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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/13060-0.txt b/13060-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..43173bc --- /dev/null +++ b/13060-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4891 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13060 *** + +Notes: Volume 1 of this work can be found in Project Gutenberg's library. + See https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10315 + + A few original typesetter's errors (inconsistent spelling, + superfluous quotation marks, and the like) have been corrected + in the interests of producing a smooth-reading text. + + The reader will also occasionally find a line of asterisks + between sections. These are found in the original and they + indicate a missing section. It is not clear why the translator + skipped these sections. Reference to another, complete, + translation of the Gulistan shows no appreciable differences, + in length or subject, between the sections included and those + excluded. + + + + + +PERSIAN LITERATURE + +comprising + +THE SHÁH NÁMEH, THE RUBÁIYÁT +THE DIVAN, AND THE GULISTAN + +Revised Edition, Volume 2 + +1900 + +With a special introduction by +RICHARD J. H. GOTTHEIL, Ph.D. +Professor of Rabbinical Literature and the Semitic Languages +at Columbia University + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +THE GULISTAN + +Introduction + +CHAPTER + + I. Of the Customs of Kings + + II. Of the Morals of Dervishes + + III. On the Preciousness of Contentment + + IV. On the Benefit of Being Silent + + V. On Love and Youth + + VI. Of Imbecility and Old Age + + VII. Of the Impressions of Education + +VIII. Of the Duties of Society + + + + +THE GULISTAN + +BY + +SA'DI + +[Translation by James Ross] + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The Persian poet Sa'di, generally known in literary history as +Muslih-al-Din, belongs to the great group of writers known as the +Shirazis, or singers of Shiraz. His "Gulistan," or "Rose Garden," is the +mature work of his life-time, and he lived to the age of one hundred and +eight. The Rose Garden was an actual thing, and was part of the little +hermitage, to which he retired, after the vicissitudes and travels of +his earlier life, to spend his days in religious contemplation, and the +embodiment of his experience in reminiscences, which took the form of +anecdotes, sage and pious reflections, _bon-mots_, and exquisite lyrics. +When a friend visited him in his cell and had filled a basket with +nosegays from the garden of the poet with roses, hyacinths, spikenards, +and sweet-basils, Sa'di told him of the book he was writing, and +added:--"What can a nosegay of flowers avail thee? Pluck but one leaf +from my Rose Garden; the rose from yonder bush lasts but a few days, but +this Rose must bloom to all eternity." + +Sa'di has been proved quite correct in this estimate of his own work. +The book is indeed a sweet garden of unfading freshness. If we compare +Sa'di with Hafiz, we find that both of them based their theory of life +upon the same Sufic pantheism. Both of them were profoundly religious +men. Like the strong and life-giving soil out of whose bosom sprang the +rose-tree, wherein the nightingales sang, was the fixed religious +confidence, which formed the support of each poet's mind, amid all the +vagaries of fancy, and the luxuriant growth of fruit and flower which +their genius gave to the world. Hafiz is the Persian Anacreon. As he +raises his voice of thrilling and unvarying sweetness, his steps reel, +he waves the thyrsus, and his flushed cheek shows the inspiration of the +vine. To him the Supreme Being has much in common with the Indian or +Thracian Dionysus, the god of perennial youth, joyous revel, and +exhilaration. Hafiz can never be the guide, though he may be the cheerer +of mortals, adding more to the gayety than to the wisdom of life. But +both in the western and in the eastern world Sa'di must always be looked +upon as the guide and enlightener of those who taste life, and love +poetry. It has been said by a wise man that poetry is the great +instructor of mature minds. Many a man turning away in weariness from +the controversies, the insincerities, and the pretentiousness of the +intellectualists around him, has exclaimed, "Give me my Horace." But +Horace with all his _bonhommie_, his common sense, and his acuteness, is +but the representative of a narrow Roman coterie of the Augustan age. +How thin, flimsy, and unspiritual does he appear in comparison with the +marvellous depth, the spiritual insight, the tenderness and power of +expression which characterized Sa'di. + +Sa'di had begun his life as a student of the Koran and became early +imbued with the quietism of Islam. The cheerfulness and exuberant joy +which characterize the poems he wrote before he reached his fortieth +year, had bubbled up under the repressions of severe discipline and +austerity. But the religion of Mohammed was soon exchanged by him, under +the guidance of a famous teacher, for the wider and more transcendental +system of Sufism. Within the area of this magnificent scheme, the +boldest ever formulated under the name of religion, he found the liberty +which his soul desired. Early discipline had made him a morally sound +man, and it is the goodness of Sa'di that lends such a warm and +endearing charm to his works. The last finish was given to his +intellectual training by the travels which he took after the Tartar +invasion desolated Persia, in the thirteenth century. India, Arabia, +Syria, were in turn visited. He found Damascus a congenial +halting-place, and lived there for some time, with an increasing +reputation as a sage and poet. He preached at Baalbec on the +fugitiveness of human life, on faith, love, and rest in God. He +wandered, like Jerome, in the wilderness about Jerusalem, and worked as +a slave in Africa in the trenches of Tripoli: he travelled the length +and breadth of Asia Minor. When he arrived back at Shiraz, he had passed +the limit of three-score years and ten, and there he remained in his +hermitage and his garden, to arrange the result of all his studies, his +experiences, and his sufferings, in that consummate work which he has +named the "Rose Garden," after the little cultivated plot in which he +spent his declining days and drew his last breath. + +The "Gulistan" is divided into eight chapters, each dealing with a +specific subject and partaking of the nature of an essay: although these +chapters are composed of disjointed paragraphs, generally beginning with +an aphorism or an anecdote and closing with an original poem of a few +lines. Sometimes these paragraphs are altogether lyrical. We are struck, +first of all, by the personal character of these paragraphs; many of +them relate the experience of the poet in some part of his travels, +expressing his comment upon what he had seen and heard. His comments +generally take the form of practical wisdom, or religious suggestion. He +gives us the impression that he knows life and the human heart +thoroughly. It may be said of him, as Arnold said of Sophocles, he was +one "who saw life steadily, and saw it whole." On the other hand, there +is not the slightest trace of cynical acerbity in his writings. He has +passed through the world in the independence of a self-possessed soul, +and has found it all good, saving for the folly of fools and the +wretchedness and degradation of the depraved. There is no bitter +fountain in the "Rose Garden," and the old man's heart is as fresh as +when he left Shiraz, thirty years before; the sprightliness of his +poetry has only been ripened and tempered to a more exquisite flavor, by +the increase of wisdom and the perfecting of art. + +Above all, we find in Sa'di the science of life, as comprising morality +and religion, set forth in a most suggestive and a most attractive form. +In some way or other the "Rose Garden" may remind us of the "Essays" of +Bacon, which were published in their complete form the year before the +great English philosopher died. Both works cover a large area of thought +and experience; but the Englishman is clear, cold, and sometimes +cynical, while the Persian is more spiritual, though not less acute, and +has the fervor of the poet which Bacon lacks, and the religious devotion +which the "Essays" altogether miss. The "Rose Garden" has maxims which +are not unworthy of being cherished amid the highest Christian +civilization, while the serenity of mind, the poetic fire, the +transparent sincerity of Sa'di, make his writings one of those books +which men may safely take as the guide and inspirer of their inmost +life. Sa'di died at Shiraz about the year 1292 at the reputed age of one +hundred and ten. + +E.W. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Of the Customs of Kings + + +I + +I have heard of a king who made the sign to put a captive to death. The +poor wretch, in that state of desperation, began to abuse the king in +the dialect which he spoke, and to revile him with asperity, as has been +said; whoever shall wash his hands of life will utter whatever he may +harbor in his heart:--"_When a man is desperate he will give a latitude +to his tongue, like as a cat at bay will fly at a dog_"--"at the moment +of compulsion when it is impossible to fly, the hand will grasp the +sharp edge of a sword." The king asked, saying, "What does he say?" One +of the Vizirs (or nobles in attendance), and a well-disposed man, made +answer, "O my lord! he is expressing himself and saying, _(paradise is +for such) as are restraining their anger and forgiving their +fellow-creatures; and God will befriend the benevolent_." The king felt +compassion for him, and desisted from shedding his blood. Another +nobleman, and the rival of that former, said, "It is indecorous for such +peers, as we are, to use any language but that of truth in the presence +of kings; this man abused his majesty, and spoke what was unworthy of +him." The king turned away indignant at this remark, and replied, "I was +better pleased with his falsehood than with this truth that you have +told; for that bore the face of good policy, and this was founded in +malignity; and the intelligent have said, 'A peace-mingling falsehood is +preferable to a mischief-stirring truth':--Whatever prince may do that +which he (his counsellor) will recommend, it must be a subject of regret +if he shall advise aught but good." + +They had written over the portico of King Feridún's palace:--"This +world, O brother! abides with none. Set thy heart upon its maker, and +let him suffice thee. Rest not thy pillow and support on a worldly +domain which has fostered and slain many such as thou art. Since the +precious soul must resolve on going, what matters it whether it departs +from a throne or the ground." + + +II + +One of the kings of Khorasan saw, in a dream, Sultan Mahmud, the son of +Saboktagin, an hundred years after his death, when his body was decayed +and fallen into dust, all but his eyes, which as heretofore were moving +in their sockets and looking about them. All the learned were at a stand +for its interpretation, excepting one dervish, who made his obeisance, +and said:--"He is still looking about him, because his kingdom and +wealth are possessed by others!