Children's online picture story
By Ruhi Rose for Muslim VillaAs-Salam Alaykum dear kiddies. Read and enjoy our Islamic Tale presentation of Rapunzel.
In the 1550s during the era of Ottoman Egypt (Eyalet-i-Misr), there lived a very rich old landlord, Sameer, and his proud wife, Selma, in the old city of Cairo. After more than 20 years of marriage, they remained a childless couple. That made them unhappy and sometimes jealous, despite their enormous wealth.
Wikipedia
Opposite their luxurious home close to Al-Muizz street in old Cairo, was a modest little cottage of a young neighborhood florist, Ahmed, and his wife, Laili, who were newly- weds. They made beautiful bouquets of flowers which they sold to the neighbors. They grew an array of unique blossoms in their tiny yard filled with flowering tubs and vases. Everyone loved those lovely fresh cut-flowers that made their homes sweet-smelling and enchanting whenever they got a bouquet home from Ahmed and Laili.
A year later the florist and his wife were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. She was named Rabia and nicknamed ‘Rapunzel’ after the rare and gorgeous genus of pale purple roses with green velvety leaves that grew in their yard. Everyone lovingly called her ‘Rapunzel. The young married couple were so happy. "Alhumdulilah, a million times" said the husband. "Yes, yes, Alhumdulilah" said the wife with tears of joy.
Some years passed by. The rich Sameer and haughty Selma discovered how happy their poor neighbors were, selling lovely flowers, with a beautiful daughter. Despite living in an old and worn out little cottage their happiness knew no bounds. The rich couple became much too jealous. They hired a group of strong-armers and hoodlums to kidnap the little girl and bring her to them. “We will pay you whatever you demand, but you must somehow bring the little girl to us.” said Selma to the leader of the criminal gang. One late night soon after midnight the hoodlums crept into the cottage. While the parents and little eight-year-old Rapunzel slept soundly, they silently lifted the girl from her bed, tied her mouth with a swathe of fabric and put her in a large cloth-bag, then slipped out of the window. The landlord and his wife were elated. They decided to be Rapunzel's foster parents and raise her in a secluded and old castle-like house that belonged to their ancestors, away from the city and deep into the woods. It was located very far from Ahmed and Laili's cottage.
When the florist and his wife woke up at dawn to offer Fajr prayers, they found an empty bed in their daughter's room. They looked everywhere but Rapunzel was nowhere to be found. They could barely express their grief. His wife cried and cried, and the tragedy left her husband speechless with a broken heart. They felt their lives could never be the same again. He kept reciting the 86th Verse of Surah Yusuf, "I complain of my suffering and grief only to Allah." They went to the court of the Mayor of Cairo and mentioned the tragic disappearance of their little daughter. The Mayor sent scores of local law enforcers searching door-to-door of the Al-Muizz neighborhood and beyond. There was no trace of the little girl anywhere. The month of Ramadan arrived soon. Ahmed and Laili told the Mesaharati to stay vigilant at dawn, in case he saw anyone taking Rapunzel out of the neighborhood.
The jealous old couple knew they were very guilty. They had orchestrated a paid-crime by stealing someone else's child. If they were caught, they would be punished severely by the law. That made them extremely cautious. They kept Rapunzel in the fortified castle like a prisoner. Nearly a decade passed and Rapunzel grew from a little girl to a young woman of eighteen. She missed her parents dearly. She knew she could never forget them. She continued to follow their teachings. She offered her salah five times daily and recited the Ayats of the Quran she had memorized with the help of her parents. Her wealthy kidnappers did, however, provide her with good clothes and a copy of the Quran, to keep her calm. Beautiful Rapunzel wore jilbabs and hijabs made of finest Egyptian cotton and rose attar purchased from the Khan al-Khalil Souq. Rose attar was Rapunzel’s favorite fragrance which she recalled her parents liked very much, prepared by her mother at home with concentrated rose-water and oil. Each time she wore a few drops of rose attar on her clothes, her olfactory sense took for a stroll along the memory lane of her parents' humble home. Sometimes she would hear the chirping of birds from one of the castle windows fitted with iron bars. She wasn't allowed to step out of the well-guarded dismal interior of this stone house. As the young Rapunzel grew unhappier by the day, the old foster parents became more possessive and impatient.
One day the prince (son of the Pasha of Egypt) went cross-country, riding on his horse with his entourage. As they passed by this very old stony castle, he felt something strange about it. The architecture was old and rare, it was too secluded, too quiet, yet huge. “Who could be living here, or does anyone live there at all?” He mused.
The prince felt very curious. After returning to the palace he told his trusted aide that it would be a good idea to buy that large old house as a midway "outstation" for their long-distance errands. The next day the prince's aide and two other palace guards rode through the woods to the castle. The main door was made of strong heavy wood. They knocked and pounded at that door. But no one answered. They went again the next day with a group of ten other guards and pounded on the door louder and louder. Sameer, his wife (both were now very elderly and frail) and a servant, meekly answered the door after a long time. They nervously said the castle wasn't for sale. When the prince's entourage requested to take a quick look inside the castle, their request was denied showing plenty of anxiety.
