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    "endpoint": "/api/sources/sufism/saadi-gulistan/01-chapter-i-the-manners-of-kings.json"
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  "work": {
    "slug": "saadi-gulistan",
    "name": "Gulistan (Saadi)"
  },
  "parents": [
    {
      "slug": "sufism",
      "name": "Sufi Poets",
      "url": "/sources/sufism/"
    }
  ],
  "chapter": {
    "num": 2,
    "slug": "01-chapter-i-the-manners-of-kings",
    "title": "Chapter I: The Manners of Kings",
    "of": 9,
    "words": 11221,
    "text": "## Chapter I: The Manners of Kings\n\n\nTHE MANNERS OF KINGS\n\n Story 1\n\n I heard a padshah giving orders to kill a prisoner. The helpless\nfellow began to insult the king on that occasion of despair, with\nthe tongue he had, and to use foul expressions according to the\nsaying:\n\n Who washes his hands of life\n Says whatever he has in his heart.\n\n When a man is in despair his tongue becomes long and he is like a\nvanquished cat assailing a dog.\n\n In time of need, when flight is no more possible,\n The hand grasps the point of the sharp sword.\n\n When the king asked what he was saying, a good-natured vezier\nreplied: 'My lord, he says: Those who bridle their anger and forgive\nmen; for Allah loveth the beneficent.'\n The king, moved with pity, forbore taking his life but another\nvezier, the antagonist of the former, said: 'Men of our rank ought\nto speak nothing but the truth in the presence of padshahs. This\nfellow has insulted the king and spoken unbecomingly.' The king, being\ndispleased with these words, said: 'That lie was more acceptable to me\nthan this truth thou hast uttered because the former proceeded from\na conciliatory disposition and the latter from malignity; and wise men\nhave said: \"A falsehood resulting in conciliation is better than a\ntruth producing trouble.\"'\n\n He whom the shah follows in what he says,\n It is a pity if he speaks anything but what is good.\n\n The following inscription was upon the portico of the hall of\nFeridun:\n\n O brother, the world remains with no one.\n Bind the heart to the Creator, it is enough.\n Rely not upon possessions and this world\n Because it has cherished many like thee and slain them.\n When the pure soul is about to depart,\n What boots it if one dies on a throne or on the ground?\n\n Story 2\n\n One of the kings of Khorasan had a vision in a dream of Sultan\nMahmud, one hundred years after his death. His whole person appeared\nto have been dissolved and turned to dust, except his eyes, which were\nrevolving in their orbits and looking about. All the sages were unable\nto give an interpretation, except a dervish who made his salutation\nand said: 'He is still looking amazed how his kingdom belongs to\nothers.'\n\n Many famous men have been buried under ground\n Of whose existence on earth not a trace has remained\n And that old corpse which had been surrendered to the earth\n Was so consumed by the soil that not a bone remains.\n The glorious name of Nushirvan survives in good repute\n Although much time elapsed since he passed away.\n Do good, O man, and consider life as a good fortune,\n The more so, as when a shout is raised, a man exists no more.\n\n Story 3\n\n I have heard that a royal prince of short stature and mean presence,\nwhose brothers were tall and good-looking, once saw his father\nglancing on him with aversion and contempt but he had the shrewdness\nand penetration to guess the meaning and said: 'O father, a puny\nintelligent fellow is better than a tall ignorant man, neither is\neverything bigger in stature higher in price. A sheep is nice to eat\nand an elephant is carrion.'\n\n The smallest mountain on earth is Jur; nevertheless\n It is great with Allah in dignity and station.\n\n Hast thou not heard that a lean scholar\n One day said to a fat fool:\n 'Although an Arab horse may be weak\n It is thus more worth than a stable full of asses.'\n\n The father laughed at this sally, the pillars of the state\napproved of it, but the brothers felt much aggrieved.\n\n While a man says not a word\n His fault and virtue are concealed.\n Think not that every desert is empty.\n Possibly it may contain a sleeping tiger.\n\n I heard that on the said occasion the king was menaced by a powerful\nenemy and that when the two armies were about to encounter each other,\nthe first who entered the battlefield was the little fellow who said:\n\n 'I am not he whose back thou wilt see on the day of battle\n But he whom thou shalt behold in dust and blood.\n Who himself fights, stakes his own life\n In battle but he who flees, the blood of his army.'\n\n After uttering these words he rushed among the troops of the\nenemy, slew several warriors and, returning to his father, made humble\nobeisance and said:\n\n 'O thou, to whom my person appeared contemptible,\n Didst not believe in the impetuosity of my valour.\n A horse with slender girth is of use\n On the day of battle, not a fattened ox.'\n\n It is related that the troops of the enemy were numerous, and that\nthe king's, being few, were about to flee, but that the puny youth\nraised a shout, saying: 'O men, take care not to put on the garments\nof women.' These words augmented the rage of the troopers so that they\nmade a unanimous attack and I heard that they gained the victory on\nthe said occasion. The king kissed the head and eyes of his son,\ntook him in his arms and daily augmented his affection till he\nappointed him to succeed him on the throne. His brothers became\nenvious and placed poison in his food but were perceived by his sister\nfrom her apartment, whereon she closed the window violently and the\nyouth, shrewdly guessing the significance of the act, restrained his\nhands from touching the food, and said: 'It is impossible that men\nof honour should die, and those who possess none should take their\nplace.'\n\n No one goes under the shadow of an owl\n Even if the homa should disappear from the world.\n\n This state of affairs having been brought to the notice of the\nfather, he severely reproved the brothers and assigned to each of them\na different, but pleasant, district as a place of exile till the\nconfusion was quelled and the quarrel appeased; and it has been said\nthat ten dervishes may sleep under the same blanket but that one\ncountry cannot hold two padshahs.\n\n When a pious man eats half a loaf of bread\n He bestows the other half upon dervishes.\n If a padshah were to conquer the seven climates\n He would still in the same way covet another.\n\n Story 4\n\n A band of Arab brigands having taken up their position on the top of\na mountain and closed the passage of caravans, the inhabitants of\nthe country were distressed by their stratagems and the troops of\nthe sultan foiled because the robbers, having obtained an inaccessible\nspot on the summit of the mountain, thus had a refuge which they\nmade their habitation. The chiefs of that region held a consultation\nabout getting rid of the calamity because it would be impossible to\noffer resistance to the robbers if they were allowed to remain.\n\n A tree which has just taken root\n May be moved from the place by the strength of a man\n But, if thou leavest it thus for a long time,\n Thou canst not uproot it with a windlass.\n The source of a fountain may be stopped with a bodkin\n But, when it is full, it cannot be crossed on an elephant.\n\n The conclusion was arrived at to send one man as a spy and to wait\nfor the opportunity till the brigands departed to attack some people\nand leave the place empty. Then several experienced men, who had\nfought in battles, were despatched to keep themselves in ambush in a\nhollow of the mountain. In the evening the brigands returned from\ntheir excursion with their booty, divested themselves of their arms,\nput away their plunder and the first enemy who attacked them was\nsleep, till about a watch of the night had elapsed:\n\n The disk of the sun went into darkness.