The Gulistan of Sa'di By Sa'di
    
    
          
    INTRODUCTORY
    In the Name of Allah the Merciful the Clement
    Laudation to the God of majesty and glory! Obedience to him is a
    cause of approach and gratitude in increase of benefits. Every inhalation
    of the breath prolongs life and every expiration of it gladdens our
    nature; wherefore every breath confers two benefits and for every
    benefit gratitude is due.
    hose hand and tongue is capable 
    To fulfil the obligations of thanks to him?
    Words of the most high: Be thankful, O family of David, and but few
    of my servants are thankful.
    It is best to a worshipper for his transgressions 
    To offer apologies at the throne of God, 
    Although what is worthy of his dignity 
    No one is able to accomplish.
    The showers of his boundless mercy have penetrated to every spot,
    and the banquet of his unstinted liberality is spread out everywhere.
    He tears not the veil of reputation of his worshippers even for grievous
    sins, and does not withhold their daily allowance of bread for great
    crimes.
    O bountiful One, who from thy invisible treasury 
    Suppliest the Guebre and the Christian with food, 
    How could'st thou disappoint thy friends, 
    Whilst having regard for thy enemies? 
    
    He told the chamberlain of the morning breeze to spread out the emerald
    carpet and, having commanded the nurse of vernal clouds to cherish
    the daughters of plants in the cradle of the earth, the trees donned
    the new year's robe and clothed their breast with the garment of green
    foliage, whilst their offspring, the branches, adorned their heads
    with blossoms at the approach of the season of the roses. Also the
    juice of the cane became delicious honey by his power, and the date
    a lofty tree by his care. 
    
    Cloud and wind, moon and sun move in the sky 
    That thou mayest gain bread, and not eat it unconcerned.
    
    For thee all are revolving and obedient. 
    It is against the requirements of justice if thou obeyest not.
    
    There is a tradition of the prince of created beings, the paragon
    of existing things, the mercy to the inhabitants of the world, the
    purest of mankind and the completion of the revolving ages, Muhammad
    the elect, upon whom be blessing and peace: 
    
    Intercessor, obeyed, prophet, gracious, 
    Bountiful, majestic, affable, marked with the seal of God.
    
    What danger is there to the wall of the faithful with thee for a
    
    buttress? 
    
    What fear of the waves of the sea has he whose pilot is Noah?
    
    He attained exaltation by his perfection. 
    He disspelled darkness by his beauty. 
    Beauteous are all his qualities, 
    Benediction be on him and on his family. 
    
    The tradition is that whenever a sinful and distressed worshipper
    stretches forth the hand of repentance with hopes of acceptance to
    the court of heaven, God the most high does not notice him, whereon
    he continues to implore mercy with supplications and tears and God
    the most holy says: O my angels, verily I am ashamed of my servant
    and he has no other lord besides myself. Accordingly I have fully
    pardoned him. 
    
    See the generosity and kindness of God. 
    The servant has committed sin and he is ashamed. 
    
    Those who attend permanently at the temple of his glory confess the
    imperfection of their worship and say: We have not worshipped thee
    according to the requirements of thy worship; and those who describe
    the splendour of his beauty are rapt in amazement saying: We have
    not known thee as thou oughtest to be known. 
    
    If someone asks me for his description, 
    What shall I despairing say of One who has no form? 
    The lovers have been slain by the beloved. 
    No voice can come from the slain. 
    
    One of the devout who had deeply plunged his head into the cowl of
    meditation and had been immersed in the ocean of visions, was asked,
    when he had come out of that state, by one of his companions who had
    desired to cheer him up: 'What beautiful gift hast thou brought us
    from the garden in which thou hast been?' He replied: 'I intended
    to fill the skirts of my robe with roses, when I reached the rose-tree,
    as presents for my friends but the perfume of the flowers intoxicated
    me so much that I let, go the hold of my skirts.' 
    
    O bird of the morning, learn love from the moth 
    Because it burnt, lost its life, and found no voice. 
    These pretenders are ignorantly in search of Him, 
    Because he who obtained knowledge has not returned. 
    
    O thou who art above all imaginations, conjectures, opinions and
    
    ideas, 
    Above anything people have said or we have heard or read,
    
    The assembly is finished and life has reached its term 
    And we have, as at first, remained powerless in describing thee.
    
    Panegyric of the Padshah of Islam
    
    may Allah perpetuate his reign 
    
    The good reputation of Sa'di which is current among the people, the
    renown of his eloquence which has spread on the surface of the earth,
    the products of his friendly pen which are consumed like sugar, and
    the scraps of his literary compositions which are hawked about like
    bills of exchange, cannot be ascribed to his virtue and perfection,
    but the lord of the world, the axis of the revolving circle of time,
    the vice-gerent of Solomon, protector of the followers of the religion,
    His Majesty the Shahanshah Atabek Aa'zm Muzaffaruddin Abu Bekr Ben
    Sa'd Ben Zanki-The shadow of Allah on earth! O Lord, be pleased with
    him and with his kingdom-has looked upon Sa'di with a favourable eye,
    has praised him greatly, and has shown him sincere affection so that
    all men, gentle and simple, love him because the people follow the
    religion of their king. 
    
    Because thou lookest upon my humble person, 
    My merits are more celebrated than those of the sun. 
    Although this slave may possess all faults, 
    Every fault pleasing the Sultan becomes a virtue. 
    
    A sweet-smelling piece of clay, one day in the bath, 
    Came from the hand of a beloved one to my hand. 
    I asked: 'Art thou musk or ambergris? 
    Because thy delicious odour intoxicates me.' 
    It replied: 'I was a despicable lump of day; 
    But for a while in the society of a rose. 
    The perfection of my companion took effect on me 
    And, if not, I am the same earth which I am.' 
    
    O Allah, favour the Musalmans with the prolongation of his life, and
    with an augmentation of his reward for his good qualities and deeds;
    exalt the dignities of his friends and governors; annihilate those
    who are inimical to him and wish him ill; for the sake of what is
    recorded in the verses of the Quran. O Allah, give security protect
    his son. 
    
    Verily the world is happy through him; may his happiness endure for
    
    ever 
    And may the Lord strengthen him and with the banners of victory.
    
    Thus the branch will flourish of which he is the root 
    Because the beauty of the earth's plants depends on the virtue of
    
    the seed. 
    
    May God, whose name be exalted and hallowed, keep in security and
    peace the pure country of Shiraz until the time of the resurrection,
    under the authority of righteous governors and by the exertions of
    practical scholars. 
    
    Knowest thou not why I in foreign countries 
    Roamed about for a long time? 
    I went away from the distress of the Turks because I saw
    
    The world entangled like the hair of negroes; 
    They were all human beings, but 
    Like wolves sharp-clawed, for shedding blood. 
    When I returned I saw the country at rest, 
    The tigers having abandoned the nature of tigers. 
    Within a man of good disposition like an angel, 
    Without an army like bellicose lions. 
    Thus it happened that first I beheld 
    The world full of confusion, anxiety and distress; 
    Then it became as it is in the days of the just Sultan 
    Atabek Abu Bekr Ben Sa'd Zanki. 
    
    The country of Pares dreads not the vicissitudes of time,
    
    As long as one presides over it like thee, the shadow of God.
    
    Today no one can point out on the surface of the earth, 
    A place like the threshold of thy door, the asylum of comfort.
    
    On thee is incumbent the protection of the distressed and
    
    gratitude 
    Upon us and reward on God the creator of the world, 
    As long as the world and wind endure. 
    
    The Cause for Composing the Gulistan
    
    I was one night meditating on the time which had elapsed, repenting
    of the life I had squandered and perforating the stony mansion of
    my heart with adamantine tears. 1 I uttered the following verses in
    conformity with the state of mind: 
    
    Every moment a breath of life is spent, 
    If I consider, not much of it remains. 
    O thou, whose fifty years have elapsed in sleep, 
    Wilt thou perhaps overtake them in these five days? 
    Shame on him who has gone and done no work. 
    The drum of departure was beaten but he has not made his load.
    
    Sweet sleep on the morning of departure 
    Retains the pedestrian from the road. 
    Whoever had come had built a new edifice. 
    He departed and left the place to another 
    And that other one concocted the same futile schemes 
    And this edifice was not completed by anyone. 
    Cherish not an inconstant friend. 
    Such a traitor is not fit for amity. 
    As all the good and bad must surely die, 
    He is happy who carries off the ball of virtue. 
    Send provision for thy journey to thy tomb. 
    Nobody will bring it after thee; send it before. 
    Life is snow, the sun is melting hot. 
    Little remains, but the gentleman is slothful still. 
    O thou who hast gone empty handed to the bazar, 
    I fear thou wilt not bring a towel filled. 
    Who eats the corn he has sown while it is yet green, 
    Must at harvest time glean the ears of it. 
    Listen with all thy heart to the advice of Sa'di. 
    Such is the way; be a man and travel on. 
    
    The capital of man's life is his abdomen. 
    If it be gradually emptied there is no fear 
    But if it be so closed as not to open 
    The heart may well despair of life; 
    And if it be open so that it cannot be closed, 
    Go and wash thy hands of this world's life. 
    Four contending rebellious dispositions 
    Harmonize but five days with each other. 
    If one of these four becomes prevalent, 
    Sweet life must abandon the body 
    Wherefore an intelligent and perfect man 
    Sets not his heart upon this world's life. 
    
    After maturely considering these sentiments, I thought proper to sit
    down in the mansion of retirement to fold up the skirts of association,
    to wash my tablets of heedless sayings and no more to indulge in senseless
    prattle: 
    
    To sit in a corner, like one with a cut tongue, deaf and dumb,
    
    Is better than a man who has no command over his tongue.
    
    I continued in this resolution till a friend, who had been my companion
    in the camel-litter of misery and my comrade in the closet of affection,
    entered at the door, according to his old custom with playful gladness,
    and spread out the surface of desire; but I would give him no reply
    nor lift up my head from the knees of worship. He looked at me aggrieved
    and said: 
    
    'Now, while thou hast the power of utterance, 
    Speak, O brother, with grace and kindness 
    Because tomorrow, when the messenger of death arrives, 
    Thou wilt of necessity restrain thy tongue.' 
    
    One of my connections informed him how matters stood and told him
    that I had firmly determined and was intent upon spending the rest
    of my life in continual devotion and silence, advising him at the
    same time, in case he should be able, to follow my example and to
    keep me company. He replied: 'I swear by the great dignity of Allah
    and by our old friendship that I shall not draw breath, nor budge
    one step, unless he converses with me as formerly, and in his usual
    way; because it is foolish to insult friends and easy to expiate an
    oath. It is against propriety, and contrary to the opinions of wise
    men that the Zulfiqar of A'li should remain in the scabbard and the
    tongue of Sa'di in his palate.' 
    
    O intelligent man what is the tongue in the mouth? 
    It is the key to the treasure-door of a virtuous man. 
    When the door is closed how can one know 
    Whether he is a seller of jewels or a hawker? 
    
    Although intelligent men consider silence civil, 
    It is better for thee to speak at the proper time. 
    Two things betoken levity of intellect: to remain mute 
    When it is proper to speak and to talk when silence is 
    required. 
    
    In short, I had not the firmness to restrain my tongue from speaking
    to him, and did not consider it polite to turn away my face from his
    conversation, he being a congenial friend and sincerely affectionate.
    
    When thou fightest with anyone, consider 
    Whether thou wilt have to flee from him or he from thee.
    
    I was under the necessity of speaking and then went out by way of
    diversion in the vernal season, when the traces of severe cold had
    disappeared and the time of the dominion of roses had arrived:
    
    Green garments were upon the trees 
    Like holiday robes on contented persons. 
    On the first of the month Ardibihesht Jellali 
    The bulbuls were singing on the pulpits of branches. 
    Upon the roses pearls of dew had fallen, 
    Resembling perspiration on an angry sweetheart's cheek. 
    
