Original: Almas and the Wonderful Ring
Title: Almas and the Wonderful Ring
Summary: Aladdin genderflipped. That's really all you need to know.
Rating: G
Notes: Written at the insistence of 1st_eggokage , sour_idealist , and several other Tumblr people. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
In the days of the Safavid Dynasty, when the breeze blew gently and all the perfumes of Persia scented the air, in the court of Shah Abbas I, there lived a lady who was regarded by all as the greatest beauty in the land; and this lady’s name was Nadira. She walked with the grace of the fleetest of deers, and sang with the voice of the sweetest songbird. In her smile, the sun rose, and when she cried, it was said that the skies above opened in sympathy with her grief. Many of the Shah’s men had courted her and begged for her hand in marriage, but she refused them all with a smile and a graceful air, her words so kind that none went away from her with bitterness in their hearts. There was one question, though which she refused to answer no matter how many times it was asked: why would she not marry?
This is why:
A year and a day ago, the lady Nadira and her handmaidens had ventured forth into the city of Isfahan to peruse the markets there. As they were carried in litters along the street, passers-by gathered, hoping to catch a glimpse of the legendary beauty; and Nadira, gracious as she was lovely, waved to each of her admirers.
Now in the city on this day, there happened to be a young woman- of age with Nadira- named Almas. She was the daughter of a poor man and woman, and her father had recently died, leaving his wife and child destitute. Hoping for some succour, Almas had travelled to the city of Isfahan to see if any of her late father’s belongings could be sold or traded for food that would sustain her and her mother a little while longer. But alas, no merchants would trade their goods for hers’, and dejected, she was readying herself to return home and deliver the sad news to her mother when Nadira’s litter passed by. Almas was in awe at the great beauty of the lady, the like of which she had never seen before; and she vowed at that moment that she would never praise another woman’s loveliness again, for she had seen beauty beyond compare.
But disaster struck! One of the lady’s litter-bearers slipped in a pile of camel dung that had been carelessly left in the street, and the litter tilted dangerously towards the ground, as the other three men struggled to hold their ends up. In a flash, Almas darted from the crowd to seize the corner that had fallen, and righted the litter before harm could come to Nadira. In doing so, she clasped the other woman’s hand; and what a thrill of joy ran through her at this briefest of contacts!
For her part, Nadira was equally smitten by the dashing young woman who had rescued her, and wished for nothing more than to take her back to the palace and live with her for the rest of her days. But even in her bedazzlement, she recalled her manners. “I would know the name of my rescuer,” she said, “so that I may reward her with what her heart truly desires.”
“I may accept no reward,” Almas replied, “for my greatest desire is only your happiness, which is not in my power to grant. I am Almas bint Fahim bin Hasib al-Fulan; and I have travelled to Isfahan in search of some support for my mother, as my honoured father has died and we are alone.”
“I am saddened to hear of your condition,” said Nadira, “and I ask that you take this bracelet as a token of my thanks, and to help feed yourself and your mother.” And she slipped a bracelet from her wrist and handed it to Almas, before being carried off by her litter-bearers once again.
Almas returned to her mother’s home and told her what had transpired, and her mother was overjoyed to see the bracelet she had been given. It was sold to pay for bread, to Almas’s sadness, and their lives continued much as before. Nadira returned to the palace, still desiring the woman from the marketplace, but knowing that she could not bring her to the Shah and ask to be wed; and so, she turned away her suitors, vowing to remain faithful to her rescuer.
Some months after this, a man arrived at Almas and her mother’s hovel, and introduced himself as Quadir. “I am your husband’s brother,” he said to Almas’s mother, “newly returned from my travels, and greatly grieved to hear of my dear brother’s death. I wish to care for you and my niece; but I must first ask for her help.”
Almas’s mother, overjoyed to find salvation from her troubles at least, urged her daughter to accept his proposition, which she did readily. “There is a cave nearby,” he said, “where I hid my treasures before embarking on my journeys. Alas, my bones are frail and my hands weakened since I placed my belongings in this cave, and I need someone sound of body to retrieve them. Will you go with me to the cave? Half of the riches within will be yours, as your dear father and I agreed.”
Almas readily agreed to this, and they proceeded to the cave. Once inside, however, she could find no treasure; only an old and battered oil lamp sitting upon a rock. Her uncle was outraged when she returned to report this to him. “Some bandits have made off with my treasures!” he exclaimed. “Quick, give me the lamp; I will make away with it to town, and see if anyone recognizes the brand upon it.” Almas hastened to the entrance of the cave to follow him; but he rolled the stone back into place as she attempted to leave, and she realized to her great sorrow that she had been tricked. She sat down on the floor of the cave and wept bitterly, certain that she would die there, and her mother would have no means of support; and she would never see her beloved Nadira again.
Gradually, as her tears ceased, her resolve hardened to explore further in the cave and see if she could find a different way out. That, she could not do; but she did discover two rings lying on the floor of a cavern, tarnished and rusted, but still gleaming in the faint light from her lamp. Almas picked one ring up and rubbed it, trying to clear away some of the rust; and to her great shock, there was a bright flash of light, and a djinn rose up from the emerald set in the band.
