Once upon a time, there was a judge named Zahran, renowned for his intelligence, shrewdness, and wisdom in restoring rights to their owners and redressing injustice. It is said that two men lived next door to each other, one kind and the other cunning. However, the kind neighbor lived beside his neighbor, unaware of the latter’s deceit and treachery.

One day, the wicked neighbor fell into such financial hardship that he had nothing to eat. He went to his neighbor’s house to ask for something to eat, but he did not find him, only his wife. She told him that her husband had gone to work that morning and had not returned yet. So the man decided to go to his neighbor’s workplace.

On his way, he saw his neighbor returning from work. He stopped him and told him he was in financial difficulty, asking if he could borrow a thousand dirhams. The kind neighbor did not hesitate and thought to himself, “It is alright to give my neighbor a good loan.” There was a date palm tree nearby, so the kind man told his neighbor, “God willing, tomorrow I will find the thousand dirhams for you, and I will wait for you by this palm tree to give you the money.”

The next day, the stingy neighbor went to meet his neighbor and collect the thousand dirhams. When he arrived, he found his neighbor waiting by the palm tree. The kind neighbor handed over the thousand dirhams to his neighbor as promised. The cunning man said, “I will repay you this money in three months.” The kind man agreed, without taking any written document from his neighbor to prove his claim. Three months later, the kind man went to his neighbor to collect the thousand dirhams, but the cunning man denied ever having borrowed money from him.

The man was saddened by what he heard from the mean fellow and thought to himself, “We have reached a time when good is repaid with evil, and kindness with wickedness.” The kind neighbor had heard about Judge Zahran and his wisdom and shrewdness in preventing injustice and restoring rights to their rightful owners. Indeed, he went to the judge to complain about his neighbor. The judge asked one of the guards to bring the accused man in. When he arrived, the judge looked at him and said, “Your neighbor claims that he lent you a thousand dirhams. Is his claim true?” The cunning man denied what he had heard from the judge and said, “Your Honor, I have not taken any money from my neighbor, nor have I ever borrowed from him. What he claims is a lie and a fabrication.”

Then, the judge looked at the neighbor and asked him, “Do you have a witness that your neighbor took a thousand dirhams from you, or any document to prove it?” The kind man said, “No, Your Honor, but when I lent him the money, I trusted him. It never occurred to me that my neighbor would deny my rights.” The judge sensed the man’s sincerity. He thought for a moment, then looked at him and said, “If you are telling the truth, and you did indeed lend your neighbor a thousand dirhams, then go and bring me a handful of soil from the place where you gave the money to your neighbor.”

The good man was surprised by the judge’s request, but he did as he was told and hurried off to take a handful of soil from that spot. Time passed, and the good neighbor did not return. The judge began to look at the wicked neighbor and suddenly asked him, “Your neighbor is very late. Do you know why he has not returned yet?” Without thinking, the wicked man quickly replied, “The place my neighbor went to is too far from here.” At that moment, the judge laughed and said, “Now I am certain that what your neighbor claimed is true, and that he did indeed lend you a thousand dirhams.”

The cunning neighbor was terrified and said, “How is that possible, Your Honor?” Judge Zahran said, “If your neighbor were lying and had not lent you anything, as you claim, you would not know where he went to get that handful of dust. That place is the very same place where you took the money from your neighbor.” Thus, the judge was able to prove the honest neighbor’s right and ordered the dishonest neighbor imprisoned until he returned the money he had taken.