--Many are the heroes whom they have +buried under ground, of whose existence above it not one vestige is +left; and of that old carcase which they committed to the earth, the +earth has so consumed it that not one bone is left. Though many ages are +gone since Nushirowan was in being, yet in the remembrance of his +munificence is his fair renown left. Be generous, O my friend! and avail +thyself of life, before they proclaim it as an event that such a person +is not left." + + +III + +I have heard of a king's son who was short and mean, and his other +brothers were lofty in stature and handsome. On one occasion the king, +his father, looked at him with disparagement and scorn. The son, in his +sagacity, understood him and said, "O father! a short wise man is +preferable to a tall blockhead; it is not everything that is mightier in +stature that is superior in value:--_a sheep's flesh is wholesome, that +of an elephant carrion_.--_Of the mountains of this earth Sinai is one +of the least, yet is it most mighty before God in state and +dignity_.--Heardst thou not what an intelligent lean man said one day to +a sleek fat dolt? An Arab horse, notwithstanding his slim make, is more +prized thus than a herd of asses." + +The father smiled; the pillars of the state, or courtiers, nodded their +assent, and the other brothers were mortified to the quick. Till a man +has declared his mind, his virtue and vice may have lain hidden; do not +conclude that the thicket is unoccupied, peradventure the tiger is gone +asleep! + +I have heard that about that time a formidable antagonist appeared +against the king. Now that an army was levied in each side, the first +person that mounted his horse and sallied upon the plain was that son, +and he exclaimed: "I cannot be that man whose back thou mayest see on +the day of battle, but am him thou mayest descry amidst the thick of it, +with my head covered with dust and blood; for he that engages in the +contest sports with his own blood, but he who flees from it sports with +the blood of an army on the day of fight." He so spoke, assaulting the +enemy's cavalry, and overthrew some renowned warriors. When he came +before the king he kissed the earth of obeisance, and said, "O thou, who +didst view my body with scorn, whilst not aware of valor's rough +exterior, it is the lean steed that will prove of service, and not the +fatted ox, on the day of battle." + +They have reported that the enemy's cavalry was immense, and those of +the king few in number; a body of them was inclined to fly, when the +youth called aloud, and said, "Be resolute, my brave men, that you may +not have to wear the apparel of women!" The troops were more courageous +on this speech, and attacked altogether. I have heard that on that day +they obtained a complete victory over the enemy. The king kissed his +face and eyes, and folded him in his arms, and became daily more +attached to him, till he declared him heir-apparent to the throne. The +brothers bore him a grudge, and put poison into his food. His sister saw +this from a window, and closed the shutter; and the boy understood the +sign, and withdrew his hand from the dish, and said, "It is hard that +the virtuous should perish and that the vicious should occupy their +places." Were the homayi, or phoenix, to be extinct in the world, none +would take refuge under the shadow of an owl. They informed the father +of this event; he sent for the brothers and rebuked them, as they +deserved. Then he made a division of his domains, and gave a suitable +portion to each, that discontent might cease; but the ferment was +increased, as they have said: Ten dervishes can sleep on one rug, but +two kings cannot be accommodated in a whole kingdom. When a man after +God's heart can eat the moiety of his loaf, the other moiety he will +give in alms to the poor. A king may acquire the sovereignty of one +climate or empire; and he will in like manner covet the possession of +another. + + +IV + +A horde of Arab robbers had possessed themselves of the fastness of a +mountain, and waylaid the track of the caravan. The yeomanry of the +villages were frightened at their stratagems, and the king's troops +alarmed, inasmuch as they had secured an impregnable fortress on the +summit of the mountain, and made this stronghold their retreat and +dwelling. + +The superintendents of the adjacent districts consulted together about +obviating their mischief, saying: If they are in this way left to +improve their fortune, any opposition to them may prove impracticable. +The tree that has just taken root, the strength of one man may be able +to extract; but leave it to remain thus for a time, and the machinery of +a purchase may fail to eradicate it: the leak at the dam-head might have +been stopped with a plug, while, now it has a vent, we cannot ford its +current on an elephant. + +Finally it was determined that they should set a spy over them, and +watch an opportunity when they had made a sally upon another tribe, and +left their citadel unguarded. Some companies of able warriors and +experienced troops were sent, that they might conceal themselves in the +recesses of the mountain. At night, when the robbers were returned, +jaded with their march and laden with spoil, and had stripped themselves +of their armor, and deposited their plunder, the foremost enemy they had +to encounter was sleep. Now that the first watch of night was +gone:--"the disc of the sun was withdrawn into a shade, and Jonas had +stepped into the fish's mouth "--the bold-hearted warriors sprang from +their ambush and secured the robbers by pinioning them one after +another. + +In the morning they presented them at the royal tribunal, and the king +gave an order to put the whole to death. There happened to be among them +a stripling, the fruit of whose early spring was ripening in its bloom, +and the flower-garden of his cheek shooting into blossom. One of the +vizirs kissed the foot of the imperial throne, and laid the face of +intercession on the ground, and said, "This boy has not yet tasted the +fruit of the garden of life, nor enjoyed the fragrance of the flowers of +youth: such is my confidence in the generous disposition of his Majesty +that it will favor a devoted servant by sparing his blood." The king +turned his face away from this speech; as it did not accord with his +lofty way of thinking, he replied:--"The rays of the virtuous cannot +illuminate such as are radically vicious; to give education to the +worthless is like throwing walnuts upon a dome:--it were wiser to +eradicate the tree of their wickedness, and annihilate their tribe; for +to put out a fire and leave the embers, and to kill a viper and foster +its young, would not be the acts of rational beings. Though the clouds +pour down the water of vegetation, thou canst never gather fruit from a +willow twig. Exalt not the fortune of the abject, for thou canst never +extract sugar from a mat or common cane." + +The vizir listened to this speech; willingly or not he approved of it, +and applauded the good sense of the king, and said:--"What his majesty, +whose dominion is eternal, is pleased to remark is the mirror of probity +and essence of good policy, for had he been brought up in the society of +those vagabonds, and confined to their service, he would have followed +their vicious courses. Your servant, however, trusts that he may be +instructed to associate with the virtuous, and take to the habits of the +prudent; for he is still a child, and the lawless and refractory +principles of that gang cannot have yet tainted his mind; and it is in +tradition that--_Whatever child is born, and he is verily born after the +right way of orthodoxy, namely Islamism, afterwards his father and his +mother bring him up as a Jew, Christian, or Guebre_.--The wife of Lot +associated with the wicked, and her posterity failed in the gift of +prophecy; the dog of the seven sleepers (at Ephesus) for some time took +the path of the righteous, and became a rational being." + +He said this, and a body of the courtiers joined him in intercession, +till the king acceded to the youth's pardon, and answered: "I gave him +up, though I saw not the good of it.--Knowest thou what Zal said to the +heroic Rustem: 'Thou must not consider thy foe as abject and helpless. I +have often found a small stream at the fountain-head, which, when +followed up, carried away the camel and its load.'" + +In short, the vizir took the boy home, and educated him with kindness +and liberality. And he appointed him masters and tutors, who taught him +the graces of logic and rhetoric, and all manner of courtier +accomplishments, so that he met general approbation. On one occasion the +vizir was detailing some instances of his proficiency and talents in the +royal presence, and saying: "The instruction of the wise has made an +impression upon him, and his former savageness is obliterated from his +mind." The king smiled at this speech, and replied:--"The whelp of a +wolf must prove a wolf at last, notwithstanding he may be brought up by +a man." + +Two years after this a gang of city vagabonds got about him, and joined +in league, till on an opportunity he murdered the vizir and his two +sons; and, carrying off an immense booty, he took up the station of his +father in the den of thieves, and became a hardened villain. The king +was apprised of this event; and, seizing the hand of amazement with the +teeth of regret, said:--"How can any person manufacture a tempered sabre +from base iron; nor can a base-born man, O wiseacre, be made a gentleman +by any education! Rain, in the purity of whose nature there is no +anomaly, cherishes the tulip in the garden and common weed in the +salt-marsh. Waste not thy labor in scattered seed upon a briny soil, for +it can never be made to