“Greetings, master!” it boomed. “I am the djinn of the ring, set free for the first time in a millennia; I am bound by the laws of magic to grant you three wishes, for your kindness in rescuing me.”
Almas was momentarily speechless in the face of the djinn’s appearance, but quickly recovered her faculties, and asked that her first wish be to return to her mother’s hovel. This, the djinn granted her. Her mother was overjoyed to see her lost daughter again- having been told by Quadir that she had been lost in the caves- and, furious to hear of Quadir’s deception, threw him out of her home. Thus, their life became as it was before.
Shortly after her return, the djinn asked Almas what her second wish would be. She thought hard before responding, and answered “I wish to be made a prince, with many rich posessions and fine adornments; and I wish that I may be transported to Isfahan, so that I may ask my beloved Nadira’s hand in marriage.”
The djinn readily did as she asked, she Almas found herself dressed in fine men’s clothes, with trunks full of riches all around her. The djinn also provided her with a camel, which she rode to Isfahan, and asked to be admitted into Shah Abbas’s palace. The guards allowed her entrance, and she presented herself to the Shah.
“Your highness, I am Prince Almas of Maghreb, and I have come to pay tribute to your greatness and request the lady Nadira’s hand in marriage.”
“I accept your tribute,” the Shah replied, “but you will not receive the lady’s hand in marriage; she has shunned all offers made for her.”
“I understand that the lady will not entertain such offers,” replied Almas, “but I wish to make an attempt; and if she will not accept me, I shall leave the palace and return to Maghreb.”
The Shah granted this request, and Almas was duly presented to Nadira, who recognized the woman from the Isfahan marketplace, and was overjoyed at being reunited with her. She accepted Almas’s proposal instantly, to the amazement of the court, and Shah Abbas gave the couple his blessing. Their wedding night was filled with raptures, and the days after it were lit by joy.
Now the sorcerer- for that is what he was- Quadir had fled Persia after his trickery was discovered, having regained the lamp that gave him his darkest powers; but upon hearing the tales of Nadira, the famously remote beauty, having at last granted her hand in marriage to this mysterious Prince Almas, he realized that the girl must have discovered his magic ring, and used it to secure Nadira’s hand in marriage. He flew into a jealous rage, and vowed to reclaim his djinn and take Almas’s wife for his own.
He travelled to Isfahan disguised as a poor peddler, knowing of Nadira’s propensity towards charity, and arrived at the Shah’s palace on a day when he knew she would be walking the grounds. Using his magic to bypass the guards, and approached her as she sat in the garden.
“O most gracious lady,” he said, “I am a poor wandering peddler with little joy to grace my life. My one wish is to regain the ring that belonged to my dear wife- may she rest in peace- which was stolen from her by a treacherous merchant. I have traced him to Isfahan, where I believe he sold the ring to your own lord and husband. Might he be so generous as to return it to me?”
“My husband is travelling with the Shah on this day,” she replied- having still concealed the truth of Almas’s identity from the court- “but I know where the ring of which you speak is kept, and I am sure that he would never deny its rightful owner possession of it.” And so she returned to her rooms, retrieved the ring, and handed it to Quadir.
A great darkness fell upon Isfahan, and Nadira discovered to her great sorrow that the man she had taken for a harmless peddler was in fact a cunning sorcerer. He took the palace under his control, and enslaved everyone inside. However, Nadira held steadfast in refusing to be his bride; and the other women of the palace hid her away, so that Quadir could not find her. When Almas returned to Isfahan with the Shah, she discovered Quadir’s treachery, and vowed to rescue her wife from his clutches. Remembering the second ring from the cave- which she had left behind when the djinn returned her to her home- she travelled back to the cave to retrieve it, and rubbed it as she had the first one. Another djinn appeared before her. “Mistress,” it said, “what is your will?”
“I wish to be returned to my wife,” Almas replied, “and to have Shah Abbas restored to the throne.”
In a flash, Almas found herself by Nadira’s side, and both women wept and embrace, having feared that they had lost the other for ever. At the same time, Quadir’s spell over the palace broke, and they rose up as one to defeat him. Shah Abbas, in his infinite mercy, chose to imprison him instead of applying a sentence of death. Now restored to her wife and her position, Almas was almost entirely happy. She required only one thing for her joy to be complete.
She requested an audience before the Shah, and stood as straight as she possibly could, while boldly declaring, “I must confess to you that I have not been entirely honest in my dealings with Your Highness. I gave my title as Prince Almas; in truth, I am Princess. My wife is aware of my true self, and I leave it to you whether I am to be taken from her side once again.”
The Shah was silent for a moment, weighing what she had told him. Then he declared, “It is not in my power to sever a bond which has been consecrated in the eyes of Allah. Your marriage is sacrosanct in His eyes; in your honesty to your wife, you have ensured this. No action will be taken to remove you from her side, or from my court.”
Almas bowed to her Shah, tears of happiness in her eyes, and returned to Nadira’s side to deliver the good news. From that day on, they never left each other’s side for long, and when they died, the last wish of the ring was used to build them a great tomb, where they lay in each other’s arms; and there they will lie until the world comes to an end.