\n Jonah went into the mouth of the fish.\n\n The warriors leapt forth from the ambush, tied the hands of every\none of the robbers to his shoulders and brought them in the morning to\nthe court of the king, who ordered all of them to be slain. There\nhappened to be a youth among them, the fruit of whose vigour was\njust ripening and the verdure on the rose-garden of whose cheek had\nbegun to sprout. One of the veziers, having kissed the foot of the\nking's throne and placed the face of intercession upon the ground,\nsaid: 'This boy has not yet eaten any fruit from the garden of life\nand has not yet enjoyed the pleasures of youth. I hope your majesty\nwill generously and kindly confer an obligation upon your slave by\nsparing his life.' The king, being displeased with this request,\nanswered:\n\n 'He whose foundation is bad will not take instruction from the good,\n To educate unworthy persons is like throwing nuts on a cupola.\n\n 'It is preferable to extirpate the race and offspring of these\npeople and better to dig up their roots and foundations, because it is\nnot the part of wise men to extinguish fire and to leave burning coals\nor to kill a viper and leave its young ones.\n\n If a cloud should rain the water of life\n Never sip it from the branch of a willow-tree.\n Associate not with a base fellow\n Because thou canst not eat sugar from a mat-reed.'\n\n The vezier heard these sentiments, approved of them nolens volens,\npraised the opinion of the king and said: 'What my lord has uttered is\nthe very truth itself because if the boy had been brought up in the\ncompany of those wicked men, he would have become one of themselves.\nBut your slave hopes that he will, in the society of pious men, profit\nby education and will acquire the disposition of wise persons. Being\nyet a child the rebellious and perverse temper of that band has not\nyet taken hold of his nature and there is a tradition of the prophet\nthat every infant is born with an inclination for Islam but his\nparents make him a Jew, a Christian or a Majusi.'\n\n The spouse of Lot became a friend of wicked persons.\n His race of prophets became extinct.\n The dog of the companions of the cave for some days\n Associated with good people and became a man.\n\n When the vezier had said these words and some of the king's\ncourtiers had added their intercession to his, the king no longer\ndesired to shed the blood of the youth and said: 'I grant the\nrequest although I disapprove-of it.'\n\n Knowest thou not what Zal said to the hero Rastam:\n 'An enemy cannot be held despicable or helpless.\n I have seen many a water from a paltry spring\n Becoming great and carrying off a camel with its load.'\n\n In short, the vezier brought up the boy delicately, with every\ncomfort, and kept masters to educate him, till they had taught him\nto address persons in elegant language as well as to reply and he\nhad acquired every accomplishment. One day the vezier hinted at his\ntalents in the presence of the king, asserting that the instructions\nof wise men had taken effect upon the boy and had expelled his\nprevious ignorance from his nature. The king smiled at these words and\nsaid:\n\n 'At last a wolf's whelp will be a wolf\n Although he may grow up with a man.'\n\n After two years had elapsed a band of robbers in the locality joined\nhim, tied the knot of friendship and, when the opportunity presented\nitself, he killed the vezier with his son, took away untold wealth and\nsucceeded to the position of his own father in the robber-cave where\nhe established himself. The king, informed of the event, took the\nfinger of amazement between his teeth and said:\n\n 'How can a man fabricate a good sword of bad iron?\n O sage, who is nobody becomes not somebody by education.\n The rain, in the beneficence of whose nature there is no flaw,\n Will cause tulips to grow in a garden and weeds in bad soil.\n Saline earth will not produce hyacinths.\n Throw not away thy seeds or work thereon.\n To do good to wicked persons is like Doing evil to good men.'\n\n Story 5\n\n I saw at the palace-gate of Oglimish the son of a military officer\nwho was endued with marvellous intellect, sagacity, perception and\nshrewdness; also the signs of future greatness manifested themselves\non his forehead whilst yet a small boy.\n\n From his head intelligence caused\n The star of greatness to shine.\n\n In short, he pleased the sultan because he had a beautiful\ncountenance and a perfect understanding; and philosophers have said:\n'Power consists in accomplishments, not in wealth and greatness in\nintellect, not in years.' His companions, being envious, made an\nattempt upon his life and desired to kill him but their endeavours\nremained fruitless.\n\n What can a foe do when the friend is kind?\n\n The king asked: 'What is the cause of their enmity to thee?' He\nreplied: 'Under the shadow of the monarchy of my lord I have satisfied\nmy contemporaries except the envious, who will not be contented but by\nthe decline of my prosperity, and may the monarchy and good fortune of\nmy lord be perpetual.'\n\n I may so act as not to hurt the feelings of anyone\n But what can I do to an envious man dissatisfied with himself?\n Die, O envious man, for this is a malady,\n Deliverance from which can be obtained only by death.\n Unfortunate men sometimes ardently desire\n The decline of prosperous men in wealth and dignity.\n If in daytime, bat-eyed persons do not see\n Is it the fault of the fountain of light, the sun?\n Thou justly wishest that a thousand such eyes\n Should be blind rather than the sun dark.\n\n Story 6\n\n It is narrated that one of the kings of Persia had stretched forth\nhis tyrannical hand to the possessions of his subjects and had begun\nto oppress them so violently that in consequence of his fraudulent\nextortions they dispersed in the world and chose exile on account of\nthe affliction entailed by his violence. When the population had\ndiminished, the prosperity of the country suffered, the treasury\nremained empty and on every side enemies committed violence.\n\n Who desires succour in the day of calamity,\n Say to him: 'Be generous in times of prosperity.'\n The slave with a ring in his ear, if not cherished will depart.\n Be kind because then a stranger will become thy slave.\n\n One day the Shahnamah was read in his assembly, the subject being\nthe ruin of the dominion of Zohak and the reign of Feridun. The vezier\nasked the king how it came to pass that Feridun, who possessed neither\ntreasure nor land nor a retinue, established himself upon the\nthrone. He replied: 'As thou hast heard, the population\nenthusiastically gathered around him and supported him so that he\nattained royalty.' The vezier said: 'As the gathering around of the\npopulation is the cause of royalty, then why dispersest thou the\npopulation? Perhaps thou hast no desire for royalty?'\n\n It is best to cherish the army as thy life\n Because a sultan reigns by means of his troops.\n\n The king asked: 'What is the reason for the gathering around of\nthe troops and the population?' He replied: 'A padshah must practise\njustice that they may gather around him and clemency that they may\ndwell in safety under the shadow of his government; but thou\npossessest neither of these qualities.'\n\n A tyrannic man cannot be a sultan\n As a wolf cannot be a shepherd.\n A padshah who establishes oppression\n Destroys the basis of the wall of his own reign.\n\n The king, displeased with the advice of his censorious vezier,\nsent him to prison. Shortly afterwards the sons of the king's uncle\nrose in rebellion, desirous of recovering the kingdom of their father.\nThe population, which had been reduced to the last extremity by the\nking's oppression and scattered, now assembled around them and\nsupported them, till he lost control of the government and they took\npossession of it.\n\n A padshah who allows his subjects to be oppressed\n Will in his day of calamity become a violent foe.