yield spikenard; to confer a favor on the wicked +is of a like import, as if thou didst an injury to the good." + + +V + +At the gate of Oghlamish Patan, King of Delhi, I (namely Sa'di) saw an +officer's son, who, in his wit and learning, wisdom and understanding, +surpassed all manner of encomium. In the prime of youth, he at the same +time bore on his forehead the traces of ripe age, and exhibited on his +cheek the features of good fortune:--"Above his head, from his prudent +conduct, the star of superiority shone conspicuous." + +In short, it was noticed with approbation by the king that he possessed +bodily accomplishments and mental endowments. And sages have remarked +that worth rests not on riches, but on talents; and the discretion of +age, not in years, but on good sense. His comrades envied his good +fortune, charged him with disaffection, and vainly attempted to have him +put to death:--"but what can the rival effect so long as the charmer is +our friend?" + +The king asked, saying, "Why do they show such a disinclination to do +you justice?" He replied: "Under the shadow of his majesty's good +fortune I have pleased everybody, excepting the envious man, who is not +to be satisfied but with a decline of my success; and let the prosperity +and dominion of my lord the king be perpetual!" I can so manage as to +give umbrage to no man's heart; but what can I do with the envious man, +who harbors within himself the cause of his own chagrin? Die, O ye +envious, that ye may get a deliverance; for this is such an evil that +you can get rid of it only by death. Men soured by misfortune anxiously +desire that the state and fortune of the prosperous may decline; if the +eye of the bat is not suited for seeing by day, how can the fountain of +the sun be to blame? Dost thou require the truth? It were better a +thousand such eyes should suffer, rather than that the light of the sun +were obscured. + + +VI + +They tell a story of a Persian king who had stretched forth the arm of +oppression over the subjects' property, and commenced a system of +violence and rapacity to such a degree that the people emigrated to +avoid the vexatiousness of his tyranny, and took the road of exile to +escape the annoyance of his extortions. Now that the population was +diminished and the resources of the state had failed, the treasury +remained empty, and enemies gathered strength on all sides. Whoever may +expect a comforter on the day of adversity, say, let him practise +humanity during the season of prosperity; if not treated cordially, thy +devoted slave will forsake thee; show him kindness and affection, and +the stranger may become the slave of thy devotion. + +One day they were reading, in his presence, from the Sháh Námeh, of the +tyrant Zohák's declining dominion and the succession of Feridún. The +vizir asked the king, saying: "Can you so far comprehend that Feridún +had no revenue, domain, or army, and how the kingdom came to be +confirmed with him?" He answered: "As you have heard, a body of people +collected about him from attachment, and gave their assistance till he +acquired a kingdom." The vizir said: "Since, O sire, a gathering of the +people is the means of forming a kingdom, how come you in fact to cause +their dispersion unless it be that you covet not a sovereignty? So far +were good that thou wouldst patronize the army with all thy heart, for a +king with an army constitutes a principality." The king asked: "What are +the best means of collecting an army and yeomanry?" He replied: +"Munificence is the duty of a king, that the people may assemble around +him, and clemency, that they may rest secure under the asylum of his +dominion and fortune, neither of which you have. A tyrant cannot govern +a kingdom, for the duty of a shepherd is not expected from the wolf. A +king that can anyhow be accessory to tyranny will undermine the wall of +his own sovereignty." + +The advice of the prudent minister did not accord with the disposition +of the king. He ordered him to be confined, and immured him in a +dungeon. It soon came to pass that the sons of the king's uncle rose in +opposition, levied an army in support of their pretensions, and claimed +the sovereignty of their father. A host of the people, who had cruelly +suffered under the arm of his extortion and were dispersed, gathered +around and succored them till they dispossessed him of his kingdom and +established them in his stead. That king who can approve of tyrannizing +over the weak will find his friend a bitter foe in the day of hardship. +Deal fairly with thy subjects, and rest easy about the warfare of thine +enemies, for with an upright prince his yeomanry is an army. + + * * * * * + + +VIII + +They asked Hormuz, son of Nushirowan, "What fault did you find with your +father's ministers that you ordered them into confinement?" He replied: +"I saw no fault that might deserve imprisonment; yet I perceived that +any reverence for me makes a slight impression on their minds, and that +they put no implicit reliance on my promise. I feared lest from an +apprehension of their own safety they might conspire my ruin; +therefore, put in practice that maxim of philosophers who have told us: +'Stand in awe, O wise man, of him who stands in awe of thee, +notwithstanding thou canst cope with a hundred such as he. Therefore +will the snake bite the herdsman's foot, because it fears that he will +bruise its head with a stone. Seest thou not that now that the cat is +desperate it will tear out the tiger's eyes with its claws.'" + + +IX + +In his old age an Arab king was grievously sick, and had no hopes of +recovery, when, lo! a messenger on horseback presented himself at the +palace-gate, and joyfully announced, saying: "Under his majesty's good +fortune we have taken such a stronghold, made the enemy prisoners of +war, and reduced all the landholders and vassals of that quarter to +obedience as subjects." On hearing this news the king fetched a cold +sigh, and answered: "These glad tidings are not intended for me but for +my rivals, namely, the heirs of the sovereignty. My precious life has, +alas! been wasted in the hope that what my heart chiefly coveted might +enter at my gate. My bounden hope was gratified; yet what do I benefit +by that? There is no hope that my passed life can return. The hand of +death beats the drum of departure. Yes, my two eyes, you must bid adieu +to my head. Yes, palm of my hand, wrist, and arm, all of you say +farewell, and each take leave of the other. Death has overtaken me to +the gratification of my foes; and you, O my friends, must at last be +going. My days were blazed away in folly; what I did not do let you take +warning (and do)." + + +X + +At the metropolitan mosque of Damascus I was one year fervent in prayer +over the tomb of Yahiya, or John the Baptist and prophet, on whom be +God's blessing, when one of the Arab princes, who was notorious for his +injustice, chanced to arrive on a pilgrimage, and he put up his +supplication, asked a benediction, and craved his wants.--The rich and +poor are equally the devoted slaves of this shrine, and the richer they +are the more they stand in need of succor. Then he spoke to me, saying: +"In conformity with the generous resolution of dervishes and their +sincere zeal, you will, I trust, unite with me in prayer, for I have +much to fear from a powerful enemy." I answered him, "Have compassion on +your own weak subjects, that you may not see disquiet from a strong foe. +With a mighty arm and heavy hand it is dastardly to wrench the wrists of +poor and helpless. Is he not afraid who is hardhearted with the fallen +that if he slip his foot nobody will take him by the hand?--Whoever +sowed the seed of vice and expected a virtuous produce, pampered a vain +brain and encouraged an idle whim. Take the cotton from thy ear and do +mankind justice, for if thou refusest them justice there is a day of +retribution. The sons of Adam are members one of another, for in their +creation they have a common origin. If the vicissitudes of fortune +involve one member in pain, all the other members will feel a sympathy. +Thou, who art indifferent to other men's affliction, if they call thee a +man art unworthy of the name." + + +XI + +A dervish, whose prayers had a ready acceptance (with God), made his +appearance at Bagdad. Hojaj Yusuf (a great tyrant) sent for him and +said: "Put up a good prayer for me." He prayed, "O God! take from him +his life!" Hojaj said, "For God's sake, what manner of prayer is this?" +He answered: "It is a salutary prayer for you, and for the whole sect of +Mussulmans.--O mighty sir, thou oppressor of the feeble, how long can +this violence remain marketable? For what purpose came the sovereignty +to thee? Thy death were preferable to thy tyrannizing over mankind." + + +XII + +An unjust king asked a holy man, saying, "What is more excellent than +prayers?" He answered: "For you to remain asleep till mid-day, that for +this one interval you might not afflict mankind."--I saw a tyrant lying +dormant at noon, and said, "This is mischief, and is best lulled to +sleep. It were better that such a reprobate were dead whose state of +sleep is preferable to his being awake." + + +XIII + +I have heard of a king who had turned night into day in the midst of +conviviality, and in the gayety of intoxication was exclaiming--"I never +was in this life happier than at this present moment, for I have no +thought of evil or good, and care for nobody!"--A naked dervish, who had +taken up his rest in the cold outside, answered--"O thou, who in good +fortune hast not thy equal in the world, I admit that thou hast no cause +of care for thyself, but hast thou none for us?"--The king was pleased +at this speech. He put a purse of a thousand dinars out at the window, +and said: "O dervish! hold up your skirt." He replied, "Where can I find +a skirt, who have not a garment." The king was still more touched at the +hardship of his condition, and adding an honorary dress to that +donation, sent them out to him. + +The dervish squandered all that ready cash within a few days, and +falling again into distress, returned.--"Money makes no stay in the hand +of a religious independent; neither does patience in a lover's heart, +nor water in a sieve."--At a time when the king had no thought about +him, they obtruded his case, and he took offence and turned away his +face. And it is on such an occasion that men of prudence and experience +have remarked that it behooves us to guard against the wrath and fury of +kings, whose noble thoughts are chiefly occupied with important affairs +of state, and cannot endure the importunate clamors of the vulgar.