    I happened to spend the night in a garden with one of my friends and
    we found it to be a pleasant cheerful place with heart-ravishing entangled
    trees; its ground seemed to be paved with small glass beads whilst,
    from its vines, bunches like the Pleiads were suspended.
    
    A garden the water of whose river was limpid 
    A grove the melody of whose birds was harmonious. 
    
    The former full of bright-coloured tulips, 
    The latter full of fruits of various kinds; 
    The wind had in the shade of its trees 
    Spread out a bed of all kinds of flowers. 
    
    The next morning when the intention of returning had prevailed over
    the opinion of tarrying, I saw that my friend had in his skirt collected
    roses, sweet basil, hyacinths and fragrant herbs with the determination
    to carry them to town; whereon I said: 'Thou knowest that the roses
    of the garden are perishable and the season passes away', and philosophers
    have said: 'Whatever is not of long duration is not to be cherished.'
    He asked: 'Then what is to be done?' I replied: 'I may compose for
    the amusement of those who look and for the instruction of those who
    are present a book of a Rose Garden, a Gulistan, whose leaves cannot
    be touched by the tyranny of autumnal blasts and the delight of whose
    spring the vicissitudes of time will be unable to change into the
    inconstancy of autumn. 
    
    Of what use will be a dish of roses to thee? 
    Take a leaf from my rose-garden. 
    A flower endures but five or six days 
    But this rose-garden is always delightful. 
    
    After I had uttered these words he threw away the flowers from his
    skirts, and attached himself to mine, saying: 'When a generous fellow
    makes a promise he keeps it.' 
    
    On the same day I happened to write two chapters, namely on polite
    society and the rules of conversation, in a style acceptable to orators
    and instructive to letter-writers. In short, some roses of the garden
    still remained when the book of the Rose-garden was finished but it
    will in reality be completed only after approbation in the court of
    the Shah, who is the refuge of the world, the shadow of God, the ray
    of his grace, the treasury of the age, the asylum of the Faith, strengthened
    by heaven, aided against enemies, the arm of the victorious government,
    the lamp of the resplendent religion, the beauty of mankind, the boast
    of Islam, Sa'd son of Atabek the great, the majestic Shahanshah, owner
    of the necks of nations, lord of the kings of Arabia and Persia, the
    sultan of the land and the sea, the heir of the kingdom of Solomon,
    Muzaffaruddin Ibu Bekr, son of Sa'd Zanki, may Allah the most high
    perpetuate the prosperity of them both and direct their inclinations
    to every good thing. 
    
    Perused with a kind glance, 
    Adorned with approbation by the sovereign, 
    It will be a Chinese picture-gallery or design of the Arzank,
    
    Hopes are entertained that he will not be wearied 
    By these contents because a Pose-garden is not a place of
    
    displeasure. 
    The more so as its august preface is dedicated 
    To Sa'd Abu Bekr Sa'd the son of Zanki. 
    
    Record of the Great Amir Fakhruddin Ben Abu Bekr, Son of Abu
    Nassar
    
    Again, the bride of imagination can for want of beauty not lift up
    her head nor raise her eyes from the feet of bashfulness to appear
    in the assembly of persons endowed with pulchritude, unless adorned
    with the ornaments of approbation from the great Amir, who is learned,
    just, aided by heaven, victorious, supporter of the throne of the
    Sultanate and councillor in deliberations of the realm, refuge of
    the poor, asylum of strangers, patron of learned men, lover of the
    pious, glory of the dynasty of Pares, right hand of the kingdom, chief
    of the nobles, boast of the monarchy and of the religion, succour
    of Islam and of the Musalmans, buttress of kings and sultans, Abu
    Bekr, son of Abu Nassar, may Allah prolong his life, augment his dignity,
    enlighten his breast and increase his reward twofold, because he enjoys
    the praise of all great men and is the embodiment of every laudable
    quality. 
    
    Whoever reposes in the shadow of his favour, 
    His sin is transmuted to obedience and his foe into a friend.
    
    Every attendant and follower has an appointed duty and if, in the
    performance thereof, he gives way to remissness and indolence, he
    is certainly called to account and becomes subject to reproaches,
    except the tribe of dervishes, from whom thanks are due for the benefits
    they receive from great men as well as praises and prayers, all of
    which duties are more suitably performed in their absence than in
    their presence, because in the latter they look like ostentation and
    in the former they are free from ceremony. 
    
    The back of the bent sky became flat with joy, 
    When dame nature brought forth a child like thee. 
    It is an instance of wisdom if the Creator 
    Causes a servant to make the general welfare his special duty.
    
    He has found eternal happiness who lived a good life, 
    Because, after his end, good repute will keep his name alive.
    
    No matter whether virtuous men praise you or not 
    A lovely maid stands in no need of a tire woman. 
    
    Excuse for Remissness in Service and Cause for Preferring
    Solitude
    
    My negligence and backwardness in diligent attendance at the royal
    court resemble the case of Barzachumihr, whose merits the sages of
    India were discussing but could at last not reproach him with anything
    except slowness of speech because he delayed long and his hearers
    were obliged to wait till he delivered himself of what he had to say.
    When Barzachumihr heard of this he said: 'It is better for me to consider
    what to speak than to repent of what I have spoken.' 
    
    A trained orator, old, aged, 
    First meditates and then speaks. 
    Do not speak without consideration. 
    Speak well and if slow what matters it? 
    Deliberate and then begin to talk. 
    Say thyself enough before others say enough. 
    By speech a man is better than a brute 
    But a beast is better unless thou speakest properly. 
    
    How then could I venture to appear in the sight of the grandees of
    my lord, may his victory be glorious, who are an assembly of pious
    men and the centre of profound scholars? If I were to be led in the
    ardour of conversation to speak petulantly, I could produce only a
    trifling stock-in-trade in the noble presence but glass beads are
    not worth a barleycorn in the bazar of jewellers, a lamp does not
    shine in the presence of the sun, and a minaret looks low at the foot
    of Mount Alvend. 
    
    Who lifts up his neck with pretentions, 
    Foes hasten to him from every side. 
    Sa'di has fallen to be a hermit. 
    No one came to attack a fallen man. 
    First deliberation, then speech; 
    The foundation was laid first, then the wall. 
    
    I know bouquet-binding but not in the garden. I sell a sweetheart
    but not in Canaan. Loqman the philosopher, being asked from whom he
    had learnt wisdom, replied: 'From the blind, who do not take a step
    before trying the place.' First move about, then stir out.
    
    Try thy virility first, then marry. 
    Though a cock may be brave in war 
    He strikes his claws in vain on a brazen falcon. 
    A cat is a lion in catching mice 
    But a mouse in combat with a tiger. 
    
    But, trusting in the liberal sentiments of the great, who shut their
    eyes to the faults of their inferiors and abstain from divulging the
    crimes of humble men, we have in this book recorded, by way of abridgment,
    some rare events, stories, poetry and accounts about ancient kings,
    spending a portion of our precious life in the task. This was the
    reason for composing the book Gulistan; and help is from Allah.
    
    This well-arranged composition will remain for years, 
    When every atom of our dust is dispersed. 
    The intention of this design was that it should survive 
    Because I perceive no stability in my existence, 
    Unless one day a pious man compassionately 
    Utters a prayer for the works of dervishes. 
    
    The author, having deliberated upon the arrangement of the book, and
    the adornment of the chapters, deemed it suitable to curtail the diction
    of this beautiful garden and luxuriant grove and to make it resemble
    paradise, which also has eight entrances. The abridgment was made
    to avoid tediousness. 
    
    I The Manners of Kings 
    II On the Morals of Dervishes 
    III On the Excellence of Content 
    IV On the Advantages of Silence 
    V On Love and Youth 
    VI On Weakness and Old Age 
    VII On the Effects of Education 
    VIII On Rules for Conduct in Life 
    
    At a period when our time was pleasant 
    The Hejret was six hundred and fifty-six. 
    Our intention was advice and we gave it. 
    We recommended thee to God and departed. 
    
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    CHAPTER I
    
    The Manners of Kings 
    
    Story 1 
    
    I heard a padshah giving orders to kill a prisoner. The helpless fellow
    began to insult the king on that occasion of despair, with the tongue
    he had, and to use foul expressions according to the saying:
    
    Who washes his hands of life 
    Says whatever he has in his heart. 
    
    When a man is in despair his tongue becomes long and he is like a
    vanquished cat assailing a dog. 
    
    In time of need, when flight is no more possible, 
    The hand grasps the point of the sharp sword. 
    
    When the king asked what he was saying, a good-natured vezier replied:
    'My lord, he says: Those who bridle their anger and forgive men; for
    Allah loveth the beneficent.' 
    
    The king, moved with pity, forbore taking his life but another vezier,
    the antagonist of the former, said: 'Men of our rank ought to speak
    nothing but the truth in the presence of padshahs. This fellow has
    insulted the king and spoken unbecomingly.' The king, being displeased
    with these words, said: 'That lie was more acceptable to me than this
    truth thou hast uttered because the former proceeded from a conciliatory
    disposition and the latter from malignity; and wise men have said:
    "A falsehood resulting in conciliation is better than a truth producing
    trouble."' 
    
    He whom the shah follows in what he says, 
    It is a pity if he speaks anything but what is good. 
    
    The following inscription was upon the portico of the hall of Feridun:
    
    O brother, the world remains with no one. 
    Bind the heart to the Creator, it is enough. 
    Rely not upon possessions and this world 
    Because it has cherished many like thee and slain them. 
    When the pure soul is about to depart, 
    What boots it if one dies on a throne or on the ground? 
    
    Story 2 
    
    One of the kings of Khorasan had a vision in a dream of Sultan Mahmud,
    one hundred years after his death. His whole person appeared to have
    been dissolved and turned to dust, except his eyes, which were revolving
    in their orbits and looking about. All the sages were unable to give
    an interpretation, except a dervish who made his salutation and said:
    'He is still looking amazed how his kingdom belongs to others.'
    
    Many famous men have been buried under ground 
    Of whose existence on earth not a trace has remained 
    And that old corpse which had been surrendered to the earth
    
    Was so consumed by the soil that not a bone remains. 
    The glorious name of Nushirvan survives in good repute 
    Although much time elapsed since he passed away. 
    Do good, O man, and consider life as a good fortune, 
    The more so, as when a shout is raised, a man exists no more.
    
    Story 3 
    
    I have heard that a royal prince of short stature and mean presence,
    whose brothers were tall and good-looking, once saw his father glancing
    on him with aversion and contempt but he had the shrewdness and penetration
    to guess the meaning and said: 'O father, a puny intelligent fellow
    is better than a tall ignorant man, neither is everything bigger in
    stature higher in price. A sheep is nice to eat and an elephant is
    carrion.' 
    
    The smallest mountain on earth is Jur; nevertheless 
    It is great with Allah in dignity and station. 
    
    Hast thou not heard that a lean scholar 
    One day said to a fat fool: 
    'Although an Arab horse may be weak 
    It is thus more worth than a stable full of asses.' 
    
    The father laughed at this sally, the pillars of the state approved
    of it, but the brothers felt much aggrieved. 
    
    While a man says not a word 
    His fault and virtue are concealed. 
    Think not that every desert is empty. 
    Possibly it may contain a sleeping tiger. 
    
    I heard that on the said occasion the king was menaced by a powerful
    enemy and that when the two armies were about to encounter each other,
    the first who entered the battlefield was the little fellow who said:
    
    'I am not he whose back thou wilt see on the day of battle
    
    But he whom thou shalt behold in dust and blood. 
    Who himself fights, stakes his own life 
    In battle but he who flees, the blood of his army.' 
    
