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    "endpoint": "/api/sources/sufism/saadi-gulistan/03-chapter-iii-the-excellence-of-contentment.json"
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  "work": {
    "slug": "saadi-gulistan",
    "name": "Gulistan (Saadi)"
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  "parents": [
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      "slug": "sufism",
      "name": "Sufi Poets",
      "url": "/sources/sufism/"
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  "chapter": {
    "num": 4,
    "slug": "03-chapter-iii-the-excellence-of-contentment",
    "title": "Chapter III: The Excellence of Contentment",
    "of": 9,
    "words": 7368,
    "text": "## Chapter III: The Excellence of Contentment\n\n\nON THE EXCELLENCE OF CONTENTMENT\n\n Story 1\n\n A Maghrabi supplicant said in Aleppo in the row of linen-drapers:\n'Lords of wealth, if you were just and we contented, the trade of\nbegging would vanish from the world.'\n\n O contentment, make me rich\n For besides thee no other wealth exists.\n Loqman selected the corner of patience.\n Who has no patience has no wisdom.\n\n Story 2\n\n Two sons of amirs were in Egypt, the one acquiring science, the\nother accumulating wealth, till the former became the ullemma of the\nperiod and the other the prince of Egypt; whereon the rich man\nlooked with contempt upon the faqih and said: 'I have reached the\nsultanate whilst thou hast remained in poverty as before.' He replied:\n'O brother, I am bound to be grateful to the most high Creator for\nhaving obtained the inheritance of prophets whilst thou hast\nattained the inheritance of Pharaoh and of Haman, namely the kingdom\nof Egypt.'\n\n I am that ant which is trodden under foot\n Not that wasp, the pain of whose sting causes lament.\n How shall I give due thanks for the blessing\n That I do not possess the strength of injuring mankind?\n\n Story 3\n\n I heard that a dervish, burning in the fire of poverty and sewing\npatch upon patch, said to comfort his mind:\n\n 'We are contented with dry bread and a patched robe\n For it is easier to bear the load of one's own trouble\n than that of thanks to others.'\n\n Someone said to him: 'Why sittest thou? A certain man in this town\npossesses a benevolent nature, is liberal to all, has girded his loins\nto serve the pious and is ready to comfort every heart. If he\nbecomes aware of thy case, he will consider it an obligation to\ncomfort the mind of a worthy person.' He replied: 'Hush! It is\nbetter to die of inanition than to plead for one's necessities\nbefore any man.'\n\n It is better to patch clothes and sit in the corner of patience\n Than to write petitions for robes to gentlemen.\n Verily it is equal to the punishment of hell\n To go to paradise as a flunkey to one's neighbour.\n\n Story 4\n\n One of the kings of Persia had sent an able physician to wait upon\nthe Mustafa, the benediction of Allah and peace be on him; and he\nremained for some years in the Arab country without anyone coming to\nhim to make a trial of his ability or desiring to be treated by him.\nHe went to the Prophet, salutation to him, and complained that\nalthough he had been sent to treat the companions, none of them had up\nto this time taken notice of him or required the services incumbent\nupon him. The Apostle, salutation to him, replied: 'It is a law with\nthese people not to eat until appetite overpowers them and when some\nof it yet remains they withdraw their hands from food.' The doctor\nsaid: 'This is the cause of health', and kissing the earth of\nservice departed.\n\n The sage begins to speak\n Or points his fingers to the dish\n When silence would be dangerous\n Or abstinance would bring on death.\n No doubt his wisdom is in speaking\n And his eating bears the fruit of health.\n\n Story 5\n\n A man often made vows of repentance but broke them again till one of\nthe sheikhs said to him: 'I think thou art in the habit of eating a\ngreat deal and that thy power of restraining appetite is more\nslender than a hair, whilst an appetite such as thou nourishest\nwould rupture a chain and a day may come when it will tear thee up.'\n\n A man brought up a wolf's whelp.\n When it was brought up it tore him up.\n\n Story 6\n\n It is narrated in the life of Ardeshir Babekan that he asked an Arab\nphysician how much food he must consume daily. He replied: 'The weight\nof one hundred dirhems will be enough.' The king queried: 'What\nstrength will this quantity give me?' He replied: 'This quantity\nwill carry thee, and whatever is more than that, thou wilt be the\ncarrier of it.'\n\n Eating is for living and praying.\n Thou thinkest living is for eating.\n\n Story 7\n\n Two Khorasani dervishes travelled together. One of them, being weak,\nbroke his fast every second night whilst the other who was strong\nconsumed every day three meals. It happened that they were captured at\nthe gate of a town on suspicion of being spies; whereon each of them\nwas confined in a closet and the aperture of it walled up with mud\nbricks. After two weeks it became known that they were guiltless.