Written by: Abdo Ali Al-Fahd

I was completely stunned, this donkey understood the language of speech.

He dug up the graves of the jinn in his house, which caused his thoughts to become confused. There was no difference between him and his donkey, which was a relief. He ate leeches, and the hair and vitiligo left his body. He drank bat blood, and he was cured of the tremors. Here is his story and his biography.

After his marriage to Saad, he became proud of himself for staying with his wife's family, he searched for a place to build a house, he wandered around and eventually found a ruin with many stones, inside which he found a donkey; no owner was known to him, he domesticated him and he walked behind him wherever he went, Faraj was surprised and completely amazed, as this donkey understood the language of speech, so he named him Dardar.

If he said to him, “Go,” he would go, and if he called him, “Come,” he would come to him immediately. The same is the case if he placed his palm in front of him, he would stop, and if he pointed to him with his finger, he would come and hurry. So his friend would not leave him day or night, and his name would be linked to his name, as if it were one of his attributes or one of his descriptions, like the donkey of Faraj. So if the donkey appeared, they would say Faraj came, even if Faraj had not yet appeared.

Faraj was busy thinking and planning, so he decided to build his house in this ruin. He worked day and night digging the foundation, lifting stones, and uprooting trees. The workers brought Fadl for a period of time, he completed the construction, erected, and brought wood and iron, carved and sharpened, roofed the ceiling, and installed the doors. He slaughtered a black ram as a ransom, and on the threshold he shed its blood. Faraj and Suad lived in the house, and the third of them was the donkey. Faraj felt the floor of one of the rooms shaking, so he told Suad, and she came and stamped her feet, and she felt a cavity causing a tremor.

She said: Perhaps they are interlocking stones, we will ignore that matter and leave it. One night, Faraj heard the noise of voices, so he pinched Suad several times. She woke up, so he whispered in her ear, so they listened and found the source of the noise, emanating from the cavity room. They were frightened and immediately went back to sleep. This was repeated several nights. He said: We will put the donkey in the room and watch what happens to him. The donkey’s loud, repeated braying, his quick kicking, and his stumbling clothes woke them up. They went and opened the door carefully, so he came out quickly, raising his tail in alarm. Suad was terrified, so she left her husband’s house and went to her parents’ house. He remained alone at night, hearing groans, sometimes a buzz, and sometimes overlapping voices. One day, Faraj brought a crowbar and began digging at the bottom of the room. After digging deeply, he found a coffin. He opened it and saw inside a dead man, shrouded, his face uncovered and pale. His mouth and eyes.
In the blink of an eye, the man jumped up from the coffin and stood on his feet. Faraj was terrified, so he fled and rode his donkey, left his home, and departed.
He settled in a neighboring town, where he was hosted by a resident named Bajash, who told him what had happened and how the dead man was exhumed from the coffin!
Bajash said: The news is passed down through the generations, that this ruin on which the house was built was struck by an earthquake, and all of its inhabitants, men, women, and children, died. They were buried, and their bodies were not found or buried.
Therefore, groans and screams are heard there. At night, ghosts appear there.
It is said that whoever visited it would constantly find human bones and skulls there, and these bones would disappear for a while and then reappear again. The people abandoned it and spirits inhabited it, and it remained in that state until I came and built on it, and I saw in it what I saw.
Bajash had a spacious house with a double door, so he said : Oh Faraj, live next to this house, you are in greater need of it. I have a door and you have a door, and we will build a screen between us. We will sow the fields and harvest the crops, and we will eat from year to year. Faraj went and brought Suad and told her what had happened, but she, as usual, denied him. One day, Bajash asked Faraj to accompany him on a visit to his son, the judge, in one of the districts. He agreed immediately, as he was very eager to travel. They arrived and entered the court! Faraj wondered and said:

