Written by: Samih Salem

Many people may enter the world of the jinn by mistake, as happened to the owner of today's story, who never imagined that she would experience strange events, marry a jinn, and become very rich. In the 1970s, Karima was a woman in her thirties, living alone in one of the old cities. Her parents had died long ago, and she had no brothers to ask about her. She made her living by selling bread, which she kneaded herself and then displayed for sale in one of the city squares near the market. She would sit next to her friend Khadija, who in turn sold traditional sweets that she made herself. They were friends despite the age difference between them, as Khadija was a woman in her fifties. One day, Karima sold all the bread she had brought with her, so she folded the napkin she used to cover the bread and put it in a basket, then was about to leave. Khadija asked her, "Won't you sit with me for a while so we can go together?" Karima replied, "I'm going for a walk in the square near the market." “But be careful, my daughter,” Khadija said. “Be careful, fortune tellers are no joke.” Karima laughed and said, “Never mind. They are just charlatans, and nothing will happen to me.” Karima then walked on, Khadija’s gaze following her. Karima began to scan the fortune tellers spread out in the square. She noticed one of them; it was the first time she had seen her here. She noticed that she covered her face with a veil, and in front of her was a small table with a clay incense burner on it. In her hand, she was holding playing cards used for fortune telling. Karima watched her from a distance, then walked over to her after covering her face and covering her face. The fortune teller welcomed her and gave her a small chair to sit on. Then she said, “Do you want me to tell your fortune?” Karima said, “Yes, that’s why I came to you. I am suffering with my husband, and no matter what I do, he is not satisfied and is always angry and complaining about me. He can’t stand me. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.” The fortune teller sighed and said, “Yes, I feel for you and I know your suffering, and it seems that the masters are the ones who…”

“They brought you to me so I can help you.” Then the fortune teller turned the papers over in her hands and said to Karima, “Tell me, what is your name and your mother’s name?” Karima whispered, “My name is Yasmine and my mother is Fatima.” The fortune teller began to sort and arrange the papers while calling out to the genie masters in strange murmurs, then she said, “I see him in the papers. He is making you taste misery, and you will not be spared from his evil.” Karima asked her, surprised, “Who is he?” The fortune teller said, “Your husband who can’t stand you anymore and assaults you day and night. I see him in the papers.” Karima continued her act while appearing affected and pretending to cry. Then the fortune teller approached Karima and said, “Listen, Yasmine, I have a solution for you that will make your husband as obedient as the ring on your finger.” Karima replied, “What is that? Help me with him.” Then the fortune teller cleared her throat and said, “But this work will need some money to fulfill the masters’ requests. I will make you a love amulet. Your husband will become a different person and will never refuse you a request again. The price of this amulet is only 500 dirhams.” Karima said, “Money doesn’t matter. I will give you whatever you ask for.” At that moment, the fortune teller reached out to take the money, while Karima put her hand in her pocket, pretending to take out her wallet. She began to search and then said regretfully, “I seem to have forgotten my wallet at home. Listen, my lady, begin your work on the amulet. I will go home to bring you the money. The house is not far from here.” The fortune teller shook her head and said, “No problem. Go, and when you return with the money, you will find the amulet ready.” Karima walked past the passersby in the square, leaving the witch writing symbols on a white piece of paper. As she moved away from the square, she uncovered her face, smiling, then started laughing, saying to herself, “What a stupid witch! She’s deceiving people! How can she claim to know the unseen when she hasn’t discovered all the lies I told her? May God curse fortune-tellers, both male and female!” This wasn’t the first time Karima had fooled the fortune-tellers in the square; she used to hunt them down from time to time. She proved to herself time and time again that fortune-telling was nothing but