\nAccordingly the doors were opened and the strong man was found to be\ndead whilst the weak fellow had remained alive. The people were\nastonished but a sage averred that the contrary would have been\nastonishing because one of them having been voracious possessed no\nstrength to suffer hunger and perished whilst the other who was\nabstemious merely persevered in his habit and remained safe.\n\n When eating little has become the nature of a man\n He takes it easy when a calamity befalls him\n But when the body becomes strong in affluence\n He will die when a hardship overtakes him.\n Story 8\n\n One of the philosophers forbade his son to eat much because\nrepletion keeps people ailing. The boy replied: 'O father, it is\nhunger that kills. Hast thou not heard of the maxim of the ingenious\nthat it is better to die satiated than to bear hunger?' He rejoined:\n'Be moderate. Eat and drink but not to excess.'\n\n Eat not so much that it comes up to thy mouth\n Nor so little that from weakness thy soul comes up.\n\n Although maintenance of life depends upon food\n Victuals bring on disease when eaten to excess.\n If thou eatest rose-confectionery without appetite it injures thee\n But eating dry bread after a long fast is like rose-preserve.\n\n Story 9\n\n A sick man having been asked what his heart desired replied: 'That\nit may not desire anything.'\n\n When the bowels are full and the belly pains\n There is no use in all other things being right.\n\n Story 10\n\n A grain dealer to whom Sufis were owing some money asked them for it\nevery day in the town of Waset and used harsh language towards them.\nThe companions had become weary of his reproaches but had no other\nremedy than to bear them; and one of them who was a pious man\nremarked: 'It is more easy to pacify a hungry stomach with promises of\nfood than a grain dealer with promises of money.'\n\n It is preferable to be without the bounty of a gentleman\n Than to bear the insults of the gate-keepers.\n It is better to die wishing for meat\n Than to endure the expostulations of butchers.\n\n Story 11\n\n A brave warrior who had received a dreadful wound in the Tatar war\nwas informed that a certain merchant possessed a medicine which he\nwould probably not refuse to give if asked for; but it is related that\nthe said merchant was also well known for his avarice.\n\n If instead of bread he had the sun in his table-cloth\n No one could see daylight till the day of resurrection.\n\n The warrior replied: 'If I ask for the medicine he will either\ngive it or refuse it and if he gives it maybe it will profit me, and\nmaybe not. At any rate the inconvenience of asking it from him is a\nlethal poison.'\n\n Whatever thou obtainest by entreaties from base men\n Will profit thy body but injure thy soul.\n\n And philosophers have said: 'If for instance the water of life\nwere to be exchanged for a good reputation, no wise man would purchase\nit because it is preferable to die with honour than to live in\ndisgrace.'\n\n To eat coloquinth from the hand of a sweet-tempered man\n Is better than confectionery from the hand of an ill-humoured\n fellow.\n\n Story 12\n\n One of the ullemma had many eaters to provide for and only a slender\nincome. This fact he communicated to a great man of whose character he\nentertained a very favourable opinion but his expectations were\ndisappointed because the man made a wry face and averred that\naccording to his opinion applications from respectable persons for aid\nare unbecoming.\n\n With a face made sad by misfortune, to a dear friend\n Do not go because thou wilt embitter his life also.\n For the needful for which thou appliest, go with a fresh and\n smiling face.\n The man of joyful countenance will not be unsuccessful in his\n affairs.\n\n It is related that the great man augmented his stipend a little\nbut considerably diminished his familiarity towards him and when he\nperceived after some days that it was not as usual, he recited:\n\n 'Evil is the food which the time of degradation acquires.\n The kettle is indeed placed but the dignity is lowered.'\n\n He increased my bread but diminished my honour.\n Poverty is better than the degradation of asking.\n\n Story 13\n\n A dervish wanted something and a man told him that a certain\nindividual possessed untold wealth who, if he were made aware of his\nwant, would not consider it proper to fail in supplying it\nforthwith. The dervish answering that he had no acquaintance with him,\nthe man proposed to show him the house and when the dervish entered he\ncaught sight of a person with hanging lips and sitting morosely. He\nreturned immediately and being asked what he had done replied: 'I\nexcused him from making me a present when I saw his face.'\n\n Carry not thy necessity to a sour-faced fellow\n Because his ill-humour will crush thy hopes.\n If thou confidest thy heart's grief, tell it to one\n Whose face will comfort thee like ready cash.\n\n Story 14\n\n A year of dearth set in at Alexandria so that even a dervish lost\nthe reins of patience from his hands, the pearls of heaven were\nwithheld from the earth and the lamentations of mankind ascended to\nthe firmament.\n\n There was no wild beast, fowl, fish or ant\n Whose wailings prompted by distress had not reached the sky.