Jafar stood unobserved in the thief's quarter, a rundown section of Agrabah where dirt and trash out-numbered the occupants who seemed to blend in and become part of it. He wasn't even using an invisibility spell; instead he was using a simple distraction spell and if he did not want to be observed then they wouldn't see him.
He was really going to lay into Iago when he found him. How dare that bird hide from him and make him hunt for his own cannon fodder? Iago was getting too uppity lately. One might even think that he'd developed a moral streak. Jafar spat. That was impossible. Iago was a villain through and through.
In the meantime the object of Jafar's fury slept the sleep of the ultimately tired. Iago had years ago found a special corner of the castle wall that was shaded and had a small breeze to keep him cool and was special because Jafar would never find him there. Now he was curled up with head on his wing, snoring away.
Jafar was ready to despair of ever finding the person he needed who had hidden qualities. He started to turn away when someone collided with him and then the man fell on his backside in front of him. That should've been impossible. His spell fogged men's minds and made them avoid him. He stared down at the little dumpy man trying to get his feet under himself and not succeeding.
"Excuse me. Pardon me. Excuse me." The little chubby man looked up and stared at Jafar. "My, you're a big one, aren't you?"
Jafar was even more intrigued. Was it possible that this little idiot didn't have enough of a mind for magic to affect? How could he live and breathe? But he did and somehow he saw right through Jafar's magic as if it wasn't there.
He looked closer and saw a smallish round man with a pudgy face and round eyes set above an unshaved face who was dressed in Bedouin clothes with a loose fitting head gear. He had a broken sword stuffed in his belt and his grey clothes were soiled beyond all hope of cleaning; Jafar imagined no soap had touched that unwashed skin in years.
"And you are?" He asked rubbing the head of his snake staff checking that his spell was working; it was.
The little man got to his feet, made a clumsy bow and simultaneously stepped on his own robe ties and fell on his face. He got up and brushed his hands off. "I hate it when I do that."
"Your name?" Jafar put a great deal of anger into the question.
That seemed to penetrate and the little man made another clumsy bow. "My name is Abis Mal, the greatest leader of a surly band of desert skunks that ever robbed and pillaged Agrabah."
He seemed to deflate. "At least I was until my band of skunks turned on me and left me tied up here for the Sultan's guard." He spat. "They even used the rope I bought and damaged it tying me up so that it fell apart." He held up the broken pieces. "I even paid two shekels for this fine rope." The two pieces disintegrated in his hands and he nervously brushed the dust off. "See how much they damaged it."
He then looked up with a puzzled look on his face. "You seem familiar."
Jafar considered back handing this pipsqueak and then thought better of it. A man with almost no mind, relatively unaffected by magic and having very little understanding of what being a thief meant might be just what he needed to get in the Cave of Wonders past the Guardian's magic. Therewas so little to this man that any hidden qualities might satisfy the Guardian. "I'm the Grand Vizier, Jafar."
Abis Mal blanched and turned to run but tripped over his own feet and sprawled in front of Jafar who smiled down at him. "My dear Abis Mal, you need have no fear of me." He helped Abis Mal to his feet.
The little man looked up at him with a puzzled expression. "You need me?"
"Oh, yes." Jafar told him as he put his hand on Abis Mal's shoulder and escorted him back towards the castle. "How would you like to be rich beyond your dreams?" Abis Mal's face got a huge grin on it and he willingly went with Jafar.