell it for less than 100,000 gold coins. This price is for you only because you are our neighbor." The woman raised the price up to 50,000 and said - "Just wait till morning and do not sell it until my man comes and sees it."

On the 622nd Night

Next day the jeweler came and I showed it to him. He inspected it and found it better than what his wife had described it, so he said - "My wife bade only 50,000 but I will give you 20,000 more." I said - "Your wife must have told you the price I set for it, 100,000, not less than that." He was trying to buy it for a lesser price, but I said - "If you are not buying it at my price, I will sell it to some other jeweler." At last he agreed to my price and said - "Tomorrow I will bring the money and take away the diamond."

Next day he brought the full money and took away the diamond. I thanked Allaah and hoped to see my two friends, Shaad and Shaadee, soon. Soon I bought a mansion to live and furnished it to my choice. I saved some money to expand our business. So I went to many rope-makers and asked them to make ropes for me. Thus now there was only one rope-merchant, I. I opened many warehouses in the whole Iraaq.

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