Sayadaatee Shems

Overview

Sayadaatee Shems appears within Jan Shah’s account to Bolookeea, itself related by the snake king to Hasseeboo. Jan Shah opens the forbidden door in his elderly host’s house and sees three birds descend beside a garden stream. They become beautiful women, bathe, put on their clothes and become birds again before flying away. The host identifies them as daughters of the sultan of the genii, living a three-year journey distant.

Following the host’s advice, Jan Shah steals the youngest daughter’s clothes on their return. Sayadaatee asks for her own clothing so that she can go home to her father. He refuses because he wants to marry her, and her sisters fly away without her. The old man marries them and tells Jan Shah to keep the clothes hidden; he buries them. The loss of her ability to depart is therefore an enforced restriction, rather than an initially voluntary decision to stay.

While Jan Shah is absent, Sayadaatee finds the buried clothes, puts them on and flies home. Before leaving she tells the enslaved attendant assigned to her that Jan Shah should follow if he truly loves her. He searches for years until people in a town recognize his name as the husband of their mistress. They take him to her, and she introduces him to her father as her husband.

They later choose to visit their former home. Her father’s genii carry them there in three days; after a year they return. Sayadaatee dies not long afterwards. Her father offers Jan Shah another daughter, but he refuses and remains in mourning when he tells the story. The account gives no bird species or revival for her. Its ending retains both the reunion after her departure and her subsequent death.

Origins & earliest records

Bateman presents these accounts as tales told to him in Zanzibar and translated from Swahili; individual narrators are not named in this edition.

Records & interpretation

X, The Physician’s Son and the King of the Snakes, Jan Shah’s complete nested history pp. 209–220; bird-princess encounter pp. 217–218, stolen clothes and departure pp. 218–219, reunion, journey and death pp. 219–220.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Zanzibar Tales

   George W. Bateman, translator · 1901

   X, The Physician’s Son and the King of the Snakes, Jan Shah’s complete nested history pp. 209–220; bird-princess encounter pp. 217–218, stolen clothes and departure pp. 218–219, reunion, journey and death pp. 219–220.

2. 02

   Zanzibar Tales: Told by Natives of the East Coast of Africa

   Unnamed Swahili storytellers; George W. Bateman (translator and literary mediator) · 1901

   Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1901; George W. Bateman, translated from the original Swahili. Preface dated 1 August 1901; narrators are not individually named.

Family, evolution & connections

The genii sultan’s three transforming daughters

Jan Shah’s nested narrative, pp. 217–220, in Bateman’s Zanzibar Tales.

The three women are explicitly daughters of the sultan, and Sayadaatee Shems is designated youngest. No mother is identified. The birds and women are forms of the same daughters, not generations. Jan Shah is a husband, not a child; the old man’s affection as if Jan Shah were his son is a simile, not stated descent.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical oral-tale translationThe Physician’s Son and the King of the Snakes — Jan Shah’s nested storyResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.