THE STORY OF KISMET

Daybreak is heralded by the call of muezzins in ancient Baghdad. A sharp-witted public poet claims relationship with Hajj entitling him to the vacant begging post and actually assumes the name “Hajj”. By doing so, he is kidnapped by brigands to be summarily dealt with by their chief Jawan, whose son had been stolen in consequence of a curse put upon him many years before by the real Hajj. However the versatile sham Hajj, hoodwinks Jawan into giving him a bag of gold. Hajj gives this gold to his beautiful daughter Marsinah, telling her she can bedeck herself in silks and trinkets.

Meanwhile in the Bazaar, Marsinah is observed by the Caliph, who is moving incognito with Omar among his subjects and the Caliph immediately falls in love with her.

When Hajj is brought before the Wazir, he is sentenced to the thief’s usual punishment – his right hand must be cut off. Luckily the amorous Lalume takes a fancy to him and secures a delay of execution, during which Jawan is brought in by the Police. His presence proves the innocence of Hajj, whom he denounces as a fraud for failing to restore his son. No Sooner has he done so, than he recognises that the Wazir is in fact his missing son. It does not suit the ambitious young man to acknowledge so disreputable a parent so he callously send Jawan to his death.

Aided and abetted by Lalume, Hajj manages to escape. He finds Marsinah in her garden waiting for her mysterious lover. Fearing for her safety he forces her into hiding, just before the Caliph comes with great pomp to claim her as his bride.

Highly pleased with the turn of events and attributing them to Hajj, the Wazir makes him an Emir. This gives Hajj the opportunity to flirt with Lalume and to put Marsinah in her charge. The Caliph instructs the Wazir to trace his lost love, but is persuaded to peep, unobserved, into the women’s quarters, where to his amazement he sees Marsinah. His joy is quickly turned to grief when the Wazir lies to him that she is one of his own wives. As a result the Caliph capitulates and promises to choose a wife from the candidates for his hand, at a Diwan that very night.

In the course of the Diwan, the Wazir compliments Hajj on his feat of magic in putting the Caliph’s beloved in his own Harem. He tells him of the marriage he forced upon her and casually mentions her name is Marsinah and that she has vowed to kill herself.

Hajj then tells the Caliph that he will throw a magic plaque into the pool and when retrieved by the Wazir, it will bear the name of his bride-to-be. Though reluctant at first, the Wazir is cajoled into diving for the plaque and producing a different one which Hajj has given him, with the name of an Asian Princess scribbled on it. Jocularly Hajj gets the Wazir to raise his foot, which he seizes and unperturbed by the death struggles of his victim, he holds him immersed until he drowns.

Hajj then puts the Diwan in darkness and escapes to prevent Marsinah taking the poison the Wazir had given to her. When he returns with her, the lovers recognise each other in disbelief and delight. The Caliph takes Marsinah for his only wife and Hajj takes Lalume to a far away oasis, there to toil constantly to remove all grief from her heart.