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The Three Alis
By Mohammed Ben Abdullah Yussufi A man had three sons. All three were named
Ali. When this man was on his deathbed, he said "I leave
half of my land to my son Ali and the other half to my son
Ali." And then he died.
The three Alis fought among themselves as to
which two of them would inherit their father's land, and then
they decided to take their dispute to the Sultan. They set out
for the Alcazar or Sultan's Palace with a donkey laden with
their belongings. One night while they were asleep, a one-eyed
man led away their donkey. in the morning they discovered the
theft, and so they sat down and began to smoke kif.
The first Ali took a few puffs on his sebsi,
expelled the burning ash, and said "The thief has one eye.'
The second Ali took a few puffs on his sebsi, expelled the
burning ash, and said "The thief's name is Amar." The
third Ali took a few puffs on his sebsi, expelled the burning
ash, and said "The thief lives in the Alcazar." So the
the three Alis completed their journey to the Sultan's Palace,
and once there began looking for Amar the one-eyed.
When they found him they acused him of
stealing their donkey. He denied it, and so teh three Alis
decided to complain about Amar to the Sultan at the same time
they were asking him to settle their dispute about their
father's land. When the Sultan had heard their story, he said to
them "You did not see Amar steal your donkey. How can I
believe the ideas you had while you were smoking kif?"
The three Alis asked the Sultan to test them,
and so he ordered a covered bowl to be brought into the room. He
asked them what was in the bowl. The three Alis took out their
sebsi, expelled the burning ash, and said "It is
round." The second Ali took a few puffs on his sebsi,
expelled the burning ash, and said "It is orange." The
third Ali took a few puffs on his sebsi, expelled the burning
ash, and said, "It is a tangerine."
But the Sultan demanded one more proof. He
ordered another covered bowl to be brought in and asked the
three men what it contained. The three Alis refilled their
sebsis with kif and began to smoke. The first Ali too a few
puffs on his sebsi, expelled the burning ash, and said "It
is couscous made frm wheat which is unfit to eat." The
second Ali took a few puffs on his sebsi, expelled the burning
ash, and said "It is couscous made from lamb, which is
unfit to eat." The third Ali took a few puffs on his
sebsi, expelled the burning ash, and said "It is
couscous made for a Sultan who is unfit to rule."
The Sultan removed the cover of the second
bowl and lo! it was filled with couscous. The Sultan asked the
three Alis to appear before him on the following day when he
would give them a decision about their inheritance.
Then he ordered the chief cook to appear and
taste the couscous. The cook did so and immediately became
violently ill. Then the Sultan sent for the man who had ground
the wheat for the couscous. Under threat of torture this man
revealed that he had been violently ill the day before, and that
just before grinding the wheat he had taken a shit and had not
washed his hands afterwards.
Then the Sultan sent for the man who had
prepared the meat for the couscous. This man was in perfect
health, and so the Sultan asked him whom he had bought the lamb
from. This man answered "From a peasant woman who
brought it to the Alcazar. The Sultan sent for the peasant
woman, and she confessed that the lamb's mother had died, and
the lamb had been put to suckle on a bitch.
Finally the Sultan went to his own mother and
said "Who was my father?" His mother answered
"Your father was my husband the Sultan before you."
The Sultan pulled out his sword, held it to his mother's throat,
and said "I will kill you if you do not tell me who my
father is." The woman trembled and confessed that his
father was a wool merchant in the market place.
On the next day the three Alis returned for
their audience with the Sultan. The Sultan took them for a walk
in the Alcazar and led them to a room with three doors. he
turned to the first Ali and said "You told me the wheat in
my couscous was unfit to eat. In return I give you everything
behind this door." The sultan opened the first door on a
roomful of gold. Then he turned to the second Ali and said
"You told me the lamb in my couscous was unfit to eat. In
return I give you everything behind this door." The Sultan
opened the second door on a roomful of jewels. Then he turned to
the third Ali and said "You told me my couscous was made
for a Sultan unfit to rule. In return I give you everything
behind behind the door."
The Sultan opened the third door on a roomful
of rocks. Then he said "Those who see what is base deserve
what is base. Moreover you are the Ali your father left without
an inheritance--unfit to inherit--for you saw that was unfit to
inherit the kingdom. We recognized each other."
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Note: Mohammed Ben Abdullah Yussufi died at the age of
21 in the prison hospital of Tangier, after having been beaten
during questioning. * * * *
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