The Story of the Two Sisters who were Jealous of their Younger Sister

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, I shall recount to you a tale that reveals how jealousy can poison the hearts of even those who should be bound by love, and how divine justice, though sometimes delayed, never fails to right the wrongs of this world.

In the great city of Isfahan, there lived three sisters whose beauty was renowned throughout Persia. The eldest was called Jamila, the second Hasina, and the youngest Zahira, whose name meant “The Shining One”—a title that proved to be prophetic in ways both wonderful and terrible.

The three sisters were orphans who had inherited a modest house and a small income from their parents. They lived together harmoniously for many years, supporting each other through the difficulties that face unmarried women in the world. But as they grew older, the elder sisters began to notice that their youngest sister seemed blessed with extraordinary fortune.

When Zahira tended the small garden behind their house, the flowers bloomed more brilliantly than anywhere else in the neighborhood. When she cooked, even the simplest ingredients transformed into delicious meals. When she walked through the marketplace, merchants would compete to offer her the finest goods at reduced prices, claiming that her smile brought them luck.

At first, Jamila and Hasina were pleased by their sister’s good fortune, for what benefited one sister benefited all. But as the seasons passed and Zahira’s blessings became more apparent, the dark seed of jealousy began to sprout in their hearts.

“Why should she be so favored?” whispered Jamila to Hasina one evening as they watched Zahira effortlessly mending clothes that would have taken them hours to repair. “Are we not equally deserving of Allah’s blessings?”

“Indeed,” replied Hasina bitterly, “she acts as though her good fortune is natural, never acknowledging how much easier her life is than ours. Perhaps it is time she experienced some of the difficulties that ordinary people face.”

Their jealousy grew like a poisonous plant, fed by each small miracle that seemed to follow their younger sister. When Zahira found a purse of gold coins in the street and, after inquiring throughout the neighborhood without finding the owner, was told by the local imam to keep it as a blessing from Allah, her sisters could barely contain their resentment.

One fateful morning, a magnificent procession passed through their street. The Sultan’s son, Prince Mirza, was traveling through the city and had stopped to rest his horses. When the prince’s eyes fell upon Zahira, who was hanging laundry in the garden, he was instantly captivated by her beauty and grace.

Immediately, the prince sent his vizier to arrange a meeting with the girl’s family. “His Highness,” announced the vizier to the three sisters, “has been enchanted by the beauty and dignity of the young lady in your household. He wishes to make her his bride and offers a dowry that will ensure the comfort of her entire family for generations.”

Zahira, modest and pure of heart, was overwhelmed by such an honor. Her sisters, outwardly expressing joy and congratulations, inwardly burned with an envy so intense it consumed all their capacity for sisterly love.

The wedding preparations began immediately, and within a month, Zahira was married to Prince Mirza in a ceremony of unprecedented magnificence. She moved to the palace, but her kind heart ensured that her sisters were provided with a beautiful house and generous allowances, for she could not bear to think of them living in poverty while she enjoyed royal luxury.

But the sisters’ jealousy, rather than being satisfied by their improved circumstances, only grew more bitter. “Look how she gives us charity as if we were beggars,” Jamila complained. “She thinks herself so generous, sitting in her palace while we must accept her condescending gifts.”

“She has forgotten her humble origins,” agreed Hasina. “Perhaps it is time to remind her that fortune can change as quickly as it arrives.”

When Zahira became pregnant with her first child, her joy was complete. She wrote to her sisters regularly, sharing her happiness and expressing her eagerness for them to meet their future niece or nephew. But the sisters saw in her pregnancy an opportunity for a revenge that would satisfy their twisted hearts.

They offered to come and assist during the birth, presenting themselves as loving sisters who wished to help during such an important time. The innocent Zahira, grateful for their apparent affection, welcomed them to the palace with open arms.

When the time of delivery arrived, the sisters sent away all the palace midwives and servants, claiming they wished to handle the birth privately as a family matter. Alone with their sister during her labor, they implemented a plan of shocking cruelty.

When Zahira, weakened by childbirth, delivered a beautiful baby boy who seemed to glow with an inner light, the sisters quickly concealed the child and substituted a puppy, claiming to the prince and court that his wife had given birth to an animal—a sign of divine displeasure.

The sisters secreted the real baby in a basket and set him afloat on the river, hoping he would be lost forever. They then spread rumors that Zahira’s apparent blessings had been illusions, and that her true nature had finally been revealed through this shameful birth.

Prince Mirza, shocked and heartbroken by what seemed to be a supernatural punishment, still loved his wife too much to divorce her, but he was forced to confine her to a tower in the palace, away from the court that now whispered about the cursed princess.

The basket containing the baby boy floated down the river until it was discovered by a kind fisherman and his wife, who had longed for children but been blessed with none. They raised the boy as their own, naming him Badr, and marveled at his extraordinary beauty and the inexplicable good fortune that seemed to follow him wherever he went.

