Bahiya was a beautiful woman surrounded by meddlesome neighbors whose eyes watched her day and night. They repeated stories about her and her four children by unknown fathers that were so scandalous they could turn a coal-black bull white – stories that drove a bearded neighbor rashly to suggest that Bahiya should be stoned to death. His suggestion was not followed because their streets had no stones, and to bring them from where they could be found needed time, effort, and money. Bahiya heard all that was said about her and received it calmly, quietly, and with self-possession, contenting herself with cheerful, protective smiles and taking care to keep anger at a distance. She never tried to defend herself by speaking of her legal but secret marriages that sometimes stretched the limits of credibility. Her first husband was a jinni with irresistible charm, and he was not a believer. He loved her at first sight, but she refused to marry him because he was not a Muslim. The jinni suffered the despair of the loser and begged her to tell him something about Islam. Her words were so warm and effective that his heart trembled with humility, and he immediately declared he was a Muslim, having sincerely borne witness that there was no god but God and that Muhammad was his prophet. He married her and became the father of her first son. Their marriage ended tragically when the husband took part in a failed military coup and was arrested and executed without trial. Bahiya mourned and took to wearing black, when the second jinni to become her husband noticed her. He admired her in her mourning clothes and asked for something not appropriate for a decent woman to give, and she became angry. She acted like one possessed by the jinn and rejected him in the harshest possible way. But the jinni became even more infatuated, for she appeared more beautiful when angry. He waited years before she agreed to marry him, and he fathered her second and third sons. He could not become the father of her fourth because an out-of-control car driven by a drunken soldier hit him, turning him into pieces of torn flesh and shattered bones.
Bahiya married a third jinni, whom she loved, but she bore him no children because she hated his poverty, his laziness, and the odor of his breath. She sang with joy when he divorced her.
She then married a fourth out of greed for what he owned, and he became the father of her fourth son. But she discovered that his huge wealth had come from embezzlement and bribery and wasted no time in divorcing him because she hated ill-gotten gains and her hands refused to touch them without a pair of thick gloves.
What happened to Bahiya convinced her she had no luck in husbands – there being no bench for her in the garden of lovers – and she decided not to marry again. She turned down the most desirable suitors, both human and jinn, and devoted her life entirely to raising her four sons until they became respectable men with money and influence and standing in the community. Bahiya’s neighbors then woke up to the fact that she was a fine woman worthy of respect, and rushed to endear themselves to her. Women came asking for advice when there was a crisis that had no resolution. Bahiya did not change even after death. Whenever a woman came to her grave to complain about her husband’s boorishness and stupidity, she would be surprised to discover when she went home that he had changed, having now become finer than a summer cloud, obeying with pleasure any order he was given.