• How did your son become a judge and attain this position? Don't you see how people fear and dread him? Why don't you wear clean clothes like him with long sleeves and put a turban on your head?
  : I know, my friend Faraj, that he was a foolish donkey, so I sent him to the jurist who taught him semantics, the arrangement of letters and rhymes, and after two months he became, as you see, a judge.
  He bestows blessings upon us and relieves our worries, and before that our condition was nothingness.
  Faraj looked at the judge and looked closely, hoping to see the traces of the donkey on him.
  Bajash and Faraj waited for hours until the judge finished hearing the disputes and settling the conflicts, then he came down from the platform and in front of his father, he lowered his head, so he greeted him with the most beautiful expressions and showered him with kisses, so he introduced him to his friend Faraj, who shook his hand warmly.
  Then he accompanied them and performed the duty of hospitality, and upon leaving he showered them with gifts and laden them with presents, and on the way Faraj said: Please guide me to the address of the jurist so I can send him my donkey to teach him?
  Faraj reached his home He put down his gifts and his belongings, looked at the courtyard and was reassured about his donkey. Suad said: My dear husband, you came with an unusual amount of gifts and provisions. Did you rob a merchant or block a traveler’s path? I am used to you returning just as you leave. Faraj sat and stared at Suad. He explained to her the story of Bajash and how his life and livelihood changed, and that Bajash had a donkey like mine. He sent him to the jurist to learn knowledge and he became a judge in one of the districts. He is the one who gave us gifts and carried us with gifts, after he hosted us and honored us. Suad placed her hand on his forehead and said: You have no fever or heat. Do you realize what you are saying? It is delirium that the mind cannot comprehend!
  : O Suad, after accompanying Bajash on several trips, I learned experiences from him and acquired skills, so I am no longer the stupid fool Faraj who opened locks and helped thieves.
  : Glory be to the Changer of conditions at all times!
  Have you forgotten that you sprinkled the field with table salt and sat for two months waiting for the plants to appear? Have you forgotten that you left the cow and milked the bull and put incense on the ashes? Do you remember the wedding night, how you ate the dough and cut your hand with a knife to protect yourself from the devils? Didn’t you think the bees were flies and shooed them away, so they attacked you, so your face became swollen like a lute drum? Weren’t you the one who cooked the cheese on the fire, and thought the rabbit was a mouse? Didn’t you wear slippers and walk barefoot? Have you become an idea-maker, while I know you are a drummer and a bird? Faraj became very angry with Suad after she taunted him about his glorious past, so he said: “Souad, do you know that repetition teaches a donkey?” You should be proud and boast about the growth of my talents and intelligence. “Hear me out and entertain me, Faraj.” “We have a beautiful donkey, and it has become a heavy burden. We grow barley with the farmers, and after we harvest it, the donkey eats it from time to time, and as a result, we do not benefit. We will send the donkey to the jurist to study and instruct him, so he will become a judge in one of the districts.” Our conditions and livelihood are like those of Bujash. Suad laughed loudly and said: Faraj, you have acquired stupidity upon stupidity, so you have become a disease and a calamity. He did not pay attention to Suad’s words and went to the jurist offering to accept his donkey among his students. He arrived at the jurist at noon and found him in the middle of a circle with students around him. After he greeted him, he said: O our great jurist, were all these students donkeys? The jurist became angry at his words and got up from his seat and placed his bamboo pole on Faraj’s back. The students attacked him, but he fled after stones rained down on him. He arrived at Suad wounded, his blood flowing from his heels, and his companion was in pain and screaming. She asked him: Who caused him blood and tore his clothes? He said: It was the jurist and his students. Suad laughed deadly and said: If you were you instead of your donkey, I would have studied. She passed by The days….
  Suad's mind did not forget what happened in their old house.
  She said: Let's go back, perhaps we will find treasure in the coffin.
  Faraj agreed, so he called Dardar, who came, rode him, and they left.
  They entered the house, terrified and strong-willed. They saw the room open, but found neither a hole nor a coffin, except for the crushed donkey dung.
  She said: How long will you remain a liar, Faraj?
  They went out, and at the door they found an owl and a crow. The owl landed on the crow's back, so it flew away with her and landed in the window. The owl entered while the crow flew away.
  Faraj went back inside, and Suad stayed outside. He found a bride in the room being escorted by maids from room to room. He entered and escorted the bridegrooms, and the time was pleasant for him.
  Suad waited for Faraj to leave, but she got bored. She entered and found the rooms of the house full of cats and mice in a terrifying chase in the corners. And the walls, and between them stood a lipless donkey with protruding teeth and a hanging tongue. Souad ran out, turned around and saw Faraj behind her calling her: Stop... Stop, why did you leave the joy and the wedding and leave? I was calling you, come in and you came out. She said: So you were the donkey and around you were cats chasing mice? Faraj, you have become one of the rebellious jinn, but still in the form of a human! They returned disappointed, distant and alienated. Suad saw that Faraj was no longer the same, as if he was another being born in this time, every thought had been erased from his mind. He did not know anything about his past, he was in a world of oblivion. Suad told him about the cats and rats. He denied it and said: They are only maids, brides and grooms. She despaired of him and was sure that he had been afflicted with madness and insanity, so she left him in her dreams and stayed only to bring him food. One night, Suad saw in a dream that their old house was full of birds and pigeons, so she asked her husband to go to their old house to see what had happened to it. Faraj rode his donkey and Suad walked behind him. Before they arrived, they noticed a large number of white crows hovering and landing on the roof of the house. Faraj tied his donkey to a tree trunk and walked towards the door, followed by Suad. He opened it and entered, then felt a gust of air as if someone had passed by him quickly. He headed towards the cavity room, and Suad was walking behind him, her hands on his shoulders. He opened the door of the room. It was dark, so he asked Suad to bring the lamp and light it. Faraj looked for the crowbar and sickle and decided to start work and dig the floor of the room again.