\n Be at peace with subjects and sit safe from attacks of foes\n Because his subjects are the army of a just shahanshah.\n\n Story 7\n\n A padshah was in the same boat with a Persian slave who had never\nbefore been at sea and experienced the inconvenience of a vessel. He\nbegan to cry and to tremble to such a degree that he could not be\npacified by kindness, so that at last the king became displeased as\nthe matter could not be remedied. In that boat there happened to be\na philosopher, who said: 'With thy permission I shall quiet him.'\nThe padshah replied: 'It will be a great favour.' The philosopher\nordered the slave to be thrown into the water so that he swallowed\nsome of it, whereon be was caught and pulled by his hair to the\nboat, to the stern of which he clung with both his hands. Then he\nsat down in a corner and became quiet. This appeared strange to the\nking who knew not what wisdom there was in the proceeding and asked\nfor it. The philosopher replied: 'Before he had tasted the calamity of\nbeing drowned, he knew not the safety of the boat; thus also a man\ndoes not appreciate the value of immunity from a misfortune until it\nhas befallen him.'\n\n O thou full man, barley-bread pleases thee not.\n She is my sweetheart who appears ugly to thee.\n To the huris of paradise purgatory seems hell.\n Ask the denizens of hell. To them purgatory is paradise.\n\n There is a difference between him whose friend is in his arms\n And him whose eyes of expectation are upon the door.\n\n Story 8\n\n Hormuzd, being asked what fault the veziers of his father had\ncommitted that he imprisoned them, replied: 'I discovered no fault.\nI saw that boundless awe of me had taken root in their hearts but that\nthey had no full confidence in my promises, wherefore I apprehended\nthat they, fearing calamities would befall them, might attempt my life\nand I acted according to the maxim of sages who have said:\n\n 'Dread him who dreads thee, O sage,\n Although thou couldst cope with a hundred like him.\n Seest thou not when the cat becomes desperate\n How he plucks out with his claws the eyes of a tiger?\n The viper stings the shepherd's foot\n Because it fears he will strike his head with a stone.'\n\n Story 9\n\n An Arab king was sick in his state of decrepitude so that all\nhopes of life were cut off. A trooper entered the gate with the good\nnews that a certain fort had been conquered by the good luck of the\nking, that the enemies had been captured and that the whole population\nof the district had been reduced to obedience. The king heaved a\ndeep sigh and replied: 'This message is not for me but for my enemies,\nnamely the heirs of the kingdom.'\n\n I spent my precious life in hopes, alas!\n That every desire of my heart will be fulfilled.\n My wishes were realized, but to what profit? Since\n There is no hope that my past life will return.\n The hand of fate has struck the drum of departure.\n O my two eyes, bid farewell to the head.\n O palm, forearm, and arm of my hand,\n All take leave from each other.\n Death, the foe of my desires, has fallen on me\n For the last time, O friends. Pass near me.\n My life has elapsed in ignorance.\n I have done nothing, be on your guard.\n\n Story 10\n\n I was constantly engaged in prayer, at the head of the prophet\nYahia's tomb in the cathedral mosque of Damascus, when one of the Arab\nkings, notorious for his injustice, happened to arrive on a pilgrimage\nto it, who offered his supplications and asked for compliance with his\nneeds.\n\n The dervish and the plutocrat are slaves on the floor of this\n threshold\n And those who are the wealthiest are the most needy.\n\n Then he said to me: 'Dervishes being zealous and veracious in\ntheir dealings, unite thy mind to mine, for I am apprehensive of a\npowerful enemy.' I replied: 'Have mercy upon thy feeble subjects\nthat thou mayest not be injured by a strong foe.'\n\n With a powerful arm and the strength of the wrist\n To break the five fingers of a poor man is sin.\n Let him be afraid who spares not the fallen\n Because if he falls no one will take hold of his hand.\n Whoever sows bad seed and expects good fruit\n Has cudgelled his brains for nought and begotten vain imaginations.\n Extract the cotton from thy ears and administer justice to thy\n people\n And if thou failest to do so, there is a day of retribution.\n\n The sons of Adam are limbs of each other\n Having been created of one essence.\n\n When the calamity of time afflicts one limb\n The other limbs cannot remain at rest.\n If thou hast no sympathy for the troubles of others\n Thou art unworthy to be called by the name of a man.\n\n Story 11\n\n A dervish, whose prayers met with answers, made his appearance,\nand Hejaj Yusuf, calling him, said: 'Utter a good prayer for me',\nwhereon the dervish exclaimed: 'O God, take his life.' He replied:\n'For God's sake, what prayer is this?' The dervish rejoined: 'It is\na good prayer for thee and for all Musalmans.'\n\n O tyrant, who oppressest thy subjects,\n How long wilt thou persevere in this?\n Of what use is authority to thee?\n To die is better for thee than to oppress men.\n\n Story 12\n\n An unjust king asked a devotee what kind of worship is best? He\nreplied: 'For thee the best is to sleep one half of the day so as\nnot to injure the people for a while.'\n\n I saw a tyrant sleeping half the day.\n I said: 'This confusion, if sleep removes it, so much the better;\n But he whose sleep is better than his wakefulness\n Is better dead than leading such a bad life.'\n\n Story 13\n\n I heard a king, who had changed might into day by pleasures,\nsaying in his drunkenness:\n\n 'We have in the world no moment more delightful than this,\n Because I care neither for good nor for bad nor for anyone.'\n\n A naked dervish, who was sleeping outside in the cold, then said:\n\n 'O thou like whom in happiness there is no one in the world,\n I take it if thou carest not, we also do not care.'\n\n The king, being pleased with these words of unconcern, held out a\nbag of a thousand dinars from the window and said: 'Dervish, spread\nout thy skirt.' He replied: 'Whence can I, who have no robe, bring a\nskirt?' The padshah took pity on his helpless condition, added a\nrobe to his gift and sent it out to him but the dervish squandered the\nmoney in a short time and returned.\n\n Property cannot abide in the hands of the free,\n Neither patience in the heart of a lover nor water in a sieve.\n\n The case of the dervish having been brought to the notice of the\nking when he was not in good humour, he became angry and turned his\nface away. Therefore it has been said that intelligent and experienced\nmen ought to be on their guard against the violence and despotism of\nkings because their thoughts are generally occupied with important\naffairs of state so that they cannot bear to be importuned by the\ncrowd of vulgar persons.\n\n He will be excluded from the beneficence of the padshah\n Who cannot watch for the proper opportunity.\n Before thou seest the occasion for speaking at hand\n Destroy not thy power by heedless talk.\n\n The king said: 'Drive away this impudent and prodigal mendicant\nwho has in so short a time thrown away so much money. He does not know\nthat the Beit-ulmal is intended to offer a morsel to the needy and not\nto feed the brothers of devils.'\n\n The fool who burns by day a camphor-light\n Will soon not have an oil-lamp for the night.\n\n One of councillor-veziers said: 'My lord, it would seem proper to\ngrant to such persons a sufficient allowance to be drawn from time\nto time so that they may not squander it. But anger and repulsion,\nas manifested by thee, are unworthy of a generous disposition as\nalso to encourage a man by kindness and then again to distress him\nby disappointing his expectation.'\n\n The door ought not to be opened to applicants so\n That, when it is ajar, it may not be shut again.