Ali Baba is a compact, unmistakably albino chimpanzee with soft ivory fur that stands up in tousled tufts, pink skin at his face and ears, and a rounded belly that jiggles when he dances. He moves in quick, loping bounds, often favoring his left hand to clutch a prize while the right points accusingly at whoever noticed. Before he makes a sound, he pauses with his lips pursed and takes a tiny, theatrical sniff, as if judging whether the room contains dates. His bright, pink-rimmed eyes and delighted grin make him look like he has just thought of a joke and is waiting for everyone else to catch up. The unexpected detail: he is extraordinarily careful with fragile things, gently carrying a fallen flower or a cracked eggshell as though entrusted with a royal treasure.

Ali Baba is exuberantly affectionate and almost impossible to embarrass, yet he becomes intensely watchful when a family member is upset. He is playful and silly with familiar people, but suspicious of strangers who approach the pantry. He loves the attention his dancing brings, though he sometimes abandons the performance to comfort someone who looks lonely.

Ali Baba was born among a troop of white-furred chimpanzees that raided the date palms beyond the oasis garden. As a youngster, he was caught stealing sugared figs from the household of a traveling spice seller. Instead of driving him away, the seller's daughter, Samira, offered him a date and taught him a hand-clap game. He returned the next morning, then the morning after that, until the family made him a place in their courtyard. During a flash flood, Ali Baba ignored the safe upper terrace and scrambled back through the water to retrieve Samira's little brother, Ilyas, who had slipped from a footbridge. He got the child to dry ground but has hated water ever since. The family now keeps him as a beloved pet, though he insists on helping: he performs for guests, steals snacks, and patrols the garden with grave, self-appointed importance. Samira is an adult now and manages the household's date stores; she loves him but is tired of replacing the food he pilfers. Ilyas, the child he rescued, has grown into a quiet apprentice gardener who can calm Ali Baba with a hand-clap rhythm. Recently, a string of valuable seeds vanished from the garden's locked storeroom. Ali Baba is blamed because of his reputation, but he knows someone else took them and keeps trying to lead the family to the culprit with frantic pantomime.