    After uttering these words he rushed among the troops of the enemy,
    slew several warriors and, returning to his father, made humble obeisance
    and said: 
    
    'O thou, to whom my person appeared contemptible, 
    Didst not believe in the impetuosity of my valour. 
    A horse with slender girth is of use 
    On the day of battle, not a fattened ox.' 
    
    It is related that the troops of the enemy were numerous, and that
    the king's, being few, were about to flee, but that the puny youth
    raised a shout, saying: 'O men, take care not to put on the garments
    of women.' These words augmented the rage of the troopers so that
    they made a unanimous attack and I heard that they gained the victory
    on the said occasion. The king kissed the head and eyes of his son,
    took him in his arms and daily augmented his affection till he appointed
    him to succeed him on the throne. His brothers became envious and
    placed poison in his food but were perceived by his sister from her
    apartment, whereon she closed the window violently and the youth,
    shrewdly guessing the significance of the act, restrained his hands
    from touching the food, and said: 'It is impossible that men of honour
    should die, and those who possess none should take their place.'
    
    No one goes under the shadow of an owl 
    Even if the homa should disappear from the world. 
    
    This state of affairs having been brought to the notice of the father,
    he severely reproved the brothers and assigned to each of them a different,
    but pleasant, district as a place of exile till the confusion was
    quelled and the quarrel appeased; and it has been said that ten dervishes
    may sleep under the same blanket but that one country cannot hold
    two padshahs. 
    
    When a pious man eats half a loaf of bread 
    He bestows the other half upon dervishes. 
    If a padshah were to conquer the seven climates 
    He would still in the same way covet another. 
    
    Story 4 
    
    A band of Arab brigands having taken up their position on the top
    of a mountain and closed the passage of caravans, the inhabitants
    of the country were distressed by their stratagems and the troops
    of the sultan foiled because the robbers, having obtained an inaccessible
    spot on the summit of the mountain, thus had a refuge which they made
    their habitation. The chiefs of that region held a consultation about
    getting rid of the calamity because it would be impossible to offer
    resistance to the robbers if they were allowed to remain.
    
    A tree which has just taken root 
    May be moved from the place by the strength of a man 
    But, if thou leavest it thus for a long time, 
    Thou canst not uproot it with a windlass. 
    The source of a fountain may be stopped with a bodkin 
    But, when it is full, it cannot be crossed on an elephant.
    
    The conclusion was arrived at to send one man as a spy and to wait
    for the opportunity till the brigands departed to attack some people
    and leave the place empty. Then several experienced men, who had fought
    in battles, were despatched to keep themselves in ambush in a hollow
    of the mountain. In the evening the brigands returned from their excursion
    with their booty, divested themselves of their arms, put away their
    plunder and the first enemy who attacked them was sleep, till about
    a watch of the night had elapsed: 
    
    The disk of the sun went into darkness. 
    Jonah went into the mouth of the fish. 
    
    The warriors leapt forth from the ambush, tied the hands of every
    one of the robbers to his shoulders and brought them in the morning
    to the court of the king, who ordered all of them to be slain. There
    happened to be a youth among them, the fruit of whose vigour was just
    ripening and the verdure on the rose-garden of whose cheek had begun
    to sprout. One of the veziers, having kissed the foot of the king's
    throne and placed the face of intercession upon the ground, said:
    'This boy has not yet eaten any fruit from the garden of life and
    has not yet enjoyed the pleasures of youth. I hope your majesty will
    generously and kindly confer an obligation upon your slave by sparing
    his life.' The king, being displeased with this request, answered:
    
    'He whose foundation is bad will not take instruction from the good,
    
    To educate unworthy persons is like throwing nuts on a cupola.
    
    'It is preferable to extirpate the race and offspring of these people
    and better to dig up their roots and foundations, because it is not
    the part of wise men to extinguish fire and to leave burning coals
    or to kill a viper and leave its young ones. 
    
    If a cloud should rain the water of life 
    Never sip it from the branch of a willow-tree. 
    Associate not with a base fellow 
    Because thou canst not eat sugar from a mat-reed.' 
    
    The vezier heard these sentiments, approved of them nolens volens,
    praised the opinion of the king and said: 'What my lord has uttered
    is the very truth itself because if the boy had been brought up in
    the company of those wicked men, he would have become one of themselves.
    But your slave hopes that he will, in the society of pious men, profit
    by education and will acquire the disposition of wise persons. Being
    yet a child the rebellious and perverse temper of that band has not
    yet taken hold of his nature and there is a tradition of the prophet
    that every infant is born with an inclination for Islam but his parents
    make him a Jew, a Christian or a Majusi.' 
    
    The spouse of Lot became a friend of wicked persons. 
    His race of prophets became extinct. 
    The dog of the companions of the cave for some days 
    Associated with good people and became a man. 
    
    When the vezier had said these words and some of the king's courtiers
    had added their intercession to his, the king no longer desired to
    shed the blood of the youth and said: 'I grant the request although
    I disapprove-of it.' 
    
    Knowest thou not what Zal said to the hero Rastam: 
    'An enemy cannot be held despicable or helpless. 
    I have seen many a water from a paltry spring 
    Becoming great and carrying off a camel with its load.' 
    
    In short, the vezier brought up the boy delicately, with every comfort,
    and kept masters to educate him, till they had taught him to address
    persons in elegant language as well as to reply and he had acquired
    every accomplishment. One day the vezier hinted at his talents in
    the presence of the king, asserting that the instructions of wise
    men had taken effect upon the boy and had expelled his previous ignorance
    from his nature. The king smiled at these words and said:
    
    'At last a wolf's whelp will be a wolf 
    Although he may grow up with a man.' 
    
    After two years had elapsed a band of robbers in the locality joined
    him, tied the knot of friendship and, when the opportunity presented
    itself, he killed the vezier with his son, took away untold wealth
    and succeeded to the position of his own father in the robber-cave
    where he established himself. The king, informed of the event, took
    the finger of amazement between his teeth and said: 
    
    'How can a man fabricate a good sword of bad iron? 
    O sage, who is nobody becomes not somebody by education.
    
    The rain, in the beneficence of whose nature there is no flaw,
    
    Will cause tulips to grow in a garden and weeds in bad soil.
    
    Saline earth will not produce hyacinths. 
    Throw not away thy seeds or work thereon. 
    To do good to wicked persons is like Doing evil to good men.'
    
    Story 5 
    
    I saw at the palace-gate of Oglimish the son of a military officer
    who was endued with marvellous intellect, sagacity, perception and
    shrewdness; also the signs of future greatness manifested themselves
    on his forehead whilst yet a small boy. 
    
    From his head intelligence caused 
    The star of greatness to shine. 
    
    In short, he pleased the sultan because he had a beautiful countenance
    and a perfect understanding; and philosophers have said: 'Power consists
    in accomplishments, not in wealth and greatness in intellect, not
    in years.' His companions, being envious, made an attempt upon his
    life and desired to kill him but their endeavours remained fruitless.
    
    What can a foe do when the friend is kind? 
    
    The king asked: 'What is the cause of their enmity to thee?' He replied:
    'Under the shadow of the monarchy of my lord I have satisfied my contemporaries
    except the envious, who will not be contented but by the decline of
    my prosperity, and may the monarchy and good fortune of my lord be
    perpetual.' 
    
    I may so act as not to hurt the feelings of anyone 
    But what can I do to an envious man dissatisfied with himself?
    
    Die, O envious man, for this is a malady, 
    Deliverance from which can be obtained only by death. 
    Unfortunate men sometimes ardently desire 
    The decline of prosperous men in wealth and dignity. 
    If in daytime, bat-eyed persons do not see 
    Is it the fault of the fountain of light, the sun? 
    Thou justly wishest that a thousand such eyes 
    Should be blind rather than the sun dark. 
    
    Story 6 
    
    It is narrated that one of the kings of Persia had stretched forth
    his tyrannical hand to the possessions of his subjects and had begun
    to oppress them so violently that in consequence of his fraudulent
    extortions they dispersed in the world and chose exile on account
    of the affliction entailed by his violence. When the population had
    diminished, the prosperity of the country suffered, the treasury remained
    empty and on every side enemies committed violence. 
    
    Who desires succour in the day of calamity, 
    Say to him: 'Be generous in times of prosperity.' 
    The slave with a ring in his ear, if not cherished will depart.
    
    Be kind because then a stranger will become thy slave. 
    
    One day the Shahnamah was read in his assembly, the subject being
    the ruin of the dominion of Zohak and the reign of Feridun. The vezier
    asked the king how it came to pass that Feridun, who possessed neither
    treasure nor land nor a retinue, established himself upon the throne.
    He replied: 'As thou hast heard, the population enthusiastically gathered
    around him and supported him so that he attained royalty.' The vezier
    said: 'As the gathering around of the population is the cause of royalty,
    then why dispersest thou the population? Perhaps thou hast no desire
    for royalty?' 
    
    It is best to cherish the army as thy life 
    Because a sultan reigns by means of his troops. 
    
    The king asked: 'What is the reason for the gathering around of the
    troops and the population?' He replied: 'A padshah must practise justice
    that they may gather around him and clemency that they may dwell in
    safety under the shadow of his government; but thou possessest neither
    of these qualities.' 
    
    A tyrannic man cannot be a sultan 
    As a wolf cannot be a shepherd. 
    A padshah who establishes oppression 
    Destroys the basis of the wall of his own reign. 
    
    The king, displeased with the advice of his censorious vezier, sent
    him to prison. Shortly afterwards the sons of the king's uncle rose
    in rebellion, desirous of recovering the kingdom of their father.
    The population, which had been reduced to the last extremity by the
    king's oppression and scattered, now assembled around them and supported
    them, till he lost control of the government and they took possession
    of it. 
    
    A padshah who allows his subjects to be oppressed 
    Will in his day of calamity become a violent foe. 
    Be at peace with subjects and sit safe from attacks of foes
    
    Because his subjects are the army of a just shahanshah. 
    
    Story 7 
    
    A padshah was in the same boat with a Persian slave who had never
    before been at sea and experienced the inconvenience of a vessel.
    He began to cry and to tremble to such a degree that he could not
    be pacified by kindness, so that at last the king became displeased
    as the matter could not be remedied. In that boat there happened to
    be a philosopher, who said: 'With thy permission I shall quiet him.'
    The padshah replied: 'It will be a great favour.' The philosopher
    ordered the slave to be thrown into the water so that he swallowed
    some of it, whereon be was caught and pulled by his hair to the boat,
    to the stern of which he clung with both his hands. Then he sat down
    in a corner and became quiet. This appeared strange to the king who
    knew not what wisdom there was in the proceeding and asked for it.
    The philosopher replied: 'Before he had tasted the calamity of being
    drowned, he knew not the safety of the boat; thus also a man does
    not appreciate the value of immunity from a misfortune until it has
    befallen him.' 
    
    O thou full man, barley-bread pleases thee not. 
    She is my sweetheart who appears ugly to thee. 
    To the huris of paradise purgatory seems hell. 
    Ask the denizens of hell. To them purgatory is paradise.
    
    There is a difference between him whose friend is in his arms
    
    And him whose eyes of expectation are upon the door. 
    
    Story 8 
    
    Hormuzd, being asked what fault the veziers of his father had committed
    that he imprisoned them, replied: 'I discovered no fault. I saw that
    boundless awe of me had taken root in their hearts but that they had
    no full confidence in my promises, wherefore I apprehended that they,
    fearing calamities would befall them, might attempt my life and I
    acted according to the maxim of sages who have said: 
    
    'Dread him who dreads thee, O sage, 
    Although thou couldst cope with a hundred like him. 
    Seest thou not when the cat becomes desperate 
    How he plucks out with his claws the eyes of a tiger? 
    The viper stings the shepherd's foot 
    Because it fears he will strike his head with a stone.' 
    