\n For a wonder the heart-smoke of the people did not condense\n To form clouds and the torrents of their tears rain.\n\n In such a year there was an hermaphrodite. I owe it to my friends\nnot to describe him because it would be an abandonment of good\nmanners, especially in the presence of great men. On the other hand,\nit would likewise be improper and in the way of negligence not to\nmention anything about him because certain people would impute it to\nthe ignorance of the narrator. Accordingly I shall briefly describe\nhim in the following two distichs because a little indicates much\nand a handful is a sample of a donkey load.\n\n If a Tatar slays that hermaphrodite\n The Tatar must not be slain in return.\n\n How long will he be like the bridge of Baghdad\n With water flowing beneath and men on the back?\n\n Such a man, a portion of whose eulogy thou hast now heard, possessed\nin that year boundless wealth, bestowed silver and gold upon the needy\nand laid out tables for travellers. A company of dervishes who were by\nthe presence of distress on the point of starvation were inclined to\naccept of his hospitality and consulted me on the subject but I struck\nmy head back from assenting and replied:\n\n A lion does not eat the half of which a dog consumed\n Although he may die of hunger in his lair.\n Though getting rich in wealth and property like Feridun\n A worthless man is to be considered of no account.\n Story 15\n\n Hatim Tai, having been asked whether he had seen in the world anyone\nof more exalted sentiments than himself, replied: 'Yes, one day I\nslaughtered forty camels to entertain Arab amirs. I had occasion to go\nout on some business into a corner of the desert, where I noticed a\ngatherer of briars, who had accumulated a hillock of thistles, and I\nasked him why he had not become a guest of Hatim since many people had\ncome round to his banquet but he replied:\n\n \"Who eats bread by the work of his own hand\n Will not bear to be obliged to Hatim Tai.\"\n\n Then I saw that his sentiments were more exalted than mine.'\n\n Story 16\n\n Moses, to whom be salutation, beheld a dervish who had on account of\nhis nudity concealed himself in the sand exclaiming: 'O Moses, utter a\nsupplication to God the most high to give me an allowance because I\nam, on account of my distress, on the point of starvation.' Moses\naccordingly prayed and departed but returning a few days afterwards he\nsaw that the dervish was a prisoner and surrounded by a crowd of\npeople. On asking for the reason he was informed that the dervish\nhad drunk wine, quarrelled, slain a man and was to be executed in\nretaliation.\n\n If the humble cat possessed wings\n He would rob the world of every sparrow-egg.\n It may happen that when a weak man obtains power\n He arises and twists the hands of the weak.\n\n And if Allah were to bestow abundance upon his servants, they\nwould certainly rebel upon earth.\n\n What has made thee wade into danger, O fool,\n Till thou hast perished. Would that the ant had not been able to\n fly!\n\n When a base fellow obtains dignity, silver and gold,\n His head necessarily demands to be knocked.\n Was not after all this maxim uttered by a sage?\n 'That ant is the best which possesses no wings.'\n\n The heavenly father has plenty of honey but the son has\n a hot disease.\n\n He who does not make thee rich\n Knows better what is good for thee than thyself.\n\n Story 17\n\n I noticed an Arab of the desert sitting in a company jewellers at\nBosrah and narrating stories to them. He said: 'I had once lost my\nroad in the desert and consumed all my provisions. I considered that I\nmust perish when I suddenly caught sight of a bag full of pearls and I\nshall never forget the joy and ecstasy I felt on thinking they might\nbe parched grain nor the bitterness and despair when I discovered them\nto be pearls.'\n\n In a dry desert and among moving sand\n It is the same to a thirsty man whether he has pearls or shells in\n his mouth.\n When a man has no provisions and his strength is exhausted\n It matters not whether his girdle is adorned with pearls or\n potsherds.\n\n Story 18\n\n An Arab suffering in the desert from extreme thirst recited:\n\n 'Would that before my death\n I could one day enjoy my wish\n That a river's waves might strike my knee\n And I might fill my water-bag.'\n\n In the same manner another traveller lost himself in an extensive\nregion having neither any strength nor food left but he possessed some\nmoney and roamed about and the road leading him nowhere he perished\nfrom exhaustion. Some people afterwards discovered his corpse with the\nmoney in front of it and the following written on the ground:\n\n If possessed of all the Ja'feri gold,\n It will avail nothing to a hungry man.\n To a poor man burnt in the desert\n Boiled turnips are more valuable than pure silver.\n Story 19\n\n I never lamented about the vicissitudes of time or complained of the\nturns of fortune except on the occasion when I was barefooted and\nunable to procure slippers. But when I entered the great mosque of\nKufah with a sore heart and beheld a man without feet I offered thanks\nto the bounty of God, consoled myself for my want of shoes and\nrecited:\n\n 'A roast fowl is to the sight of a satiated man\n Less valuable than a blade of fresh grass on the table\n And to him who has no means nor power\n A burnt turnip is a roasted fowl.'