--The +bounty of the sovereign is forbid to him who does not watch a proper +opportunity. Till thou canst perceive a convenient time for obtruding an +opinion, undermine not thy consequence by idle talk.--The king said, +"Let this impudent beggar and spendthrift be beaten and driven away, who +in a short time dissipated such a sum of money, for the treasury of the +Beat-al-mal, or charity fund, is intended to afford mouthfuls to the +poor, and not bellyfuls to the imps of the devil.--That fool who can +illuminate the day with a camphorated taper must soon feel a want of oil +for his lamp at night." + +One of his discreet ministers said: "O king, it were expedient to supply +such people with their means of subsistence by instalments, that they +may not squander their absolute necessaries; but, with respect to what +your majesty commanded as to coercion and prohibition, though it be +correct, a party might impute it to parsimony. Nor does it moreover +accord with the principles of the generous to encourage a man to hope +for kindness and then overwhelm him with heartbreaking distrust:--Thou +must not open upon thyself the door of covetousness; and when opened, +thou must not shut it with harshness.--Nobody will see the thirsty +pilgrims crowding towards the shore of the briny ocean; but men, birds, +and reptiles will flock together wherever they can meet a fresh water +fountain." + + +XIV + +One of the ancient kings was easy with the yeomanry in collecting his +revenue, but hard on the soldiery in his issue of pay; and when a +formidable enemy showed its face, these all turned their +backs.--Whenever the king is remiss in paying his troops, the troops +will relax in handling their arms. What bravery can he display in the +ranks of battle whose hand is destitute of the means of living? + +One of those who had excused themselves was in some sort my intimate. I +reproached him and said, "He is base and ungrateful, mean and +disreputable who, on a trifling change of circumstances, can desert his +old master and forget his obligation of many years' employment." He +replied: "Were I to speak out, I swear by generosity you would excuse +me. Peradventure, my horse was without corn, and the housings of his +saddle in pawn.--And the prince who, through parsimony, withholds his +army's pay cannot expect it to enter heartily upon his service."--Give +money to the gallant soldier that he may be zealous in thy cause, for if +he is stinted of his due he will go abroad for service.--_So long as a +warrior is replenished with food he will fight valiantly, and when his +belly is empty he will run away sturdily_. + + +XV + +One of the vizirs was displaced, and withdrew into a fraternity of +dervishes, whose blessed society made its impression upon him and +afforded consolation to his mind. The king was again favorably disposed +towards him, and offered his reinstatement in office; but he consented +not, and said, "With the wise it is deemed preferable to be out of +office than to remain in place.--Such as sat within the cell of +retirement blunted the teeth of dogs, and shut the mouths of mankind; +they destroyed their writings, and broke their writing reeds, and +escaped the lash and venom of the critics."--The king answered: "At all +events I require a prudent and able man, who is capable of managing the +state affairs of my kingdom." The ex-minister said: "The criterion, O +sire, of a wise and competent man is that he will not meddle with such +like matters.--The homayi, or phoenix, is honored above all other birds +because it feeds on bones, and injures no living creature." + +A Tamsil, or application in point.--They asked a Siyah-gosh, or +lion-provider, "Why do you choose the service of the lion?" He answered: +"Because I subsist on the leavings of his prey, and am secure from the +ill-will of my enemies under the asylum of his valor." They said: "Now +you have got within the shadow of his protection and admit a grateful +sense of his bounty, why do you not approach more closely, that he may +include you within the circle of select courtiers and number you among +his chosen servants?" He replied, "I should not thus be safe from his +violence."--Though a Guebre may keep his fire alight for a hundred +years, if he fall once within its flame it will burn him.--_Procul à +Jove, procul à fulmine_. It on one occasion may chance that the courtier +of the king's presence shall pick up a purse of gold, and the next that +he shall lie shorter by the head. And philosophers have remarked, +saying, "It is incumbent on us to be constantly aware of the fickle +dispositions of kings, who will one moment take offence at a salutation, +and at another make an honorary dress the return for an act of rudeness; +and they have said, That to be over much facetious is the accomplishment +of courtiers and blemish of the wise.--Be wary, and preserve the state +of thine own character, and leave sport and buffoonery to jesters and +courtiers." + + +XVI + +One of my associates brought me a complaint of his perverse fortune, +saying, "I have small means and a large family, and cannot bear up with +my load of poverty. Often has a thought crossed my mind, suggesting, Let +me remove into another country, that in whatever way I can manage a +livelihood none may be informed of my good or bad luck."--(Often he +went asleep hungry, and nobody was aware, saying, "Who is he?" Often did +his life hang upon his lip, and none lamented over him.)--"On the other +hand, I reflect on the exultation of my rivals, saying, They will +scoffingly sneer behind my back, and impute my zeal in behalf of my +family to a want of humanity.--Do but behold that graceless vagabond who +can never witness the face of good fortune. He will consult the ease of +his own person and abandon to distress his wife and children.--And, as +is known, I have some small skill in the science of accounts. If, +through your respected interest, any office can be obtained that may be +the means of quieting my mind, I shall not, during the remainder of +life, be able to express my sense of its gratitude." + +I replied, "O brother, the service of kings offers a twofold prospect--a +hope of maintenance and a fear for existence; and it accords not with +the counsel of the wise, under that expectation, to incur this risk.--No +tax-gatherer will enter the dervish's abode, saying, Pay me the rent of +a field and orchard; either put up with trouble and chagrin, or give thy +heartstrings to the crows to pluck." + +He said, "This speech is not made as applicable to my case, nor have you +given me a categorical answer. Have you not heard what has been +remarked, 'His hand will tremble on rendering his account who has been +accessory to a dishonest act.--Righteousness will insure the divine +favor; I never met him going astray who took the righteous path.'--And +philosophers have said, 'Four orders of people are mortally afraid of +four others--the revenue embezzler, of the king; the thief, of the +watchman; the fornicator, of the eavesdropper; and the adulteress, of +the censor.' But what has he to fear from the comptroller who has a fair +set of account-books?--'Be not extravagant and corrupt while in office +if thou wishest that the malice of thy rival may be circumscribed on +settling thy accounts. Be undefiled, O brother, in thy integrity, and +fear nobody; washermen will beat only dirty clothes against a stone.'" + +I replied, "The story of that fox suits your case, which they saw +running away, stumbling and getting up. Somebody asked him, 'What +calamity has happened to put you in such a state of trepidation?' He +said, 'I have heard that they are putting a camel in requisition.' The +other answered, 'O silly animal! what connection has a camel with you, +or what resemblance is there between you and it?' He said, 'Be silent; +for were the envious from malevolence to insist that this is a camel, +and I should be seized for one, who would be so solicitous about me as +to inquire into my case?' And before they can bring the antidote from +Irac the person bitten by the snake may be dead. In like manner, you +possess knowledge and integrity, discrimination and probity, yet spies +lie in ambush, and informers lurk in corners, who, notwithstanding your +moral rectitude, will note down the opposite; and should you anyhow +stand arraigned before the king, and occupy the place of his +reprehension, who in that state would step forward in your defence? +Accordingly, I would advise that you should secure the kingdom of +contentment, and give up all thoughts of preferment. As the wise have +said:--'The benefits of a sea voyage are innumerable; but if thou +seekest for safety, it is to be found only on shore.'" + +My friend listened to this speech; he got into a passion, cavilled at my +fable, and began to question it with warmth and asperity, saying, "What +wisdom or propriety, good sense or morality, is there in this? Here is +verified that maxim of the sage, which tells us they are friends alone +that can serve us in a jail, for all our enemies may pretend friendship +at our own table.--'Esteem him not a friend who during thy prosperity +will brag of his love and brotherly affection.' I account him a friend +who will take his friend by the hand when struggling with despair, and +overwhelmed with misfortune." + +I perceived within myself, saying, "He is disturbed, and listens to my +advice with impatience;" and, having called the sahib diwan, or lord +high treasurer, in virtue of a former intimacy that subsisted between +us, I stated his case and spoke so fully upon his skill and merits, that +he put him in nomination for a trifling office. After some time, having +adverted to his kindly disposition and approved of his good management, +his promotion was in train, and he got confirmed in a much higher +station. Thus was the star of his good fortune in ascension, till it +rose into the zenith of ambition; and he became the favorite of his +majesty the king, towards whom all turned for counsel, and upon whom all +eyes rested their hopes! I rejoiced at this prosperous change of his +affairs, and said:--"Repine not at thy bankrupt circumstances, nor let +thy heart despond, for the fountain of immortality has its source of +chaos.--_Take heed, O brother in affliction! and be not disheartened, +for God has in store many hidden mercies_.