“…A wealthy citizen in Alexandria had made a deep and profound friendship with a merchant from Baghdad, who always stopped by his friend when in Alexandria on business. It then happened that the Egyptian wooed a beautiful maiden who accepted his marriage proposal. He took the young bride into his house already before the wedding, giving her her own room in which to live.
“At the same time the merchant from Baghdad, as was his custom, also took up residence in his friend’s house. The latter took him in with the greatest joy, impressing on his staff to do everything possible to make his friend’s stay a comfortable one.
“The first day passed in undimmed merriment, but on the second, his guest was so ill that he could only remain in bed. The attending doctor stated that the sickness was not a physical one but rather had a psychic basis, and requested the man from Alexandria to ask his friend to share what bothered him. “I believe,” said the guest, “that my illness is grounded in my strong yearning for a woman whom I saw yesterday evening in your house.”
“‘That will soon be proven,’ replied his friend, who then led each of the women and girls in his house before his friend in a row, the last of which was his own betrothed. As soon as she appeared before the guest, he said, ‘Yes, yes, she is the one from whom I can expect life or death.’
“‘If she can give you life,’ answered the Alexandrian, ‘May God give you many days. If the maiden wills it, I will gladly surrender her with her whole dowry.’ The maiden agreed with the exchange, and as soon as she agreed, the merchant was again well. When he departed, he asked his friend to seek him out in Baghdad should he have cause to visit. He himself would not likely return to Alexandria, he added, as he was retiring from his business. With that, the friends parted.
“After some years, the man from Alexandria became very poor so that one night, he departed secretly from the city. He thought of his friend’s invitation and so made his way to Baghdad. The night had already settled when he arrived, and as he felt unwilling at such a late hour to seek out his friend, he decided to spend the night in a hut that was but an arrow’s flight from the city.
“When he had just made himself comfortable, a man came in quick steps to the hut, fleeing from a pursuer. The pursuer found his quarry, killing him. The killer had only just escaped when six armed men appeared at the hut, finding the Egyptian by the murdered man. Taking him with them, where by the laws of the land he was made responsible for the murder because he was found at the scene. After he had spent the night in prison, he was led before a judge the next morning and accused by the family of the murdered man.
“Among those present was also the wealthy merchant, who recognized his friend immediately even though the latter had been greatly changed by suffering and poverty. As soon as he heard that the Egyptian would be sentenced to death under the law, he thought of the good deed that he had been done in Alexandria, and resolved to save the friend’s life by offering his own. So he called in a loud voice that the Egyptian was innocent, and that he himself had committed the murder.
“Because of this admission, the stranger was freed and the merchant was put in chains. The real murderer, who was also present, was so moved by the event that he was unable to let himself allow an innocent man suffer in his place. He stepped forward and acknowledged himself as the murderer.
“This never before event where two men freely commit themselves to chains so astounded the judge that he was unable to levy a judgment, and so left this duty to the king. The king ordered that the three men should be led before him in series, where each was told under oath of the truth to relate the story of his life. Through this, the facts became known. The king pardoned the murderer because he had admitted the deed to rescue one who was innocent, ordering that he make a pilgrimage to the holy land.
“The merchant offered his friend the choice of remaining with him for life, or returning to Egypt with half of his fortune. The man from Alexandria chose the latter, taking half of his friend’s wealth and returning to his home as a wealthy man where he remained to his last days without ever again suffering a loss. — With this, my story ends, with which I will show you how a whole friendship is made. That this is rare, you have yourself learned: of those who call themselves your friends in happy days, there remain in an hour of need hardly any who prove to be reliable.”
After saying this, the old man died. There follows now a story that clearly proves how difficult it is to judge people correctly because some know how to conceal their true nature…