\n\n Story 20\n\n A king with some of his courtiers had during a hunting party and\nin the winter season strayed far from inhabited places but when the\nnight set in he perceived the house of a dehqan and said: 'We shall\nspend the night there to avoid the injury of the cold.' One of the\nveziers, however, objected alleging that it was unworthy of the high\ndignity of a padshah to take refuge in the house of a dehqan and\nthat it would be best to pitch tents and to light fires on the spot.\nThe dehqan who had become aware of what was taking place prepared some\nfood he had ready in his house, offered it, kissed the ground of\nservice and said: 'The high dignity of the sultan would not have\nbeen so much lowered, but the courtiers did not wish the dignity of\nthe dehqan to become high.' The king who was pleased with these\nwords moved for the night into the man's house and bestowed a dress of\nhonour upon him the next morning. When he accompanied the king a few\npaces at the departure he was heard to say:\n\n 'Nothing was lost of the sultan's power and pomp\n By accepting the hospitality of a dehqan,\n But the corner of the dehqan's cap reached the sun\n When a sultan such as thou overshadowed his head.'\n\n Story 21\n\n It is related that a sultan thus addressed a miserly beggar who\nhad accumulated great riches: 'It is evident that thou possessest\nboundless wealth and we have an affair on hand in which thou canst aid\nus by way of a loan. When the finances of the country are in a\nflourishing condition it will be repaid.' The miser replied: 'It is\nnot befitting the power and dignity of a padshah to soil the hands\nof his noble aspirations with the property of an individual like\nmyself who has collected it grain by grain.' The king replied: 'It\ndoes not matter because the money will be spent upon infidels: The\nwicked women should be joined to the wicked men.\"\n\n If the water of a Christian's well is impure\n What matters it if thou washest a dead Jew therein?\n\n They said: 'The lime-mortar is not clean.'\n We replied: 'We shall plug therewith the privy holes.\"\n\n I heard that he refused to comply with the behest of the king, began\nto argue and to look insolently; whereon the king ordered the sum in\nquestion to be released from his grasp by force and with a reprimand.\n\n If an affair cannot be accomplished with gentleness\n He forsooth turns his head to impudence.\n Who has no regard for himself\n It is proper that no one should pay him any.\n\n Story 22\n\n I met a trader who possessed one hundred and fifty camel loads of\nmerchandise with forty slaves and servants. One evening in the oasis\nof Kish he took me into his apartment and taking all night no rest\nkept up an incoherent gabble, saying: 'I have such and such a\nwarehouse in Turkestan, such and such goods in Hindostan; this is\nthe title-deed of such and such an estate and in this affair such\nand such a man is security.' He said: 'I intend to go to Alexandria\nbecause it has a good climate', and correcting himself continued: 'No,\nbecause the African sea is boisterous. O Sa'di, I have one journey\nmore to undertake and after performing it I shall during the rest of\nmy life sit in a corner and enjoy contentment.' I asked: 'What journey\nis that?' He replied: 'I shall carry Persian brimstone to China\nbecause I heard that it fetched a high price. I shall also carry\nChinese porcelain to Rum and Rumi brocade to India and Indian steel to\nAleppo, convey glass-ware of Aleppo to Yemen, striped cloth of Yemen\nto Pares. After that I shall abandon trading and shall sit down in a\nshop.' He had talked so much of this nonsenses that no more strength\nremained in him so he said: 'O Sa'di, do thou also tell me something\nof what thou hast seen and heard.' I recited:\n\n 'Thou mayest have heard that in the plain of Ghur\n Once a leader fell down from his beast of burden,\n Saying: \"The narrow eye of a wealthy man\n Will be filled either by content or by the earth\n of the tomb.\"'\n\n Story 23\n\n I heard about a wealthy man who was as well known for his avarice as\nHatim Tai for his liberality. Outwardly he displayed the appearance of\nwealth but inwardly his sordid nature was so dominant that he would\nnot for his life give a morsel of bread to anyone or bestow a scrap\nupon the kitten of Abu Harirah or throw a bone to the dog of the\ncompanions of the cave. In short, no one had seen the door of his\nhouse open or his table-doth spread.\n\n The dervish got nothing of his food except the smell.\n The fowl picked up the crumbs after his bread-dinner.\n\n I heard that he was sailing in the Mediterranean with the pride of\nPharaoh in his head-according to the words of the most high, Until\ndrowning overtook him-when all of a sudden a contrary wind befell\nthe ship, as it is said:\n\n What can thy heart do to thy distressed nature for the wind is\n not fair?\n It is not at all times suitable for a ship.\n\n He uplifted the hands of supplication and began to lament in vain\nbut Allah the most high has commanded: When they sail in a ship they\ncall upon Allah, sincerely exhibiting unto him their religion.