The Tale of the Magic Chest

In the great trading city of Cairo, where the Nile River brought prosperity to merchants from across the known world, there lived a wealthy but eternally dissatisfied trader named Hakim al-Tamm. Despite owning several shops, a magnificent house, and warehouses full of precious goods, Hakim was consumed by an insatiable desire for more wealth.

While other merchants were content with honest profits, Hakim spent his days scheming to acquire greater riches. He would cheat customers when he could, underpay his workers, and constantly seek ways to expand his fortune, believing that happiness would come only when he possessed more gold than any other man in Cairo.

The Mysterious Seller

One scorching afternoon, as Hakim sat in his main shop calculating his profits and lamenting that they were not greater, an ancient man entered carrying a small but ornate wooden chest. The old man was bent with age, his beard white as desert sand, and his eyes held depths that spoke of countless years and vast experience.

“Peace be upon you, merchant,” the old man said in a voice like wind through ancient ruins. “I come seeking to sell a treasure that has been in my family for generations.”

Hakim looked up with interest, his merchant’s instincts immediately aroused. “And upon you peace, grandfather. What treasure do you carry?”

The old man placed the chest on Hakim’s counter. It was beautiful, carved from a wood that seemed to shift color in the light, inlaid with intricate patterns of silver and adorned with precious stones that caught and reflected the lamplight like captured stars.

“This chest,” the old man said solemnly, “is no ordinary container. It possesses powers that could make its owner the wealthiest man in all the lands of Islam. But it comes with a price—and a warning.”

The Bargain

Hakim’s eyes gleamed with avarice as he examined the chest. “What manner of powers? And what price do you ask?”

“The chest will multiply whatever treasure you place within it,” the old man explained. “Put in one gold dinar, and by morning you will find ten. Place ten, and you will discover one hundred. The wealth will continue to multiply as long as you follow one simple rule.”

“And what rule is that?” Hakim asked, though his hands were already reaching for his money pouch.

The old man’s expression grew grave. “You must never open the chest at night, when darkness covers the earth. The magic works only in the hours between sunrise and sunset, and dire consequences await any who break this law.”

Hakim barely heard the warning, so excited was he by the prospect of unlimited wealth. “How much do you want for this wonder?”

“One thousand gold dinars,” the old man replied.

Without hesitation, Hakim paid the sum—nearly half his liquid wealth—and eagerly claimed possession of the magical chest. The old man departed with a sad smile, leaving behind only his final warning: “Remember, young merchant—some treasures are more valuable than gold, and some prices are higher than any man should pay.”

The Test of Magic

That very evening, Hakim rushed home and placed a single gold dinar inside the chest, then spent a sleepless night imagining the wealth that would be his. At dawn, he opened the chest with trembling hands and gasped with joy—inside lay ten perfect gold dinars, just as the old man had promised.

Overwhelmed with excitement, Hakim immediately placed all ten coins back in the chest. The next morning, he found one hundred dinars waiting for him. The following day, he put in the hundred and discovered a thousand. His wealth was growing beyond his wildest dreams.

Within a month, Hakim had become the richest man in Cairo. His warehouses overflowed with gold, his houses were filled with precious artifacts, and his reputation for wealth spread throughout Egypt. But rather than bringing him satisfaction, his riches only increased his hunger for more.

“Why should I wait until dawn each day?” he began to mutter to himself as he paced his chambers one night. “If the chest can multiply gold so easily, surely I could open it just once during the night to double my wealth even faster.”

The Temptation of Greed

For weeks, Hakim fought against the temptation to break the old man’s rule. But his greed grew stronger each day, fed by the sight of the chest sitting there, seemingly waiting to make him even richer. He began to rationalize his desire, telling himself that the old man had probably exaggerated the danger, that perhaps the warning was meant only to keep the chest’s true power from being discovered.

