Overview

In this anecdote from Jami's 'Baharestan', an Alawi in Baghdad who claims descent from the Prophet's household tries to seduce a courtesan without payment, arguing that receiving a scion of the family of prophethood and sainthood should be reward enough. She rebuffs him sharply, telling him to peddle that fable to the courtesans of Qom and Kashan, since those of Baghdad expect nothing but dinar and dirham.

Moral Lesson

Reinforced by the closing verses that a courtesan will not loosen her belt for the love of God and His Prophet, the tale satirizes the hypocrisy of using religious prestige and noble descent as currency for base or carnal ends. Jami exposes how sacred authority is debased when invoked to license the forbidden, setting the pretense of piety against plain worldly transaction.