ABSTRACT
IT is related, O auspicious King, that there was once a merchant called Umar who had three sons: Salim the eldest, Salim the second, and Judar who was the youngest. He had brought them all up to manhood, but ever preferred Judar, which caused the other brothers to hate and envy the lad. When Umar, who was a very old man, noticed this hate, he feared that Judar might be ill-treated after his death by the other two. Therefore he called together the folk of his family and certain learned men whose business, under the kadi, was with inheritance, and said to them: ‘Let all my goods and the stock of my shop be brought before me!’ This was done, and Umar continued: ‘Good people, I beg you to divide these things into four equal parts, according to the law.’ The goods were divided, and the old man gave one fourth to each of his three sons and kept the last for himself, saying: ‘These possessions were all mine and I have divided them among my sons during my lifetime, so that after my death they will have nothing to claim from my estate or from each other. Thus discord will be avoided. When I am gone, the part which I have kept is to go to my wife that she may be free to nourish herself.’