One night, when a particularly large business opportunity arose that required immediate funding, Hakim convinced himself that he had no choice. “Just this once,” he whispered as he approached the chest in the darkness of his chamber. “Surely Allah will understand that I need this gold for legitimate business.”

His hands shook as he lifted the lid of the chest in the absolute darkness of midnight. At first, nothing seemed to happen—the chest appeared to contain the same gold he had placed there that morning. But as he reached inside to touch the coins, they crumbled to dust at his fingertips.

The Consequence

Suddenly, the room filled with an otherworldly light, and from the chest emerged a massive djinn with eyes like burning coals and a voice like thunder. The djinn was not evil, but its expression was stern and disappointed.

“Foolish mortal,” the djinn spoke, its voice echoing through the chamber. “You have broken the sacred law and opened the chest in darkness. Did you think that wealth without wisdom, gain without discipline, could bring you happiness?”

Hakim fell to his knees, terror overwhelming his greed. “Please, mighty djinn, I beg forgiveness! I was weak, but I can learn. Give me another chance!”

The djinn’s expression softened slightly. “I am not here to punish you with cruelty, but you must learn the lesson that wealth without contentment is worthless. Since you chose to open the chest in darkness, you shall discover what truly lies within when greed rules the heart.”

The True Contents

As the djinn spoke, the chest began to glow with an eerie light. Inside, Hakim saw not gold, but visions of his own life—every moment of dishonesty, every worker he had underpaid, every customer he had cheated, every friend he had neglected in his pursuit of wealth.

He saw his own transformation from a merely ambitious merchant into a man consumed by avarice, whose relationships had withered and whose soul had grown smaller even as his bank accounts grew larger. He saw the opportunities for kindness he had missed, the chances for generosity he had ignored, and the simple pleasures he had forgotten in his relentless pursuit of more.

“This,” the djinn said sadly, “is the true treasure that greed creates—a heart emptied of everything valuable while it grasps for things that cannot bring lasting happiness.”

“What can I do?” Hakim whispered, finally understanding the poverty of his spiritual condition despite his material wealth.

“The chest will remain with you,” the djinn replied, “but its magic is forever changed. From now on, it will only multiply what you give away in charity, kindness, and service to others. The more generously you share, the more true wealth you will discover.”

The Transformation

When morning came, Hakim found his gold had indeed turned to dust, leaving him with only a fraction of his former wealth. But instead of despair, he felt something he had not experienced in years—a sense of relief and possibility.

He began to experiment with the chest’s new magic. When he placed money inside it intended for the poor, the amount doubled. When he put in food meant for hungry families, the quantity multiplied. When he deposited goods intended as gifts for friends and workers, they increased beyond measure.

More remarkably, as Hakim began to practice generosity, he discovered riches he had never known existed. His relationships with family and friends were restored. His business prospered as customers flocked to a merchant they could trust. His sleep became peaceful, and his days were filled with the joy that comes from helping others.

The Wisdom Gained

Years later, Hakim had become wealthy again, but this time his riches came from honest dealing and generous sharing. The magical chest had taught him that true treasure multiplies only when it flows through a giving heart, not when it is hoarded in darkness.

When young merchants came to him seeking the secret of his success, he would tell them: “The greatest magic in commerce is not in getting more for yourself, but in giving value to others. When you fill your business with honesty and your heart with generosity, wealth will multiply in ways that no magic chest could ever achieve.”

The chest remained with Hakim until his death, and then it passed to his son, who had learned his father’s lessons well. But those who inherited the chest were always warned: it responds only to the spirit in which it is used, multiplying greed into emptiness but transforming generosity into abundance.

And in the markets of Cairo, merchants still tell the tale of Hakim al-Tamm and his magic chest, reminding each other that the most powerful magic of all is a generous heart, and that true wealth is measured not by what we accumulate in darkness, but by what we share in the light.

Thus ends the tale of the magic chest, which taught that the greatest treasure is not gold that multiplies in secret, but kindness that grows when shared with the world.