Kismet

In Baghdad, Hafiz the beggar-magician moves through the city as the self-proclaimed King of Beggars by day and the Prince of Hassir after dark. His performance conceals a deeper dream: to create a fairy-tale world for his daughter Marsinah. The Arabian Nights atmosphere colors the streets as Hafiz crafts tricks and maintains his disguises.

Lady Jamilla, queen of the Grand Vizier's harem, recognizes Hafiz's pose but is drawn to the daring charm of his street theater. She keeps him at arm's length while privately intrigued by his audacious world. Her interest hints at a potential alliance that could shake palace politics.

The Caliph roams Baghdad incognito as the son of the Royal Gardener, seeking to learn about his people firsthand. During his wanderings he meets Marsinah, Hafiz’s daughter, and is instantly drawn to her. He also glimpses Hafiz’s magical world from a distance, foreshadowing conflict and romance.

To shelter Marsinah in a world of fairy tales, Hafiz constructs high walls around his home. He clings to the dream that his daughter will marry royalty, a dream his nurse Karsha mocks with a sarcastic Bah! every time he speaks of the future. The walls become a symbol of both protection and separation.

The Caliph returns to his palace, planning to propose to Marsinah. He moves cautiously through palace life, wary of plots and loyalties. His love is genuine, but the political game around him complicates any straightforward union.

An agent of the Grand Vizier attempts to kill the Caliph. The Vizier kills the would-be assassin before he can be questioned, and the Caliph’s suspicions about the Vizier’s hand in the plot begin to deepen. The intrigue tightens as loyalties blur and power shifts.

Hafiz steals fancy clothes and enters the Vizier's presence as the Prince of Hassir. He offers Marsinah's hand in marriage to the Vizier as part of a dangerous bargain. Jamilla performs for the gathering and privately agrees to leave the Vizier to join Hafiz.

The bargain Hafiz makes with the Grand Vizier is meant to seal Marsinah’s future, with her becoming Queen of the Harem and the Vizier’s wife. Hafiz’s offers to use magic to kill the Caliph underscore the perilous stakes of the arrangement. He demonstrates the knife trick to underscore his claim that power can be turned to his advantage.

Hafiz is arrested for theft of the fancy clothes he wore to the Vizier’s palace. He is brought before the Vizier and the Caliph, and his hands hang in the balance as he bargains for mercy. The deal includes saving his life and securing Marsinah’s future, even as the walls between them crumble.

Hafiz, aided by the Grand Vizier’s office, is arranged to meet the Caliph at a public open-air audience. He tries to perform his knife trick, intending to assassinate the Caliph, but the Caliph precisely dodges the weapon. The moment exposes Hafiz’s perilous plan and deepens the rift between him and the court.

In the ensuing chaos, the Vizier escapes and orders Marsinah’s death. Hafiz realizes the gravity of the situation and rushes to save his daughter. The palace reels from the revelation as fate threads toward a deadly finale.

Hafiz and the Grand Vizier fight within the harem, and the Vizier is killed. Palace guards arrive and arrest Hafiz, ending the immediate danger to Marsinah but sealing Hafiz’s fate. The dream of a marriage between Marsinah and the Caliph hangs in the balance.

The Caliph condemns Hafiz to become the Prince of the desolate Hassir and orders him out of Baghdad by sunset. Hafiz pleads for the plan to be reversed, but the decree stands. He asks that when the Caliph seeks Marsinah, the walls be torn down to honor his daughter’s dream.

The Caliph’s troops tear down Hafiz’s walls, and Marsinah learns that the gardener’s son is really the Caliph. Marsinah and the Caliph are united as lovers, and Jamilla stands by the Caliph’s side. Hafiz departs Baghdad for Hassir with Jamilla at his side, marking a bittersweet fulfillment of his kismet.