Once, in the boundless expanse of the shifting sands, where the horizon bleeds into the sky and the wind whispers secrets of the ancient past, there lived a young Bedouin named Zaid. Zaid was a youth of pure heart and sturdy frame, but his greatest treasure was the wisdom of his elderly mother.
As she lay on her deathbed, her withered hand clutching his, she gave him one final, cryptic command: "My son, the desert is vast and its dangers are many. But the greatest danger is not the viper in the sand or the sun in the sky. It is the man of two intentions (Abu Niyatain). Never, as long as you draw breath, keep company with such a man."
Zaid, tears clouding his vision, asked, "But Mother, how shall I know him? Can I see into the hearts of men?"
She smiled weakly. "You will not need to look. He will tell you himself, for the tongue of the deceiver is often tripped by his own pride."
When she passed, the silence of the tent became a heavy shroud. Driven by grief and the need for a new beginning, Zaid sold his home, purchased a strong camel, packed his weaponry, and set out into the unknown, carrying his mother's warning in his soul like an amulet.
The Encounter at the Edge of Death
Days into his journey, under a sun that hammered the earth like a blacksmith’s anvil, Zaid spotted a dark shape huddled against a dune. It was a man, his leg shattered and bone-white against the sand, his lips cracked and blackened by thirst.
True to his noble blood, Zaid did not hesitate. He dismounted, offered his own canteen, and used his turban to bind the man’s mangled limb. With great effort, he hoisted the stranger onto his camel.
As they traveled, Zaid asked, "How did you come to this end, brother?"
The man groaned, "We were a raiding party, defeated and scattered. My 'friends' left me to the vultures when I could no longer run." He then looked at Zaid with narrowed eyes. "And you, young traveler? Why do you wander alone?"
Zaid spoke of his mother and her dying wish. "She told me to never trust a man of two intentions," he said.
The stranger let out a dry, raspy laugh. "Then you should drop me here, boy. For I am he. I am the man of two intentions. One for you, and one for myself."
Zaid laughed it off, thinking the man was merely bitter from his injuries. He believed his own kindness would surely earn a single, honest intention in return. He was wrong.
The Betrayal at the Deep
They reached an ancient, stone-lined well. Zaid, seeing the man's crippled state, insisted on descending himself. "I will go down," Zaid said. "Tie the rope to the camel. I will fill the skins—the first for you, the second for the beast."
Zaid descended into the cool, damp darkness. He reached the Rakwah—a small stone ledge just above the water line. But as he reached for the bucket, the light from above vanished. The rope hit him like a dead snake.
"The rope has fallen!" Zaid shouted.
The man’s face appeared as a silhouette against the sun. "I told you, Zaid. I have two intentions. Your camel, your gold, and your life are now mine."
"Take the gold! Take the camel!" Zaid pleaded. "Just throw the rope back. I give you my word before God I will not seek revenge."
"And leave a witness?" the traitor sneered. "I think not."
The man of two intentions turned away, his receding footsteps sounding like the ticking of a death clock. Zaid was left in the bowels of the earth, surrounded by the stench of damp moss and the echoes of his mother’s ignored warning.
The Midnight Council of the Jinn
As night fell, the desert air turned frigid. Zaid sat on the narrow ledge, praying for a quick end. Suddenly, the flapping of heavy wings echoed from above. Two massive black crows perched on the rim of the well. In the silence of the night, their caws shifted into the guttural speech of the Jinn.
"Brother," the first crow said, "have you heard of the Sheikh’s daughter in the Eastern Tribe? The beauty who rejected a thousand suitors?"
"I have," the second replied. "What of her?"
"I have woven a curse upon her. She has lost her mind; she screams and tears her clothes until she is bloody. No man will touch her now."
"Is there no cure?"
"A simple one," the first crow chuckled. "If one were to recite the Fatiha seven times over a bowl of pure water and have her drink it, the spell would shatter instantly. But humans are blind fools."