\n\n Of what use is the hand of supplication to a needy worshipper\n Which is uplifted to God in the time of prayer but in the armpit\n in the time of bounty?\n\n Bestow comfort with gold and with silver\n And thereby also profit thyself.\n As this house of thine will remain,\n Build it with a silver and a gold brick.\n\n It is narrated that he had poor relations in Egypt who became rich\nby the remainder of his wealth, tearing up their old cloths and\ncutting new ones of silk and of Damiari. During the same week I also\nbeheld one of them riding a fleet horse with a fairy-faced slave boy\nat his heels. I said:\n\n 'Wah! If the dead man were to return\n Among his kinsfolk and connections\n The refunding of the inheritance would be more painful\n To the heirs than the death of their relative.'\n\n On account of the acquaintance which had formerly subsisted\nbetween us, I pulled his sleeve, and said:\n\n 'Eat thou, O virtuous and good man,\n What that mean fellow gathered and did not eat.'\n\n Story 24\n\n A weak fisherman caught a strong fish in his net and not being\nable to retain it the fish overcame him and pulled the net from his\nhand.\n\n A boy went to bring water from the torrent.\n The torrent came and took the boy away.\n The net brought every time a fish.\n This time the fish went and carried off the net.\n\n The other fishermen were sorry and blamed him for not being able\nto retain such a fish which had fallen into his net. He replied: 'O\nbrothers, what can be done? My day was not lucky but the fish had\nyet one remaining. 'Moral: A fisherman cannot catch a fish in the\nTigris without a day of luck and a fish cannot die on dry ground\nwithout the decree of fate.\n\n Story 25\n\n A man whose hands and feet had been amputated killed a millipede and\na pious passer-by exclaimed: 'Praised be Allah! In spite of the\nthousand feet he possessed he could not escape from a man without\nhands and feet when his fate had overtaken him.'\n\n When the life-taking foe comes in the rear\n Fate ties the legs of a running man.\n At the moment when the enemy has slowly arrived\n It is useless to draw the Kayanian bow.\n\n Story 26\n\n I have seen a fat fool, dressed in a costly robe, with a turban of\nEgyptian linen on his head, riding on an Arab horse. Someone said:\n'Sa'di, what thinkest thou of this famous brocade upon this ignorant\nanimal?' I replied: 'It is like ugly characters scrawled with\ngold-water.'\n\n Verily he is like an ass among men,\n A calf, a body which is bleating.\n\n This animal cannot be said to resemble a man\n Except in his cloak, turban and outward adornment.\n Examine all his property and belongings of his estate\n Thou wilt find nothing lawful to take except his blood.\n If a noble man becomes impoverished imagine not\n That his high worth will also decrease.\n But if into a silver threshold golden nails are driven\n By a Jew, think not that he will thereby become noble.\n Story 27\n\n A thief said to a mendicant: 'Art thou not ashamed to stretch out\nthy hand for a grain of silver to every sordid fellow?' He replied:\n\n 'To hold out the hand for a grain of silver\n Is better than to get it cut off for one dane and a half.'\n\n Story 28\n\n It is related that an athlete had been reduced to the greatest\ndistress by adverse fortune. His throat being capacious and his\nhands unable to fill it, he complained to his father and asked him for\npermission to travel as he hoped to be hoped to be able to gain a\nlivelihood by the strength of his arm.\n\n Excellence and skill are lost unless exhibited.\n Lignum aloes is placed on fire and musk rubbed.\n\n The father replied: 'My son, get rid of this vain idea and place the\nfeet of contentment under the skirt of safety because great men have\nsaid that happiness does not consist in exertion and that the remedy\nagainst want is in the moderation of desires.\n\n No one can grasp the skirt of luck by force.\n It is useless to put vasmah on a bald man's brow.\n\n If thou hast two hundred accomplishments for each hair of thy head\n They will be of no use if fortune is unpropitious.\n\n What can an athlete do with adverse luck?\n The arm of luck is better than the arm of strength.\n\n The son rejoined: 'Father, the advantages of travel are many, such\nas recreation of the mind entailing profit, seeing of wonderful and\nhearing of strange things, recreation in cities, associating with\nfriends, acquisition of dignity, rank, property, the power of\ndiscriminating among acquaintances and gaining experience of the\nworld, as the travellers in the Tariqat have said:\n\n As long as thou walkest about the shop or the house\n Thou wilt never become a man, 0 raw fellow.\n Go and travel in the world\n Before that day when thou goest from the world.'\n\n The father replied: 'My son, the advantages of travel such as thou\nhast enumerated them are countless but they regard especially five\nclasses of men: firstly, a merchant who possesses in consequence of\nhis wealth and power graceful male and female slaves and\nquick-handed assistants, alights every day in another town and every\nnight in another place, has recreation every moment and sometimes\nenjoys the delights of the world.'