Time travellers in "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate"

The three couples in “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” act as foils for each other by showing the different ways that people in similar life circumstances approach the problem of fate and free will.

Hassan and Ajib both travel forward through the Gate of Years when they are young and poor. Both encounter their older selves, but because Hassan is open-minded and willing to accept the fortune that comes to him, his older self is therefore helpful and prosperous. Since Ajib is greedy and resentful, he finds his older self beaten-down and unhappy. In both cases, because the future cannot be changed, it is the character and actions of the younger self that create the future to be found through the Gate. While Hassan goes to the future to learn, Ajib goes to the future to take, thus...