\n Nobody sees the thirsty pilgrims to Hejaz\n Crowding at the bank of briny water.\n Wherever a sweet spring happens to be\n Men, birds and insects flock around it.\n Story 14\n\n One of the ancient kings neglected the government of his realm and\nkept the army in distress. Accordingly the whole of it ran away when a\npowerful enemy appeared.\n\n If he refrains from giving treasure to the troops\n They refrain from putting their hands to the sword.\n What bravery will they display in battle array\n When their hands are empty and affairs deplorable?\n\n I was on terms of friendship with one of those who had acted\ntreacherously and reproached him, telling him that it was base,\nungrateful, despicable and undutiful to abandon an old master when his\naffairs have changed a little and to disregard the obligations\nincurred for benefits received during many years. He replied: 'If I\ninform thee, perhaps thou wilt excuse me for my horse had no barley\nand my saddle-cloth was pawned. A sultan who grudges money to his\ntroops, they cannot bravely risk their lives for him.'\n\n Give gold to the soldier that he may serve thee.\n If thou witholdest gold, he will serve elsewhere.\n\n When a warrior is full, he will be brave infight but if his belly be\nempty, he will be brave in flight.\n\n Story 15\n\n A vezier, who had been removed from his post, entered the circle\nof dervishes and the blessing of their society took such effect upon\nhim that he became contented in his mind. When the king was again\nfavourably disposed towards him and ordered him to resume his\noffice, he refused and said: 'Retirement is better than occupation.'\n\n Those who have sat down in the corner of safety\n Have bound the teeth of dogs and tongues of men.\n They tore the paper up and broke the pen\n And are saved from the hands and tongues of slanderers.\n\n The king said: 'Verily we stand in need of a man of sufficient\nintelligence who is able to carry on the administration of the\ngovernment.' He replied: 'It is a sign of sufficient intelligence\nnot to engage in such matters.'\n\n The homa excels all other birds in nobility\n Because it feeds on bones and injures no living thing.\n\n A donkey, having been asked for what salary he had elected to attend\nupon the lion, replied: 'That I may consume the remnants of his prey\nand live in safety from my enemies by taking refuge under his\nbravery.' Being again asked that, as he had entered into the shadow of\nthe lion's protection and gratefully acknowledged his beneficence, why\nhe had not joined the circle of intimacy so as to be accounted one\nof his favourite servants, he replied: 'I am in the same way also\nnot safe of his bravery.'\n\n Should a Guebre kindle fire a hundred years\n If he falls one moment into it he will be burnt.\n\n It may happen that a companion of his majesty the sultan receives\ngold and it is possible that he loses his head. Philosophers have said\nthat it is necessary to be on guard of the fickle temper of padshahs\nbecause sometimes they are displeased with politeness and at others\nthey bestow robes of honour for rudeness. It is also said that much\njocularity is an accomplishment in courtiers but a fault in sages.\n\n Abide thou by thy dignity and gravity.\n Leave sport and jocularity to courtiers.\n\n Story 16\n\n One of my friends complained of the unpropitious times, telling me\nthat he had a slender income, a large family, without strength to bear\nthe load of poverty and had often entertained the idea to emigrate\nto another country so that no matter how he made a living no one might\nbecome aware of his good or ill luck.\n\n Many a man slept hungry and no one knew who he was.\n Many a man was at the point of death and no one wept for him.\n\n He was also apprehensive of the malevolence of enemies who would\nlaugh behind his back and would attribute the struggle he underwent\nfor the benefit of his family to his want of manly independence and\nthat they will say:\n\n 'Behold that dishonourable fellow who will never\n See the face of prosperity,\n Will choose bodily comfort for himself,\n Abandoning his wife and children to misery.'\n\n He also told me that as I knew he possessed some knowledge of\narithmetic, I might, through my influence, get him appointed to a post\nwhich would become the means of putting his mind at ease and place him\nunder obligations to me, which he could not requite by gratitude\nduring the rest of his life. I replied: 'Dear friend! Employment by\na padshah consists of two parts, namely, the hope for bread and the\ndanger of life, but it is against the opinion of intelligent men to\nincur this danger for that hope.'\n\n No one comes to the house of a dervish\n To levy a tax on land and garden.\n Either consent to bear thy anxiety or grief\n Or carry thy beloved children to the crows.\n\n He replied: 'Thou hast not uttered these words in conformity with my\ncase nor answered my question. Hast thou not heard the saying?\n\"Whoever commits treachery let his hand tremble at the account.\"'\n\n Straightness is the means of acceptance with God.\n I saw no one lost on the straight road.\n\n Sages have said: 'Four persons are for life in dread of four\npersons: a robber of the sultan, a thief of the watchman, an adulterer\nof an informer, and a harlot of the muhtasib. But what has he to\nfear whose account of the conscience is clear?'\n\n Be not extravagant when in office, if thou desirest\n On thy removal to see thy foes embarrassed for imputations against\n thee.\n Be thou pure, O brother, and in fear of no one.\n Washermen beat only impure garments against stones.\n\n I said: 'The story of that fox resembles thy case, who was by some\npersons seen fleeing with much trouble and asked for the cause of\nhis fear replied: 'I have heard that camels are being forced into\nthe service.' They said: 'O fool, what connection hast thou with a\ncamel and what resemblance does the latter bear to thee?' The fox\nrejoined: 'Hush. If the envious malevolently say that I am a camel and\nI am caught, who will care to release me or investigate my case?\nTill the antidote is brought from Eraq the snake-bitten person\ndies.' Thou art a very excellent and honest man but enemies sit in\nambush and competitors in every corner. If they describe thy character\nin a contrary manner, thou wouldst be called upon to give explanations\nto the padshah and incur reproof. Who would on that occasion venture\nto say anything? Accordingly I am of opinion that thou shouldst retire\nto the domain of contentment and abandon aspirations to dominion. Wise\nmen have said:\n\n 'In the sea there are countless gains,\n But if thou desirest safety, it will be on the shore.'\n\n My friend, having heard these words, became angry, made a wry face\nand began to reproach me, saying: 'What sufficiency of wisdom and\nmaturity of intellect is this? The saying of philosophers has come\ntrue, that friends are useful in prison because at table all enemies\nappear as friends.'\n\n Account him not a friend who knocks at the door of prosperity,\n Boasts of amity and calls himself thy adopted brother.\n I consider him a friend who takes a friend's hand\n When he is in a distressed state and in poverty.\n\n Seeing that he had thus changed and ascribed my advice to an\ninterested motive, I paid a visit to the President of the State\nCouncil and, trusting in my old acquaintance with him, explained the\ncase of my friend whom he then appointed to a small post. In a short\ntime my friend's affable behaviour and good management elicited\napprobation so that he was promoted to a higher office. In this manner\nthe star of his good luck ascended till he reached the zenith of his\naspirations, became a courtier of his majesty the sultan, generally\nesteemed and trusted. I was delighted with his safe position and said:\n\n 'Be not apprehensive of tangled affairs and keep not a broken heart\n Because the spring of life is in darkness.'