There was a resident of Bashkale in Turkish Kurdistan who knew a little about reading letters. His family was poor and his circumstances were difficult. He assisted a khoja and was a faqih, something like half cantor and half rabbi in our tradition. He was permitted to read from the Qur’an, but was not authorized to perform other religious duties. The young man had to travel to Istanbul, to the chief mufti, and receive a certificate from him, just as a young rabbi in our tradition must receive rabbinic ordination from the chief rabbi. If he received the certificate, he could return to Bashkale and serve as a khoja in one of the villages around the city.
But the young man did not have even a penny for the journey to Istanbul. He decided: “I will walk!” He walked for days, then for a month, and another month, until he reached Istanbul.
When he arrived, he waited at the mosque for the chief mufti. The mufti arrived, led the prayer, and the young man prayed with him. Evening came and around ten at night people began leaving. The young man remained in the mosque because he had nowhere to go. The caretaker told him to leave. He explained that he had no money and nowhere to go and would sleep there.
During the night he had a nocturnal emission and had to bathe before prayer. At two in the morning he entered a lit building and discovered a hammam. He decided to enter and bathe despite having no money.
Behind a curtain he saw a man lying dead on the floor, covered according to Muslim custom. The covering was made entirely of diamonds. The young man exchanged his own covering for it. When he came out, the people waiting at the entrance saw the diamond garment and fell at his feet. They assumed he was the important man whose clothes were inside.
They dressed him in Sadi Razm’s red coat, ornaments, medals, and other clothes. In his pocket he found gold coins. He realized he was in danger and planned to escape, but outside a carriage and twenty policemen were waiting. They took him to Sadi Razm’s house.
The lady of the house realized he was not her husband. He told her everything. She warned him that at seven in the morning they would take him to the king, and that her husband had known seven languages. The young man replied, “God will help me.”
In the morning they took him to the king. He sat in Sadi Razm’s chair. The king asked where he had been and who he was. The young man told him everything that had happened from the day he left Bashkale until he reached the palace.
The king declared that this was a miracle and ordered the young man to remain in Sadi Razm’s place. He ordered teachers to educate him so that he could fulfill the adviser’s duties.
Thanks to the Tavor (Cherkian) family.
The story was told by Baruch Tavor and recorded by Liora Behar.
The story is also recorded in the Israel Folktales Archives (IFA), named for Dov Noy at the University of Haifa, serial no. 10222.