    Story 9 
    
    An Arab king was sick in his state of decrepitude so that all hopes
    of life were cut off. A trooper entered the gate with the good news
    that a certain fort had been conquered by the good luck of the king,
    that the enemies had been captured and that the whole population of
    the district had been reduced to obedience. The king heaved a deep
    sigh and replied: 'This message is not for me but for my enemies,
    namely the heirs of the kingdom.' 
    
    I spent my precious life in hopes, alas! 
    That every desire of my heart will be fulfilled. 
    My wishes were realized, but to what profit? Since 
    There is no hope that my past life will return. 
    The hand of fate has struck the drum of departure. 
    O my two eyes, bid farewell to the head. 
    O palm, forearm, and arm of my hand, 
    All take leave from each other. 
    Death, the foe of my desires, has fallen on me 
    For the last time, O friends. Pass near me. 
    My life has elapsed in ignorance. 
    I have done nothing, be on your guard. 
    
    Story 10 
    
    I was constantly engaged in prayer, at the head of the prophet Yahia's
    tomb in the cathedral mosque of Damascus, when one of the Arab kings,
    notorious for his injustice, happened to arrive on a pilgrimage to
    it, who offered his supplications and asked for compliance with his
    needs. 
    
    The dervish and the plutocrat are slaves on the floor of this
    
    threshold 
    And those who are the wealthiest are the most needy. 
    
    Then he said to me: 'Dervishes being zealous and veracious in their
    dealings, unite thy mind to mine, for I am apprehensive of a powerful
    enemy.' I replied: 'Have mercy upon thy feeble subjects that thou
    mayest not be injured by a strong foe.' 
    
    With a powerful arm and the strength of the wrist 
    To break the five fingers of a poor man is sin. 
    Let him be afraid who spares not the fallen 
    Because if he falls no one will take hold of his hand. 
    Whoever sows bad seed and expects good fruit 
    Has cudgelled his brains for nought and begotten vain imaginations.
    
    Extract the cotton from thy ears and administer justice to thy
    
    people 
    And if thou failest to do so, there is a day of retribution.
    
    The sons of Adam are limbs of each other 
    Having been created of one essence. 
    
    When the calamity of time afflicts one limb 
    The other limbs cannot remain at rest. 
    If thou hast no sympathy for the troubles of others 
    Thou art unworthy to be called by the name of a man. 
    
    Story 11 
    
    A dervish, whose prayers met with answers, made his appearance, and
    Hejaj Yusuf, calling him, said: 'Utter a good prayer for me', whereon
    the dervish exclaimed: 'O God, take his life.' He replied: 'For God's
    sake, what prayer is this?' The dervish rejoined: 'It is a good prayer
    for thee and for all Musalmans.' 
    
    O tyrant, who oppressest thy subjects, 
    How long wilt thou persevere in this? 
    Of what use is authority to thee? 
    To die is better for thee than to oppress men. 
    
    Story 12 
    
    An unjust king asked a devotee what kind of worship is best? He replied:
    'For thee the best is to sleep one half of the day so as not to injure
    the people for a while.' 
    
    I saw a tyrant sleeping half the day. 
    I said: 'This confusion, if sleep removes it, so much the better;
    
    But he whose sleep is better than his wakefulness 
    Is better dead than leading such a bad life.' 
    
    Story 13 
    
    I heard a king, who had changed might into day by pleasures, saying
    in his drunkenness: 
    
    'We have in the world no moment more delightful than this,
    
    Because I care neither for good nor for bad nor for anyone.'
    
    A naked dervish, who was sleeping outside in the cold, then said:
    
    'O thou like whom in happiness there is no one in the world,
    
    I take it if thou carest not, we also do not care.' 
    
    The king, being pleased with these words of unconcern, held out a
    bag of a thousand dinars from the window and said: 'Dervish, spread
    out thy skirt.' He replied: 'Whence can I, who have no robe, bring
    a skirt?' The padshah took pity on his helpless condition, added a
    robe to his gift and sent it out to him but the dervish squandered
    the money in a short time and returned. 
    
    Property cannot abide in the hands of the free, 
    Neither patience in the heart of a lover nor water in a sieve.
    
    The case of the dervish having been brought to the notice of the king
    when he was not in good humour, he became angry and turned his face
    away. Therefore it has been said that intelligent and experienced
    men ought to be on their guard against the violence and despotism
    of kings because their thoughts are generally occupied with important
    affairs of state so that they cannot bear to be importuned by the
    crowd of vulgar persons. 
    
    He will be excluded from the beneficence of the padshah 
    Who cannot watch for the proper opportunity. 
    Before thou seest the occasion for speaking at hand 
    Destroy not thy power by heedless talk. 
    
    The king said: 'Drive away this impudent and prodigal mendicant who
    has in so short a time thrown away so much money. He does not know
    that the Beit-ulmal is intended to offer a morsel to the needy and
    not to feed the brothers of devils.' 
    
    The fool who burns by day a camphor-light 
    Will soon not have an oil-lamp for the night. 
    
    One of councillor-veziers said: 'My lord, it would seem proper to
    grant to such persons a sufficient allowance to be drawn from time
    to time so that they may not squander it. But anger and repulsion,
    as manifested by thee, are unworthy of a generous disposition as also
    to encourage a man by kindness and then again to distress him by disappointing
    his expectation.' 
    
    The door ought not to be opened to applicants so 
    That, when it is ajar, it may not be shut again. 
    Nobody sees the thirsty pilgrims to Hejaz 
    Crowding at the bank of briny water. 
    Wherever a sweet spring happens to be 
    Men, birds and insects flock around it. 
    Story 14 
    
    One of the ancient kings neglected the government of his realm and
    kept the army in distress. Accordingly the whole of it ran away when
    a powerful enemy appeared. 
    
    If he refrains from giving treasure to the troops 
    They refrain from putting their hands to the sword. 
    What bravery will they display in battle array 
    When their hands are empty and affairs deplorable? 
    
    I was on terms of friendship with one of those who had acted treacherously
    and reproached him, telling him that it was base, ungrateful, despicable
    and undutiful to abandon an old master when his affairs have changed
    a little and to disregard the obligations incurred for benefits received
    during many years. He replied: 'If I inform thee, perhaps thou wilt
    excuse me for my horse had no barley and my saddle-cloth was pawned.
    A sultan who grudges money to his troops, they cannot bravely risk
    their lives for him.' 
    
    Give gold to the soldier that he may serve thee. 
    If thou witholdest gold, he will serve elsewhere. 
    
    When a warrior is full, he will be brave infight but if his belly
    be empty, he will be brave in flight. 
    
    Story 15 
    
    A vezier, who had been removed from his post, entered the circle of
    dervishes and the blessing of their society took such effect upon
    him that he became contented in his mind. When the king was again
    favourably disposed towards him and ordered him to resume his office,
    he refused and said: 'Retirement is better than occupation.'
    
    Those who have sat down in the corner of safety 
    Have bound the teeth of dogs and tongues of men. 
    They tore the paper up and broke the pen 
    And are saved from the hands and tongues of slanderers. 
    
    The king said: 'Verily we stand in need of a man of sufficient intelligence
    who is able to carry on the administration of the government.' He
    replied: 'It is a sign of sufficient intelligence not to engage in
    such matters.' 
    
    The homa excels all other birds in nobility 
    Because it feeds on bones and injures no living thing. 
    
    A donkey, having been asked for what salary he had elected to attend
    upon the lion, replied: 'That I may consume the remnants of his prey
    and live in safety from my enemies by taking refuge under his bravery.'
    Being again asked that, as he had entered into the shadow of the lion's
    protection and gratefully acknowledged his beneficence, why he had
    not joined the circle of intimacy so as to be accounted one of his
    favourite servants, he replied: 'I am in the same way also not safe
    of his bravery.' 
    
    Should a Guebre kindle fire a hundred years 
    If he falls one moment into it he will be burnt. 
    
    It may happen that a companion of his majesty the sultan receives
    gold and it is possible that he loses his head. Philosophers have
    said that it is necessary to be on guard of the fickle temper of padshahs
    because sometimes they are displeased with politeness and at others
    they bestow robes of honour for rudeness. It is also said that much
    jocularity is an accomplishment in courtiers but a fault in sages.
    
    Abide thou by thy dignity and gravity. 
    Leave sport and jocularity to courtiers. 
    
    Story 16 
    
    One of my friends complained of the unpropitious times, telling me
    that he had a slender income, a large family, without strength to
    bear the load of poverty and had often entertained the idea to emigrate
    to another country so that no matter how he made a living no one might
    become aware of his good or ill luck. 
    
    Many a man slept hungry and no one knew who he was. 
    Many a man was at the point of death and no one wept for him.
    
    He was also apprehensive of the malevolence of enemies who would laugh
    behind his back and would attribute the struggle he underwent for
    the benefit of his family to his want of manly independence and that
    they will say: 
    
    'Behold that dishonourable fellow who will never 
    See the face of prosperity, 
    Will choose bodily comfort for himself, 
    Abandoning his wife and children to misery.' 
    
    He also told me that as I knew he possessed some knowledge of arithmetic,
    I might, through my influence, get him appointed to a post which would
    become the means of putting his mind at ease and place him under obligations
    to me, which he could not requite by gratitude during the rest of
    his life. I replied: 'Dear friend! Employment by a padshah consists
    of two parts, namely, the hope for bread and the danger of life, but
    it is against the opinion of intelligent men to incur this danger
    for that hope.' 
    
    No one comes to the house of a dervish 
    To levy a tax on land and garden. 
    Either consent to bear thy anxiety or grief 
    Or carry thy beloved children to the crows. 
    
    He replied: 'Thou hast not uttered these words in conformity with
    my case nor answered my question. Hast thou not heard the saying?
    "Whoever commits treachery let his hand tremble at the account."'
    
    Straightness is the means of acceptance with God. 
    I saw no one lost on the straight road. 
    
    Sages have said: 'Four persons are for life in dread of four persons:
    a robber of the sultan, a thief of the watchman, an adulterer of an
    informer, and a harlot of the muhtasib. But what has he to fear whose
    account of the conscience is clear?' 
    
    Be not extravagant when in office, if thou desirest 
    On thy removal to see thy foes embarrassed for imputations against
    
    thee. 
    Be thou pure, O brother, and in fear of no one. 
    Washermen beat only impure garments against stones. 
    
    I said: 'The story of that fox resembles thy case, who was by some
    persons seen fleeing with much trouble and asked for the cause of
    his fear replied: 'I have heard that camels are being forced into
    the service.' They said: 'O fool, what connection hast thou with a
    camel and what resemblance does the latter bear to thee?' The fox
    rejoined: 'Hush. If the envious malevolently say that I am a camel
    and I am caught, who will care to release me or investigate my case?
    Till the antidote is brought from Eraq the snake-bitten person dies.'
    Thou art a very excellent and honest man but enemies sit in ambush
    and competitors in every corner. If they describe thy character in
    a contrary manner, thou wouldst be called upon to give explanations
    to the padshah and incur reproof. Who would on that occasion venture
    to say anything? Accordingly I am of opinion that thou shouldst retire
    to the domain of contentment and abandon aspirations to dominion.
    Wise men have said: 
    
    'In the sea there are countless gains, 
    But if thou desirest safety, it will be on the shore.' 
    
    My friend, having heard these words, became angry, made a wry face
    and began to reproach me, saying: 'What sufficiency of wisdom and
    maturity of intellect is this? The saying of philosophers has come
    true, that friends are useful in prison because at table all enemies
    appear as friends.' 
    
    Account him not a friend who knocks at the door of prosperity,
    
    Boasts of amity and calls himself thy adopted brother. 
    I consider him a friend who takes a friend's hand 
    When he is in a distressed state and in poverty. 
    