--Sit not down soured at the +revolutions of the times, for patience is bitter, yet it will yield +sweet fruit." + +At that juncture I happened to accompany a party of friends on a journey +to Hijaz, or Arabia Petraea. On my return from the pilgrimage to Mecca, +he came out two stages to meet me. I perceived that his outward plight +was wretched, and his garb that of dervishes. I asked, "How is this?" He +replied, "Just as you said, a faction bore me a grudge and charged me +with malpractices; and the king, be his reign eternal, would not +investigate the truth of that charge, and my old and best friends stood +aloof from my defence, and overlooked my claims on our former +acquaintance.--When, through an act of God, a man has fallen, the whole +world will put their feet upon his neck; when they see that fortune has +taken him by the hand, they will put their hands upon their breasts, and +be loud in his praise.--In short, I underwent all manner of persecution +till within this week, that the tidings of the safe return of the +pilgrims reached us, when I got a release from my heavy durance and a +confiscation of my hereditary tenements." I said, "At that time you did +not listen to my admonition, when I warned you that the service of +princes is, like a voyage at sea, profitable but hazardous: you either +get a treasure or perish miserably.--The merchant gains the shore with +gold in both his hands, or a wave will one day leave him dead on its +beach."--Not deeming it generous any further to irritate a poor man's +wound with the asperity of reproach, or to sprinkle his sore with the +salt of harsh words, I made a summary conclusion in these two verses, +and said:--"Wert thou not aware that thou shouldst find fetters on thy +feet when thou wouldst not listen to the generous man's counsel? Thrust +not again thy finger into a scorpion's hole till thou canst endure the +pain of its sting." + + +XVII + +I was the companion of a holy fraternity, whose manners were correct +from piety, and minds disciplined from probity. An eminent prince +entertained a high and respectful opinion of the worth of this +brotherhood, and had assigned it an endowment. Perhaps one of them +committed an act unworthy of the character of dervishes; for the good +opinion of that personage was forfeited, and the market of their support +shut. I wished that I could by any means re-establish the maintenance of +my friends, and attempted to wait on the great man; but his porter +opposed my entrance, and turned me away with rudeness. I excused him +conformably with what the witty have said:--"Till thou canst take an +introduction along with thee approach not the gate of a prince, vizir, +or lord; for the dog and the doorkeeper, on espying a beggar, will the +one seize his skirt and the other his collar." + +When the favorite attendants of that great man were aware of my +situation, they ushered me into his presence with respect, and offered +me the highest seat; but in humility I took the lowest, and said: +"Permit that I, the slave of the abject, should seat myself on a level +with servants."--The great man answered, "My God, my God! what room is +there for this speech? Wert thou to seat thyself upon the pupil of mine +eye, I would court thy dalliance, for thou art lovely." + +In short, I took my seat, and entered upon a variety of topics, till the +indiscretion of my friends was brought upon the carpet, when I said: +"What fault did the lord of past munificence remark, that his servant +should seem so contemptible in his sight? Individually with God is the +perfection of majesty and goodness, who can discern our failings and +continue to us his support." When the prince heard this sentiment he +subscribed to its omnipotence; and, with regard to the stipendiary +allowance of my friends, he ordered its continuance as heretofore, and a +faithful discharge of all arrears. I thanked him for his generosity, +kissed the dust of obeisance, apologized for my boldness, and at the +moment of taking my leave, added: "When the fane of the Caabah, at +Mecca, became their object from a far distant land, pilgrims would hurry +on to visit it for many farsangs. It behooves thee to put up with such +as we are, for nobody will throw a stone at a tree that bears no +fruit." + + +XVIII + +A prince inherited immense riches by succeeding to his father. He opened +the hand of liberality, displayed his munificence, and bestowed +innumerable gifts upon his troops and people. "The brain will not be +perfumed by a censer of green aloes-wood; place it over the fire that it +may diffuse fragrance like ambergris. If ambitious of a great name, make +a practice of munificence, for the crop will not shoot till thou shalt +sow the seed." + +A narrow-minded courtier began to admonish him, saying, "Verily, former +sovereigns have collected this wealth with scrupulosity and stored it +advisedly. Check your hand in this waste, for accidents wait ahead, and +foes lurk behind. God forbid that you should want it on a day of +need.--Wert thou to distribute the contents of a granary among the +people, every master of a family might receive a grain of rice; why not +exact a grain of silver from each, that thou mightest daily hoard a +chamber full of treasure?" + +The prince turned his face aside from this speech, so contrary to his +own lofty sentiments, and harshly reprimanded him, saying, "A great and +glorious God made me sovereign of this property, that I might enjoy and +spend it; and posted me not a sentinel, to hoard and watch over +it.--Carown perished, who possessed forty magazines of treasure; +Nushirowan died not, who left behind him a fair reputation." + + +XIX + +They have related that at a hunting seat they were roasting some game +for Nushirowan, and as there was no salt they were despatching a servant +to the village to fetch some. Nushirowan called to him, saying, "Take it +at its fair price, and not by force, lest a bad precedent be established +and the village desolated." They asked, "What damage can ensue from this +trifle?" He answered, "Originally, the basis of oppression in this world +was small, and every newcomer added to it, till it reached to its +present extent:--Let the monarch eat but one apple from a peasant's +orchard, and his guards, or slaves, will pull up the tree by its root. +From the plunder of five eggs, that the king shall sanction, his troops +will stick a thousand fowls on their spits." + + +XX + +I have heard of a revenue-collector who would distrain the huts of the +peasantry, that he might enrich the treasury of the sovereign, +regardless of that maxim of the wise, who have said, "Whoever can offend +the Most High, that he may gain the heart of a fellow-creature, God on +high will instigate that creature against him, till he dig out the +foundation of his fortune:--That crackling in the flame is not caused by +burning rue, but it is the sigh of the afflicted that occasions it." + +They say, of all animals the lion is the chief; and of beasts the ass is +the meanest; yet, with the concurrence of the wise, the burden-bearing +ass is preferable to the man-devouring lion. "The poor ass, though +devoid of understanding, will be held precious when carrying a burden; +oxen and asses that carry loads are preferable to men that injure their +fellow-creatures." + +The king had reported to him a part of his nefarious conduct. He put him +to the rack, and tortured him to death. "Thou canst not obtain the +sovereign's approbation till thou make sure of the good-will of his +people. Wishest thou that God shall be bountiful to thee, be thou good +thyself to the creatures of God." + +One who had suffered from his oppression passed him at the time of his +execution, and said: "It is not every man that may have the strong arm +of high station, that can in his government take an immoderate freedom +with the subjects' property. It is possible to cram a bone down the +throat, but when it sticks at the navel it will burst open the belly." + + +XXI + +They tell a story of an evil-disposed person who struck a pious good man +on the head with a stone. Having no power of revenge, the dervish was +keeping the stone by him till an occasion when the sovereign let loose +the army of his wrath, and cast him into a dungeon. The poor man went up +and flung that stone at his head. The person spoke to him, saying, "Who +are you, and why did you throw this stone at my head?" He answered, "I +am that poor man, and this is the same stone that you on a certain +occasion flung at my head." He said, "Where have you been all this +time?" The poor man answered, "I stood in awe of your high station, but +now that I find you in a dungeon, I avail myself of the opportunity, as +they have said--'Whilst they saw the worthless man in prosperity, the +wise thought proper to show him respect. Now thou hast not sharp and +tearing nails, it is prudent for thee to defer to engage with the +wicked. Whoever grappled with a steel-armed wrist exposed his own silver +arm to torture. Wait till fortune can manacle his hands, then beat out +his brains to the satisfaction of thy friends.'" + + * * * * * + + +XXIII + +One of King Umraw-layas's slaves had absconded, and people that went +after him brought him back. The vizir, who had a dislike to him, used +his interest to have him put to death, that the other slaves (as he +pretended) might not commit the same offence. The poor slave fell at +Umraw-layas's feet, and said: "Whatever may befall me, if thou approve +of it, it is so far proper. What plea can a vassal offer against his +lord and master's decree?