charlatanism and a scam that manipulated the minds of simple people. Until that day came… When Karima had sold all the bread she had brought with her, she was preparing to leave while Khadija looked at her meaningfully, then said, “Won’t you stop teasing the fortune-tellers, my daughter?” Karima responded sarcastically, “These are con artists, and I’m smarter than them, that’s what it is.” “Be careful, my daughter,” Khadija said. “You are playing with fire.” Karima replied, “Don’t be afraid, aunt. I am only exposing them to themselves and proving that they can neither harm nor benefit.” Karima left and headed toward the square, which was crowded with visitors. In one corner, fortune-tellers and soothsayers were lying in wait for their victims. Not far from them sat one of them, veiled to hide her features, but still appearing to be elderly. Karima had never seen her here before, so she approached her after covering her face, greeted her, and sat down next to her. The fortune-teller was looking at Karima intently, then said, “What do you want? Why did you come for me?” At that moment, Karima tried to appear sad as she said, “Help me. My husband can no longer stand me. I know that he intends to marry another woman, and I don’t know what to do. I am an orphan and alone.” Moments of silence prevailed, then the old woman said, “And what do you want from me now?” Karima replied, “Read my fortune-telling, and then help me solve my problem.” Then the old woman said, “I don’t read fortune-telling, but give me your hand, and I’ll read your fortune from your palm.” Karima extended her hand, and the fortune-teller took it, then asked, “What is your name and your mother’s name?” Karima replied, “My name is Amina, and my mother’s is Zahra.” The fortune-teller smiled and said, “Isn’t your name Karima, and your mother’s name Fatima?” At that moment, Karima quickly pulled her hand away, frightened, wondering to herself, “How did this woman know my name and my mother’s name? Could she possibly know me? It can’t be, my face is covered with a veil!” After a few moments of anticipation and suspicion, the old woman said, “Don’t panic and don’t be afraid, give me your matter and give me your palm.” Without realizing it, Karima found herself extending her hand to the old fortune teller. She felt as if her will was taken away. The fortune teller looked at Karima’s palm for a moment, then said, “Your luck and destiny are hidden, and I am the one who will reveal them.” Then she took a mixture of henna that was beside her, and placed some of it in Karima’s palm, then added some incense to it, saying, “O Karima, daughter of Fatima, I have called for your luck, and it will surely come to you.” Then she closed her hand and wrapped it with a white handkerchief, saying, “Go now, what is coming is inevitable. May God help you.” Karima stood up and walked away from the fortune teller. She was walking like a body without a soul, absent-minded and empty-minded. Karima walked until she reached where she was selling bread near Khadija, who noticed her return and asked, “What’s up? Why did you come back, Karima?” Karima sat next to her without answering. She repeated the question, but Karima was deep in thought. Khadija stood up and moved Karima as if to wake her up, but she seemed unaware of what was going on around her. Khadija noticed that Karima's hand was smeared with henna and wrapped in a white handkerchief, so she knew that something was wrong. Khadija started screaming, trying to wake her friend, but to no avail. People gathered around them, everyone wondering what had happened to the bread seller. Then a nearby shop owner who knew Karima came and realized that it was related to possession. He said to Khadija, "Help me carry the woman to the car, and now we'll go with her to a place I know, not far from here." As soon as the exorcist saw Karima’s condition, he quickly brought some exorcised water, placed Karima’s hand in it, untied the handkerchief, and began to recite over her whatever he could from the Holy Quran.
After that, Karima regained consciousness and began to wonder in shock: “Where am I? What am I doing here?”
Khadija approached her and said: “I have always warned you about witches and approaching them.”
Karima looked at her hand and noticed the traces of henna on it.
The exorcist said to her: “Don’t worry, my daughter, but what happened? How did you get to this state?”
Karima replied: “I remember that I was in the square and went to one of the fortune tellers just to make fun of her, but I don’t remember what happened after that.”