    Seeing that he had thus changed and ascribed my advice to an interested
    motive, I paid a visit to the President of the State Council and,
    trusting in my old acquaintance with him, explained the case of my
    friend whom he then appointed to a small post. In a short time my
    friend's affable behaviour and good management elicited approbation
    so that he was promoted to a higher office. In this manner the star
    of his good luck ascended till he reached the zenith of his aspirations,
    became a courtier of his majesty the sultan, generally esteemed and
    trusted. I was delighted with his safe position and said:
    
    'Be not apprehensive of tangled affairs and keep not a broken heart
    
    Because the spring of life is in darkness.' 
    
    Do not grieve, O brother in misery, 
    Because the Ill-merciful has hidden favours. 
    
    Sit not morose on account of the turns of time; for patience,
    
    Although bitter, nevertheless possesses a sweet fruit. 
    
    At that time I happened to go with a company of friends on a journey
    to Mekkah and on my return he met me at a distance of two stages.
    I perceived his outward appearance to be distressed, his costume being
    that of dervishes. I asked: 'What is the matter?' He replied: 'As
    thou hast predicted, some persons envied me and brought against me
    an accusation of treason. The king ordered no inquiry on its truthfulness
    and my old well-wishers with my kind friends who failed to speak the
    word of truth forgot our old intimacy. 
    
    'Seest thou not in front of the possessor of dignity 
    They place the hands on their heads, praising him; 
    But, if fortune's turn causes his fall, 
    All desire to Place their foot on his head. 
    
    'In short, I was till this week undergoing various persecutions, when
    the news of the pilgrims' approach from Mekkah arrived, whereon I
    was released from my heavy bonds and my hereditary property confiscated.'
    I replied: 'Thou hast not paid attention to my remarks when I said
    that the service of padshahs is like a sea voyage, profitable and
    dangerous, so that thou wilt either gain a treasure or perish in the
    waves.' 
    
    The khajah either takes gold with both hands to the shore
    
    Or the waves throw him one day dead upon the shore. 
    
    Not thinking it suitable to scratch the wound of the dervish more
    than I had already done and so sprinkle salt thereon, I contented
    myself with reciting the following two distichs: 
    
    Knewest thou not that thou wilt see thy feet in bonds 
    If the advice of people cannot penetrate into thy ear? 
    
    Again, if thou canst not bear the pain of the sting 
    Put not thy finger into the hole of a scorpion. 
    
    Story 17 
    
    Several men were in my company whose external appearance displayed
    the adornment of piety. A great man who had conceived a very good
    opinion of these persons had assigned them a fixed allowance but,
    after one of them had done something unbecoming the profession of
    dervishes, his opinion changed and they fell into disgrace. I desired
    in some way to save the allowance of my friends and intended to wait
    upon the great man but the doorkeeper would not allow me to enter
    and was rude. I pardoned him, because it has been said: 
    
    The door of an amir, vezier or sultan 
    Is not to be approached without an introduction. 
    When a dog or a doorkeeper sees a stranger 
    The former takes hold of his skirt, the latter of his collar.
    
    When those who could at any time approach the presence of the said
    great man became aware of my case, they took me in with compliments
    and desired to assign me a high seat but I humbly took a lower one
    and said: 
    
    'Allow me who am the smallest slave 
    To sit in the line of slaves.' 
    
    He said: 'Allah, Allah, what need is there for such words?'
    
    If thou sittest on my head and eyes 
    I shall be polite, for thou art polite. 
    
    In short, I took a seat and we conversed on a variety of topics till
    the affair of the error of my companions turned up and I said:
    
    'What crime has my lord seen, who was bountiful, 
    To make the slave despicable in his sight? 
    To God that magnanimity and bounty is surrendered 
    Which beholds the crime but nevertheless bestows the bread.'
    
    The governor, being pleased with these words, ordered the support
    of my friends to be attended to as before and the arrears to be made
    good. I expressed my gratitude, kissed the ground of obedience, apologized
    for my boldness, and said: 
    
    'Since the Ka'bah has become the Qiblah of wants from distant lands
    
    The people go to visit it from many farsangs. 
    Thou must suffer the importunity of such as we are 
    Because no one throws stones on a tree without fruit.' 
    
    Story 18 
    
    A royal prince, having inherited abundant treasures from his father,
    opened the hand of liberality and satisfied his impulse of generosity
    by lavishing without stint benefits upon the army and the population.
    
    A tray of lignum aloes will emit no odour. 
    Place it on fire, it will smell like ambergris. 
    If thou wishest to be accounted great, be liberal 
    Because grain will not grow unless it be sown. 
    
    One of his courtiers began heedlessly to admonish him, saying: 'Former
    kings have by their exertions accumulated this wealth and deposited
    it for a useful purpose. Cease this movement because calamities may
    arise in front and enemies in the rear. It is not meet for thee to
    be helpless at a time of necessity.' 
    
    If thou distributest a treasure to the multitude 
    Each householder will receive a grain of rice. 
    Why takest thou not from each a barley-corn of silver 
    That thou mayest accumulate every day a treasure? 
    
    The royal prince turned away his face at these words and said: 'God
    the most high has made me the possessor of this country, to enjoy
    and to bestow, not to guard and to retain.' 
    
    Qarun, who possessed forty treasure houses, perished. 
    Nushirvan has not died because he obtained a good reputation.
    
    Story 19 
    
    It is related that, whilst some game was being roasted for Nushirvan
    the just during a hunting party, no salt could be found. Accordingly
    a boy was sent to an adjoining village to bring some. Nushirvan said:
    'Pay for the salt lest it should become a custom and the village be
    ruined.' Having been asked what harm could arise from such a trifling
    demand, Nushirvan replied: 'The foundation of oppression was small
    in the world but whoever came augmented it so that it reached its
    present magnitude.' 
    
    If the king eats one apple from the garden of a subject 
    His slaves will pull him up the tree from the roots. 
    
    For five eggs which the sultan allows to be taken by force
    
    The people belonging to his army will put a thousand 
    fowls on the spit. 
    
    A tyrant does not remain in the world 
    But the curse on him abides for ever. 
    
    Story 20 
    
    I heard that an oppressor ruined the habitations of the subjects to
    fill the treasury of the sultan, unmindful of the maxim of philosophers,
    who have said: 'Who offends God the most high to gain the heart of
    a created being, God will use that very being to bring on his destruction
    in the world.' 
    
    Fire burning with wild rue will not 
    Cause a smoke like that of afflicted hearts. 
    
    The prince of all animals is the lion and the meanest of beasts the
    ass. Nevertheless sages agree that an ass who carries loads is better
    than a lion who destroys men. 
    
    The poor donkey though void of discernment 
    Is nevertheless esteemed when he carries a burden. 
    Oxen and asses who carry loads 
    Are superior to men oppressing mankind. 
    
    When the king had obtained information of some of the oppressor's
    misdeeds and bad conduct, he had him put on the rack and slain by
    various tortures. 
    
    Thou wilt not obtain the approbation of the sultan 
    Unless thou seekest the goodwill of his subjects. 
    If thou desirest God to condone thy transgressions, 
    Do good to the people whom God has created. 
    
    One of the oppressed who passed near him said: 
    
    'Not everyone who possesses strength of arm and office 
    In the sultanate may with impunity plunder the people. 
    A hard bone may be made to pass down the throat 
    But it will tear the belly when it sticks in the navel.'
    
    Story 21 
    
    It is narrated that an oppressor of the people, a soldier, hit the
    head of a pious man with a stone and that the dervish, having no means
    of taking vengeance, preserved the stone till the time arrived when
    the king became angry with that soldier, and imprisoned him in a well.
    Then the dervish made his appearance and dropped the stone upon his
    head. He asked: 'Who art thou, and why hast thou hit my head with
    this stone?' The man replied: 'I am the same person whom thou hast
    struck on the head with this stone on such and such a day.' The soldier
    continued: 'Where hast thou been all this time?' The dervish replied:
    'I was afraid of thy dignity but now when I beheld thee in the well
    I made use of the opportunity.' 
    
    When thou seest an unworthy man in good luck 
    Intelligent men have chosen submission. 
    If thou hast not a tearing sharp nail 
    It will be better not to contend with the wicked. 
    Who grasps with his fist one who has an arm of steel 
    Injures only his own powerless wrist. 
    Wait till inconstant fortune ties his hand. 
    Then, to please thy friends, pick out his brains. 
    
    Story 22 
    
    A king was subject to a terrible disease, the mention of which is
    not sanctioned by custom. The tribe of Yunani physicians agreed that
    this pain cannot be allayed except by means of the bile of a person
    endued with certain qualities. Orders having been issued to search
    for an individual of this kind, the son of a landholder was discovered
    to possess the qualities mentioned by the doctors. The king summoned
    the father and mother of the boy whose consent he obtained by giving
    them immense wealth. The qazi issued a judicial decree that it is
    permissible to shed the blood of one subject for the safety of the
    king and the executioner was ready to slay the boy who then looked
    heavenwards and smiled. The king asked: 'What occasion for laughter
    is there in such a position?' The youth replied: 'A son looks to the
    affection of his father and mother to bring his case before the qazi
    and to ask justice from the padshah. In the present instance, however,
    the father and mother have for the trash of this world surrendered
    my blood, the qazi has issued a decree to kill me, the sultan thinks
    he will recover his health only through my destruction and I see no
    other refuge besides God the most high.' 
    
    To whom shall I complain against thy hand 
    If I am to seek justice also from thy hand? 
    
    The sultan became troubled at these words, tears rushed to his eyes
    and he said: 'It is better for me to perish than to shed innocent
    blood.' He kissed the head and eyes of the youth, presented him with
    boundless wealth and it is said that the king also recovered his health
    during that week. 
    
    I also remember the distich recited 
    By the elephant-driver on the bank of the Nile: 
    'If thou knewest the state of the ant under thy foot 
    It is like thy own condition under the foot of an elephant.'
    
    Story 23 
    
    One of the servants of Umrulais had fled but some men, having been
    sent in pursuit, brought him back. The vezier who bore a grudge towards
    him desired him to be killed that the other servants may not imitate
    his example. He placed his head on the ground before Umrulais and
    said: 
    
    'Whatever befalls my head is lawful with thy approbation.
    
    What plea can the slave advance? The sentence is the master's.'
    
    'But, having been nourished by the bounty of this dynasty, I am loth
    that on the day of resurrection thou shouldst be punished for having
    shed my blood; but, if thou desirest to kill me, do so according to
    the provisions of the law.' He asked: 'How am I to interpret it?'
    The slave continued: 'Allow me to kill the vezier and then take my
    life in retaliation so that I may be killed justly.' The king smiled
    and asked the vezier what he thought of the matter. He replied: 'My
    lord, give freedom to this bastard as an oblation to the tomb of thy
    father for fear he would bring trouble on me likewise. It is my fault
    for not having taken account of the maxim of philosophers who have
    said: 
    
    When thou fightest with a thrower of clods 
    Thou ignorantly breakest thy own head. 
    When thou shootest an arrow at the face of a foe 
    Be on thy guard for thou art sitting as a target for him.'
    
    Story 24 
    
    King Zuzan had a khajah of noble sentiments and of good aspect who
    served his companions when they were present and spoke well of them
    when they were absent. He happened to do something whereby he incurred
    the displeasure of the king who inflicted a fine on him and also otherwise
    punished him. The officials of the king, mindful of the benefits they
    had formerly received from him and being by them pledged to gratitude,
    treated him kindly whilst in their custody and allowed no one to insult
    him. 
    
    If thou desirest peace from the foe, whenever he 
    Finds fault behind thy back praise him to his face. 
    A vicious fellow's mouth must utter words. 
    If thou desirest not bitter words, sweeten his mouth. 
    