\n\n A rich man is not a stranger in mountain, desert or solitude.\n Wherever he goes he pitches a tent and makes a sleeping place;\n Whilst he who is destitute of the goods of this world\n Must be in his own country a stranger and unknown.\n\n Secondly, a scholar, who is for the pleasantness of his speech,\nthe power of his eloquence and the fund of his instruction, waited\nupon and honoured wherever he goes.\n\n The presence of a learned man is like pure gold\n Whose power and price is known wherever he goes.\n An ignorant fellow of noble descent resembles Shahrua,\n Which nobody accepts in a foreign country.\n\n Thirdly, handsome fellows with whom the souls of pious men are\ninclined to commingle because it has been said that a little beauty is\nbetter than much wealth. An attractive face is also said to be a slave\nto despondent hearts and the key to locked doors, wherefore the\nsociety of such a person is everywhere known to be very acceptable:\n\n A beautiful person meets with honour and respect everywhere\n Although perhaps driven away in anger by father and mother.\n I have seen a peacock feather in the leaves of the Quran.\n I said: 'I see thy position is higher than thy deserts.'\n It said: 'Hush, whoever is endowed with beauty,\n Wherever he places his foot, hands are held out to receive it.'\n\n When a boy is symmetrical and heart-robbing\n It matters not if his father disowns him.\n He is a jewel which must not remain in a shell.\n A precious pearl everyone desires to buy.\n\n Fourthly, one with a sweet voice, who retains, with a David-like\nthroat, water from flowing and birds from soaring. By means of this\ntalent he holds the hearts of people captive and religious men are\ndelighted to associate with him.\n\n My audition is intent on the beautiful melody.\n Who is that performing on the double chord?\n\n How pleasant is the gentle and melancholy lay\n To the ear of the boon companions who quaff the morning draught!\n Better than a handsome face is a pleasant voice.\n The former is joy to the senses, the latter food for the soul.\n\n Fifthly, the artisan, who gains a sufficient livelihood by the\nstrength of his arm, so that his reputation is not lost in\nstruggling for bread; as wise men have said:\n\n If he goes abroad from his own town\n The patcher of clothes meets with no bardship or trouble\n But if the government falls into ruin\n The king of Nimruz will go to bed hungry.\n\n The qualities which I have explained, 0 my son, are in a journey the\noccasion of satisfaction to the mind, stimulants to a happy life but\nhe, who possesses none of them, goes with idle fancies into the\nworld and no one will ever hear anything about his name and fame.\n\n He whom the turning world is to afflict\n Will be guided by the times against his aim.\n A pigeon destined not to see its nest again\n Will be carried by fate towards the grain and net.\n\n The son asked: 'O father, how can I act contrary to the\ninjunctions of the wise, who have said, that although food is\ndistributed by predestination the acquisition of it depends upon\nexertion and that, although a calamity may be decreed by fate, it is\nincumbent on men to show the gates by which it may enter?\n\n 'Although daily food may come unawares\n It is reasonable to seek it out of doors\n And though no one dies without the decree of fate\n Thou must not rush into the jaws of a dragon.\n\n 'As I am at present able to cope with a mad elephant and to\nwrestle with a furious lion, it is proper, O father, that I should\ntravel abroad because I have no longer the endurance to suffer misery.\n\n 'When a man has fallen from his place and station\n Why should he eat more grief? All the horizons are his place.\n At night every rich man goes to an inn.\n The dervish has his inn where the night overtakes him.'\n\n After saying this, he asked for the good wishes of his father,\ntook leave of him, departed and said to himself:\n\n 'A skilful man, when his luck does not favour him,\n Goes to a place where people know not his name.'\n\n He reached the banks of a water, the force of which was such that it\nknocked stones against each other and its roaring was heard to a\nfarsang's distance.\n\n A dreadful water, in which even aquatic birds were not safe,\n The smallest wave would whirl off a millstone from its bank.\n\n He beheld a crowd of people, every person sitting with a coin of\nmoney at the crossing-place, intent on a passage. The youth's hands of\npayment being tied, he opened the tongue of laudation and although\nhe supplicated the people greatly, they paid no attention and said:\n\n 'No violence can be done to anyone without money\n But if thou hast money thou hast no need of force.'\n\n An unkind boatman laughed at him and said:\n\n 'If thou hast no money thou canst not cross the river by force.\n What boots the strength of ten men? Bring the money for one.'\n\n The young man's heart was irritated by the insult of the boatman and\nlonged to take vengeance upon him. The boat had, however, started;\naccordingly he shouted: 'If thou wilt be satisfied with the robe I\nam wearing, I shall not grudge giving it to thee.' The boatman was\ngreedy and turned the vessel back.