\n\n Do not grieve, O brother in misery,\n Because the Ill-merciful has hidden favours.\n\n Sit not morose on account of the turns of time; for patience,\n Although bitter, nevertheless possesses a sweet fruit.\n\n At that time I happened to go with a company of friends on a journey\nto Mekkah and on my return he met me at a distance of two stages. I\nperceived his outward appearance to be distressed, his costume being\nthat of dervishes. I asked: 'What is the matter?' He replied: 'As thou\nhast predicted, some persons envied me and brought against me an\naccusation of treason. The king ordered no inquiry on its truthfulness\nand my old well-wishers with my kind friends who failed to speak the\nword of truth forgot our old intimacy.\n\n 'Seest thou not in front of the possessor of dignity\n They place the hands on their heads, praising him;\n But, if fortune's turn causes his fall,\n All desire to Place their foot on his head.\n\n 'In short, I was till this week undergoing various persecutions,\nwhen the news of the pilgrims' approach from Mekkah arrived, whereon I\nwas released from my heavy bonds and my hereditary property\nconfiscated.' I replied: 'Thou hast not paid attention to my remarks\nwhen I said that the service of padshahs is like a sea voyage,\nprofitable and dangerous, so that thou wilt either gain a treasure\nor perish in the waves.'\n\n The khajah either takes gold with both hands to the shore\n Or the waves throw him one day dead upon the shore.\n\n Not thinking it suitable to scratch the wound of the dervish more\nthan I had already done and so sprinkle salt thereon, I contented\nmyself with reciting the following two distichs:\n\n Knewest thou not that thou wilt see thy feet in bonds\n If the advice of people cannot penetrate into thy ear?\n\n Again, if thou canst not bear the pain of the sting\n Put not thy finger into the hole of a scorpion.\n\n Story 17\n\n Several men were in my company whose external appearance displayed\nthe adornment of piety. A great man who had conceived a very good\nopinion of these persons had assigned them a fixed allowance but,\nafter one of them had done something unbecoming the profession of\ndervishes, his opinion changed and they fell into disgrace. I\ndesired in some way to save the allowance of my friends and intended\nto wait upon the great man but the doorkeeper would not allow me to\nenter and was rude. I pardoned him, because it has been said:\n\n The door of an amir, vezier or sultan\n Is not to be approached without an introduction.\n When a dog or a doorkeeper sees a stranger\n The former takes hold of his skirt, the latter of his collar.\n\n When those who could at any time approach the presence of the said\ngreat man became aware of my case, they took me in with compliments\nand desired to assign me a high seat but I humbly took a lower one and\nsaid:\n\n 'Allow me who am the smallest slave\n To sit in the line of slaves.'\n\n He said: 'Allah, Allah, what need is there for such words?'\n\n If thou sittest on my head and eyes\n I shall be polite, for thou art polite.\n\n In short, I took a seat and we conversed on a variety of topics till\nthe affair of the error of my companions turned up and I said:\n\n 'What crime has my lord seen, who was bountiful,\n To make the slave despicable in his sight?\n To God that magnanimity and bounty is surrendered\n Which beholds the crime but nevertheless bestows the bread.'\n\n The governor, being pleased with these words, ordered the support of\nmy friends to be attended to as before and the arrears to be made\ngood. I expressed my gratitude, kissed the ground of obedience,\napologized for my boldness, and said:\n\n 'Since the Ka'bah has become the Qiblah of wants from distant lands\n The people go to visit it from many farsangs.\n Thou must suffer the importunity of such as we are\n Because no one throws stones on a tree without fruit.'\n\n Story 18\n\n A royal prince, having inherited abundant treasures from his father,\nopened the hand of liberality and satisfied his impulse of\ngenerosity by lavishing without stint benefits upon the army and the\npopulation.\n\n A tray of lignum aloes will emit no odour.\n Place it on fire, it will smell like ambergris.\n If thou wishest to be accounted great, be liberal\n Because grain will not grow unless it be sown.\n\n One of his courtiers began heedlessly to admonish him, saying:\n'Former kings have by their exertions accumulated this wealth and\ndeposited it for a useful purpose. Cease this movement because\ncalamities may arise in front and enemies in the rear. It is not\nmeet for thee to be helpless at a time of necessity.'\n\n If thou distributest a treasure to the multitude\n Each householder will receive a grain of rice.\n Why takest thou not from each a barley-corn of silver\n That thou mayest accumulate every day a treasure?\n\n The royal prince turned away his face at these words and said:\n'God the most high has made me the possessor of this country, to enjoy\nand to bestow, not to guard and to retain.'\n\n Qarun, who possessed forty treasure houses, perished.\n Nushirvan has not died because he obtained a good reputation.\n\n Story 19\n\n It is related that, whilst some game was being roasted for Nushirvan\nthe just during a hunting party, no salt could be found. Accordingly a\nboy was sent to an adjoining village to bring some. Nushirvan said:\n'Pay for the salt lest it should become a custom and the village be\nruined.' Having been asked what harm could arise from such a\ntrifling demand, Nushirvan replied: 'The foundation of oppression\nwas small in the world but whoever came augmented it so that it\nreached its present magnitude.'\n\n If the king eats one apple from the garden of a subject\n His slaves will pull him up the tree from the roots.\n\n For five eggs which the sultan allows to be taken by force\n The people belonging to his army will put a thousand\n fowls on the spit.\n\n A tyrant does not remain in the world\n But the curse on him abides for ever.\n\n Story 20\n\n I heard that an oppressor ruined the habitations of the subjects\nto fill the treasury of the sultan, unmindful of the maxim of\nphilosophers, who have said: 'Who offends God the most high to gain\nthe heart of a created being, God will use that very being to bring on\nhis destruction in the world.'\n\n Fire burning with wild rue will not\n Cause a smoke like that of afflicted hearts.\n\n The prince of all animals is the lion and the meanest of beasts\nthe ass. Nevertheless sages agree that an ass who carries loads is\nbetter than a lion who destroys men.\n\n The poor donkey though void of discernment\n Is nevertheless esteemed when he carries a burden.\n Oxen and asses who carry loads\n Are superior to men oppressing mankind.\n\n When the king had obtained information of some of the oppressor's\nmisdeeds and bad conduct, he had him put on the rack and slain by\nvarious tortures.\n\n Thou wilt not obtain the approbation of the sultan\n Unless thou seekest the goodwill of his subjects.\n If thou desirest God to condone thy transgressions,\n Do good to the people whom God has created.\n\n One of the oppressed who passed near him said:\n\n 'Not everyone who possesses strength of arm and office\n In the sultanate may with impunity plunder the people.\n A hard bone may be made to pass down the throat\n But it will tear the belly when it sticks in the navel.'\n\n Story 21\n\n It is narrated that an oppressor of the people, a soldier, hit the\nhead of a pious man with a stone and that the dervish, having no means\nof taking vengeance, preserved the stone till the time arrived when\nthe king became angry with that soldier, and imprisoned him in a well.\nThen the dervish made his appearance and dropped the stone upon his\nhead. He asked: 'Who art thou, and why hast thou hit my head with this\nstone?' The man replied: 'I am the same person whom thou hast struck\non the head with this stone on such and such a day.' The soldier\ncontinued: 'Where hast thou been all this time?' The dervish\nreplied: 'I was afraid of thy dignity but now when I beheld thee in\nthe well I made use of the opportunity.'