"He is a poor laboring man, Abdul Karim by name, who of his poverty gave one-fifth to the shrine at Meshed, and now, because he has found the King's treasure, they have bound him, and are bringing him to this city to oppress him."
So the King went forth two days' journey to meet Abdul. First came one hundred horsemen. Next, poor Abdul, seated on a camel, with his arms bound tightly. Walking behind the camel were the weeping children and their mother. Then came the foot soldiers guarding the treasure. The King made the camel kneel down, and with his own hands undid the cruel bonds.
Then with tears running down his face, Abdul knelt before the King and pleaded for his dear ones, saying: "If thou slay me, at least let these innocent ones go free!"
Lifting Abdul from the ground, the King then said: "I am come to honor, not to slay thee. When thou hast rested, thou shalt return to thine own province, not as a prisoner, but as the Governor thereof." And smiling, he added:
"Already is the silk dress prepared for Zeeba; the horse and sword for Yusuf; and the Indian handkerchief and the golden slippers for Fatima have not been forgotten." For the King had read in the report of the chief of police all the details of Abdul's case.
And so it was that Abdul's piety and gift to the shrine had come back, not a hundredfold, but beyond his wildest dreams, and the shrine and the poor benefited greatly thereby.
THE KING AND THE FISHERMAN