\n\n Desire sews up the vision of a shrewd man.\n Greediness brings fowl and fish into the snare.\n\n As soon as the young man's hand could reach the beard and collar\nof the boatman, he immediately knocked him down and a comrade of the\nboatman, who came from the vessel to rescue him, experienced the\nsame rough treatment and turned back. The rest of the people then\nthought proper to pacify the young man and to condone his passage\nmoney.\n\n When thou seest a quarrel be forbearing\n Because gentlemen will shut the door of strife.\n Use kindness when thou seest contention.\n A sharp sword cannot cut soft silk.\n By a sweet tongue, grace, and kindliness,\n Thou wilt be able to lead an elephant by a hair.\n\n Then the people fell at his feet, craving pardon for what had\npassed. They impressed some hypocritical kisses upon his head and\nhis eyes, received him into the boat and started, progressing till\nthey reached a pillar of Yunani workmanship, standing in the water.\nThe boatman said: 'The vessel is in danger. Let one of you, who is the\nstrongest, go to the pillar and take the cable of the boat that we may\nsave the vessel.' The young man, in the pride of bravery which he\nhad in his head, did not think of the offended foe and did not mind\nthe maxim of wise men who have said: 'If thou hast given offence to\none man and afterwards done him a hundred kindnesses, do not be\nconfident that he will not avenge himself for that one offence,\nbecause although the head of a spear may come out, the memory of an\noffence will remain in the heart.'\n\n 'How well,' said Yaktash to Khiltash,\n 'Hast thou scratched a foe? Do not think thou art safe.'\n\n Be not unconcerned for thou wilt be afflicted\n If by thy hand a heart has been afflicted.\n Throw not a stone at the rampart of a fort\n Because possibly a stone may come from the fort.\n\n As soon as he had taken the rope of the boat on his arm, he\nclimbed to the top of the pillar, whereon the boatman snatched it from\nhis grasp and pushed the boat off. The helpless man was amazed and\nspent two days in misery and distress. On the third, sleep took hold\nof his collar and threw him into the water. After one night and day he\nwas cast on the bank, with some life still remaining in him. He\nbegan to eat leaves of trees and to pull out roots of grass so that\nwhen he had gained a little strength, he turned towards the desert and\nwalked till thirst began to torment him. He at last reached a well and\nsaw people drinking water for a pashizi but possessing none he asked\nfor a coin and showed his destitute condition. The people had,\nhowever, no mercy with him, whereon he began to insult them but\nlikewise ineffectually. Then he knocked down several men but was at\nlast overpowered, struck and wounded:\n\n A swarm of gnats will overpower an elephant\n Despite of all his virility and bravery.\n When the little ants combine together\n They tear the skin of a furious lion.\n\n As a matter of necessity he lagged in the rear of the caravan, which\nreached in the evening a locality very dangerous on account of\nthieves. The people of the caravan trembled in all their limbs but\nhe said: 'Fear nothing because I alone am able to cope with fifty\nmen and the other youths of the caravan will aid me.' These boastful\nwords comforted the heart of the caravan-people, who became glad of\nhis company and considered it incumbent upon themselves to supply\nhim with food and water. The fire of the young man's stomach having\nblazed into flames and deprived his hands of the bridle of\nendurance, hunger made him partake of some morsels of food and take\na few draughts of water, till the dev of his interior was set at\nrest and he fell asleep. An experienced old fellow, who was in the\ncaravan, said: 'O ye people, I am more afraid of this guard of yours\nthan of the thieves because there is a story that a stranger had\naccumulated some dirhems but could not sleep in the house for fear\nof the Luris. Accordingly he invited one of his friends to dispel\nthe terrors of solitude by his company. He spent several nights with\nhim, till he became aware that he had money and took it, going on a\njourney after spending it. When the people saw the stranger naked\nand weeping the next morning, a man asked: \"What is the matter?\nPerhaps a thief has stolen those dirhems of mine?\" He replied: \"No, by\nAllah. The guard has stolen them.\"'\n\n I never sat secure from a serpent\n Till I learnt what his custom was.\n The wound from a foe's tooth is severe\n Who appears to be a friend in the eyes of men.\n\n 'How do you know whether this man is not one of the band of\nthieves and has followed us as a spy to inform his comrades on the\nproper occasion? According to my opinion we ought to depart and let\nhim sleep.' The youths approved of the old man's advice and became\nsuspicious of the athlete, took up their baggage and departed, leaving\nhim asleep. He knew this when the sun shone upon his shoulders and\nperceived that the caravan had started. He roamed about a great deal\nwithout finding the way and thirsty as well as dismayed as he was,\nhe sat down on the ground, with his heart ready to perish, saying:\n\n Who will speak to me after the yellow camels have departed?