Many years ago, Aisha lived with herparents and brothers in humble tents in soft yellow sand. Aisha spent every day cooking and sewing.
One day, Aisha went for a walk to get some fresh air and wandered away in a daydream. When she realized that she was very far from home, she didn’t know whether to turn right or left. “My parents will miss me and will look for me,” she thought.She saw a camel eating from aghaff tree. Aisha thought, “If nobody comes, I can eat from this tree.” As night fell, Aisha becamescared and hungry, so she approached the ghaff tree.
Aisha forgot to say, “Bism Allah” before putting her hand on the tree. Suddenly, she fainted. The next morning, she woke up in a different place and saw a handsome man sleeping. She called to him, “Who are you?”
The man’s name was Sultan. Blushing, she said, “I lost my way. Where did you find me?”
Sultan replied, “I found you near the ghafftree. What happened?” Aisha told him everything.
Suddenly, she started shouting like a man, saying words that could not be understood. Sultan ran to his parents. When his mother arrived, she read passages from the Holy Quran. Aisha calmed down and fell asleep. His parents called the Imam, who put his hand on Aisha’s head as he read the Holy Quran. When Aisha shouted incomprehensibly, the Imam said, “One of the ghaff tree jinnis went inside Aisha’s body. You need to bring the Imam from the next village. He knows how to get it out.” Immediately, Sultan and his father set off on camels.
After two weeks, Sultan finally brought the Imam who removed the jinni. Aisha was then returned to her family. When Sultan met Aisha’s father, he told him what had happened, and asked him if he could marry her. The father said, “If Aisha approves, it is OK with me.” When Aisha accepted, it made Sultan the happiest man in the world.
Eventually they married and Aisha knew that she had learnt the real meaning of happiness.
by Fatima Mohammed Al Mehri
(ILLUSTRATOR) AyshaSaif Al Hamrani