He continued digging and Suad helped him move the dirt. He found a circular cover and pulled it out. An opening appeared and stairs hanging down. Suad gave him the lamp. He went down the stairs and every time he went down, Suad called out to him and he answered. The light disappeared and Faraj disappeared from her sight. She called out to him but he did not answer her. Suad became worried and tried to go down but in vain. She was overcome with fear after she heard a commotion from the depths and the sound of iron. She repeated the call: Faraj, but he did not answer.

She ran out, wanting to ask for help. She searched around the house, but she didn’t find anyone to help her. She returned and entered the house, shouting: “Faraj, Faraj.” As she approached the door of the room, she heard Faraj say: “Look, Suad, what did you find?” She looked, but didn’t see Faraj. Faraj called her again: “Look what I found in the basement.” She turned around, but didn’t see anyone except the echo of Faraj’s voice. She screamed and headed outside with faltering steps, Faraj’s voice following her: “Stop, Suad, wait, why are you running away from me?”

After she went out of the door, she stood in the yard near the donkey. She turned around and didn’t see anyone. Then Faraj’s voice came closer and closer to her. She said, “I don’t see you. Where are you?” He said, “I’m standing in front of you. Have you gone blind? Take this for yourself.” She saw a small ball in the air and it fell at her feet. She didn’t dare take it. He said, “How does this shirt look on me? It’s very beautiful, isn’t it?” It’s undoubtedly made of gazelle skin.

