Ma'aruf the cobbler and his wife Fatimah live in Cairo. Fatimah wants a vermicelli-cake, but when Ma'aruf is finally able to get one, it has the wrong kind of honeey and she hits him. She complains about him and has him arrested. The Kazi takes pity on them and gives Fatimah a dinar with which to buy another cake. However, Fatimah has also complained to another Kazi and to the High Court, so Ma'aruf flees to another city. He meets an old friend, Ali, who has built a business from pretending to be a wealthy merchant, and wants to help Ma'aruf do the same. However, Ma'aruf overdoes it and draws attention to himself. The King eventually offers to wed Ma'aruf to his daughter Dunya. Ma'aruf spends almost the entire contents of the royal treasury before telling Dunya the truth that he has no mon