The exorcist said: “Why are you taking the risk and throwing Ben You're doomed and you don't have anything to protect yourself from the evil of witches and sorcerers? Now let's go, we have to find this witch to find out what she did to you, and then expose her to the people so that her evil doesn't spread." Everyone went to the square, but they didn't find the fortune teller after a long search. They asked some of the nearby vendors, who gave them a description of the old woman, but no one had seen her. They went to a juice seller opposite, and he was surprised when they told him the story. He said, "I saw this woman. She was sitting alone, talking to herself, so I thought she was a beggar or mentally ill. I assure you, she was alone." Everyone was surprised, and confusion was evident on their faces, especially Karima, who began to wonder to herself: "Who is this old woman?" “Are you from the jinn?” Khadija looked scared and said, “What I feared has happened.” Karima reassured them, “I am fine now, and I will not go back to what I was doing.” The exorcist said, “Be careful, this is serious, and the evil of magic should not be underestimated. “Try to protect yourself.” He felt that what awaited Karima was worse than what she had experienced, and indeed, that night Karima did not sleep peacefully. She tossed and turned in her bed, and nightmares haunted her: she saw herself running away in a dark forest, then in the middle of a gloomy cemetery, and next to her was a tall black creature. She woke up with the dawn call to prayer, performed ablution with difficulty, and felt terrible pain in her henna-stained hand, but she completed her prayer. When she began kneading the bread, she noticed that it did not rise as usual. She felt that something had changed in her. Khadija noticed the change in her condition, so she advised her to visit the exorcist again. Karima went with Khadija to the exorcist, who, upon seeing her, said: “May it be good, what is the matter?” Karima replied: “I only came to exorcise myself.” The exorcist began to exorcise her. She silently read over him, and she felt a heat in her her body.
He asked her, "Did you feel anything?"
She replied, "No."
The exorcist wasn't reassured and asked her to come back if she felt anything strange.At night, Karima wanted to pray, and suddenly she felt something moving behind her, then it placed its hand on her shoulder.
It was as cold as ice. She turned around quickly, only to see a bright light that knocked her unconscious.
In her dream, she saw a terrifying creature with a hairy face and long nails. It grabbed her neck and said, "What's wrong? Do you want to burn me? I can kill you and it, too!"
She woke up terrified and heard a loud knock on the door.
The neighbors were gathered, and one of them said, "We were hearing screaming and beating in your house!"
She didn't answer them, but she felt a pain in her throat, as if she had been screaming.
She closed the door, absentmindedly thinking, "Who is this creature? Is it the genie?" Is this the beginning of the end?” The next day, she went to the exorcist and told him everything. He read over her again, and she lost consciousness. The jinn spoke through her, in a harsh voice: “I will follow you, torture you, and kill you.” The exorcist continued the exorcism without fear and asked the jinn who had sent him, but he did not answer. Karima woke up, and the exorcist did not know if the jinn had left her. He gave her supplications and asked to visit her the next day. But the next day, they did not find the exorcist. Instead, they were greeted by a girl who told them that his wife was between life and death. “Pray for her,” she said. “Her condition is critical.” Days later, Karima visited the exorcist’s place and found it closed. She was told: “His wife died, and he has left the city.” The nightmares haunted Karima again. She could no longer pray, and she heard voices and felt that something was behind her. She visited the doctors. They confirmed that she was just exhausted. She decided to visit the square again in search of the old woman, but she did not find a trace of her. Karima adapted to her new situation, and everyone began to know that she was “haunted.” The genie, who called himself Hamou, spoke to Khadija and asked her to light incense and candles in Karima’s house. Months passed, and Karima carried out the genie’s orders. Until one night she dreamt that she was a bride, surrounded by women carrying tambourines, and beside her was a witch who put henna on her hand and said: “Congratulations!” “They chose you as his wife.” She woke up startled and saw henna on her hand! Then she heard a voice saying, “Finally, you are my wife!” She raised her head and saw a tall man, his head almost touching the ceiling, wearing a red galabiya, with blue eyes and a black beard. Karima ran screaming towards the door. The neighbors came out and she told them what she had seen. Some of them entered her house, but found nothing but burning candles and the smell of incense. Some accused her of witchcraft and went out looking at her with apprehension. She closed her door thinking, “Is this an illusion? Or real? Who is this man?” Is it the genie Hamou?” Then she felt a movement behind her, and froze in place, saying trembling: “Please, I did not do anything to you.” The voice answered her, saying, “Do not be afraid of me. I am now your husband.” Karima heard a voice without seeing anyone, then she gained some courage and said, “Who are you? Why do you say that I am your wife? I do not know you.” The voice replied, saying, “I have loved you, and I will bestow upon you a lot of gold and money, and I will give you everything you ask for, but you will not belong to anyone other than me. I warn you that if you want to exorcise me with the ruqyah, I will turn your life into unbearable torment.” The voice disappeared, leaving Karima in confusion and shock, so much so that she was unable to sleep that night until dawn. Karima spent difficult days, always refusing the temptations that would burden her with money and treasures, as she knew very well that if she took something from this genie, it would not be without a price. This genie prevented Karima from visiting the patch. If she intended to visit someone, an obstacle would happen to her and distract her from that. Once, Karima asked her friend Khadija to come to her house because she had an appointment with a ruqyah practitioner, but Karima was shocked, and so was Khadija, when the ruqyah practitioner, or the one who claimed to be a ruqyah practitioner, told her that he did not come to ruqyah her, but rather came to offer her work with him. Karima asked him, “What are you saying? What work?” He replied, “We will search for buried treasures and extract them with the help of that genie who inhabits you, and in this way you will earn a lot of money, and you will no longer need to work selling bread.” At that moment, the voice of the crime changed, and the genie spoke in a harsh voice, threatening the fake ruqyah practitioner. He picked up a wooden table that was near him and hit him with it. A strong blow then Karima or Hamou rushed to the kitchen, took a large knife and ran towards the wizard who was corrupted, then ran out of the house to save himself amidst the astonishment of the neighbors. After Hamou calmed down, Karima regained consciousness to find herself in the alley with a large knife in her hand and people gathered around her. She was barefoot. She did not understand what happened to her. Khadija came out, took her hand and led her into the house. Since that day, Karima stopped looking for a cure as if she had despaired and accepted the bitter reality. She began to live between two worlds: the world of humans in which she toiled for a living and the world of the jinn that disturbed her and spoiled her life. One day, Karima was walking in the market and saw people gathered around someone playing and dancing with snakes. Curiosity took her, so she approached the circle to look at the snake charmer, but she could no longer feel herself as she fell into a coma. She woke up later in the middle of the crowd and the snake charmer was sprinkling water on her. Kalma looked at the forty-year-old man. She asked him what happened, she knew who was the reason for her falling unconscious, then the man said to her, “How difficult it is to live with the jinn that inhabits you, his name is Hamou, isn’t he in love with you and refuses to leave you?” Karima was surprised and wondered who this is and how he knew these things about me. The man added, “My name is Rashid, I will explain everything to you.” Then he asked the people gathered around them to leave and gathered his snakes in a wooden box. Karima remained waiting for what this strange man would say. Perhaps he knew her medicine and knew how to treat her. He told her that he was a spiritual healer and had covenants with the jinn, according to what he said. Then he asked her several questions about her condition, and she answered him spontaneously. She even told him about the treasures that Hamou was offering her. Here, Rashid asked her, “Why didn’t you accept these treasures? This is a provision that God has brought to you. Then the jinn that inhabits you, or the lover, is one of the most difficult and dangerous types of jinn and may accompany you until death. Therefore, if he gives you money, don’t refuse it and waste the opportunity. Even if you want treatment, this may require a lot of money.” Karima was listening to Rashid with great interest then she told him that Hamo had told her about the location of a hidden treasure in the outskirts of the city, but she couldn’t go there alone. Rashid’s eyes sparkled and he smiled and said, “If you want to go and extract the treasure, just let me know. I will help you with this matter, and with me are people who can dig and have experience with treasures.” Then Rashid took a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote his phone number on it. He gave it to Karima and left the place. Karima was lost in deep thought. She imagined that her life would be better if she had a lot of money. After a few days, she decided to go to the location of the treasure, so she called Rashid and told him what she wanted. He agreed with her on a day and time to meet. Karima kept this a secret, even from Khadija. When that night came, she met Rashid. He came in an old car with two men. She rode with him, then they set off to the place she told him about. It was an empty area near a small stream. Rashid began