She said: I hear your voice but I don't see you. Faraj thought that Souad had lost her sight. Souad bent down and took the ball and rubbed it and it was a pearl of extreme beauty. Faraj was confused as to how she had not seen him while she had seen the pearl. So he took off the shirt he was wearing from his back and put it on the ground next to him. His secret was revealed and his image appeared to Souad. She sought refuge in God from the devil. She said: Now I have appeared and appeared to the notables. Faraj realized the secret of the shirt. He bent down and touched it and it disappeared again. Souad fled, while Faraj called: Souad, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. The reason for my disappearance is the shirt. I will put it on the donkey's back now. Suddenly the donkey disappeared and Faraj appeared in the same place. Souad was certain of what Faraj had said and stopped running. He approached her and got closer. She said: What did you see? He said: After I went down to the bottom, the lamp went out, and I saw a flash in the darkness. I advanced towards it and grabbed it, and a light shone, and it was this pearl that illuminated me, so I entered a large room and saw a large number of coffins, and on top of each coffin was a shirt, so I took this shirt from the top of the largest coffin and put it on. Immediately, all the coffins opened by themselves, and I saw in the coffin in front of me, the one from which I took the shirt, I saw the skeleton of a king and the crown on his skull, while the coffins remained filled with gold, and whenever I reached my hand for the gold, the king shouted: Stop, stop. I went out and entered another room and found it teeming with red ants and on its ceiling were bees dripping honey onto the bottom of the room from its ceiling, and the ants devoured it, so I could not reach the honey. I entered another room, and I saw a lion crouching, and between its jaws was a naked woman screaming, and he was about to cut her in half. When he saw me, he threw her from his mouth and fell dead. Then the woman ran out and suddenly disappeared. I walked down the corridor and found myself standing in front of an old man sitting on a chair. He extended his hand and gave me five beads and said: Keep them for when you need them... Take them next to the pearl.

I took them and went up, but we will not return to this place no matter what.
Souad said: Faraj, untie the donkey.
Faraj turned around but did not find the donkey. It had disappeared after he put the shirt on it. He untie it and pulled it tight and found it empty.
He said: We lost our donkey and the shirt!
The sun was about to set so Faraj and Suad returned home after suffering and horrors that would turn children’s hair white.

Suad put the beads in her box and the pearl in the window of her house, and it was like a lamp. So things continued and months and years passed. Suad became pregnant and gave birth to twin boys and girls, who were filled with happiness. They grew up with care and attention. Suad asked Faraj for permission to go with the boys to visit her parents. On the way, a group of bandits attacked them, and asked Suad to give up her daughter after they robbed them of what they had. Suad refused, so they tied her up with her son and took the girl and were about to leave, but the donkey brayed after stirring up dust. The thieves kicked the bandits and tore them apart, saving the girl from being kidnapped. She untied her mother and brother, and Suad looked but did not find the donkey, as if it were a piece of melted salt! Taif visited Faraj in a dream and informed him of what had happened to Suad and the boys. He packed up and Ghazanfar met him on a slope, and a fight occurred between them. And he ran away. A naked woman appeared and shot the lion with a flame from a trumpet in her hand and burned it, so it fled and then disappeared from sight. Faraj arrived, so Suad told him what had happened, so he told her what had happened to him as well. Suad was terrified by what Faraj had told her, while Faraj was relieved to hear the news of his donkey. After several days, they returned home, and on the way, they heard a crow croaking, going up and down. Suddenly, the donkey appeared walking beside them after the crow had taken the shirt from its back and flown away. Faraj smiled and stroked his hand on the back of his donkey, while astonishment appeared on the faces of his sons and wife. Bajash was there to receive them after he was disturbed by their absence. They set up camp and rested from the fatigue of the journey for several hours. Faraj said: Bring the pearl and the five beads so we can show the children and enjoy the sight of them. She brought them and scattered them on the ground, and Faraj picked them up. He said: We will divide the beads. Between us. He threw the first stone at Souad, and it turned into a chest. He said: Oh my God, it is one of the chests I found in the basement! Open it. I opened it and it was full of gold. The boys said: Give us our share, Father.

He gave them two beads which turned into two chests at once. They opened them quickly and found them full of gold. He said: My share remains, so he threw a bead in front of him. It became a chest full like the previous ones. Joy and happiness spread as they moved from one state to another, from abject poverty to obscene wealth… A bead remained in Faraj’s hand turning it over. He said: Who is its owner? The donkey brayed…