When Zahira conceived again, the evil sisters repeated their cruel deception, this time substituting a kitten for the beautiful baby girl she delivered. Again, they set the real child afloat on the river, where she too was rescued and raised by another childless couple who named her Qamar.

A third time, when Zahira gave birth to another son more beautiful than the moon, the sisters replaced him with a rat and set the baby adrift. He was found by a wealthy merchant who had no sons and who raised him as his heir, naming him Shams.

After these three “shameful” births, Zahira’s husband, pressed by his courtiers and the shame that had fallen upon the royal house, was forced to exile his wife to a small hut outside the city. Though his heart still loved her, he could not understand what had befallen them, and the constant whispers of the court made life unbearable.

Zahira, alone and heartbroken, spent her days in prayer and her nights in tears, maintaining her faith in Allah’s justice even as she could not comprehend why such misfortunes had befallen her. She never suspected that her own sisters were the architects of her downfall.

Meanwhile, the three children grew up in different parts of the kingdom, each blessed with extraordinary beauty, wisdom, and fortune that marked them as being of noble blood despite their humble circumstances. They possessed an inexplicable ability to excel at everything they attempted and showed a natural nobility that impressed all who met them.

When the children reached adolescence, fate began to weave the threads that would expose the truth and reunite the scattered family. The three young people, drawn by forces they could not understand, found themselves drawn to the capital city during the same festival season.

Badr, now a young man of remarkable skill in scholarship and poetry, came to participate in the royal court’s literary competitions. Qamar, whose beauty and virtue had made her famous throughout the region, arrived as part of a delegation from her adopted city. Shams, who had shown an extraordinary talent for trade and diplomacy, came as his adopted father’s representative in important business negotiations.

At the festival, the three young people encountered each other and felt an immediate, inexplicable bond. Though they had been raised in different cities by different families, they looked remarkably similar and shared an instant connection that felt deeper than mere friendship.

Their extraordinary presence at court caught the attention of Prince Mirza, now older and wiser, who was struck by their obvious nobility and the strange sense of familiarity they evoked. When he learned their ages and the circumstances of their discovery as babies, a terrible suspicion began to form in his mind.

Meanwhile, an aged holy man who had served as the prince’s spiritual advisor observed the gathering of these three remarkable young people and proclaimed that he had received a vision revealing a great injustice that had been hidden for many years.

“Your Highness,” the holy man told Prince Mirza, “Allah has shown me that these three young people are your own children, stolen from their mother through the wickedness of those who should have protected them. The signs and circumstances all point to a deception so cruel that it cries out to heaven for justice.”

Confronted with this revelation, Prince Mirza commanded that Zahira’s sisters be brought before the court. Under intense questioning and faced with the overwhelming evidence of the children’s identities, the sisters finally confessed their crimes, their jealousy, and their cruel deception.

The revelation sent shockwaves throughout the kingdom. Zahira was immediately summoned from her exile and reunited with her husband and children in a scene of joy so intense that all who witnessed it wept with emotion.

The three children, learning their true identity, were amazed to discover that the bond they had felt was the call of blood to blood, and that their inexplicable blessings had been signs of their royal heritage shining through despite their humble upbringing.

As for the jealous sisters, they threw themselves at Zahira’s feet, begging for forgiveness and expressing horror at the magnitude of their own wickedness. They had spent years watching their sister suffer, knowing they were the cause, and the weight of their guilt had slowly destroyed any happiness their revenge might have brought them.

Zahira, whose pure heart had been purified even further by her years of suffering and patient faith, granted her sisters the forgiveness they sought. “Allah has restored my family and my honor,” she said. “How can I harbor anger when my joy is now complete? But you must live with the knowledge of what jealousy can drive people to do, and perhaps your example will warn others away from such destructive emotions.”

The evil sisters were exiled from the kingdom, but they were provided with enough resources to live modestly, for Zahira would not see even those who had wronged her suffer in poverty. They spent the remainder of their lives in repentance, serving the poor and trying to atone for their sins.

Prince Mirza and Zahira ruled together with wisdom and justice, their three children growing up to become renowned for their virtue, wisdom, and compassion. The kingdom prospered under their rule, for they had learned through suffering the value of mercy, patience, and trust in divine providence.

The tale of the three children became legendary throughout the land—how Badr became a great scholar and judge, how Qamar became known for her wisdom and charity, and how Shams became a diplomat who prevented many wars through his skill in negotiation and his understanding of human nature.

And so this story teaches us that jealousy is a poison that destroys first those who harbor it, then spreads to hurt the innocent. But it also shows us that Allah’s justice, though sometimes long in coming, is perfect and complete. Those who maintain faith and virtue through even the greatest trials will find that their patience is rewarded beyond their highest hopes.

The bonds of true family love cannot be permanently severed by human wickedness, and children who are raised with love and virtue will find their way back to their rightful place, guided by the same Providence that ensures every river eventually reaches the sea.