to mumble incomprehensible words. Then he asked Karima to get lost and see where the treasure was. She pointed with her hand to Rashid carrying a stick. He drew a small circle and asked the two men with him to start digging. The two men, one with an axe and the other with a pick, dug until they reached a large rock. They moved it with their hands, so Rashid went down into the hole and started removing the dirt little by little. Karima was standing watching this scene in the middle of the stillness of the night and the darkness of the place. After that, Rashid came out of the hole with an old clay jug in his hand, then he returned to the hole and took out another jug. Karima was happy and could not believe that they had taken out the treasure that Hamou had told her about. The two men quickly filled the hole again, and it returned to its former glory, with no trace of digging in the place. Rashid carried the two clay jugs and put them inside the car. They all got in and left the place. Rashid was happy and said to Karima, “I have never seen in my life a treasure like these two jugs. They are big and heavy, but we still have one more thing to do so that we can open them without problems.” Karima asked him, “How is that?” Rashid replied, “You have to put some of your blood on the lids of the jugs.” Karima was surprised, then She asked why would I do that? Rashid said because the two pots are sealed with your name and without your blood we can't open them or else a big injury will happen to us. We would all need one drop as soon as a needle is inserted in your finger. Karima agreed and didn't object. Rashid stopped the car on the outskirts of the city. He got out with Karima and went with her to the trunk of the car. He took out a bottle of water and told her, "Drink some of this water, it's ruqyah water that will protect you." Karima did as Rashid asked. She drank some of the water and took her finger with a needle to put some blood on each of the two pots. Then Rashid took a hammer and broke them. They were full of gold and ancient coins, bracelets, rings and precious stones. Karima was extremely happy and pleased. Rashid asked her to get back in the car. He said to her, "We're going home so we can share this booty." On the way, Karima felt dizzy. She thought it was just drowsiness, but the dizziness kept increasing until she lost consciousness of her surroundings. Rashid stopped the car and helped Karima get out with the help of the two men. They placed her on the sidewalk, left her, and quickly fled. Karima woke up to find herself lying on the street, shivering from the cold. It was then that she understood Rashid's trick and realized that she had drunk a sleeping pill and not healing water as the con man had claimed. Karima felt devastated; her hopes for change had been shattered with the loss of her money. She walked home, tears streaming down her cheeks nonstop. She closed the door and spent the next day drowning in sadness and worry. Khadija noticed that Karima hadn't come to sell bread as usual, so she decided to visit her to check on her. But Karima didn't tell her anything, she just said that she was tired. Days passed and Karima suffered in silence, regretting the large sums of money she had seen in front of her only to be stolen from her in the blink of an eye. One night, while she was half awake and half asleep, Karima heard Hamou's voice saying, "I advised you not to seek a cure to expel me. Did you see what Rashid did to you? I told you, and I say it again: some humans are more evil and harmful than us jinn." Karima listened without replying, lost in thought. Then Hamou said to her, "But don't worry, Karima. I will restore your rights, and he will come to you where you are." Then the voice disappeared. Two days later, she woke up and decided to resume her normal life. She started kneading the flour to make her bread, then she heard a knock on the door. Karima was surprised by that, who is knocking on her door so early in the morning? She went and opened the door to be surprised by Rashid, who as soon as he saw her, started begging her forgiveness, saying: “Forgive me Karima, please, greed has betrayed me and blinded me.” Karima was shocked by the sight of Rashid, trembling and almost crying, then he handed her a black bag and said: “This is your share and more,” then he quickly left, leaving Karima in a state of shock. She closed the door and brought the leather bag with her, it seemed very heavy, she threw it on the bed and opened it, her heart fluttering with joy, she could hardly believe what she was seeing, the bag was full of money, many bundles of gold and jewels, bracelets and necklaces, something beyond description. It wasn’t long until Karima opened her first project, which was a modern bakery, she hired her friend Khadija, and her money increased and multiplied. But despite the passing of time, Karima was unable to rid herself of the jinn in love, "Hammo," who continued to accompany her, preventing her from marrying and dictating what she should do. Since everything has a price, Karima surrendered to her new reality, especially after tasting the sweetness of false wealth. No matter how much money there is, if it comes from a devil, there is no blessing or good in it. The story ends.