Faraj looked at him and said: It is your share, take it, and threw it in front of him. The donkey took it and swallowed it, then he fell on the ground three times, raising dust. Then the dust cleared and a black slave appeared with a face like a lion’s face. I thank you, my master, for freeing me from my captivity. Suad said: Didn’t I tell you, Faraj, that you had become a marid from the jinn? Now your servants and helpers have appeared.
: Let us now leave whoever was and whoever was.
Then he turned to the slave and said: I want you to bring me a statement and proof of who imprisoned and chained you and who depicted you in the image of a donkey, and of your name, country and religion?
: I know, my master, that I am a Muslim,
and that what happened to me was more severe than a sword strike.
I was born an orphan, and my mother had no one but me. She overwhelmed me with her affection and tenderness. She would go hungry so that I would be satisfied and stay up so that I would sleep and slumber. She would spread out in the open and cover herself with the sky,
and she would cover me and wrap me in the cloak. I reached the age of youth and began to bear burdens, so I would go to the valleys and collect straw and firewood.
People were disgusted by the color of my skin and the ugliness of my appearance, so I worked as a hired camel herder, and I gained from my mother her satisfaction and abundant prayers. A camel got lost in the desert, so I followed His trace led me to a sand dune, where I saw a flock of dead sheep piled up, some of which were sticking out, while the rest were covered in sand. I noticed a cellar behind the sand dune, so I went to its door and heard groans. It seemed to have been deserted for years. I opened the door made of palm fronds and entered, finding a rolled-up mat and a bucket of water. I was suffering from thirst, and when I smelled the water, I squatted down and hugged the bucket of water, sucking up three sips. Then I put it down and turned towards the mat to see what was inside it and the source of the groans. I found a girl inside between life and death... I tried to wake her up from her coma, but to no avail. I brought the bucket and threw the rest of the water on her face. A dead snake, some of whose parts had been torn apart, came down with the water from the bucket. I was certain that I was doomed, so I stuck one of my fingers in my throat to make myself vomit. The girl had woken up, and she looked at me and said: You have no cure for what you are in, except that Obey me and listen to my words. I said: Leave me alone and you will find me obedient and listening to your words. She got up and took a scalpel, then stepped aside and cut the bottom of her hand and filled a jug of blood and gave it to me and said: Drink if you still want to live. I said: My soul rejects this and is not strong enough. Is there anything else? She said: Do not waste time. If you do not drink the blood, you will regret it when regret is of no use. You will die as soon as you leave here. I said: Death is easier than this ordeal. She took out a handkerchief and bandaged my eyes, then went out and after a few moments returned. She said: Stretch out your hand and eat this: bread porridge and camel’s milk. Eat even if you do not need it. If you do not, after a few moments you will leave this life. I ate and swallowed reluctantly, and in the third bite I tasted the blood. She removed the bandage from my eyes, and I laughed and She swayed and said: Now that you have drunk my blood, you have become a part of me. You will not be able to leave me or disobey my command.

I looked at what was left in the jug and saw bread crumbs and blood, so I ate what was left and it tasted sweet because my sense of taste and smell had changed. I said: Who are you and whose sheep are these that died? She said: I am Barqa, one of the daughters of Umm al-Sibyan, and these carcasses and bones are the food of my brothers and sisters from the jinn. I asked her to show me where the camel was? She said: What happened to me of exhaustion and fainting was caused by the camel. When it saw me, it became agitated and quickly chased after me and almost killed me, so I entered the cellar and hid from it, so it searched for me and when it did not find me, it headed towards that cave. I left it and went to the camel, made it kneel and I mounted it... I returned from where I came... In the evening, my mother brought me dinner, a piece of bread and water, and I felt disgusted with it, so I went out to the open and found the bones of carcasses I ate some of it, then I was about to go back. Then that cursed woman appeared before me and said: You must sleep alone, away from your mother, and stop herding camels, because we jinn fear them and are repelled by them.