--Nevertheless, inasmuch as I am the nurtured +gift of this house, I could not wish that on the last day's reckoning my +blood should stand charged to your account. If, at all events, you are +resolved to put this your slave to death, let it be done with a plea of +legality, that you may not be censured at the day of resurrection." The +king asked, "How can I set up a legal plea?" He replied, "Issue your +command that I may kill the vizir, then give an order to put me to death +in retaliation for him, that you may kill me according to law!" The king +smiled and asked the vizir, "What is your advice in this case?" The +vizir said, "O sovereign of the world! I beg, for the sake of God, that +you will manumit this audacious fellow as a propitiation at the tomb of +your forefathers, lest he also involve me in calamity. The fault was on +my side, in not doing justice to the saying of the wise, who have warned +us:--'When thou didst enter the lists with a practised slinger, in thy +want of skill thou exposest thine own head to be broken. When thou didst +discharge thine arrow at thy antagonist's face thou shouldst have been +upon thy guard, for thou hadst become his butt.'" + + +XXIV + +King Zuzan had a minister of a generous spirit and kindly disposition, +who was polite to all persons while present, and spoke well of them when +absent. One of his acts happened to displease the king, who put him +under stoppages, and in rigorous confinement. The officers of the crown +were sensible of his former benefits, and pledged to show their +gratitude of them. Accordingly, whilst under their charge, they treated +him with courtesy and benevolence, and would not use any coercion or +violence:--"If thou desirest to remain at peace with a rival, whenever +he slanders thee behind thy back speak well of him to his face. The +perverse man cavils for the last word; unless thou preferest his bitter +remarks, make his mouth sweet." + +Of the charge against him at the king's exchequer, part had been +adjusted according to its settlement, and he remained in durance for the +balance. A bordering prince sent him underhand a letter, stating, "The +sovereign of that quarter has not appreciated such worth, nay, has +dishonored it, and with us it bore a heavy price. If the precious mind +of a certain personage, may God facilitate his deliverance, will incline +favorably towards us, every possible exertion shall be made to +conciliate his good-will, and the cabinet ministers of this kingdom are +exulting in the prospect of seeing him, and anxious for the answer of +this letter." The minister made himself master of the contents. He +pondered on the danger, wrote such a brief answer as seemed discreet +upon the back of the letter, and returned it. One of the hangers-on at +court had notice of this circumstance. He apprised the king, saying, "A +certain person whom you have put in confinement is corresponding with a +neighboring prince." The king was wroth, and ordered an investigation of +this intelligence. The messenger was seized, and letter read. On the +back of it he had written, stating, "The good opinion of his Majesty +exceeds the merits of this slave; but the honored approbation he has +bestowed upon a servant cannot possibly have his consent, for he is the +fostered gift of this house, and he cannot, on a trifling change of +affection, betray his ancient benefactor and patron.--Though once in his +life he may grate thee with harshness, excuse him who on every occasion +else has soothed thee with kindness." The king commended his fidelity, +bestowed on him an honorary dress and largess, and made his excuses, +saying, "I was to blame, that could do you an injury." He replied, "In +this instance, my lord, your servant sees no blame that attaches to you; +but such was the ordination of God, whose name was glorified, that this +your devoted slave should verily be overtaken with a calamity. +Accordingly, it is more tolerable at the hand of you, who possess the +rights of past good, and have claims of gratitude on this servant:--Be +not offended with mankind should any mischief assail thee, for neither +pleasure nor pain originate with thy fellow-being. Know that the +contrariety of foe and friend proceeds from God, and that the hearts of +both are at his disposal. Though the arrow may seem to issue from the +bow, the intelligent can see that the archer gave it its aim." + + +XXV + +I have heard that one of the kings of Arabia directed the officers of +his treasury, saying, "You will double a certain person's salary, +whatever it may be, for he is constant in attendance and ready for +orders, while the other courtiers are diverted by play, and negligent of +their duty." A good and holy man overheard this, and heaved a sigh and +groan from the bottom of his bosom. They asked, saying, "What vision did +you see?" He replied, "The exalted mansions of his devoted servants will +be after this manner portioned out at the judgment-seat of a Most High +and Mighty Deity!--If for two mornings a person is assiduous about the +person of the king, on the third he will in some shape regard him with +affection. The sincerely devout exist in the hope that they shall not +depart disappointed from God's threshold. The rank of a prince is the +reward of obedience. Disobedience to command is a proof of rejection. +Whoever has the aspect of the upright and good will lay the face of duty +at this threshold." + + +XXVI + +They tell a story of a tyrant who bought fire-wood from the poor at a +low price, and sold it to the rich at an advance. A good and holy man +went up to him and said, "Thou art a snake, who bitest everybody thou +seest; or an owl, who diggest up and makest a ruin of the place where +thou sittest:--Although thy injustice may pass unpunished among us, it +cannot escape God, the knower of secrets. Be not unjust with the people +of this earth, that their complaints may not rise up to heaven." + +They say the unjust man was offended at his words, turned aside his +face, and showed him no civility, as they have expressed it (in the +Koran):--_He, the glorified God, overtook him amidst his sins_:--till +one night, when the fire of his kitchen fell upon the stack of wood, +consumed all his property, and laid him from the bed of voluptuousness +upon the ashes of hell torments. That good and holy man happened to be +passing and observed that he was remarking to his friends, "I cannot +fancy whence this fire fell upon my dwelling." He said, "From the smoke +of the hearts of the poor!--Guard against the smoke of the +sore-afflicted heart, for an inside sore will at last gather into a +head. Give nobody's heart pain so long as thou canst avoid it, for one +sigh may set a whole world into a flame." + +They have related that these verses were inscribed in golden letters +upon Kai-khosráu's crown:--"How many years, and what a continuance of +ages, that mankind shall on this earth walk over my head. As the kingdom +came to me from hand to hand, so it shall pass into the hands of +others." + + +XXVII + +A person had become a master in the art of wrestling; he knew three +hundred and sixty sleights in this art, and could exhibit a fresh trick +for every day throughout the year. Perhaps owing to a liking that a +corner of his heart took for the handsome person of one of his scholars, +he taught him three hundred and fifty-nine of those feats, but he was +putting off the instruction of one, and under some pretence deferring +it. + +In short the youth became such a proficient in the art and talent of +wrestling that none of his contemporaries had ability to cope with him, +till he at length had one day boasted before the reigning sovereign, +saying, "To any superiority my master possesses over me, he is beholden +to my reverence of his seniority, and in virtue of his tutorage; +otherwise I am not inferior in power, and am his equal in skill." This +want of respect displeased the king. He ordered a wrestling match to be +held, and a spacious field to be fenced in for the occasion. The +ministers of state, nobles of the court, and gallant men of the realm +were assembled, and the ceremonials of the combat marshalled. Like a +huge and lusty elephant, the youth rushed into the ring with such a +crash that had a brazen mountain opposed him he would have moved it from +its base. The master being aware that the youth was his superior in +strength, engaged him in that strange feat of which he had kept him +ignorant. The youth was unacquainted with its guard. Advancing, +nevertheless, the master seized him with both hands, and, lifting him +bodily from the ground, raised him above his head and flung him on the +earth. The crowd set up a shout. The king ordered them to give the +master an honorary dress and handsome largess, and the youth he +addressed with reproach and asperity, saying, "You played the traitor +with your own patron, and failed in your presumption of opposing him." +He replied, "O sire! my master did not overcome me by strength and +ability, but one cunning trick in the art of wrestling was left which he +was reserved in teaching me, and by that little feat had to-day the +upper hand of me." The master said, "I reserved myself for such a day as +this. As the wise have told us, 'Put it not so much into a friend's +power that, if hostilely disposed, he can do you an injury.' Have you +not heard what that man said who was treacherously dealt with by his own +pupil:--'Either in fact there was no good faith in this world, or nobody +has perhaps practised it in our days. No person learned the art of +archery from me who did not in the end make me his butt.'" + + +XXVIII + +A solitary dervish had taken up his station at the corner of a desert. A +king was passing by him. Inasmuch as contentment is the enjoyment of a +kingdom, the dervish did not raise his head, nor show him the least mark +of attention; and, inasmuch as sovereignty is regal pomp, the king took +offence, and said, "The tribe of ragged mendicants resemble brute +beasts, and have neither grace nor good manners." The vizir stepped up +to him, and said: "O generous man! the sovereign of the universe has +passed by you; why did you not do him homage, and discharge the duty of +obeisance?" He answered and said, "Speak to your sovereign, saying: +Expect service from that person who will court your favor; let him +moreover know that kings are meant for the protection of the people, and +not the people for the subjects of kings.--Though it be for their +benefit that his glory is exalted, yet is the king but the shepherd of +the poor. The sheep are not intended for the service of the shepherd, +but the shepherd is appointed to tend the sheep.--To-day thou mayest +observe one man proud from prosperity, another with a heart sore from +adversity; have patience for a few days till the dust of the grave can +consume the brain of that vain and foolish head. When the record of +destiny came to take effect, the distinction of liege and subject +disappeared. Were a person to turn up the dust of the defunct, he could +not distinguish that of the rich man from the poor." + +These sayings made a strong impression upon the king; he said: "Ask me +for something." He replied: "What I desire is, that you will not trouble +me again!" The king said, "Favor me with a piece of advice." He +answered: "Attend to them now that the good things of this life are in +thy hands; for wealth and dominion are passing from one hand into +another." + + * * * * * + + +XXX + +A king ordered an innocent person to be put to death. The man said, +"Seek not your own hurt by venting any anger you may entertain against +me." The king asked, "How?" He replied, "The pain of this punishment +will continue with me for a moment, but the sin of it will endure with +you forever.