There was a kingdom called Kanya Subarna. The king of that kingdom was King Shashanka, who was a very kind and compassionate man. Even though he was a king, he loved the poor people deeply and cared for everyone from his heart.
One day, while he went hunting in a forest, he saw a very beautiful young woman. As soon as he saw her, he fell in love with her. Later, their love turned into marriage. However, even after two or three years of marriage, the king had no children. After that, he married five more women, but still none of them bore him any children.
Once, while the king was traveling around his kingdom, he noticed another poor young woman. He also fell deeply in love with her and married her. But even after marrying her, none of his queens became pregnant.
One day, a beggar came to the royal court and said to the king,
"If you feed me one full meal, I will give you a medicine. If your seven queens take it, they will all have children."
The king was very happy to hear this. He fed the beggar until he was completely full. After eating, the beggar placed a condition. He said that after the seven queens gave birth, the king would have to give him the child of the youngest queen.
The king thought to himself, "What will happen if I give away the youngest queen's child? I will still have children from the other six queens." Thinking this, he promised the beggar that he would give him the youngest queen's child.
After the beggar left, the king soon found out that all seven of his queens were pregnant. Hearing this news, the king invited the entire kingdom to celebrate.
When the children were born, the king saw that the babies of the six queens were not born properly—some had no hands, some had no eyes, and some had no legs. Only the youngest queen's child was perfectly healthy, and it was a baby boy.
When the king saw this, he began to worry, because he remembered that he had promised the beggar that he would give him the youngest queen's child.While the king was lost in these thoughts, the beggar arrived in the kingdom. He came to the king and said,
"Do you remember the promise you made to me? Now all seven of your queens have had children, so you must give me the child of your youngest queen."
The king then told a lie. He said,
"The child of my youngest queen has died."
The reason he said this was that the children of his other six queens were not born properly. Because of this, he lied to the beggar.
But the beggar replied,
"Do not lie to me. I know that the youngest queen's child is perfectly healthy. So give me the child of your youngest queen properly, as you promised."
The king was forced to keep his promise, and he handed over the youngest queen's child to the beggar. Both the king and the youngest queen were filled with great sorrow, because their only healthy child was taken away from them.
The beggar then took the boy far away. Twenty-two years passed, and the beggar raised the boy and made him a Hujur (religious scholar).By that time, the beggar had become very old, and the boy took care of him. While caring for his beggar father, one day the boy thought,
"I have now become a Hujur. So I will search for Allah. I will go to Allah and ask Him to make my father well."
Leaving his beggar father behind, he set out in search of Allah. But how could anyone really find Allah? He did not know that.
While searching for Allah, he stopped under a jujube (boroi) tree. Suddenly, the jujube tree spoke to the Hujur boy and said,
"Brother, brother, where are you going?"
The Hujur boy replied,
"I am going in search of Allah."
The jujube tree said,
"If you are going to search for Allah, then please ask Allah one question for me. I bear a lot of jujube fruits, but not even a crow eats my fruits. Why is that? Please ask Allah this for me."
The boy said,
"Alright, I will ask Allah."
After saying goodbye to the jujube tree, he continued his journey in search of Allah.
As he walked further, he saw a man who owned a big building. That man asked him,
"Brother, brother, where are you going?"
The Hujur boy replied,
"I am going in search of my Allah."
The building owner said,
"Brother, since you are going in search of Allah, please ask Allah this for me: every time I build a building, why does it collapse? Please ask Allah this question."
The Hujur boy said,
"Alright, I will tell Allah."
After that, he left the place and continued walking. On the way, he saw a slightly old man. The old man asked him,
"My son, my son, where are you going?"
The Hujur boy replied,
"I am going in search of my Allah."
The old man said,
"Since you are going in search of Allah, please ask Allah this for me. I have a daughter who is of marriageable age, but her marriage never happens. Whenever a groom is fixed for her, that man dies. Why does this happen? Please ask Allah."
The boy replied,
"Alright, I will ask Allah."
After saying this, he continued on his path. But can anyone really see Allah with their eyes? Allah lives within everyone.
Then a man asked him,
"Where are you going?"
The boy replied,
"I am going in search of Allah."
The man said,
"Has anyone ever seen Allah face to face? Where will you find Him?"
After hearing this, the boy thought,
"That is true. No one has ever seen Allah. Allah exists within everyone."
Then the boy told that man about the jujube tree, the building owner, and the father of the girl. After hearing everything, the man whispered three things into the boy's ear.After hearing those three things, the Hujur boy started his journey back home. While returning, he met the third man—the father of the girl. The man asked,
"My son, did you meet my Allah? What did Allah say? Will my daughter get married?"
The boy replied,
"I will marry your daughter myself."
After marrying the girl, the boy continued his journey. On the way, he met the building owner again. The building owner asked,
"Brother, did you meet my Allah? What did Allah say?"
The Hujur boy replied,
"Allah said that you are not building your buildings with halal money. That is why your buildings keep collapsing. If you build with halal money, your buildings will no longer fall."
After saying this, the boy continued walking. While walking, he met the jujube (boroi) tree again. The tree asked,
"Brother, did you meet my Allah? What did Allah say?"
The Hujur boy replied,
"There is a snake living under your tree. Because of the snake's poison, no one eats your jujube fruits."
The jujube tree asked,
"Then what should I do now?"
The Hujur boy said,
"Do not worry. I will solve the problem."
After saying this, he recited a Surah and blew on the tree three times. As soon as he did that, the snake came out and left. After that, people and even crows began to eat the jujube fruits.
Then the boy went to his beggar father. When he arrived, he saw that his beggar father had passed away. Before dying, the beggar had left a letter in his hand. From that letter, the boy learned that he was not the son of a beggar—
he was the son of a king.