The Story of the Fisherman with the Efreet
Source
The poor fisherman casts his net three times and got only junk.
He cast his net again and got a jar. He opens the jar and an efreet comes out and tells him that he will kill him!
Notes:
- Suleiman is King Solomon from the Bible.
- Daoud is King David.
ON THE FIRST NIGHT
Sheherazade started again the story of the Fisherman with the Efreet:
It came to me, O fortunate King, that there was a fisherman, a man very advanced in age, married, father of three children, and very poor in his condition.
He used to cast his net four times a day, nothing more. Now, one day among the days, at noon, he went to the seaside, put down his basket, cast his net, and waited until the net went to rest at the bottom of the water. So he gathered the threads and found the net very heavy, and could not pull it to him. He then brought the end to the ground and tied it to a stake driven into the ground. Then he undressed, plunged into the water around the net, and did not stop struggling until he got it out. He rejoiced, dressed again, and approaching the net, he found a dead donkey there. At this sight, he was grieved, and said: “There is no power and strength except in Allah the Highest, the Almighty!" Then he said, "But verily, this gift from Allah is amazing!" And he recited this verse:
O diver! you roll in the darkness of night and perdition, blindly! Go, stop the hard work; for Fortune does not like movement!
Then he withdrew the net, expressed the water from it, and when he had finished expressing it, he stretched out the net. Then he went down into the water and said, “In the name of Allah!" and cast the net again into the water, and waited till the net had touched the bottom; he then tried to pull it out, but he noticed that the net was very heavy and stuck even more to the bottom than the first time. So he thought it was some big fish. He then tied the net to the ground, undressed, dived, and did so much that he pulled it out; and, having carried it to the shore, he found there an enormous jar filled with mud and sand. At this sight, he lamented and recited a few verses:
O vicissitudes of fate, enough! And take pity on humans!
How sad! On earth, there is no reward equal to merit and worthy of action.
Sometimes, I leave my house to, naively, seek Fortune. And I am told that Fortune died long ago.
Misery! Is it thus, O Fortune, that you relegate the wise to the shadows to let the fools rule the world?
Then he threw the jar away from him, twisted the net, cleaned it, asked Allah's forgiveness for his rebellion, and returned to the sea a third time; he threw the net, waited until the net had reached the bottom and, having drawn it up, he found there broken pots and broken glasses. Seeing this he recited another line from a poet:
O Poet, the wind of fortune will never blow on your side! Are you ignorant and naive, that neither your reed quill nor the harmonious lines of writing will ever enrich you?
And raising his head to heaven, he exclaimed, “Allah! You know it! I cast my net only four times. Now, behold, I have already thrown it away three times!" After that, he once again called on the name of Allah and cast his net into the sea, and waited until it rested at the bottom. And this time, despite all his efforts, he was unable to remove the net, which clung even more to the rocks at the bottom. So he exclaimed, "There is no strength and power except with Allah!" Then he undressed, dived all around the net, and began to maneuver until he had freed it and brought it ashore. He opened it and found there, this time, a large vase of yellow copper, full and intact; its mouth was sealed with lead, bearing the imprint of the seal of our lord Suleiman (King Solomon), son of Daoud (King David). At this sight, the fisherman rejoiced very much, and said to himself: “Here is something that I will sell in the souk of the boilermakers because it is well worth at least ten gold dinars!" He then tried to shake the vase, but he found it too heavy, and he said to himself: “I absolutely must open it and see its contents, which I will put in my bag; and then I will sell the vase at the souk." He then took his knife and began to maneuver until he had unsealed the seal; he then overturned the vase and shook it to pour its contents on the ground. But nothing came out of the vase, except a smoke that rose up to the azure of the sky and unrolled on the surface of the ground. And the fisherman was prodigiously astonished. Then the smoke came out entirely, condensed, shook, and became an efreet whose head touched the clouds and whose feet dragged in the dust. The head of this efreet was like a cupola, its hands like pitchforks, its feet like masts, its mouth like a cave, its teeth like pebbles, its nose like a jug, its eyes like two torches; her hair was messy and powdery. At the sight of this efreet, the fisherman was terrified, his muscles trembled, his teeth clenched violently, his saliva dried, and his eyes were blinded by the light.