    He was absolved of some accusations brought by the king against him
    but retained in prison for some. Another king in those regions secretly
    dispatched a message to him, to the purport that the sovereigns of
    that country, not knowing his excellent qualities, had dishonoured
    him, but that if his precious mind (may Allah prosper the end of his
    affairs) were to look in this direction, the utmost efforts would
    be made to please him, because the nobles of this realm would consider
    it an honour to see him and are waiting for a reply to this letter.
    The khajah, who had received this information, being apprehensive
    of danger, forthwith wrote a brief and suitable answer on the back
    of the sheet of paper and sent it back. One, however, of the king's
    courtiers, who noticed what had taken place, reported to him that
    the imprisoned khajah was in correspondence with the princes of the
    adjacent country. The king became angry and desired this affair to
    be investigated. The courier was overtaken and deprived of the letter,
    the contents of which were found on perusal to be as follows: 'The
    good opinion of high personages is more than their servant's merit
    deserves, who is unable to comply with the honour of reception which
    they have offered him, because having been nourished by the bounty
    of this dynasty, he cannot become unthankful towards his benefactor
    in consequence of a slight change of sentiments of the latter, since
    it is said: 
    
    He who bestows every moment favours upon thee 
    Is to be pardoned by thee if once in his life he injures thee.'
    
    The king approved of his gratitude, bestowed upon him a robe of honour,
    gave him presents and asked his pardon, saying: 'I committed a mistake.'
    He replied: 'My lord, it was the decree of God the most high that
    a misfortune should befall this servant but it was best that it should
    come from thy hands which had formerly bestowed favours upon him and
    placed him under obligations.' 
    
    If people injure thee grieve not 
    Because neither rest nor grief come from the people. 
    Be aware that the contrasts of friend and foe are from God
    
    Because the hearts of both are in his keeping. 
    Although the arrow is shot from the bow 
    Wise men look at the archer. 
    
    Story 25 
    
    One of the Arab kings ordered his officials to double the allowance
    of a certain attendant because he was always at the palace expecting
    orders while the other servants were engaged in amusements and sports,
    neglecting their duties. A pious man who heard this remarked that
    high degrees at the court of heaven are similarly bestowed upon servants:
    
    If a man comes two mornings to serve the shah 
    He will on the third certainly look benevolently on him.
    
    Sincere worshippers entertain the hope 
    That they will not be disappointed at the threshold of God.
    
    Superiority consists in attending to commands. 
    The neglect of commands leads to exclusion. 
    Who possesses the criterion of righteousness 
    Places the head upon the threshold. 
    
    Story 26 
    
    It is narrated that a tyrant who purchased wood from dervishes forcibly
    gave it away to rich -people gratuitously. A pious man passing near
    said: 
    
    'Thou art a snake, stingest whom thou beholdest, 
    Or an owl; wherever thou sittest thou destroyest. 
    
    Although thy oppression may pass among us 
    It cannot pass with the Lord who knows all secrets. 
    
    Oppress not the denizens of the earth 
    That their supplications may not pass to heaven.' 
    
    The tyrant, being displeased with these words, got angry and took
    no notice of him until one night, when fire from the kitchen fell
    into the store of his wood and burnt all he possessed-transferring
    him from his soft bed to a hot mound of ashes-the same pious man happened
    again to pass and to hear him saying to his friends: 'I do not know
    whence this fire has fallen into my house.' replied: 'From the smoke
    of the hearts of dervishes.' 
    
    Beware of the smoke of internal wounds 
    Because at last an internal wound will break out. 
    Forbear to uproot one heart as long as thou canst 
    Because one sigh may uproot a world. 
    
    Upon the diadem of Kaikhosru the following piece was inscribed:
    
    For how many years and long lives 
    Will the people walk over my head on the ground? 
    As from hand to hand the kingdom came to us 
    So it will also go to other hands. 
    
    Story 27 
    
    A man had attained great excellence in the art of wrestling, who knew
    three hundred and sixty exquisite tricks and daily exhibited something
    new. He had a particular affection for the beauty of one of his pupils
    whom he taught three hundred and fifty-nine tricks, refraining to
    impart to him only one. At last the youth had attained such power
    and skill that no one was able to contend with him and he went so
    far as to say to the sultan: 'I allow superiority to my teacher on
    account of his age and from gratitude for his instruction but my strength
    is not less than his and my skill equal.' The king, who was not pleased
    with this want of good manners, ordered them to wrestle with each
    other and a spacious locality having been fixed upon, the pillars
    of state and courtiers of his majesty made their appearance. The youth
    made an onslaught like a mad elephant with an impulse which might
    have uprooted a mountain of brass from its place but the master, who
    knew that he was in strength superior to himself, attacked him with
    the rare trick he had reserved to himself and which the youth was
    unable to elude; whereon the master, lifting him up with his hands
    from the ground, raised him above his head and then threw him down.
    Shouts were raised by the spectators and the king ordered a robe of
    honour with other presents to be given to the teacher but reproached
    and blamed the youth for having attempted to cope with his instructor
    and succumbed. He replied: 'My lord, he has not vanquished me by his
    strength but there was a slender part in the art of wrestling which
    he had withheld from me and had today thereby got the upper hand of
    me.' The master said: 'I had reserved it for such an occasion because
    wise men have said: "Do not give so much strength to thy friend that,
    if he becomes thy foe, he may injure thee." Hast thou not heard what
    the man said who suffered molestation from one whom he had educated?
    
    Either fidelity itself does not exist in this world 
    Or nobody practices it in our time. 
    No one had learnt archery from me 
    Without at last making a target of me.' 
    
    Story 28 
    
    A solitary dervish was sitting in a corner of the desert when a padshah
    happened to pass by but, ease having made him independent, he took
    no notice. The sultan, in conformity with his royal dignity, became
    angry and said: 'This tribe of rag-wearers resembles beasts.' The
    vezier said: 'The padshah of the surface of the earth has passed near
    thee. Why hast thou not paid homage and shown good manners?' He replied:
    'Tell the king to look for homage from a man who expects benefits
    from him and also that kings exist for protecting subjects and subjects
    not for obeying kings.' 
    
    The padshah is the guardian of the dervish 
    Although wealth is in the glory of his reign. 
    The sheep is not for the shepherd 
    But the shepherd for the service of it. 
    
    Today thou beholdest one man prosperous 
    And another whose heart is wounded by struggling. 
    Wait a few days till the earth consumes 
    The brain in the head of the visionary. 
    Distinction between king and slave has ceased 
    When the decree of fate overtakes them. 
    If a man were to open the tombs of the dead 
    He would not distinguish a rich from a poor man. 
    
    The king, who was pleased with the sentiments of the dervish, asked
    him to make a request but he answered that the only one he had to
    make was to be left alone. The king then asked for advice and the
    dervish said: 
    
    'Understand now while wealth is in thy hand 
    That fortune and kingdom will leave thy hand.' 
    
    Story 29 
    
    A vezier paid a visit to Zulnun Misri and asked for his favour, saying:
    'I am day and night engaged in the service of the sultan and hoping
    to be rewarded but nevertheless dread to be punished by him.' Zulnun
    wept and said: 'Had I feared God, the great and glorious, as thou
    fearest the sultan, I would be one of the number of the righteous.'
    
    If there were no hope of rest and trouble 
    The foot of the dervish would be upon the sphere 
    And if the vezier feared God 
    Like the king he would be king. 
    
    Story 30 
    
    A padshah having issued orders to kill an innocent man, the latter
    said: 'O king, seek not thine own injury on account of the anger thou
    bearest towards me.' He asked: 'How?' The man replied: 'This punishment
    will abide with me one moment but the sin of it for ever with thee.'
    
    The period of life has passed away like the desert wind.
    
    Bitter and sweet, ugliness and beauty have passed away. 
    The tyrant fanded he had done injury to us. 
    It remained on his neck and passed away from us. 
    
    This admonition having taken effect, the king spared his blood.
    
    Story 31 
    
    The veziers of Nushirvan happened to discuss an important affair of
    state, each giving his opinion according to his knowledge. The king
    likewise gave his opinion and Barzachumihr concurred with it. Afterwards
    the veziers secretly asked him: 'What superiority hast thou discovered
    in the opinion of the king above so many other reflections of wise
    men?' The philosopher replied: 'Since the termination of the affair
    is unknown and it depends upon the will of God whether the opinion
    of the others will turn out right or wrong, it was better to agree
    with the opinion of the king so that, if it should turn out to have
    been wrong, we may, on account of having followed it, remain free
    from blame.' 
    
    To proffer an opinion contrary to the king's 
    Means to wash the hands in one's own blood. 
    Should he in plain day say it is night, 
    It is meet to shout: 'Lo, the moon and the pleiads!' 
    
    Story 32 
    
    An impostor arranged his hair in a peculiar fashion, pretended to
    be a descendant of A'li and entered the town with a caravan from the
    Hejaz, saying that he had just arrived from a pilgrimage. He also
    presented an elegy to the king, alleging that he had himself composed
    it. One of the king's courtiers, who had that year returned from a
    journey, said: 'I have seen him at Bosrah on the Azhah festival, then
    how can he be a Haji?' Another said: 'His father was a Christian at
    Melitah. How can he be a descendant of A'li? And his poetry has been
    found in the Divan of Anvari.' The king ordered him to be beaten and
    expelled the country for his great mendacity. The man said: 'O lord
    of the surface of the earth, I shall say something more and, if it
    is not true, I shall deserve any punishment which thou mayest decree.'
    He asked: 'What is it?' 
    
    When a stranger brings before thee buttermilk 
    Two measures of it will be water and a spoonful sour milk.
    
    If thou hast heard heedless talk from thy slave, be not offended.
    
    A man who has seen the world utters much falsehood. 
    
    The king laughed, told him that all his life he had not uttered more
    true words than these and ordered the present which the fellow hoped
    for to be got ready. 
    
    Story 33 
    
    One of the veziers of a king treated his subordinates with kindness
    and sought the goodwill of his colleagues. Once he happened to be
    called to account by the king for something he had done whereon his
    colleagues endeavoured to effect his liberation. Those who guarded
    him treated him leniently and the great men expatiated upon his good
    character to the padshah till he renounced all further inquiry. A
    pious man who took cognizance of this affair said: 
    
    'In order to gain the hearts of friends 
    Sell even the garden of thy father. 
    In order to boil the pot of well-wishers 
    Burn even all the furniture of the house. 
    Do good even to a malevolent fellow. 
    Tie up the mouth of the dog with a sop.' 
    
    Story 34 
    
    One of the sons of Harun-ur-Rashid went to his father and angrily
    informed him that the son of an official had used insulting expressions
    towards him whereon Harun asked his courtiers what requital he deserved.
    One of them proposed capital punishment, another the amputation of
    the tongue whilst a third recommended fine and imprisonment. Then
    Harun said: 'Oh my son, it would be generous to pardon him but, if
    thou art unable to do so, use likewise insulting expressions concerning
    his mother; not however to such a degree as to exceed the bounds of
    vengeance because in that case the wrong will be on thy side.'
    
    He is not reputed a man by the wise 
    Who contends with a furious elephant 
    But he is a man in reality 
    Who when angry speaks not idle words. 
    
    An ill-humoured fellow insulted a man 
    Who patiently bore it saying: 'O hopeful youth, 
    I am worse than thou speakest of me 
    For I am more conscious of my faults than thou.' 
    
