The Great Magic of Baghdad

Maymun

Okay, so, every Friday, we would attend the Muslim prayer service, which meant that every Sunday, since there are no churches in Baghdad, I was given five fals and was allowed to do as I please. Oh, right, Fals are one of the currencies of the Mongol Empire. I'm not going to bother explaining what that is to you. It'll take too long, those heads of yours are too thick. I mean, with the helmets! Yes, those beautiful metal helmets of yours are sure thick! They're very pretty. Yes, they are quite a beau-okay. Nevermind, I will continue with the tale.

One day, Scot announced that we would be leaving Baghdad in a week's time. I was sad. I didn't want to leave. I felt that I had found my place among the sellers, magicians, alchemists, and astrologers. I had finally learned Arabic almost fluently and had become friends with a boy of my own age called Maymun. I expressed my sadness to Scot, and he understood. The next day Scot and another man met me.

"This is Ali al-Sahir. If you wish to stay in Baghdad, I have made arrangements."

It turned out that he had contacted a friend of his, and the friend had agreed to teach me and give me a home. I was thrilled. Then, I lived with Sahir, and he taught me alchemy, astrology and other things like that. He knew a small amount of English, so he was able to help me learn Arabic fluently. He taught me everything. Philosophy, Mathematics, and so much more. He even taught me the Quran, so now I am like my friend from Baghdad, Maymun since most boys learn the Quran by heart by the time they're ten years old. I still remember some. But, since you don't like it when I speak a different language, I won't say anything.

But, the thing I learned the most about is magic.

There are several different types of magic. One of which is real magic. Real magic is when a magician speaks spells and makes dolls of victims. They swear over them and curse them so the victim will feel pain, or die, or just go mad. This is black magic and is mentioned in the Quran. But real magicians are known to do more than just bring harm to others. Real magicians harness jinn, and make them servants. This is one of the uses of a magician's powers, even though it may sound fictional, Sahir believed it, so I do too.

But, not just any magician can make a jinn do his bidding. A real magician must harness the jinn in the proper way. That is the only way a jinn will do his bidding. Jinn are actually much like our, I mean, the European ideas of faeries, goblins, demons, spirits, and elves. Jinn are invisible spirits that live in rocks, trees, pebbles, any natural object really and are dangerous spirits that whisper in your mind and lead you astray. They inspire poets, who, here, are thought to be slightly mad. If jinn inspire poetry, the Bedouins must've had quite a large population of them! They are poetry, practically. Oh, I miss the Bedouin camps I traveled to with Maymun.