When the efreet saw the fisherman, he exclaimed: "There is no god but Allah, and Suleiman is the prophet of Allah!" and, addressing the fisherman, he said to him: “And you, O great Suleiman, Prophet of Allah, do not kill me, for never again will I disobey you and mutiny against your orders!" So the fisherman said to him: “O rebellious and daring giant, you dare to say that Suleiman is the prophet of Allah! Besides, Suleiman has been dead for 1800 years already, and we are at the end of time! So what is this story? And what are you talking about here? And what is the cause of your entry into this vessel?" At these words, the efreet said to the fisherman: “There is no other God but Allah! Let me bring you good news, O fisherman!" The fisherman said, "And what are you going to tell me?" He answered: “Your death! And at this very hour, and in the most terrible way!" The fisherman replied: “For this news, you deserve, O lieutenant of the efreets, that heaven withdraws its protection from you! And may he keep you away from us! Why do you want me dead? And what have I done to deserve death? I delivered you from the vase, I saved you from this long stay in the sea and I brought you back to earth!" Then the efreet said: "Weigh and choose the kind of death you prefer and the way you like best to be killed!" The fisherman said, "What is my crime to deserve such punishment?" The efreet said, “Listen to my story, O fisherman." The fisherman says: “Speak! and shorten your discourse, for with impatience my soul is about to come out of my foot! The efreet says:
“Know that I am a rebellious genie! I had mutinied against Suleiman, son of Daoud. My name is Sakhr El-Genni! And Suleiman sent to me his vizier Assef, son of Barkhia, who took me away, despite my efforts, and led me into the hands of Suleiman. And my nose at that time became very humble. On seeing me, Suleiman made his conjuration to Allah and enjoined me to embrace his religion and to enter under his obedience. But I refused. So he had this vessel brought and imprisoned me in it. Then he sealed it with lead and imprinted the name of the Most High on it. Then he gave his orders to the faithful genies, who lifted me up on their shoulders and threw me in the middle of the sea. I stayed a hundred years at the bottom of the water, and I said in my heart: “I will eternally enrich the one who will deliver me! But a hundred years passed and no one delivered me. When I entered the second hundred-year period, I said to myself: "I will discover and give the treasures of the earth to him who will deliver me!" But no one delivered me. And four hundred years passed, and I said to myself: "I will grant three things to the one who will deliver me!" But no one delivered me! So I flew into terrible anger, and I said in my soul: "Now I will kill whoever delivers me, but I will grant him the choice of his death!" It was then that you, O fisherman, came to deliver me. And I granted you to choose your kind of death!
— At this point in her narration, Scheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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This fisherman is very unlucky! I guess that's how fate wants it -for him to save the Efreet at the point when he made the promise of death to whoever rescues him. And the Efreet is a very angry one! But I understand. 600 years in a jar, hidden in the depth of the sea can make anyone go insane. It shows the Efreet was hopeful that help will come soon enough but alas, it did not come on time. If the Efreet is so powerful, why didn't he save himself? Yet, he's saved and wants to kill the poor fisherman. Must he stick to this cruel promise that he made to himself? What if he wasn't rescued for some hundred years, what other promise will he make? This protrays that we should appreciate every circumstance, even if things don't turn out the way we want them to because, something worse could happen and we maybe be powerless to stop it or save ourselves.
As always, there's a valuable lesson to be learned from this story. I'm wondering how this story will end but hoping it does in the fisherman's favour. Fate must have a way to compensate him for his faith, kindness and hardwork! Thank you for sharing. 😊😊
How does the efreet know the number of years he spends in the jar? He has no references. 😃
😂 That's true! Being in a jar and under water will make it more difficult to know when the sun rises and sets. The Efreet is a mean one!
"I testify that Prophet Suleman (peace be upon him) is the son of Prophet Dawood (peace be upon him) and there is no doubt that Prophet Sulaiman (peace be upon him) ruled over jinn and water"
I thought that it would be just a story, but in this story, the truth of a few things has also been described۔ I can bear witness to this because I have read in my Holy book Quran that Prophet Suleman (AS) was the son of Prophet Dawood (AS) and the rule of Prophet Suleman (AS) was over the earth and the birds and the animals and the water and he ruled the winds and many other things.