She did what I asked, and she would come to me in the open, and what happens between us happens as happens between a male and a female. My mother felt a change in my condition and my reluctance to eat, and to be alone and solitary in sleep. She said: My son Dargham, what happened to you? You have become scarce in food and speak little. I replaced my obedience with my disobedience, and my satisfaction with you with my anger, but it became clear to me what you were suffering from, so I chose for you a wife who would feed you and exchange words with you. She is one of the most beautiful daughters of Eve. If illness befell you, she was the cure. She took my hand and went with me to my uncle’s house. I asked my uncle to propose to his daughter Shams, and he agreed. Shams came with coffee, I saw her and she captivated my eyes and my heart was pleased. In the evening, Umm al-Sibyan’s daughter came. She said: You disobeyed my command and went against my will and proposed to someone else, so you changed course, so from now on you will be Donkey. I became a donkey, spending the night in the open and ruined houses. I would come to my mother and bray at the door of her house, and she would come out to me with a bucket of water. When she died, I walked behind the mourners, and my grief for her was intense. I spent a long time sleeping next to her grave. A flash of lightning came and said: I will restore you to your former state on the condition that you divorce your fiancée and take me as your wife. I refused her request, and her anger intensified. She warned me and forbade me from attending the cemetery. I moved to that ruin, and found myself, and she forgot me and made me forget you. And you accompanied me and I accompanied you, and here you are, you saved me, and this is my story. Faraj understood the story of his donkey Dardar and felt sorry for him for what happened to him and what happened. He said: Tell me, Dardar, about the story of the crows, the cats, the rats, and the basement of the jinn? Dardar said: The white crows are the spirits of the children who were buried by the earthquake, while the cats and rats are the inhabitants of the place from the jinn, and the basement contains the storehouses of the rebels and the servants. Faraj said: What if a flash of light appears on you now? Dardar said: From now on, she no longer has power over me after she swallowed the devil’s bead and exposed Aman to me. Faraj said: And that naked woman? Dardar said: She is the wife of the king of the jinn. She was disobedient to him, so he ordered the lion to torture her constantly, and you saved her, and she now lives in the branches of the trees.

• Who is the old man who gave me the beads?
  Dardar said: He is the ruler of Al-Amar, and he is the one who gave you security, so the devils no longer have power over you, your offspring, relatives, and helpers.
  Faraj said: O Dardar, I know that you have lost my trust from your back. Where is my shirt?
  Dardar said: The owner of the crown has restored it after you no longer need it. After I put it on my back, no one saw me or felt me. I roamed the farms and fields and ate the sweetest fruits and the best crops. In one of the fields, the owner of the field came wandering around, so I brayed next to him, and a stray ran away after falling on his face. He thought that the field was haunted, so he abandoned it and did not return to it. When I accompanied you on the road, the owner of the crown sent a crow that picked it up from my back, and my secret was revealed.
  Suad heard what Dardar said, so she loved him despite the hideous sight, and she whispered in Faraj’s ear to offer him marriage to their daughter, Tang. Dardar was pleased and He rejoiced and married a woman in Tangier, so they collected chests of gold, built palaces and castles, constructed houses, and planted fields with all kinds of seeds. They spent, gave in charity, freed slaves, guaranteed, and were guaranteed, and spent, circumambulated, performed Umrah, and Hajj. Faraj remembered his friend Bajash, so he went to visit him in his house. He received him in the courtyard of the house, and they sat chatting and exchanging news. Faraj told Bajash the story of the donkey, and Bajash laughed loudly.

He said: You should have told me before you went to the jurist. He said: The jurist of the time asked me to seek help in fulfilling my needs by keeping it secret. Then he asked Faraj to tell him the story again, so he laughed until he lay on his back and continued with his mouth and eyes open. Faraj waited for Bajash to sit up straight, but Bajash remained the same. Faraj approached him, stroked his wound, and felt his pulse, but found that he had passed away. Faraj shouted: Bajash is dead. Suad came, so they carried Bajash to take him to the doctor, but Faraj stumbled and threw Bajash from his back to the ground. Faraj quickly lifted Bajash’s head and found that he was breathing. He massaged his chest and sprinkled water on him, and life came back to him, so he woke up. He asked Faraj not to repeat the story of the donkey to him again.

the end …..