In ancient times, there was a king who lived in a large palace. In front of his palace was a small shop belonging to a young tailor. The king was bothered by the presence of this small shop in front of his palace. He felt that this shop disfigured the beauty of the palace, and he wished for the shop to be removed from its place. But he feared that the people of the kingdom would blame him and say that he had wronged a poor man and deprived him of his shop and source of livelihood.
The king summoned his minister and said to him: Advise me, oh my minister, what should I do? I do not want to see the tailor’s shop in front of my palace. If I order it closed, it will be closed, for I am the king, but people will say that the king wronged a poor, wretched man, and this is not in the nature of kings. What should I do? How do I close the shop without provoking people’s talk and their blame?
The minister thought, then said: The matter is simple, oh my lord. In the morning, summon the tailor and ask him for a request that is difficult to execute. Give him three days to finish it. If the tailor does not make what you commanded, order the shop closed as punishment for him. The king slept a peaceful sleep that night, confident in the success of the trick that the minister had suggested to him.
In the morning, he sent for the tailor to appear before him and said to him: I have seen you a lot and heard a lot about you. The tailor answered: I hope you have heard good about me, oh my lord. The king smiled and said: I have heard only good about you, for you are a skilled tailor who makes wonders, and cloth turns in your hands into something more valuable than silver and gold.
The tailor said: Praise be to Allah. The king completed his speech, saying: In truth, I wish to have a qiftan (a long coat) that no other king has in this time. For this, I decided and resolved that the qiftan should not be made of any cloth. I will give you a white stone like the moon to make a qiftan from it for me. The tailor was amazed and said to himself: What is this talk? Is it reasonable to make a qiftan from a white stone? How can this be?
The king gave the tailor the stone and said to him: I give you three days. If you do not bring me the qiftan, you will have disobeyed my command, and your punishment will be closing the shop. The tailor took the white stone and returned to his shop, troubled and sad, thinking about how he would make the qiftan from the white stone. While he was sitting, an old sheikh passed by him and asked about the reason for his distress and sadness. The tailor said to him: I have a worry like mountains, and no one can bear it but me. Leave me in what I am in and do not bear worry like me.
The first day passed, and the tailor did nothing. The second day passed, and the tailor also did not know how a qiftan made of stone would be. He remained in this state until the third day. The old man had been observing the tailor throughout the past three days, so he went to him and said to him: What is wrong with you, my son? Tell me; perhaps I can get you out of what you are in.
The tailor told him his story with the king. The old man understood the king’s trick and said to him: Do not worry, my son. The solution is with me, by Allah’s permission. Hold a handful of sand in your left hand and hold my right hand, and let us go to the king’s palace. Indeed, the tailor did as the old man told him. When they reached the king’s palace and stood before him, the king said to the tailor in a cunning tone: Have you completed making the qiftan, oh tailor?
The old man answered him: Your command is answered, oh my lord. The tailor will finish the qiftan today as you commanded, but he needs more thread. We have come for this matter. This is a handful of sand. We hope you will produce thread from it so the tailor can complete the making of the qiftan as you commanded, oh my lord.
The king was amazed at the old man’s words and said to him: Who says that a handful of sand can be thread? The old man said: And who says, oh my lord, that a stone can have a qiftan made from it? The king fell silent in anger, and the young man was saved from his predicament by the old man’s trick. He remained in his small shop in front of the large palace of the king.