They returned to the palace and recounted their experience to the prince and his father. Everyone was curious as well as suspicious. The possibility of a covert scheme of treachery or dissidence goaded by unknown foreign intruders could not be ruled out. Law enforcers were sent by the palace with a formal legal decree to enter the large old house.
In the meantime, the elderly kidnappers sent for their henchmen, contacting the same criminal gang for help that had kidnapped Rapunzel several years ago.
When the prince's soldiers arrived at the castle door, they were confronted by a squad of six or seven goons waving their swords. Fortunately the prince's entourage was stronger and better equipped. The goons were overpowered and they fled. When the soldiers entered the castle, they found Sameer and Selma huddled at the corner of a large living room, trembling with nervousness. The soldiers asked if anyone else resided in the castle. They answered "no." But as the soldiers went looking around, parts of the castle were reeking of the fragrance of rose attar, like someone else also lived in this large old house. Apparently the aroma wasn’t from the old couple for they smelled different. Along a narrow hallway of the castle, the floral scent was so sharp that it provided the soldiers with a trail to follow. It led them to an old room at the far end of the castle with a heavy wooden door and double locks. When they pounded on the door, Rapunzel screamed "help me, for the sake of Allah, help me. I’m a captive here for the past ten years!" The thick wooden barrier made her voice sound faint outside the room, nonetheless, it was audible. The soldiers broke the door into bits and found Rapunzel in a dismal unventilated room dressed in jilbab and hijab with the Quran in her hand. At first she was confused and traumatized. When she realized the prince’s soldiers came to help, she briefly told them her story that she was a victim of jealous kidnappers. She needed to be rescued immediately and taken to her parents, Ahmed and Laili, the well known florists of Al-Muizz street in old Cairo.
Rapunzel was freed by the prince’s soldiers within minutes and taken back to her parents in old Cairo. Simultaneously, Sameer and Selma were taken into custody.
Ahmed and Laili immersed in misery for ten years, were suddenly brimming with unprecedented joy. Laili said, “I understand how Prophet Yakob felt when he lost his dear son, Prophet Yusuf, may the peace and mercy of Allah be on both of them,” her face once again drenched with tears of joy!
The next evening the prince invited Rapunzel and her parents to the palace to meet his family. Together they ate a simple dinner and then offered the Isha prayer, with special thanks to Allah Almighty, in a carpeted hall with men and women in separate groups.
A day later, the prince told his family he had found his bride-to-be, Rapunzel, and requested his mother to visit Ahmed and Laili with a marriage proposal for their daughter. The prince’s parents were delighted as were the parents of Rapunzel. Allah Almighty had granted their daughter the fruits of her perseverance (sabr) and constant prayers during those difficult times she endured for years. The florist’s daughter recited aloud “But indeed! With hardship goes ease,” the fifth Verse of Surah Al-Inshirah and fell to sajood. “Alhumdulilah, SubhanAllah,” she said looking up in the sky.
That followed the court trial of Sameer and Selma who were declared guilty for their crime and given a prison sentence of ten years. But the sentence was reduced to six years with imprisonment at home because of their age. The elderly couple died of natural causes before finishing their sentence.
Rapunzel and the prince were married, starting their very blissful life. They lived happily ever after with their families.
Moral Lessons:
There are three moral lessons here.
(1) Never be jealous. Seek refuge in Allah The Almighty from the evil of jealousy/envy which is one of the significant causes for plenty of misery in this world. Recite Surah Al-Falaq with concentration. Also remember Verse 32 of Surah An-Nissa where Allah says: “And covet not the thing in which Allah has made some of you excel others. ….. (Envy not one another) but ask Allah of His Bounty. Indeed! Allah is ever Knower of all things.”
(2) The grief of separation from parents is indescribably painful for both children and parents. Take care and stay safe with your parents. Please read Surah 12, Yusuf, to understand this point. Or, on a weekend, tell your parents to narrate the events of this Surah to you.
(3) If anyone is trapped in a situation as helpless as this, try to hang on to Sabr. InshAllah, help will arrive sooner than you think.
Glossary:
~ Ahmed and Laili: Rapunzel’s parents
~ Al-Muizz neighborhood: Al-Muizz is the oldest street in walled historic Cairo
~ Attar: Middle-Eastern perfume made of oil and concentrated natural fragrances from flowers, without alcohol or spirit
~ Eyalet-i-Misr: Turkish expression of Ottoman Egypt
~ Khan al-Khalil Souq: A large covered historical market in Cairo built in 1300s Mamluk era
~ Mesaharati: Dawn caller during Sahoor in Ramadan
~ Pasha: Title of governor in Turkish
~ Prince: Son of Ottoman Pasha in Cairo, Egypt, and his wife
~ Sameer and Selma: The rich and jealous old couple who planned the kidnapping
~ Strong-armers and hoodlums: The kidnappers of Rapunzel
~ Rapunzel: Rabia’s nickname
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