If anyone interested in Islamic history I will happily invite him/her to recite this Surah "An-Naml" Chapter number 27, in Quran, In this Surah, there is the story of Prophet Suleman (peace be upon him) taking the "Takht (throne) of Bilqis" and I am sure you all will love this true miracle. I don't know if this miracle is mentioned in any other history book, but this miracle is mentioned in the Holy book of Holy Quran, so I believe in it. By the way, Prophet Sulaiman (peace be upon him) is mentioned in many other places in the Holy Quran if anyone wants to read it se tell me where? and I will guide.
Now let's talk about today's story, as always today's story is pretty good. As far as I'm concerned, the genie that came out of the vase will eventually be willing to help the fisherman when the genie realizes how poor this fisherman is and he needs help. As for the Schahrazade, she is engrossed in her stories even to the King Schahriar.
Let's see what woll happen to next episode....
Interesting how the same figures are appearing in many different scripts. However, in this passage, I can see the idea of fate and destiny. The fisherman is depicted as a poor and desperate man who relies on his daily catch for survival. He seems resigned to his lot in life and accepts whatever fortune comes his way, even when he catches nothing or when his net contains nothing but garbage. Despite his struggles, he remains hopeful and resilient, reciting verses and calling upon Allah to help him in his daily life. Believe and you will be served, I guess.
Another interesting fact from the story is the idea of power and control. The efreet represents a powerful force that the fisherman cannot control or understand. The efreet is initially hostile and threatening, but the fisherman manages to outwit the creature and trap it back in the jar. The story suggests that human beings can overcome powerful forces by using their intelligence and resourcefulness.
I guess you already know this story, because that is only in the next episode!
Yes, I know this story but it is always a joy to reread it. Especialy when it comes from another source aka translation. Your rendition is both entertaining and suspenseful, making it a true delight to read! However, I forgot a lot anyway, and I've still managed to learn a great deal from your version. For example, I had no idea that Daoud was actually King David. One Thousand and One Nights are complex and probably every time you read it you learn something new or you understand it differently. It was huuuh, 15 years since I read it last time and now some stories have totally different meanings to me. So, thank you for these passages, they are a real treat and nostalgia at the same time.
Ah, "The Story of the Fisherman with the Efreet" is a different one. All the Efreet we have been introduced to in the past stories have been gentle but this Efreet is a new one😆. I can't wait to see how all this play out. I like how the tale of King Suleiman is included in this story, it reminds me of a part in the Book of Enoch. This story I suspect will give us moral lessons about greed and impatience.
Now will the Efreet spare the Fisherman's life? Will the Fisherman fight for his life? The Fisherman doesn't deserve to be killed not after he freed the Efreet. The Efreet judge the Fisherman with his past hurt and pain. Waiting for the next episode to read what happens next. I am anxious already! 😅 Thank you for sharing.
What do I say to this? It is quite complicated. This is because I was wondering why the fisherman will be getting other things instead of getting some getting fishes. If I am in this kind of situation, I will feel very bad and I may feel tired or feel discouraged because I am not getting what I want.
What could have happened? Why does the fisherman deserve this? What if the fisherman has offended Allah and Allah has decided to punish him?. What if the fisherman is just being tested by Allah?. What if God wants to test his patience? Ot happens like that sometimes but I noticed something.
He never stopped believing in Allah. Some people get tired of praying to Allah when they are not getting the things that they want. We are human beings and we are not perfect so it is normal to do so. One thing is that we should never leave Allah no matter what condition that we are in.
Also, what did he do to deserve death?. Even though he was opportune to choose the kind of death that he wants, what could he have done to deserve death?
I think this story has a lot of rhetorical questions. It is very interesting.
Another Efreet! Unfortunately for this poor fisherman, he found a rebellious type of Genie. I thought he would be lucky because he found a magical vase with a genie living in it, but it turns out that he will only be given death. The fisherman's life is indeed difficult, but I don't think he would choose death just because of it. Even though he is poor, I think he would rather live than die because he has a family that depends on him.
The question that comes to my mind is how can the life of this poor fisherman be saved. Is there someone who will help him like in the story of the Merchant? Or will this story be tragic?
If my suspicion is correct, someone will help him to overcome this test because I don't think he deserves to die. As I said earlier, he has a family that depends on him and this fisherman is also very hardworking, which is why he still has a purpose in life.
