Harun al-Rashid and his vizier Ja'far argue over the caliph's slave girl. Ja'far wants to buy her, but Harun al-Rashid says he will neither give her to him or sell her to him. Unable to come to an agreement, they summon the judge Abu Yusuf. Abu Yusuf tells the caliph to give Ja'far one half of the slave girl and sell him the other half. However, the caliph wants her back, and according to the law she must marry a slave first. After they marry her to a slave, the slave doesn't want to divorce her. Abu Yusuf tells Harun to make the slave girl the property of the slave, which will render the marriage invalid.