--The period of this life passes by like the wind of the +desert. Joy and sorrow, beauty and deformity, equally pass away. The +tyrant vainly thought that he did me an injury, but round his neck it +clung and passed over me." + +The king profited by this advice, spared his life, and asked his +forgiveness. + + +XXXI + +The cabinet ministers of Nushirowan were debating an important affair of +state, and each delivered his opinion according to the best of his +judgment. In like manner the king also delivered his sentiments, and +Abu-zarchamahr, the prime minister, accorded in opinion with him. The +other ministers whispered him, saying, "What did you see superior in the +king's opinion that you preferred it to the judgment of so many wise +heads?" He replied: "Because the event is doubtful, and the opinion of +all rests in the pleasure of the most high God whether it shall be right +or wrong. Accordingly it is safer to conform with the judgment of the +king, because if that shall prove wrong, our obsequiousness to his will +shall secure us from his displeasure.--To sport an opinion contrary to +the judgment of the king were to wash our hands in our own blood. Were +he verily to say this day is night, it would behoove us to reply: Lo! +there are the moon and seven stars." + + +XXXII + +An impostor plaited his hair and spake, saying, "I am a descendant of +Ali;" and he entered the city along with the caravan from Hijaz, saying, +"I come a pilgrim from Mecca;" and he presented a Casidah or elegy to +the king, saying, "I have composed it!" The king gave him money, treated +him with respect, and ordered him to be shown much flattering attention; +till one of the courtiers, who had that day returned from a voyage at +sea, said, "I saw him on the Eeduzha, or anniversary of sacrifice at +Busrah; how then can he be a Haji, or pilgrim?" Another said, "Now I +recollect him, his father was a Christian at Malatiyah (Malta); how then +can he be a descendant of Ali?" And they discovered his verses in the +divan of Anwari. The king ordered that they should beat and drive him +away, saying, "How came you to utter so many falsehoods?" He replied, "O +sovereign of the universe! I will utter one speech more, and if that may +not prove true, I shall deserve whatever punishment you may command." +The king asked, "What may that be?" He said: "If a peasant bring thee a +cup of junket, two measures of it will be water and one spoonful of it +buttermilk. If thy slave spake idly be not offended, for great +travellers deal most in the marvellous!" The king smiled and replied, +"You never in your life spake a truer word." He directed them to gratify +his expectations, and he departed happy and content. + + +XXXIII + +They have related that one of the vizirs would compassionate the weak +and meditate the good of everybody. He happened to fall under the royal +displeasure, and they all strove to obtain his release. Such as had him +in custody were indulgent in their restraint, and his fellow-grandees +were loud in proclaiming his virtues, till the king pardoned his fault. +A good and holy man was apprised of these events, and said:--"In order +to conciliate the good-will of friends, it were better to sell our +patrimonial garden; in order to boil the pot of well-wishers, it were +good to convert our household furniture into fire-wood. Do good even to +the wicked; it is as well to shut a dog's mouth with a crumb." + + +XXXIV + +One of Harun-al-Rashid's children went up to his father in a passion, +saying, "A certain officer's son has abused me in my mother's name." +Harun asked his ministers, "What ought to be such a person's +punishment?" One made a sign to have him put to death; another to have +his tongue cut out; and a third, to have him fined and banished. Harun +said: "O my child! it were generous to forgive him; but if you have not +resolution to do that, do you abuse his mother in return, yet not to +such a degree as to exceed the bounds of retaliation, for in that case +the injury would be on our part, and the complaint on that of the +antagonist.--In the opinion of the prudent he is no hero that can dare +to combat a furious elephant; but that man is in truth a hero who, when +provoked to anger, will not speak intemperately. A cross-grained fellow +abused a certain person; he bore it patiently, and said, O well-disposed +man! I am still more wicked than thou art calling me; for I know my +defects better than thou canst know them." + + +XXXV + +I was seated in a vessel, along with some persons of distinction, when a +boat sunk astern of us and two brothers were drawn into the whirlpool. +One of our gentlemen called to the pilot, saying, "Save those two +drowning men and I will give you a hundred dinars." The pilot went and +rescued one of them, but the other perished. I observed, "That man's +time was come, therefore you were tardy in assisting him, and alert in +saving this other." The pilot smiled, and replied, "What you say is the +essence of inevitable necessity; yet was my zeal more hearty in rescuing +this one, because on an occasion when I was tired in the desert he set +me on a camel; whereas, when a boy, I had received a horsewhipping from +that other."--_God Almighty was all justice and equity: whoever labored +unto good experienced good in himself; and he who toiled unto evil +experienced evil_.--So long as thou art able grate nobody's heart, for +in this path there must be thorns. Expedite the concerns of the poor and +needy; for thy own concerns may need to be expedited. + + * * * * * + + +XXXVII + +A person announced to Nushirowan the Just, saying, "I have heard that +God, glorious and great, has removed from this world a certain man who +was your enemy." He said, "Have you had any intelligence that he has +overlooked me? In the death of a rival I have no room for exultation, +since my life also is not to last forever." + + +XXXVIII + +At the court of Kisra, or Nushirowan, a cabinet council was debating +some state affair. Abu-zarchamahr, who sat as president, was silent. +They asked him, "Why do you not join us in this discussion?" He replied, +"Such ministers of state are like physicians, and a physician will +prescribe a medicine only to a sick man; accordingly, so long as I see +that your opinions are judicious, it were ill-judged in me to obtrude a +word.--While business can proceed without my interference, it does not +behoove me to speak on the subject; but were I to see a blind man +walking into a pit, I would be much to blame if I remained silent." + + +XXXIX + +When he reduced the kingdom of Misr, or Egypt, to obedience, +Harun-al-Rashid said, "In contempt of that impious rebel (Pharaoh), who, +in his pride of the sovereignty of Egypt, boasted a divinity, I will +bestow its government only on the vilest of my slaves." He had a negro +bondsman, called Khosayib, preciously stupid, and him he appointed to +rule over Egypt. They tell us that his judgment and understanding were +such, that when a body of farmers complained to him, saying, "We had +planted some cotton shrubs on the banks of the Nile, and the rains came +unseasonably, and swept them all away;"--he replied, "You ought to sow +wool, that it might not be swept away!" A good and holy man heard this, +and said: "Were our fortune to be increased in proportion to our +knowledge, none could be scantier than the share of the fool; but +fortune will bestow such wealth upon the ignorant as shall astonish a +hundred of the learned. Power and fortune depend not on knowledge, they +are obtained only through the aid of heaven; for it has often happened +in this world that the illiterate are honored, and the wise held in +scorn. The fool in his idleness found a treasure under a ruin; the +chemist, or projector, fell the victim of disappointment and chagrin." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Of the Morals of Dervishes + + +I + +A person of distinction asked a parsa, or devout and holy man, saying, +"What do you offer in justification of a certain abid, another species +of Mohammedan monk, whose character others have been so ready to +question?" He replied: "In his outward behavior I see nothing to blame, +and with the secrets of his heart I claim no acquaintance.--Whomsoever +thou seest in a parsa's habit, consider him a parsa, or holy, and esteem +him as a good man; and if thou knowest not what is passing in his mind, +what business has the mohtasib, or censor, with the inside of the +house?" + + +II + +I saw a dervish who, having laid his head at the fane of the Cabah of +Mecca, was complaining and saying, "O gracious, O merciful God! thou +knowest what can proceed from the sinful and ignorant that may be worthy +of thy acceptance!--I brought my excuse of imperfect performance, for I +have no claim on the score of obedience. The wicked repent them of their +sins; such as know God confess a deficiency of worship." + +Abids, or the pious, seek a reward of their devotion, merchants a profit +on their traffic. I, a devoted servant, have brought hope, not +obedience, and have come as a beggar, and not for lucre!--_Do unto me +what is worthy of thyself; but deal not with me as I myself have +deserved_.--Whether thou wilt slay me or pardon my offence, my head and +face are prostrate at thy threshold. Thy servant has no will of his own; +whatever thou commandest, that he will perform. At the door of the Cabah +I saw a petitioner, who was praying and weeping bitterly. I ask not, +saying, "Approve of my obedience, but draw the pen of forgiveness across +my sins." + + +III + +Within the sanctuary of the Cabah, at Mecca, I saw Abd-u'l-cadur the +Gilani, who having laid his face upon the Hasa, or black stone, was +saying, "Spare and pardon me, O God! and if, at all events, I am doomed +to punishment, raise me up at the day of resurrection blindfolded, that +I may not be put to shame in the eyes of the righteous." Every morning +when the day begins to dawn, with my face in the dust of humility, I am +saying, "O thou, whom I never can forget, dost thou ever bestow a +thought on thy servant?" + + +IV + +A thief got into a holy man's cell; but, however much he searched, he +could find nothing to steal, and was going away disappointed. The good +soul was aware of what was passing, and taking up the rug on which he +had slept, he put it in his way that he might not miss his object.