\n\n When thou seest an unworthy man in good luck\n Intelligent men have chosen submission.\n If thou hast not a tearing sharp nail\n It will be better not to contend with the wicked.\n Who grasps with his fist one who has an arm of steel\n Injures only his own powerless wrist.\n Wait till inconstant fortune ties his hand.\n Then, to please thy friends, pick out his brains.\n\n Story 22\n\n A king was subject to a terrible disease, the mention of which is\nnot sanctioned by custom. The tribe of Yunani physicians agreed that\nthis pain cannot be allayed except by means of the bile of a person\nendued with certain qualities. Orders having been issued to search for\nan individual of this kind, the son of a landholder was discovered\nto possess the qualities mentioned by the doctors. The king summoned\nthe father and mother of the boy whose consent he obtained by giving\nthem immense wealth. The qazi issued a judicial decree that it is\npermissible to shed the blood of one subject for the safety of the\nking and the executioner was ready to slay the boy who then looked\nheavenwards and smiled. The king asked: 'What occasion for laughter is\nthere in such a position?' The youth replied: 'A son looks to the\naffection of his father and mother to bring his case before the qazi\nand to ask justice from the padshah. In the present instance, however,\nthe father and mother have for the trash of this world surrendered\nmy blood, the qazi has issued a decree to kill me, the sultan thinks\nhe will recover his health only through my destruction and I see no\nother refuge besides God the most high.'\n\n To whom shall I complain against thy hand\n If I am to seek justice also from thy hand?\n\n The sultan became troubled at these words, tears rushed to his\neyes and he said: 'It is better for me to perish than to shed innocent\nblood.' He kissed the head and eyes of the youth, presented him with\nboundless wealth and it is said that the king also recovered his\nhealth during that week.\n\n I also remember the distich recited\n By the elephant-driver on the bank of the Nile:\n 'If thou knewest the state of the ant under thy foot\n It is like thy own condition under the foot of an elephant.'\n\n Story 23\n\n One of the servants of Umrulais had fled but some men, having been\nsent in pursuit, brought him back. The vezier who bore a grudge\ntowards him desired him to be killed that the other servants may not\nimitate his example. He placed his head on the ground before\nUmrulais and said:\n\n 'Whatever befalls my head is lawful with thy approbation.\n What plea can the slave advance? The sentence is the master's.'\n\n 'But, having been nourished by the bounty of this dynasty, I am loth\nthat on the day of resurrection thou shouldst be punished for having\nshed my blood; but, if thou desirest to kill me, do so according to\nthe provisions of the law.' He asked: 'How am I to interpret it?'\nThe slave continued: 'Allow me to kill the vezier and then take my\nlife in retaliation so that I may be killed justly.' The king smiled\nand asked the vezier what he thought of the matter. He replied: 'My\nlord, give freedom to this bastard as an oblation to the tomb of thy\nfather for fear he would bring trouble on me likewise. It is my\nfault for not having taken account of the maxim of philosophers who\nhave said:\n\n When thou fightest with a thrower of clods\n Thou ignorantly breakest thy own head.\n When thou shootest an arrow at the face of a foe\n Be on thy guard for thou art sitting as a target for him.'\n\n Story 24\n\n King Zuzan had a khajah of noble sentiments and of good aspect who\nserved his companions when they were present and spoke well of them\nwhen they were absent. He happened to do something whereby he incurred\nthe displeasure of the king who inflicted a fine on him and also\notherwise punished him. The officials of the king, mindful of the\nbenefits they had formerly received from him and being by them pledged\nto gratitude, treated him kindly whilst in their custody and allowed\nno one to insult him.\n\n If thou desirest peace from the foe, whenever he\n Finds fault behind thy back praise him to his face.\n A vicious fellow's mouth must utter words.\n If thou desirest not bitter words, sweeten his mouth.\n\n He was absolved of some accusations brought by the king against\nhim but retained in prison for some. Another king in those regions\nsecretly dispatched a message to him, to the purport that the\nsovereigns of that country, not knowing his excellent qualities, had\ndishonoured him, but that if his precious mind (may Allah prosper\nthe end of his affairs) were to look in this direction, the utmost\nefforts would be made to please him, because the nobles of this\nrealm would consider it an honour to see him and are waiting for a\nreply to this letter. The khajah, who had received this information,\nbeing apprehensive of danger, forthwith wrote a brief and suitable\nanswer on the back of the sheet of paper and sent it back. One,\nhowever, of the king's courtiers, who noticed what had taken place,\nreported to him that the imprisoned khajah was in correspondence\nwith the princes of the adjacent country. The king became angry and\ndesired this affair to be investigated. The courier was overtaken\nand deprived of the letter, the contents of which were found on\nperusal to be as follows: 'The good opinion of high personages is more\nthan their servant's merit deserves, who is unable to comply with\nthe honour of reception which they have offered him, because having\nbeen nourished by the bounty of this dynasty, he cannot become\nunthankful towards his benefactor in consequence of a slight change of\nsentiments of the latter, since it is said:\n\n He who bestows every moment favours upon thee\n Is to be pardoned by thee if once in his life he injures thee.'\n\n The king approved of his gratitude, bestowed upon him a robe of\nhonour, gave him presents and asked his pardon, saying: 'I committed a\nmistake.' He replied: 'My lord, it was the decree of God the most high\nthat a misfortune should befall this servant but it was best that it\nshould come from thy hands which had formerly bestowed favours upon\nhim and placed him under obligations.'\n\n If people injure thee grieve not\n Because neither rest nor grief come from the people.\n Be aware that the contrasts of friend and foe are from God\n Because the hearts of both are in his keeping.\n Although the arrow is shot from the bow\n Wise men look at the archer.\n\n Story 25\n\n One of the Arab kings ordered his officials to double the\nallowance of a certain attendant because he was always at the palace\nexpecting orders while the other servants were engaged in amusements\nand sports, neglecting their duties. A pious man who heard this\nremarked that high degrees at the court of heaven are similarly\nbestowed upon servants:\n\n If a man comes two mornings to serve the shah\n He will on the third certainly look benevolently on him.\n Sincere worshippers entertain the hope\n That they will not be disappointed at the threshold of God.\n\n Superiority consists in attending to commands.\n The neglect of commands leads to exclusion.\n Who possesses the criterion of righteousness\n Places the head upon the threshold.\n\n Story 26\n\n It is narrated that a tyrant who purchased wood from dervishes\nforcibly gave it away to rich -people gratuitously. A pious man\npassing near said:\n\n 'Thou art a snake, stingest whom thou beholdest,\n Or an owl; wherever thou sittest thou destroyest.\n\n Although thy oppression may pass among us\n It cannot pass with the Lord who knows all secrets.\n\n Oppress not the denizens of the earth\n That their supplications may not pass to heaven.'