The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince

In a magnificent kingdom beyond the Black Islands, where the desert met the sea and fertile gardens bloomed between golden dunes, there lived a young prince whose story would become one of the most extraordinary tales of love, betrayal, and magical transformation ever told.

Prince Kamal was the heir to a prosperous realm known for its justice and beauty. His palace overlooked gardens where fountains sparkled in the sunlight and rare birds sang among trees heavy with fruit. The prince himself was renowned not only for his handsome appearance and noble bearing, but for his kind heart and wise judgment that made him beloved by all his subjects.

When Prince Kamal reached the age of twenty-five, his parents arranged his marriage to Princess Badoura, daughter of a neighboring king. The match seemed perfect in every way—she was beautiful, accomplished, and came from a family of good reputation. The wedding was celebrated with such magnificence that travelers spoke of it for years afterward.

For the first months of their marriage, Prince Kamal believed himself to be the most fortunate man in the world. Princess Badoura was indeed beautiful, with dark eyes that seemed to hold depths of mystery and a smile that could charm the birds from the trees. She was intelligent, well-educated, and appeared to be a devoted wife.

However, what Prince Kamal did not know was that his wife harbored a terrible secret. Princess Badoura was skilled in the dark arts of sorcery, having learned forbidden magic from a jealous sorceress who had filled her heart with ambition and malice. Far from being the loving wife she appeared, she was plotting to seize control of the kingdom for herself.

“My dear husband,” she would say sweetly as they walked through their private gardens in the evening, “you work too hard governing the kingdom. Perhaps you should delegate more responsibilities to others.”

Prince Kamal, trusting completely in his wife’s love, began to follow her suggestions. Gradually, Princess Badoura maneuvered herself into positions of influence, placing her own servants in key roles throughout the palace and slowly isolating her husband from his most loyal advisors.

The princess’s true nature began to reveal itself in subtle ways that the prince, blinded by love, failed to recognize. She showed no compassion for the poor who came seeking aid, dismissed the concerns of the kingdom’s scholars and religious leaders, and displayed a cold indifference to the welfare of their subjects that was completely contrary to the royal family’s traditions.

One night, as Prince Kamal lay sleeping peacefully beside her, Princess Badoura decided the time had come to complete her plan. She had grown tired of pretending to love him and was ready to claim absolute power over the kingdom.

Rising silently from their bed, she gathered the magical implements she had hidden in a secret chamber connected to their quarters. By the light of black candles, she began to perform a spell of transformation that would allow her to rule unopposed while keeping her husband alive but helpless.

The incantation she whispered was in an ancient language learned from demons and evil djinn. As she chanted, she mixed potions and drew mystical symbols around the sleeping prince’s form. The magic she was weaving was particularly cruel—rather than simply transforming him into an animal or rendering him completely unconscious, she intended to trap him in a state where he would be aware of his condition but powerless to change it.

As the spell reached its climax, Prince Kamal’s body began to undergo a horrible transformation. Starting from his waist downward, his flesh and blood turned to cold marble, as if he were becoming a statue. The transformation progressed slowly, giving him time to awaken and realize what was happening to him.

“Badoura!” he cried out in horror as he felt the marble creeping up his body. “What are you doing? Why?”

The princess’s beautiful face twisted into an expression of cold triumph. “Did you truly believe that I loved you, foolish prince? I married you only to gain access to your kingdom. Now I shall rule alone, while you remain as a living statue—aware of everything but able to do nothing.”

The spell was designed so that Prince Kamal would be marble from the waist down while remaining flesh and blood from the waist up. He could speak, see, and hear, but he could never move from the spot where the transformation had taken place. He was, in effect, a living statue trapped in his own palace.

But Princess Badoura’s cruelty did not end there. Each night, she would come to gloat over his condition, often bringing with her a lover—for she had never been faithful even during their brief marriage. She would torment the prince by describing her plans for the kingdom and how she intended to squander its wealth for her own pleasure.

“Look upon your kingdom’s new ruler,” she would mock, “and despair, for no power on earth can break the spell I have cast upon you.”

The prince endured this torment for many months, watching helplessly as his beloved kingdom was misruled and his people suffered under his wife’s tyrannical and careless governance. His heart broke not only for his own fate but for the subjects he could no longer protect.

However, unknown to Princess Badoura, her magical activities had attracted the attention of supernatural forces that opposed evil sorcery. Deep in the wilderness beyond the kingdom’s borders lived a community of djinn who served the cause of justice and fought against those who used magic for wicked purposes.

Among these noble djinn was a powerful being named Marid al-Nur, whose name meant “Rebel of Light.” Marid had been watching the princess’s activities with growing concern, and when he sensed the cruel spell she had cast upon her innocent husband, he decided to intervene.

Djinn, being creatures of great power but bound by cosmic laws, could not simply undo another’s magic directly. However, they could work through human agents who possessed pure hearts and noble intentions. Marid began to search for someone who could serve as an instrument of justice and redemption.

