It is told that a cobbler named Asfour lived in the ancient city of Baghdad, and he had a wife named Jarada. She reminded him every day of his poverty and his inability to provide a more comfortable life for her. One day, while Jarada was walking in the market, she saw a lady wearing a luxurious robe, her fingers adorned with diamond rings, pearl necklaces hanging from her chest, gold earrings dangling from her ears, and a group of beautiful maidservants walking around her.
When she asked about this lady, they told her she was the wife of the chief astrologer to the king. She asked what does the astrologer do, they said: He looks at the stars in the sky, then predicts what will happen in the future, reads people’s thoughts, and knows the locations of lost things.
The cobbler’s wife said to herself, why doesn’t my husband become an astrologer so I become rich like this lady. She rushed home at maximum speed and told her husband angrily to leave the poor cobbler profession and become a rich astrologer. Asfour shouted: Are you crazy, my wife? How can I become an astrologer when I know nothing about the stars?
The wife swore: If you don’t start working as an astrologer from tomorrow, I will return to my family’s house and won’t live with you after today. The cobbler was saddened by his wife’s words and was confused about what to do. He loved his wife and didn’t want to lose her, but how could he become an astrologer. Under the wife’s pressure and insistence, Asfour agreed and went out the next day to sit in the market square next to the astrologers with some notebooks.
It happened at that time that the sultan’s wife was going to the market to buy some clothes for her child she expected to be born within days. When she saw Asfour, she was surprised by his appearance and asked about him. The servants told her he was a new astrologer named Sheikh Asfour. She approached him and asked him about the type of child she was expecting.
Here Asfour thought and said to himself that the safest answers are those that are half wrong and not all wrong. If I say she will give birth to a boy, she might give birth to a girl, and if I say she will give birth to a girl, she might give birth to a boy. But if I say she will give birth to a boy and a girl, only half of my answer will be wrong. Here the sheikh said: A boy and a girl, my lady, if God wills. She gave him a gold dinar and left. Asfour was very happy with the dinar and flew to his house to tell his wife what happened.
Before morning arrived, the sultana had given birth to a boy and a girl as Asfour the astrologer had said, and the palace filled with sounds of joy and celebration. The next day, the sultana gave the servants a thousand dinars, a mule, and luxurious clothes, and told them: Look for Sheikh Asfour, give him these things, and bring him to me.
Meanwhile, Asfour was terrified in his house, fearing the sultana would take revenge on him for his lie. He told his wife: If anyone asks about me, say I’m not here. When the servants came knocking on his door, his wife pretended to be weak and pitiful and said: He is a poor man who doesn’t know what he’s saying. Take the dinar and leave him. The servants told her: What dinar? The sultana gave birth to a boy and a girl as he said, and sent us with a thousand dinars for the sheikh.
Jarada’s face beamed and she ran to where Asfour was hiding and brought him the good news. She dragged him to the servants, telling them: This is Sheikh Asfour, take him with you. And so, between one day and the next, Sheikh Asfour became the most famous astrologer in the city.
The next day, the sultan was eating in the garden of his palace when he got up to wash his hands over the pond. On his finger was the sultanate ring with a diamond worth a thousand dinars. He forgot the ring on the edge of the pond, and a lame duck came and swallowed the ring.
The sultan brought the astrologers to inform him of the ring’s location, but none of them could know its place. He asked the servants to bring him Sheikh Asfour. When Asfour learned of the king’s request for him, his mouth went dry and his face turned yellow. He told his wife: You are the cause. The sultan will discover my lie and punish me severely. His wife told him: Use a trick, man, and no one will discover you.
When he arrived at the palace, there were curtains at the door of the hall with drawings of some birds on them. Asfour looked at them, his mind wandering about what could happen to him with the king. Meanwhile, the servant who had seen the duck pick up the king’s ring was standing there. He had heard about the sultana’s story with Sheikh Asfour, that he was an astrologer who knew all secrets. He was afraid to tell the king he had seen the duck and kept the matter secret, hoping to steal the ring. He approached him and told him what had happened. Sheikh Asfour said: I knew, but keep the matter secret and beware of telling anyone.
When the king asked Sheikh Asfour about the ring’s location, he said: Bring me the lame duck. When they brought her to him and slaughtered her, there lay the ring in her crop. Everyone praised Sheikh Asfour’s brilliance, and the sultan appointed him chief astrologer.
Asfour and his wife lived generously from the wealth that had fallen upon them, and the astrologers envied him but didn’t dare to harm him because of his great position with the sultan. They went to the sultan and cast doubt on Asfour’s ability. The sultan told them: Then I will conduct a test for you all, and the winner in it will be the truthful one, and I will know whether Asfour is truly an astrologer or a lying fraud.
The king went out to the garden with the astrologers and sent for Asfour. When Asfour learned of the suspicions that had reached the king, he told his wife: Lies have no two men. I will tell the king and let what may be, and I will inform him that your greed, oh Jarada, is the cause. Meanwhile, the king was in the garden and told the astrologers: I will hold something in my hand. If you recognize it, I will believe you, and if Asfour recognizes it, I will believe him and disbelieve you.
While the sultan was walking, he found a small sparrow chasing a green locust, so he caught them both and asked the astrologers to speak and tell him about the thing in his hand. They didn’t know. When Asfour arrived, the sultan found him sad and said to him: Why don’t you speak, Asfour? Asfour said: What should I say, my master? Were it not for the locust, the sparrow wouldn’t have fallen into the sultan’s hand.
Here the sultan’s face brightened, and he revealed the sparrow and the locust. He ordered three thousand dinars. Asfour returned to his home thanking God and said: Not every time does the jar survive. He asked his wife to prepare to leave the town, and ordered her to tell everyone in the kingdom that Sheikh Asfour had died.
One night, Sheikh Asfour and his wife sneaked out to escape from the town. It happened during their escape that the sultan went down in disguise to know the condition of his town. While he was on the shore, he heard a man and his wife talking. He recognized from their speech that it was Sheikh Asfour and his wife Jarada.
The sultan was amazed and ordered the guards to watch them and know where they would settle. When Sheikh Asfour and his wife settled down, the sultan visited them in disguise as one of the guards and said he had come by order of the sultan to perform the duty of condolence. Sheikh Asfour himself opened the door. When the sultan condoled his wife, he asked her: If Asfour died, who opened the door for us?
Here the woman remained silent and didn’t know what to say. She resolved to escape through the back door with her husband, but suddenly the man laughed and said: Oh Sheikh Asfour, the sultan gives you safety. Asfour came out of his hiding place and told the sultan everything that had happened. The sultan thanked him for his honesty, forgave him, and appointed him as his companion to tell the funniest stories and most amazing anecdotes.