    Story 35 
    
    I was sitting in a vessel with a company of great men when a boat
    which contained two brothers happened to sink near us. One of the
    great men promised a hundred dinars to a sailor if he could save them
    both. Whilst however the sailor was pulling out one, the other perished.
    I said: 'He had no longer to live and therefore delay took place in
    rescuing him.' The sailor smiled and replied: 'What thou hast said
    is certain. Moreover, I preferred to save this one because, when I
    once-happened to lag behind in the desert, he seated me on his camel,
    whereas I had received a whipping by the hands of the other. When
    I was a boy I recited: He, who doth right, doth it to his own soul
    and he, who doth evil, doth it against the same.' 
    
    As long as thou canst, scratch the interior of no one 
    Because there are thorns on this road. 
    Be helpful in the affairs of a dervish 
    Because thou also hast affairs. 
    
    Story 36 
    
    There were two brothers: one of them in the service of the sultan
    and the other gaining his livelihood by the effort of his arm. The
    wealthy man once asked his destitute brother why he did not serve
    the sultan in order to be delivered from the hardship of labouring.
    He replied: 'Why labourest thou not to be delivered from the baseness
    of service because philosophers have said that it is better to eat
    barley bread and to sit than to gird oneself with a golden belt and
    to stand in service?' 
    
    To leaven mortar of quicklime with the hand 
    Is better than to hold them on the breast before the amir.
    
    My precious life was spent in considering 
    What I am to eat in summer and wear in winter. 
    O ignoble belly, be satisfied with one bread 
    Rather than to bend the back in service. 
    
    Story 37 
    
    Someone had brought information to Nushirvan the just that an enemy
    of his had been removed from this world by God the most high. He asked:
    'Hast thou heard anything about his intending to spare me?'
    
    There is no occasion for our rejoicing at a foe's death 
    Because our own life will also not last for ever. 
    
    Story 38 
    
    A company of philosophers were discussing a subject in the palace
    of Kesra and Barzachumihr, having remained silent, they asked him
    why he took no share in the debate. He replied: 'Veziers are like
    physicians and the latter give medicine to the sick only but, as I
    perceive that your opinions are in conformity with propriety, I have
    nothing to say about them.' 
    
    When an affair succeeds without my idle talk 
    It is not meet for me to speak thereon. 
    But if I see a blind man near a well 
    It is a crime for me to remain silent. 
    
    Story 39 
    
    Harun-ur-Rashid said when the country of Egypt was surrendered to
    him: 'In contrast to the rebel who had in his arrogance of being sovereign
    of Egypt pretended to be God, I shall bestow this country upon the
    meanest of my slaves.' He had a stupid negro, Khosaib by name, whom
    he made governor of Egypt but his intellect and discrimination were
    so limited that when the tribe of Egyptian agriculturists complained
    and stated that they had sown cotton along the banks of the Nile and
    that an untimely rain had destroyed it he replied: 'You ought to have
    sown wool.' A pious man heard this, and said: 
    
    'If livelihood were increased by knowledge 
    None would be more needy than the ignorant. 
    Nevertheless the ignorant receive a livelihood 
    At which the learned stand aghast. 
    The luck of wealth consists not in skill 
    But only in the aid of heaven. 
    It happens in the world that many 
    Silly men are honoured and sages despised. 
    If an alchemist has died in grief and misery, 
    A fool discovered a treasure amidst ruins.' 
    
    Story 40 
    
    A Chinese slave-girl having been brought to a king, he desired to
    have connection with her whilst in a state of intoxication but, as
    she repelled him, he became angry and presented her to one of his
    negro-slaves whose upper lip was higher than his nostrils whilst the
    lower one hung down to his neck. His stature was such that the demon
    Sakhrah would have been put to flight and a fountain of pitch emitted
    stench from his armpits. 
    
    Thou wouldst say that, till the resurrection, ugliness 
    Is his stamp as that of Joseph was beauty. 
    His person was of so wretched an aspect 
    That his ugliness surpassed all description 
    And from his armpits we take refuge with Allah, 
    They were like a corpse in the month of Merdad. 
    
    At that time the desire of the negro was libidinous, his lust overcame
    him, his love leapt up and he took off the seal of her virginity.
    In the morning the king sought the girl but could not find her and,
    having obtained information of what had taken place, he became angry,
    ordered the negro and the girl to be firmly tied together by their
    hands and feet and to be thrown from the lofty building into a ditch.
    One of the veziers, placing the face of intercession upon the ground,
    pleaded that there was no guilt in the negro since all the servants
    of his majesty usually receive presents and benefits as he had received
    the girl. The king rejoined: 'What would it have mattered if he had
    for one night delayed his enjoyment?' He said: 'My lord, hast thou
    not heard that it was said: 
    
    When a man with a burning thirst reaches a limpid spring,
    
    Think not that he will care for a mad elephant. 
    When a hungry infidel is in an empty house at table 
    Reason will not believe that he cares for the Ramazan.' 
    
    The king, being pleased with this sally, exclaimed: 'I make thee a
    present of the negro. What am I to do with the girl?' He replied:
    'Give the girl to the negro because that half is also due to a dog
    of which he has consumed the other half.' 
    
    The thirsty heart does not wish for limpid water 
    Half of which was consumed by a fetid mouth. 
    
    How can the king's hand again touch 
    An orange after it has fallen into dung? 
    
    Story 41 
    
    Iskandur Rumi, having been asked how he had conquered the east and
    the west, considering that the treasures, territories, reigns and
    armies of former kings exceeded his own and they had not gained such
    a victory, replied: 'Whatever country I conquered by the aid of God
    the most high, I abstained from distressing its population and spoke
    nothing but good of the king.' 
    
    The intelligent will not call him great 
    Who speaks ill of the great. 
    
    All this is nothing as it passes away: 
    Throne and luck, command and prohibition, taking and giving.
    
    Injure not the name of those who have passed away 
    In order that thy own name may subsist. 
    
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    CHAPTER II
    
    The Morals of Dervishes 
    
    Story 1 
    
    One of the great devotees having been asked about his opinion concerning
    a hermit whom others had censured in their conversation, he replied:
    'I do not see any external blemishes on him and do not know of internal
    ones.' 
    
    Whomsoever thou seest in a religious habit 
    Consider him to be a religious and good man 
    And, if thou knowest not his internal condition, 
    What business has the muhtasib inside the house? 
    
    Story 2 
    
    I saw a dervish who placed his head upon the threshold of the Ka'bah,
    groaned, and said: 'O forgiving, 0 merciful one, thou knowest what
    an unrighteous, ignorant man can offer to thee.' 
    
    I have craved pardon for the deficiency of my service 
    Because I can implore no reward for my obedience. 
    Sinners repent of their transgressions. 
    Arifs ask forgiveness for their imperfect worship. 
    
    Devotees desire a reward for their obedience and merchants the price
    of their wares but I, who am a worshipper, have brought hope and not
    obedience. I have come to beg and not to trade. Deal with me as thou
    deemest fit. 
    
    Whether thou killest me or forgivest my crime, 
    my face and head are on thy threshold. 
    A slave has nothing to command; whatever thou commandest I obey.
    
    I saw a mendicant at the door of the Ka'bah 
    Who said this and wept abundantly: 
    'I ask not for the acceptance of my service 
    But for drawing the pen of pardon over my sins.' 
    
    Story 3 
    
    I saw A'bd-u-Qader Gaillani in the sanctuary of the Ka'bah with his
    face on the pebbles and saying: 'O lord, pardon my sins and, if I
    deserve punishment, cause me to arise blind on the day of resurrection
    that I may not be ashamed in the sight of the righteous.'
    
    With my face on the earth of helplessness 
    I say Every morning as soon as I become conscious: 
    O thou whom I shall never forget 
    Wilt thou at all remember thy slave? 
    
    Story 4 
    
    A thief paid a visit to the house of a pious man but, although he
    sought a great deal, found nothing and was much grieved. The pious
    man, who knew this, threw the blanket upon which he had been sleeping
    into the way of the thief that he might not go away disappointed.
    
    I heard that men of the way of God 
    Have not distressed the hearts of enemies. 
    How canst thou attain that dignity 
    Who quarrelest and wagest war against friends? 
    
    The friendship of pure men, whether in thy presence or absence, is
    not such as Will find fault behind thy back and is ready to die for
    thee before thy face. 
    
    In thy presence gentle like a lamb, 
    In thy absence like a man-devouring wolf. 
    
    Who brings the faults of another to thee and enumerates them
    
    Will undoubtedly carry thy faults to others. 
    
    Story 5 
    
    Several travellers were on a journey together and equally sharing
    each other's troubles and comforts. I desired to accompany them but
    they would not agree. Then I said: 'It is foreign to the manners of
    great men to turn away the face from the company of the poor and so
    deprive themselves of the advantage they might derive therefrom because
    I for one consider myself sufficiently strong and energetic to be
    of service to men and not an encumbrance. Although I am not riding
    on a beast, I shall aid you in carrying blankets.' One of them said:
    'Do not be grieved at the words thou hast heard because some days
    ago a thief in the guise of a dervish arrived and joined our company.'
    
    How can people know who is in the dress? 
    The writer is aware what the book contains. 
    
    As the state of dervishes is safe, they entertained no suspicion about
    him and received him as a friend. 
    
    The outward state of Arifs is the patched dress. 
    It suffices as a display to the face of the people. 
    
    Strive by thy acts to be good and wear anything thou listest.
    
    Place a crown on thy head and a flag on thy back. 
    The abandoning of the world, of lust, and of desire 
    Is sanctity, not the abandonment of the robe only. 
    It is necessary to show manhood in the fight. 
    Of what profit are weapons of war to an hermaphrodite? 
    
    We travelled one day till the night set in during which we slept near
    a fort and the graceless thief, taking up the water-pot of a companion,
    pretending to go for an ablution, departed for plunder. 
    
    A pretended saint who wears the dervish garb 
    Has made of the Ka'bah's robes the covering of an ass. 
    
    After disappearing from the sight of the dervishes, he went to a tower
    from which he stole a casket and, when the day dawned, the dark-hearted
    wretch had already progressed a considerable distance. In the morning
    the guiltless sleeping companions were all taken to the fort and thrown
    into prison. From that date we renounced companionship and took the
    road of solitude, according to the maxim: Safety is in solitude.
    
    When one of a tribe has done a foolish thing 
    No honour is left either to the low or the high. 
    Seest thou not how one ox of the pasturage 
    Defiles all oxen of the village? 
    
    I replied: 'Thanks be to the God of majesty and glory, I have not
    been excluded from the advantages enjoyed by dervishes, although I
    have separated myself from their society. I have profited by what
    thou hast narrated to me and this admonition will be of use through
    life to persons like me.' 
    
    For one rude fellow in the assembly 
    The heart of intelligent men is much grieved. 
    If a tank be filled with rose-water 
    A dog falling into it pollutes the whole. 
    
    Story 6 
    
    A hermit, being the guest of a padshah, ate less than he wished when
    sitting at dinner and when he rose for prayers he prolonged them more
    than was his wont in order to enhance the opinion entertained by the
    padshah of his piety. 
    
    O Arab of the desert, I fear thou wilt not reach the Ka'bah
    
    Because the road on which thou travellest leads to Turkestan.
    
    When he returned to his own house, he desired the table to be laid
    out for eating. He had an intelligent son who said: 'Father, hast
    thou not eaten anything at the repast of the sultan?' He replied:
    'I have not eaten anything to serve a purpose.' The boy said: 'Then
    likewise say thy prayers again as thou hast not done anything to serve
    that purpose.' 
    
    O thou who showest virtues on the palms of the hand 
    But concealest thy errors under the armpit 
    What wilt thou purchase, O vain-glorious fool, 
    On the day of distress with counterfeit silver? 
    
    Story 7 
    
    I remember, being in my childhood pious, rising in the night, addicted
    to devotion and abstinence. One night I was sitting with my father,
    remaining awake and holding the beloved Quran in my lap, whilst the
    people around us were asleep. I said: 'Not one of these persons lifts
    up his head or makes a genuflection. They are as fast asleep as if
    they were dead.' He replied: 'Darling of thy father, would that thou
    wert also asleep rather than disparaging people.' 
    
