Fiction Short Story

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Fiction Short Story

by Norman A. Rubin

Evidence in the Purse

It is said, my friends, that there was once a wise old Qadi called Sheikh el-Atibi, whose fair judgments were in their wisdom. Jurists from many lands, near and far, listened to his esteemed words and took them into account when rendering a verdict.

One such judgment rendered by Sheik el-Atibi, that was written in the books of the philosophy of law, was remarkable in its verdict. One that rendered a fair verdict to both the plaintiff and the accused over a charge of theft.

The trial and its fair judgment happened in the recent past. An Ibn Silas, a wealthy miser, had lost his purse whilst in his avid pursuit of collecting rents due; theft was suspected. The crabby creature, bent and thin in his miserliness, wailed and moaned at its loss. He then posted notices on the walls of the market of the town. It promised a generous reward to the honest gentleman that returned it to him.

It happened that Yussuf, a humble tailor, tripped upon the purse as he walked to his tiny shop. He was a believer in the holy words that told of a spiritual reward for the blessing of honesty in one's life. When he saw the notice pertaining to the loss of the purse, he didn't hesitate in going directly to its owner.

The avaricious miser rubbed his hands in glee when Yussuf handed him his lost purse. There were no words of thanks when he grabbed the moneybag. Instead, he opened it and started to count the coinage. When he finished his count, he exclaimed with feigned horror, "You have not returned all the money within the purse. It contained three hundred dinars and there are only two hundred dinars. Therefore I will report the theft."

It was definitely a foul ruse on the part of the miser to cheat the poor fellow out of his just reward. The shocked tailor left the house of the tightwad in abject sorrow. He wondered if honesty was a good edict for just men after all.

Yussuf's misery increased when he was handed a summons by the captain of the sultan's guard sided by two men at arms at the entrance to his shop. The words accused him of the theft of a hundred dinars from one Ibn Silas. Before he was able to utter a word he was clasped by the arms and taken to the palace dungeon.

The following morning, after a terrible sleepless night poor Yussuf was taken in chains to the divan of Sheikh el-Atibi; the thought of the loss of his hands, the punishment for theft of any sort, rumbled repeatedly through his mind.

The accused saw the wazir in his brown robes of law, the miserly tightwad in worn cloth and slippers, and the king's men at arms in readiness. He faced the throne of judgment and awaited the appearance of the good qadi.

After an anxious moment, a court official declared in ornate words for the divan to begin. Sheikh el-Atibi, accompanied by his faithful wazir and cupbearer, entered the court. He was arrayed in satin robes adorned with jewelled badges of honour; his turban, decorated with a large ruby, was set firmly on the white of his hair. He walked solemnly to the throne of judgment and with ceremony was seated with the attendance of his companions.

The sheikh's wazir called Yussuf the defendant, along with his plaintiff, the evil miser, to face the honourable qadi. Charges were read against the accused, which told of the theft of one hundred dinars from the lost purse that belonged to one Ibn Silas. Said purse was shown to the qadi by the wazir of the divan. Sheikh el-Atibi, paused for a moment after the charges were read. Then he faced the claimant to the charges and the chained defendant. He cleared his throat, fingered the white of his beard and then he commenced to question both parties.

The shiekh stared with understanding in the grey of his eyes at the accused. He wondered inwardly as to how such a good citizen could turn to the crime of theft.

"Did you find the purse of this worthy gentleman?"

"Yes, my honourable and worthy kadi!"

"Did you return said purse with its contents intact to the claimant?"

"My belief in the holy words of honesty saw to the return of the purse to the rightful owner," Yusuf uttered as he bowed to the sheikh.

Sheikh el-Atibi turned his sight to the plaintiff Ibn Silas.

"According to the accused, your purse was returned?"

"Yes, my honourable qadi!"

"How much did your purse contain?" demanded the sheikh in a stern voice.

"Three hundred dinars," replied the tightwad timidly, "this was according to my accounts written in my ledger."

"And how much money was in the purse that was found and handed to you?" queried the sheikh to the so-called defrauded miser.

"Two hundred dinars," he meekly responded."

Sheikh el-Atibi paused for reflection, and then solemnly gave his verdict.

"Then," the astute qadi declared, "the purse that was lost contained three hundred dinars. The purse the accused found only contained two hundred dinars. Thus the found purse is definitely not of the property of the plaintiff."

Sheikh el-Atibi turned to his wazir of the divan and gave his final judgment, "Remove the chains from the accused. Please return the purse and the two hundred dinars to the now guiltless citizen, namely Yussuf, the tailor. He shall keep it until the rightful owner appears. If said rightful owner does not appear and identify his purse within sixty days, then the purse shall be given to Yussuf as a just reward.

Copyright © 2004 Norman A. Rubin

About the Author:
Former correspondent (Israel), Norman A. Rubin, works for the Continental News Service, USA and has been a freelance writer for the past sixteen years writing articles on subjects that include Near East culture and crafts, archaeology, history and politics; religious history and rites, etc. He is featured in publications worldwide - Jerusalem Post, Israel - Coin News, Minerva, Oriental Arts, etc., England - Ararat, Letter Arts Review, Archaeology, etc. USA - Spotlight, Japan - International B, Hong Kong. Now retired, his writings have turned along with the informative articles to short story compositions in all genres, which have appeared in WritersHood.com, storymania.com, Good All Days magazine, and now The Writer's Ezine.