The second crow puffed his feathers. "That is nothing. I have cursed the city of Sheikh Harb. Once a paradise of green, it is now a graveyard of dust. I blocked the veins of the earth at the Mother Well beneath the Great Mountain. The city is dying."
"And the cure for that?"
"One must recite the final verses of Surah Al-Baqarah and the Mu'awwidhatayn over a vessel of water and pour it into the spring’s source. The water would burst forth like a tidal wave. But no one knows, and no one will."
Zaid, huddled in the darkness below, committed every word to memory. This was his miracle—the Jinn, in their arrogance, did not realize that the "blind humans" were sometimes listening from the depths.
The Ascent and the Healing
At dawn, the crows flew away. Soon after, a caravan stopped to water their animals. When they lowered a bucket, Zaid grabbed it and cut the rope, then another, and another.
The caravan leader, baffled, sent a brave scout down to investigate. When the scout saw Zaid, he nearly fainted. "Demon or Man?" he cried.
"A man betrayed," Zaid replied. He explained that he cut the ropes because he feared if they saw a ghost-like figure clinging to a bucket, they would drop him in terror.
The caravan rescued him, and Zaid joined them on their journey to the very lands the crows had mentioned. When they reached the tribe of the cursed girl, Zaid found the Sheikh in mourning.
"Heal my daughter," the Sheikh wept, "and you shall have whatever your heart desires."
Zaid asked for a bowl of water. He recited the Fatiha seven times with unwavering faith. As the water touched the girl’s lips, the madness vanished from her eyes. She reached for a cloak to cover herself, her mind restored. True to his word, the Sheikh gave Zaid his daughter’s hand in marriage and a fortune in gold.
The Resurrection of the Dead City
But Zaid’s mission was not yet finished. He traveled with his new bride to the withered city of Sheikh Harb. It was a ghost town, its inhabitants long gone, leaving only three families clinging to the dust.
Zaid approached the weary Sheikh Harb. "I can bring back the water."
"If you do," the Sheikh said, "this city and its riches are yours to share."
Zaid climbed the Great Mountain to the Mother Well. He recited the holy verses over the water and poured it into the dry crack of the earth. Within seconds, a roar like thunder shook the ground. Crystal-clear water erupted from the earth, flooding the dry canals and bringing life back to the valley.
Zaid became a legend. He built a palace, planted gardens, and lived as a prince of the desert.
The Final Judgment
Years passed. One evening, a haggard beggar arrived at Zaid’s gates, asking for bread. Zaid recognized the face instantly—it was the man of two intentions, older, poorer, and still treacherous.
Zaid invited him in and revealed his identity. "I am the man of one intention," Zaid said calmly. "The one you left to die."
The traitor was stunned. "How? How did you gain all this from the bottom of a well?"
Zaid, perhaps too merciful, told him the story of the crows and the secrets they whispered.
Greed ignited in the traitor’s eyes. He did not stay for the feast. That very night, he ran to the well, obsessed with the idea of hearing the Jinn’s next secrets. He descended to the Rakwah and waited.
At midnight, the crows returned. But they were not boasting this time. They were furious.
"Brother," the first crow hissed, "our secrets have been stolen. The girl is healed. The city is green."
"Someone was listening," the second crow snarled. "Last year, in this very well. He is likely still here, or his kind is."
"Let us ensure no one listens again."
With a terrifying strength, the Jinn-crows began to claw at the stone rim, triggering a massive collapse. The well caved in, burying the man of two intentions under a mountain of rock and sand.
Zaid’s mother was right. A man of two intentions eventually finds that both lead to the same grave.
Keywords: Bedouin Folklore, Man of Two Intentions, Jinn Crows, Desert Magic, Cursed Princess, Spiritual Healing, Karma, Islamic Fables, Desert Survival, Ancient Secrets, Middle Eastern Myth.
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