    The pretender sees no one but himself 
    Because he has the veil of conceit in front. 
    If he were endowed with a God-discerning eye 
    He would see that no one is weaker than himself. 
    
    Story 8 
    
    A great man was praised in an assembly and, his good qualities being
    extolled, he raised his head and said: 'I am such as I know myself
    to be.' 
    
    O thou who reckonest my virtues, refrainest from giving me pain,
    
    These are my open, and thou knowest not my hidden, qualities.
    
    My person is, to the eyes of the world, of good aspect 
    But my internal wickedness makes me droop my head with shame.
    
    The peacock is for his beauteous colours by the people 
    Praised whilst he is ashamed of his ugly feet. 
    
    Story 9 
    
    One of the devotees of Mount Lebanon, whose piety was famed in the
    Arab country and his miracles well known, entered the cathedral mosque
    of Damascus and was performing his purificatory ablution on the edge
    of a tank when his feet slipped and he fell into the reservoir but
    saved himself with great trouble. After the congregation had finished
    their prayers, one of his companions said: 'I have a difficulty.'
    He asked: 'What is it?' He continued: 'I remember that the sheikh
    walked on the surface of the African sea without his feet getting
    wetted and today he nearly perished in this paltry water which is
    not deeper than a man's stature. What reason is there in this?' The
    sheikh drooped his head into the bosom of meditation and said after
    a long pause: 'Hast thou not heard that the prince of the world, Muhammad
    the chosen, upon whom be the benediction of Allah and peace, has said:
    I have time with Allah during which no cherubim nor inspired prophet
    is equal to me?' But he did not say that such was always the case.
    The time alluded to was when Gabriel or Michael inspired him whilst
    on other occasions he was satisfied with the society of Hafsah and
    Zainab. The visions of the righteous one are between brilliancy and
    obscurity. 
    
    Thou showest thy countenance and then hidest it 
    Enhancing thy value and augmenting our desire. 
    
    I behold whom I love without an intervention. 
    Then a trance befalls me; I lose the road; 
    It kindles fire, then quenches it with a sprinkling shower.
    
    Wherefore thou seest me burning and drowning. 
    
    Story 10 
    
    One asked the man who had lost his son: 
    
    'O noble and intelligent old man! 
    As thou hast smelt the odour of his garment from Egypt 
    Why hast thou not seen him in the well of Canaan?' 
    
    He replied: 
    
    'My state is that of leaping lightning. 
    One moment it appears and at another vanishes. 
    I am sometimes sitting in high heaven. 
    Sometimes I cannot see the back of my foot. 
    Were a dervish always to remain in that state 
    He would not care for the two worlds.' 
    
    Story 11 
    
    I spoke in the cathedral mosque of Damascus a few words by way of
    a sermon but to a congregation whose hearts were withered and dead,
    not having travelled from the road of the world of form, the physical,
    to the world of meaning, the moral world. I perceived that my words
    took no effect and that burning fire does not kindle moist wood. I
    was sorry for instructing brutes and holding forth a mirror in a locality
    of blind people. I had, however, opened the door of meaning and was
    giving a long explanation of the verse We are nearer unto Him than
    the jugular vein till I said: 
    
    'The Friend is nearer to me than my self, 
    But it is more strange that I am far from him. 
    What am I to do? To whom can it be said that he 
    Is in my arms, but I am exiled from him.' 
    
    I had intoxicated myself with the wine of these sentiments, holding
    the remnant of the cup of the sermon in my hand when a traveller happened
    to pass near the edge of the assembly, and the last turn of the circulating
    cup made such an impression upon him that he shouted and the others
    joined him who began to roar, whilst the raw portion of the congregation
    became turbulent. Whereon I said: 'Praise be to Allah! Those who are
    far away but intelligent are in the presence of Allah, and those who
    are near but blind are distant.' 
    
    When the hearer understands not the meaning of words 
    Do not look for the effect of the orator's force 
    But raise an extensive field of desire 
    That the eloquent man may strike the ball of effect. 
    
    Story 12 
    
    One night I had in the desert of Mekkah become so weak from want of
    sleep that I was unable to walk and, laying myself down, told the
    camel driver to let me alone. 
    
    How far can the foot of a wretched pedestrian go 
    When a dromedary gets distressed by its load? 
    Whilst the body of a fat man becomes lean 
    A weak man will be dead of exhaustion. 
    
    He replied: 'O brother, the sanctuary is in front of us and brigands
    in the rear. If thou goest thou wilt prosper. If thou sleepest thou
    wilt die.' 
    
    It is pleasant to sleep under an acacia on the desert road
    
    But alas! thou must bid farewell to life on the night of departure.
    
    Story 13 
    
    I saw a holy man on the seashore who had been wounded by a tiger.
    No medicine could relieve his pain; he suffered much but he nevertheless
    constantly thanked God the most high, saying: 'Praise be to Allah
    that I have fallen into a calamity and not into sin.' 
    
    If that beloved Friend decrees me to be slain 
    I shall not say that moment that I grieve for life 
    Or say: What fault has thy slave committed? 
    My grief will be for having offended thee. 
    
    Story 14 
    
    A dervish who had fallen into want stole a blanket from the house
    of a friend. The judge ordered his hand to be amputated but the owner
    of the blanket interceded, saying that he had condoned the fault.
    The judge rejoined: 'Thy intercession cannot persuade me to neglect
    the provision of the law.' The man continued: 'Thou hast spoken the
    truth but amputation is not applicable to a person who steals some
    property dedicated to pious uses. More over a beggar possesses nothing
    and whatever belongs to a dervish is dedicated to the use of the needy.'
    Thereon the judge released the culprit, saying: 'The world must indeed
    have become too narrow for thee that thou hast committed no theft
    except from the house of such a friend.' He replied: 'Hast thou not
    heard the saying: Sweep out the house of friends and do not knock
    at the door of foes.' 
    
    If thou sinkest in a calamity be not helpless. 
    Strip thy foes of their skins and thy friends of their fur-coats.
    
    Story 15 
    
    A padshah, meeting a holy man, asked him whether he did not sometimes
    remember him for the purpose of getting presents. He replied: 'Yes,
    I do, whenever I forget God.' 
    
    Whom He drives from his door, runs everywhere. 
    Whom He calls, runs to no one's door. 
    
    Story 16 
    
    A pious man saw in a dream a padshah in paradise and a devotee in
    hell whereon he asked for the reason of the former's exaltation and
    the latter's degradation, saying that he had imagined the contrary
    ought to be the case. He received the following answer: 'The padshah
    had, for the love he bore to dervishes, been rewarded with paradise
    and the devotee had, for associating with padshahs, been punished
    in hell.' 
    
    Of what use is thy frock, rosary and patched dress? 
    Keep thyself free from despicable practices. 
    Then thou wilt have no need of a cap of leaves. 
    Have the qualities of a dervish and wear a Tatar cap. 
    
    Story 17 
    
    A bareheaded and barefooted pedestrian who had arrived from Kufah
    with the Hejaz-caravan of pilgrims joined us, strutted about and recited:
    
    'I am neither riding a camel nor under a load like a camel.
    
    I am neither a lord of subjects nor the slave of a potentate.
    
    Grief for the present, or distress for the past, does not
    
    trouble me. 
    I draw my breath in comfort and thus spend my life.' 
    
    A camel-rider shouted to him: 'O dervish, where art thou going? Return,
    for thou wilt expire from hardships.' He paid no attention but entered
    the desert and marched. When we reached the station at the palm-grove
    of Mahmud, the rich man was on the point of death and the dervish,
    approaching his pillow, said: 'We have not expired from hardship but
    thou hast died on a dromedary.' 
    
    A man wept all night near the head of a patient. 
    When the day dawned he died and the patient revived. 
    
    Many a fleet charger had fallen dead 
    While a lame ass reached the station alive. 
    Often healthy persons were in the soil 
    Buried and the wounded did not die. 
    
    Story 18 
    
    A hermit, having been invited by a padshah, concluded that if he were
    to take some medicine to make himself weak he might perhaps enhance
    the opinion of the padshah regarding his merits. But it is related
    that the medicine was lethal so that when he partook of it he died.
    
    Who appeared to thee all marrow like a pistachio 
    Was but skin upon skin like an onion. 
    Devotees with their face towards the world 
    Say their prayers with their back to the Qiblah. 
    When a worshipper calls upon his God, 
    He must know no one besides God. 
    
    Story 19 
    
    A caravan having been plundered in the Yunan country and deprived
    of boundless wealth, the merchants wept and lamented, beseeching God
    and the prophet to intercede for them with the robbers, but ineffectually.
    
    When a dark-minded robber is victorious 
    What cares he for the weeping of the caravan? 
    
    Loqman the philosopher being among the people of the caravan, one
    of them asked him to speak a few words of wisdom and advice to the
    robbers so that they might perhaps return some of the property they
    had plundered because the loss of so much wealth would be lamentable.
    Loqman replied: 'It would be lamentable to utter one word of wisdom
    to them.' 
    
    The rust which has eaten into iron 
    Cannot be removed by polishing. 
    Of what use is preaching to a black heart? 
    An iron nail cannot be driven into a rock. 
    
    Help the distressed in the day of prosperity 
    Because comforting the poor averts evil from thyself. 
    When a mendicant implores thee for a thing, 
    Give it or else an oppressor may take it by force. 
    
    Story 20 
    
    Despite the abundant admonitions of the most illustrious Sheikh Abulfaraj
    Ben Juzi to shun musical entertainments and to prefer solitude and
    retirement, the budding of my youth overcame me, my sensual desires
    were excited so that, unable to resist them, I walked some steps contrary
    to the opinion of my tutor, enjoying myself in musical amusements
    and convivial meetings. When the advice of my sheikh occurred to my
    mind, I said: 
    
    'If the qazi were sitting with us, he would clap his hands.
    
    If the muhtasib were bibbing wine, he would excuse a drunkard.'
    
    Thus I lived till I paid one night a visit to an assembly of people
    in which I saw a musician. 
    
    Thou wouldst have said he is tearing up the vital artery
    
    with his fiddle-bow. 
    His voice was more unpleasant than the wailing of one who
    
    lost his father. 
    
    The audience now stopped their ears with their fingers, and now put
    them on their lips to silence him. We became ecstatic by the sounds
    of pleasing songs but thou art such a singer that when thou art silent
    we are pleased. 
    
    No one feels pleased by thy performance 
    Except at the time of departure when thou pleasest. 
    
    When that harper began to sing 
    I said to the host: 'For God's sake 
    Put mercury in my ear that I may not hear 
    Or open the door that I may go away.' 
    
    In short, I tried to please my friends and succeeded after a considerable
    struggle in spending the whole night there. 
    
    The muezzin shouted the call to prayers out of time, 
    Not knowing how much of the night had elapsed. 
    Ask the length of the night from my eyelids 
    For sleep did not enter my eyes one moment. 
    
    In the morning I took my turban from my head, with one dinar from
    my belt by way of gratification, and placed them before the musician
    whom I embraced and thanked. My friends who saw that my appreciation
    of his merits was unusual attributed it to the levity of my intellect
    and laughed secretly. One of them, however, lengthened out his tongue
    of objection and began to reproach me, saying that I had committed
    an act repugnant to intelligent men by bestowing a portion of my professional
    dress upon a musician who had all his life not a dirhem laid upon
    the palm of his hand nor filings of silver or of gold placed on his
    drum. 
    
    A musician! Far be he from this happy abode. 
    No one ever saw him twice in the same place. 
    As soon as the shout rose from his mouth 
    The hair on the bodies of the people stood on end. 
    The fo