\n\n The tyrant, being displeased with these words, got angry and took no\nnotice of him until one night, when fire from the kitchen fell into\nthe store of his wood and burnt all he possessed-transferring him from\nhis soft bed to a hot mound of ashes-the same pious man happened again\nto pass and to hear him saying to his friends: 'I do not know whence\nthis fire has fallen into my house.' replied: 'From the smoke of the\nhearts of dervishes.'\n\n Beware of the smoke of internal wounds\n Because at last an internal wound will break out.\n Forbear to uproot one heart as long as thou canst\n Because one sigh may uproot a world.\n\n Upon the diadem of Kaikhosru the following piece was inscribed:\n\n For how many years and long lives\n Will the people walk over my head on the ground?\n As from hand to hand the kingdom came to us\n So it will also go to other hands.\n\n Story 27\n\n A man had attained great excellence in the art of wrestling, who\nknew three hundred and sixty exquisite tricks and daily exhibited\nsomething new. He had a particular affection for the beauty of one\nof his pupils whom he taught three hundred and fifty-nine tricks,\nrefraining to impart to him only one. At last the youth had attained\nsuch power and skill that no one was able to contend with him and he\nwent so far as to say to the sultan: 'I allow superiority to my\nteacher on account of his age and from gratitude for his instruction\nbut my strength is not less than his and my skill equal.' The king,\nwho was not pleased with this want of good manners, ordered them to\nwrestle with each other and a spacious locality having been fixed\nupon, the pillars of state and courtiers of his majesty made their\nappearance. The youth made an onslaught like a mad elephant with an\nimpulse which might have uprooted a mountain of brass from its place\nbut the master, who knew that he was in strength superior to\nhimself, attacked him with the rare trick he had reserved to himself\nand which the youth was unable to elude; whereon the master, lifting\nhim up with his hands from the ground, raised him above his head and\nthen threw him down. Shouts were raised by the spectators and the king\nordered a robe of honour with other presents to be given to the\nteacher but reproached and blamed the youth for having attempted to\ncope with his instructor and succumbed. He replied: 'My lord, he has\nnot vanquished me by his strength but there was a slender part in\nthe art of wrestling which he had withheld from me and had today\nthereby got the upper hand of me.' The master said: 'I had reserved it\nfor such an occasion because wise men have said: \"Do not give so\nmuch strength to thy friend that, if he becomes thy foe, he may injure\nthee.\" Hast thou not heard what the man said who suffered\nmolestation from one whom he had educated?\n\n Either fidelity itself does not exist in this world\n Or nobody practices it in our time.\n No one had learnt archery from me\n Without at last making a target of me.'\n\n Story 28\n\n A solitary dervish was sitting in a corner of the desert when a\npadshah happened to pass by but, ease having made him independent,\nhe took no notice. The sultan, in conformity with his royal dignity,\nbecame angry and said: 'This tribe of rag-wearers resembles beasts.'\nThe vezier said: 'The padshah of the surface of the earth has passed\nnear thee. Why hast thou not paid homage and shown good manners?' He\nreplied: 'Tell the king to look for homage from a man who expects\nbenefits from him and also that kings exist for protecting subjects\nand subjects not for obeying kings.'\n\n The padshah is the guardian of the dervish\n Although wealth is in the glory of his reign.\n The sheep is not for the shepherd\n But the shepherd for the service of it.\n\n Today thou beholdest one man prosperous\n And another whose heart is wounded by struggling.\n Wait a few days till the earth consumes\n The brain in the head of the visionary.\n Distinction between king and slave has ceased\n When the decree of fate overtakes them.\n If a man were to open the tombs of the dead\n He would not distinguish a rich from a poor man.\n\n The king, who was pleased with the sentiments of the dervish,\nasked him to make a request but he answered that the only one he had\nto make was to be left alone. The king then asked for advice and the\ndervish said:\n\n 'Understand now while wealth is in thy hand\n That fortune and kingdom will leave thy hand.'\n\n Story 29\n\n A vezier paid a visit to Zulnun Misri and asked for his favour,\nsaying: 'I am day and night engaged in the service of the sultan and\nhoping to be rewarded but nevertheless dread to be punished by him.'\nZulnun wept and said: 'Had I feared God, the great and glorious, as\nthou fearest the sultan, I would be one of the number of the\nrighteous.'\n\n If there were no hope of rest and trouble\n The foot of the dervish would be upon the sphere\n And if the vezier feared God\n Like the king he would be king.\n\n Story 30\n\n A padshah having issued orders to kill an innocent man, the latter\nsaid: 'O king, seek not thine own injury on account of the anger\nthou bearest towards me.' He asked: 'How?' The man replied: 'This\npunishment will abide with me one moment but the sin of it for ever\nwith thee.'\n\n The period of life has passed away like the desert wind.\n Bitter and sweet, ugliness and beauty have passed away.\n The tyrant fanded he had done injury to us.\n It remained on his neck and passed away from us.\n\n This admonition having taken effect, the king spared his blood.\n\n Story 31\n\n The veziers of Nushirvan happened to discuss an important affair\nof state, each giving his opinion according to his knowledge. The king\nlikewise gave his opinion and Barzachumihr concurred with it.\nAfterwards the veziers secretly asked him: 'What superiority hast thou\ndiscovered in the opinion of the king above so many other\nreflections of wise men?' The philosopher replied: 'Since the\ntermination of the affair is unknown and it depends upon the will of\nGod whether the opinion of the others will turn out right or wrong, it\nwas better to agree with the opinion of the king so that, if it should\nturn out to have been wrong, we may, on account of having followed it,\nremain free from blame.'\n\n To proffer an opinion contrary to the king's\n Means to wash the hands in one's own blood.\n Should he in plain day say it is night,\n It is meet to shout: 'Lo, the moon and the pleiads!'\n\n Story 32\n\n An impostor arranged his hair in a peculiar fashion, pretended to be\na descendant of A'li and entered the town with a caravan from the\nHejaz, saying that he had just arrived from a pilgrimage. He also\npresented an elegy to the king, alleging that he had himself\ncomposed it. One of the king's courtiers, who had that year returned\nfrom a journey, said: 'I have seen him at Bosrah on the Azhah\nfestival, then how can he be a Haji?' Another said: 'His father was\na Christian at Melitah. How can he be a descendant of A'li? And his\npoetry has been found in the Divan of Anvari.' The king ordered him to\nbe beaten and expelled the country for his great mendacity. The man\nsaid: 'O lord of the surface of the earth, I shall say something\nmore and, if it is not true, I shall deserve any punishment which thou\nmayest decree.' He asked: 'What is it?'\n\n When a stranger brings before thee buttermilk\n Two measures of it will be water and a spoonful sour milk.\n If thou hast heard heedless talk from thy slave, be not offended.\n A man who has seen the world utters much falsehood.\n\n The king laughed, told him that all his life he had not uttered more\ntrue words than these and ordered the present which the fellow hoped\nfor to be got ready.\n\n Story 33\n\n One of the veziers of a king treated his subordinates with\nkindness and sought the goodwill of his colleagues. Once he happened\nto be called to account by the king for something he had done\nwhereon his colleagues endeavoured to effect his liberation. Those who\nguarded him treated him leniently and the great men expatiated upon\nhis good character to the padshah till he renounced all further\ninquiry. A pious man who took cognizance of this affair said:\n\n 'In order to gain the hearts of friends\n Sell even the garden of thy father.