\n A stranger has no companion except a stranger.\n\n He uses harshness towards strangers\n Who has not himself been exiled enough.\n\n The poor man was speaking thus whilst the son of a king who happened\nto be in a hunting party, strayed far from the troops, was standing\nover his head, listening. He looked at the figure of the athlete,\nsaw that his outward appearance was respectable but his condition\nmiserable. He then asked him whence he had come and how he had\nfallen into this place. The athlete briefly informed him of what had\ntaken place, whereon the royal prince, moved by pity, presented him\nwith a robe of honour and a large sum of money and sent a confidential\nman to accompany him till he again reached his native town. His father\nwas glad to see him and expressed gratitude at his safety. In the\nevening he narrated to his father what had befallen him with the boat,\nmentioned the violence of the boatman, the harshness of the rustics\nnear the well and the treachery of the caravan people on the road. The\nfather replied: 'My son, have not I told thee at thy departure that\nthe brave hands of empty-handed persons are like the broken paw of a\nlion?'\n\n How well has that empty-handed fighter said:\n 'A grain of gold is better than fifty mann of strength.'\n\n The son replied: 'O father, thou wilt certainly not obtain a\ntreasure except by trouble, wilt not overcome thy foe unless thou\nhazardest thy life and wilt not gather a harvest unless thou\nscatterest seed. Perceivest thou not how much comfort I gained at\nthe cost of the small amount of trouble I underwent and what a\nquantity of honey I have brought in return for the sting I have\nsuffered.\n\n Although not more can be acquired than fate has decreed\n Negligence in striving to acquire is not commendable.\n\n If a diver fears the crocodile's throat\n He will never catch the pearl of great price.\n\n The nether millstone is immovable, and therefore must bear a heavy\n load.\n\n What will a fierce lion devour at the bottom of his den?\n What food does a fallen hawk obtain?\n If thou desirest to catch game at home\n Thou must have hands and feet like a spider.\n\n The father said to his son: 'On this occasion heaven has been\npropitious to thee and good luck helpful so that a royal person has\nmet thee, has been bountiful to thee and has thereby healed thy broken\ncondition. Such coincidences occur seldom and rare events cannot be\nreckoned upon.'\n\n The hunter does not catch every time a jackal.\n It may happen that some day a tiger devours him.\n\n Thus it happened that one of the kings of Pares, who possessed a\nring with a costly beazle, once went out by way of diversion with some\nintimate courtiers to the Masalla of Shiraz and ordered his ring to be\nplaced on the dome of Asad, promising to bestow the seal-ring upon any\nperson who could make an arrow pass through it. It happened that every\none of the four hundred archers in his service missed the ring, except\na little boy who was shooting arrows in sport at random and in every\ndirection from the flat roof of a monastery. The morning breeze caused\nhis arrow to pass through the ring, whereon he obtained not only the\nring but also a robe of honour and a present of money. It is related\nthat the boy burnt his bow and arrows and on being asked for the cause\nreplied: 'That the first splendour may be permanent.'\n\n It sometimes happens that an enlightened sage\n Is not successful in his plans.\n Sometimes it happens that an ignorant child\n By mistake hits the target with his arrow.\n\n Story 29\n\n I heard that a dervish, sitting in a cave, had closed the doors upon\nthe face of the world, so that no regard for kings and rich persons\nremained in the eyes of his desire.\n\n Who opens to himself a door for begging\n Will till he dies remain a needy fellow.\n Abandon greediness and be a king\n Because a neck without desire is high.\n\n One of the kings of that region sent him the information that,\ntrusting in the good manners of the respected dervish, he hoped he\nwould partake of bread and salt with him. The sheikh agreed because it\nis according to the sonna to accept an invitation. The next day the\nking paid him a visit, the a'bid. leapt up, embraced him, caressed him\nand praised him. After the monarch's departure the sheikh was asked by\none of his companions why he had, against his custom, paid so many\nattentions to the padshah, the like of which he had never seen before.\nHe replied: 'Hast thou not heard that one of the pious said:\n\n \"In whose company thou hast been sitting\n To do him service thou must necessarily rise.\n\n Possibly an ear may during a lifetime\n Not hear the sound of drum, lute or fife.\n The eye may be without the sight of a garden.\n The brain may be without the rose or nasrin.\n If no feather pillow be at hand\n Sleep may be had with a stone under the head\n And if there be no sweetheart to sleep with\n The hand may be placed on one's own bosom,\n But this disreputable twisting belly\n Cannot bear to exist without anything.\"'",
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