His search led him to a young fisherman named Hassan who lived in a coastal village at the edge of the kingdom. Hassan was poor but honest, brave but humble, and possessed of a natural kindness that made him beloved by his community. Most importantly, he had a pure heart that was untainted by greed, hatred, or selfish ambition.

One night, as Hassan was mending his nets by the shore, Marid appeared to him in human form.

“Good fisherman,” the djinn said, “I have a task for you that will require great courage and may bring great danger, but which will also accomplish great good.”

Hassan looked up from his nets at the stranger, whose presence seemed to radiate an otherworldly authority. “I am but a simple fisherman, my lord. What could I possibly accomplish that would matter to one such as yourself?”

Marid smiled at Hassan’s humility. “Sometimes, my friend, the humblest vessel can carry the most precious cargo. Listen carefully to what I tell you, for the fate of a kingdom and the redemption of an innocent prince depend upon your willingness to act with courage and compassion.”

The djinn then told Hassan the full story of Prince Kamal’s transformation and Princess Badoura’s treachery. He explained that the spell could only be broken by someone who acted out of pure love and selfless devotion, without any hope of personal reward.

“What must I do?” Hassan asked, his honest heart already moved by the prince’s plight.

“You must find a way to enter the palace and reach the prince’s chamber. There, you must declare your willingness to take upon yourself a portion of his curse out of compassion for his suffering. If your heart is truly pure and your offer truly selfless, the spell will begin to weaken.”

Hassan accepted this dangerous mission without hesitation. Using his knowledge of the coastline and with Marid’s subtle assistance, he managed to infiltrate the palace during one of Princess Badoura’s frequent absences from the capital.

When Hassan found Prince Kamal in his chamber, the sight nearly broke his heart. The prince sat as he had for months, his lower body transformed to marble, his face bearing the weight of prolonged suffering and despair.

“Who are you?” Prince Kamal asked in amazement, for no one had visited him except his tormentors for so long that he had almost forgotten what kindness looked like.

“I am Hassan, a fisherman, and I have come to help you, my prince,” the young man replied, kneeling before the half-statue with deep respect.

Hassan then spoke the words that Marid had taught him: “Your Highness, I offer to share your burden out of compassion for your suffering and love for justice. If it is possible, let some portion of your curse be transferred to me, that your torment might be lessened.”

As soon as these words were spoken with genuine sincerity, a warm light filled the chamber. Prince Kamal gasped as he felt sensation returning to parts of his marble legs, while Hassan cried out as his own legs began to stiffen and grow cold.

The partial transfer of the curse accomplished exactly what Marid had intended—it weakened the overall spell enough to give Prince Kamal limited mobility and the ability to work toward his own complete liberation.

“Hassan,” the prince said, his voice filled with gratitude and amazement, “you have given me hope when I had none. But I cannot allow you to suffer for my sake.”

“My prince,” Hassan replied, even as he struggled with his own transformation, “injustice anywhere is a wound to all good people. Your freedom is worth any sacrifice I might make.”

With his partial mobility restored, Prince Kamal was able to access magical texts hidden in the palace library. Working together, the prince and the fisherman began to research ways to break the curse completely.

Their efforts attracted the attention of Princess Badoura, who returned to find her perfectly controlled situation disrupted. In her rage, she attempted to cast an even more powerful spell to destroy both men.

However, her evil magic was now opposed by forces of good, and the spell rebounded upon her with terrible consequences. The same transformation she had inflicted upon her husband now took hold of her, but without any chance of redemption, for her heart was filled with malice rather than love.

As Princess Badoura was consumed by her own magic, the curse upon both Prince Kamal and Hassan was broken. The prince’s marble legs returned to flesh and blood, while Hassan was restored to his normal condition.

But the story’s end was even more wonderful than its resolution of the curse. Prince Kamal, deeply moved by Hassan’s selfless bravery and pure heart, adopted him as a brother and made him a partner in ruling the kingdom. Hassan’s wisdom and compassion, combined with the prince’s noble leadership, ushered in an era of unprecedented prosperity and justice.

The tale of the Ensorcelled Prince became a beloved story throughout the region, told not only for its magical elements but for its profound lessons about the power of selfless love, the eventual defeat of evil by good, and the truth that the humblest person can become the instrument of great justice when they act with a pure heart.

Prince Kamal ruled for many years with Hassan at his side, and their kingdom became known as a place where magic was used only for good, where justice prevailed over treachery, and where the love between true friends could overcome any curse or enchantment.

The story served as a reminder that while evil magic might seem powerful in the short term, it ultimately destroys those who practice it, while the magic of compassion, courage, and selfless love can transform not only individual lives but entire kingdoms.

And in the coastal village where Hassan had once mended nets, fishermen still tell their children the story of how one of their own became a prince through the simple act of caring more for another’s suffering than for his own safety, proving that true nobility comes not from birth but from the choices we make when faced with others’ need.