\n In order to boil the pot of well-wishers\n Burn even all the furniture of the house.\n Do good even to a malevolent fellow.\n Tie up the mouth of the dog with a sop.'\n\n Story 34\n\n One of the sons of Harun-ur-Rashid went to his father and angrily\ninformed him that the son of an official had used insulting\nexpressions towards him whereon Harun asked his courtiers what\nrequital he deserved. One of them proposed capital punishment, another\nthe amputation of the tongue whilst a third recommended fine and\nimprisonment. Then Harun said: 'Oh my son, it would be generous to\npardon him but, if thou art unable to do so, use likewise insulting\nexpressions concerning his mother; not however to such a degree as\nto exceed the bounds of vengeance because in that case the wrong\nwill be on thy side.'\n\n He is not reputed a man by the wise\n Who contends with a furious elephant\n But he is a man in reality\n Who when angry speaks not idle words.\n\n An ill-humoured fellow insulted a man\n Who patiently bore it saying: 'O hopeful youth,\n I am worse than thou speakest of me\n For I am more conscious of my faults than thou.'\n\n Story 35\n\n I was sitting in a vessel with a company of great men when a boat\nwhich contained two brothers happened to sink near us. One of the\ngreat men promised a hundred dinars to a sailor if he could save\nthem both. Whilst however the sailor was pulling out one, the other\nperished. I said: 'He had no longer to live and therefore delay took\nplace in rescuing him.' The sailor smiled and replied: 'What thou hast\nsaid is certain. Moreover, I preferred to save this one because,\nwhen I once-happened to lag behind in the desert, he seated me on\nhis camel, whereas I had received a whipping by the hands of the\nother. When I was a boy I recited: He, who doth right, doth it to\nhis own soul and he, who doth evil, doth it against the same.'\n\n As long as thou canst, scratch the interior of no one\n Because there are thorns on this road.\n Be helpful in the affairs of a dervish\n Because thou also hast affairs.\n\n Story 36\n\n There were two brothers: one of them in the service of the sultan\nand the other gaining his livelihood by the effort of his arm. The\nwealthy man once asked his destitute brother why he did not serve\nthe sultan in order to be delivered from the hardship of labouring. He\nreplied: 'Why labourest thou not to be delivered from the baseness\nof service because philosophers have said that it is better to eat\nbarley bread and to sit than to gird oneself with a golden belt and to\nstand in service?'\n\n To leaven mortar of quicklime with the hand\n Is better than to hold them on the breast before the amir.\n\n My precious life was spent in considering\n What I am to eat in summer and wear in winter.\n O ignoble belly, be satisfied with one bread\n Rather than to bend the back in service.\n\n Story 37\n\n Someone had brought information to Nushirvan the just that an\nenemy of his had been removed from this world by God the most high. He\nasked: 'Hast thou heard anything about his intending to spare me?'\n\n There is no occasion for our rejoicing at a foe's death\n Because our own life will also not last for ever.\n\n Story 38\n\n A company of philosophers were discussing a subject in the palace of\nKesra and Barzachumihr, having remained silent, they asked him why\nhe took no share in the debate. He replied: 'Veziers are like\nphysicians and the latter give medicine to the sick only but, as I\nperceive that your opinions are in conformity with propriety, I have\nnothing to say about them.'\n\n When an affair succeeds without my idle talk\n It is not meet for me to speak thereon.\n But if I see a blind man near a well\n It is a crime for me to remain silent.\n\n Story 39\n\n Harun-ur-Rashid said when the country of Egypt was surrendered to\nhim: 'In contrast to the rebel who had in his arrogance of being\nsovereign of Egypt pretended to be God, I shall bestow this country\nupon the meanest of my slaves.' He had a stupid negro, Khosaib by\nname, whom he made governor of Egypt but his intellect and\ndiscrimination were so limited that when the tribe of Egyptian\nagriculturists complained and stated that they had sown cotton along\nthe banks of the Nile and that an untimely rain had destroyed it he\nreplied: 'You ought to have sown wool.' A pious man heard this, and\nsaid:\n\n 'If livelihood were increased by knowledge\n None would be more needy than the ignorant.\n Nevertheless the ignorant receive a livelihood\n At which the learned stand aghast.\n The luck of wealth consists not in skill\n But only in the aid of heaven.\n It happens in the world that many\n Silly men are honoured and sages despised.\n If an alchemist has died in grief and misery,\n A fool discovered a treasure amidst ruins.'\n\n Story 40\n\n A Chinese slave-girl having been brought to a king, he desired to\nhave connection with her whilst in a state of intoxication but, as she\nrepelled him, he became angry and presented her to one of his\nnegro-slaves whose upper lip was higher than his nostrils whilst the\nlower one hung down to his neck. His stature was such that the demon\nSakhrah would have been put to flight and a fountain of pitch\nemitted stench from his armpits.\n\n Thou wouldst say that, till the resurrection, ugliness\n Is his stamp as that of Joseph was beauty.\n His person was of so wretched an aspect\n That his ugliness surpassed all description\n And from his armpits we take refuge with Allah,\n They were like a corpse in the month of Merdad.\n\n At that time the desire of the negro was libidinous, his lust\novercame him, his love leapt up and he took off the seal of her\nvirginity. In the morning the king sought the girl but could not\nfind her and, having obtained information of what had taken place,\nhe became angry, ordered the negro and the girl to be firmly tied\ntogether by their hands and feet and to be thrown from the lofty\nbuilding into a ditch. One of the veziers, placing the face of\nintercession upon the ground, pleaded that there was no guilt in the\nnegro since all the servants of his majesty usually receive presents\nand benefits as he had received the girl. The king rejoined: 'What\nwould it have mattered if he had for one night delayed his enjoyment?'\nHe said: 'My lord, hast thou not heard that it was said:\n\n When a man with a burning thirst reaches a limpid spring,\n Think not that he will care for a mad elephant.\n When a hungry infidel is in an empty house at table\n Reason will not believe that he cares for the Ramazan.'\n\n The king, being pleased with this sally, exclaimed: 'I make thee a\npresent of the negro. What am I to do with the girl?' He replied:\n'Give the girl to the negro because that half is also due to a dog\nof which he has consumed the other half.'\n\n The thirsty heart does not wish for limpid water\n Half of which was consumed by a fetid mouth.\n\n How can the king's hand again touch\n An orange after it has fallen into dung?\n\n Story 41\n\n Iskandur Rumi, having been asked how he had conquered the east and\nthe west, considering that the treasures, territories, reigns and\narmies of former kings exceeded his own and they had not gained such a\nvictory, replied: 'Whatever country I conquered by the aid of God\nthe most high, I abstained from distressing its population and spoke\nnothing but good of the king.'\n\n The intelligent will not call him great\n Who speaks ill of the great.\n\n All this is nothing as it passes away:\n Throne and luck, command and prohibition, taking and giving.\n Injure not the name of those who have passed away\n In order that thy own name may subsist.",
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