The sheik had been right all along. But how did he know? What magic had he performed? 

Damascus, 17th Century

The sheik was gone for a very long time. The family members wailed in agony, fanning the hot faces of their children. The faces of the two boys were turning white as the snake venom pumped through their veins.

Finally, the sheik reappeared. He was sweating and his hands were shaking. Wiping his forehead, he steadied himself and drew himself up to his full height before addressing the anxious family members.

“Do not ask me any questions about where I went. I will not tell you anything. But about your children, the one who is lying over here to my left — he will live. The other one will not survive.” The sheik hung his head. “I am so sorry and I wish there was something else I could do for you.”

“Preposterous!” the family cried. “If you indeed saved the life of one of the boys, why can the other one not be helped as well? Go back to where you came from and do it all over again! Please, you must change this!”

“There is nothing that can be changed! Whatever I have shared with you will come to pass and I am powerless to stop it. I can only do so much, and now I have done everything I could for you. I am sorry, but there is nothing else to discuss.”

The family picked up the boys and marched out, wailing the whole time. In their hearts they did not fully believe the sheik. They knew the snake venom was extremely powerful. If one of the boys would die from it, so would the other. It would make no sense for one to survive and the other to die, when they had been bitten by the same species. And even more unlikely was the sheik’s prediction that one of the boy’s would live through it; that was simply so unlikely. The family left assuming the sheik was a fraud.

But the next day, as the sun rose over the horizon, the family saw that one of the boys had passed away and the other boy was looking and feeling much better. The sheik had been right all along. But how did he know? What magic had he performed?