Episode 5 · Journey, Faith, Desert, Wisdom
The Treasure
What the dream was really pointing to
The story
A man dreams of a treasure buried under a fountain in a city he has never seen. He sells everything to find it.
When Hasan dreams the same dream three nights in a row, he sells his shop and rides for Cairo to dig where the dream has shown him.
He is arrested before he reaches the fountain. The constable laughs at him — and tells him about a ridiculous dream he himself has had three nights running, of a fortune hidden under a stove in a house in a city the constable has never seen. Hasan rides home knowing exactly which stove.
Key moments
- The dream returns for the third night
- Hasan sells his shop at a loss
- The long ride alone across the dunes
- Arrest at the fountain in Cairo
- The constable's strange dream — and Hasan's quiet ride home
Characters
- Imad · Shopkeeper, dreamer
- Hakeem · Leader of the caravan to Cairo
- Cairo Resident · Owner of a house in Cairo
- Maya · Imad's caravan camel
The tale behind the episode
The Treasure adapts one of the shortest and wisest stories in the Nights, often titled "The Ruined Man Who Became Rich Again Through a Dream". A man in Baghdad dreams that his fortune lies in Cairo, travels there, is arrested, and hears from a mocking officer about a dream of treasure buried in a house that turns out to be his own. The tale has travelled widely since, and versions of it appear in Persian poetry and in modern novels.
Read more: What Is One Thousand and One Nights?.