There are people who I can say deserve to die or prefer death because of the state of their lives, but this fisherman is not like those people. I think he still has hope and perseverance in life, and that's why he will choose to live.
Can't wait to learn what he will do to save himself from the death that this Efreet will give.
You cannot predict that. You can only say that the efreet is threatening to kill him. What will really happen later, you will have to wait for the next episodes.
Yes, indeed.
I am glad I caught this story from the beginning and I love the fisherman tales as I also did a lot of fishing in my childhood. The poor fisherman found a bad genie after being entrapped for so many years in the vase, his thoughts are only for revenge now. As he said to himself it will kill the one that frees him but grants him the way he will die... which seems pretty unfair... I wonder if this destiny is written in stone or if the course of action can change.
Oh how I feel identified with this story today. I feel like it's the same fisherman. How many times of jury and bad jury for making an effort in something and not getting the results that I undoubtedly deserved, or at least I thought I deserved.
And without a doubt the most important thing is the sense of opportunity. If the fisherman had found and released the genie earlier, he could have gotten multiple riches and best wishes from him. Now, however, his prize is death, that is if he lets him choose how to die. Which is not a small prize within fatality.
Another Story Another Genie !!!
I have just fallen in love with this story, the reason is the belief of this fisher Man, who is poor and don't have anything to feed his family, but he has firm believe on Allah and he don't want to give up trying.
When the first time he threw net in to the water, he become so hopefull that he had caught a big fish, as he tried his level best to pull the net but he wasn't get successful and he decided to go and see what the water and upon going in to the water, he found out that, the caught a dead money which was of no use.
The then tried the second time, and he found a big jar which was also useless for him, he prayed to Allah and pull the net again from the water and with the hope he decided to throw the net 3rd time into the water,
Upon doing it three times, He couldn't find anything useless, but he still was hopefull and decided to give it one more try, he Prayed to Allah and threw the net again in to the water and this time again, he was failed to pull the net.
and when he entered the water again and he found a Golden vase, which he brought with him out of the water and finally he had something which he can sell and feed his kids. but the vase was heavy, he tried to empy it by opening and suddenly he found a Genie.
the Genie was in prison from past 1800 years and he was in prison because he disobyed the massenger of Allah Almighty, for past 1800 years, he wanted to give something good to the one who will free him from the prison, but when he found that, no one gonna help him, he decided to punish the person who will free him now. and Fisher man this time freed him, but his life was in danger. Now how will the life of fisher man will be saved ? that's the question.
Today the story has taken a new turn and it will be a lot of fun to read. After reading today's story, I would like to say that the way we have seen that we are Muslims and our faith is that Allah gives us what is best for us, the way we have seen that This man has worked very hard but the first three times he could not get anything but he did not give up hope and As we have all read that this is an older man with a lot of life experience and children. If this person had given up and thought the first time that there was nothing in my destiny and had gone back home, it would never have succeeded.
Found something he is very happy with and has a good value if he sends it inside the market. If there had been a young boy in his place and he had gone and found nothing again, he would not have returned home without hope. We Muslims believe that if there is not even a trace in this world, then it moves with the permission of God.
The kind of interesting story this girl is telling the prince is getting more and more interesting and we will see one day it will be successful and more will say that I am a wiser girl than him. The story becomes very interesting now to see what the prince does with the girl and what happens next with the fisherman.
I guess life isn't all that fair always 😩
The fisherman freed the efreet, yet, he wasn't favoured... What a world 😢
This was a beautiful piece of writing.
What happened to the fisherman Though?
Thanks @vcelier for posting this
I never thought of evil genies, but this story reveals a revengeful one which plans to kill the fisherman that has free him. The genie grants the poor man the benefit of choosing the way of his death, let's see if he can outsmart the spirit and flip the table before that happens.
You took me on an interesting journey through a world of fantasy. I love the way you described the efreet.
At some point, I thought the fisherman was going to be favoured after he freed the efreet but I guess it doesn't seem so. I'd really love to know the fate of the fisherman.
Indeed, Life is such an irony.
Thanks @vcelier for this beautiful story✨
Oh, dearest... I wonder what will happen to the fisherman.
You're literally everywhere, huh😂😂
There is a reason I am called Flash or a Work-alcoholic 🤤
Lol.... I guess so then
Hehe... You bet!