--I +have heard that the heroes on the path of God will not distress the +hearts of their enemies. How canst thou attain this dignified station +who art at strife and warfare with thy friends? + +The loving kindness of the righteous, whether before your face or behind +your back, is not such that they will censure you when absent, and offer +to die for you when present.--Face to face meek as a lamb, behind your +back like a man-devouring wolf. Whoever brings you, and sums up the +faults of others, will doubtless expose your defects to them. + + +V + +Some travelling mendicants had agreed to club in a body and participate +in the cares and comforts of society. I expressed a wish that I might be +one of the party, but they refused to admit me. I said: "It is rare and +inconsistent with the generous dispositions of dervishes to turn their +faces from a good-fellowship with the poor, and to deny them its +benefits, for on my part I feel such a zeal and good-will, that in the +service of the liberal I am likely to prove rather an active associate +than a grievous load.--_Though not one of those who are mounted on the +camels, I will do my best, that I may carry their saddle-cloths_." + +One of them answered and said: "Be not offended at what you have heard, +for some days back a thief joined us in the garb of a dervish, and +strung himself upon the cord of our acquaintance.--How can people know +what he is that wears that dress? The writer can alone tell the +contents of the letter." In consequence of that reverence in which the +dervish character is held, they did not think of his profligacy and +admitted him into their society. The outward character of the holy is a +patched cloak; this much is sufficient, that it has a threadbare hood. +Be industrious in thy calling, and wear whatever dress thou choosest. +Put a diadem on thy head, and bear a standard on thy shoulder. Holiness +does not consist in a coarse frock. Let a zahid, or holy man, be truly +pious, and he may dress in satin. Sanctity is not merely a change of +dress; it is an abandonment of the world, its pomp and vanity. It +requires a hero to wear a coat of mail, for what would it profit to +dress an hermaphrodite, or coward, in a suit of armor? + +In short we had one day travelled till dark, and at night composed +ourselves for sleep under the wall of a castle. That graceless thief +took up his neighbor's ewer, saying, "I am going to my ablutions;" and +he was setting out for plunder. Behold a religious man, who threw a +patched cloak over his shoulders; he made the covering of the Cabah the +housing of an ass. So soon as he got out of the sight of the dervishes, +he scaled a bastion of the fort and stole a casket. Before break of day +that gloomy-minded robber had got a great way off, and left his innocent +companions asleep. In the morning they were all carried into the +citadel, and thrown into a dungeon. From that time we have declined any +addition to our party, and kept apart to ourselves, _for there is safety +in unity, but danger in duality or a multitude_.--When an individual of +a sect committed an act of folly, the high and the low sunk in their +dignity. Dost thou not see that one ox in a pasturage will cast a slur +upon all the oxen of the village? + +I said: "Let there be thanksgiving to a Deity of majesty and glory that +I am not forbid the benefits of dervishes, notwithstanding I am in +appearance excluded from their society; and I am instructed by this +narration, and others like me may profit by its moral during their +remaining lives.--From one indiscreet person in an assembly a host of +the prudent may get hurt. If they fill a cistern to the brim with +rose-water, and let a dog fall into it, the whole will be +contaminated." + + +VI + +A zahid was the guest of a king. When he sat down at table he ate more +sparingly from that than his appetite inclined him, and when he stood up +at prayers he continued longer at them than it was his custom; that they +might form a high opinion of his sanctity.--I fear, O Arab! that thou +wilt not reach the Caabah; for the road that thou art taking leads to +Turkistan, or the region of infidels. + +When he returned home he ordered the table to be spread that he might +eat. His son was a youth of a shrewd understanding. He said: "O father, +perhaps you ate little or nothing at the feast of the king?" He +answered, "In his presence I ate scarce anything that could answer its +purpose!" Then retorted the boy, "Repeat also your prayers, that nothing +be omitted that can serve a purpose." Yes, thy virtues thou hast exposed +in the palm of thy hand, thy vices thou hast hid under thy arm-pit. Take +heed, O hypocrite, what thou wilt be able to purchase with this base +money on the day of need or day of judgment. + + +VII + +I remember that in my early youth I was overmuch religious and vigilant, +and scrupulously pious and abstinent. One night I sat up in attendance +on my father, on whom be God's mercy, never once closed my eyes during +the whole night, and held the precious Koran open on my lap, while the +company around us were fast asleep. I said to my father: "Not an +individual of these will raise his head that he may perform his +genuflections, or ritual of prayer; but they are all so sound asleep, +that you might conclude they were dead." He replied: "O emanation of +your father, you had also better have slept than that you should thus +calumniate the failings of mankind.--The braggart can discern only his +own precious person; he will draw the veil of conceit all around him. +Were fortune to bestow upon him God's all-searching eye, he would find +nobody weaker than himself." + + * * * * * + + +X + +On one occasion, at the metropolitan mosque of Balbek, I was holding +forth, by way of admonition to a congregation cold and dead at heart, +and not to be moved from the materialism of this world into the paths of +mysticism. I perceived that the spirit of my discourse was making no +impression, nor were the sparks of my enthusiasm likely to strike fire +into their humid wood. I grew weary of instructing brutes, and of +holding up a mirror to an assembly of the blind; but the door of +exposition was thrown open, and the chain of argument extended; and in +explanation of this text in the Koran--_We are nearer to him_ (God) +_than the vein of his neck_.--I had reached that passage of my sermon +where I thus express myself:--"Such a mistress as is closer to me in her +affection than I am to myself, but this is marvellous that I am +estranged from her. What shall I say, and to whom can I tell it, that +she lies on my bosom and I am alienated from her." + +The intoxicating spirit of this discourse ran into my head, and the +dregs of the cup still rested in my hand, when a traveller, as passing +by, entered the outer circle of the congregation, and its expiring +undulation lit upon him. He sent forth such a groan that the others in +sympathy with him joined in lamentation, and the rawest of the assembly +bubbled in unison. I exclaimed, "Praise be to God! those far off are +present in their knowledge, and those near by are distant from their +ignorance. If the hearer has not the faculty of comprehending the +sermon, expect not the vigor of genius in the preacher. Give a scope to +the field of inclination, that the orator may have room to strike the +ball of eloquence over it." + + +XI + +One night in the desert of Mecca, from an excess of drowsiness, I had +not a foot to enable me to proceed; and, laying my head on the earth, I +gave myself up for lost, and desired the camel-driver to leave me to my +fate.--How could the foot of the poor jaded pedestrian go on, now that +the Bactrian dromedary got impatient of its burden? While the body of a +fat man is getting lean, a lean man must fall the victim of a hardship. + +The camel-driver replied: "O brother, holy Mecca is ahead, and the +profane robber behind; if you come forward you escape, but if you stay +here you die!" During the night journey of the caravan, and in the track +of the desert, it is fascinating to dose under the acacia-thorn tree; +but, on this indulgence, we must resign all thoughts of surviving it. + + +XII + +I saw on the sea-shore a holy man who had been torn by a tiger, and +could get no salve to heal his wound. For a length of time he suffered +much pain, and was all along offering thanks to the Most High. They +asked him, saying, "Why are you so grateful?" He answered, "God be +praised that I am overtaken with misfortune and not with sin! Were that +beloved friend, God, to give me over to death, take heed, and think not +that I should be solicitous about life. I would ask, What hast thou seen +amiss in thy poor servant that thy heart should take offence at me? for +that could alone give me a moment's uneasiness." + + +XIII + +Having some pressing occasion, a dervish stole a rug from the hut of a +friend. The judge ordered that they should cut off his hand. The owner +of the rug made intercession for him, saying, "I have forgiven him." The +judge replied, "At your instance I cannot relax the extreme sentence of +the law." He said: "In what you ordered you spoke justly. Nevertheless, +whoever steals a portion of any property dedicated to alms must not +suffer the forfeiture of his hand, for a _religious mendicant is not the +proprietor of anything_; and whatever appertains to dervishes is devoted +to the necessitous." The judge withdrew his hand from punishing him, and +by way of reprimand asked, "Had the world become so circumscribed that +you could not commit a theft but in the dwelling of such a friend?" He +answered, "Have you not heard what they have said, 'Sweep everything +away from the houses of your friends, but knock not at the doors of your +enemies.' When overwhelmed with calamity let not thy body pine in +misery. Strip thy foes of their skins, and thy friends of their +jackets." + + +XIV + +A king said to a holy man, "Are you ever thinking of me?" "Yes," replied +he, "at such time as I am forgetting God Almighty! He will wander all +around whom God shall drive from his gate; and he will not let him go to +another door whom he shall direct into his own." + + +XV + +One of the righteous in a dream saw a king in paradise, and a parsa, or +holy man, in hell. He questioned himself, saying, "What is the cause of +the exaltation of this, and the degradation of that, for we have fancied +their converse?" A voice came from above, answering, "This king is in +heaven because of his affection for the holy, and that parsa is in hell +because of his connection with the kingly."--What can a coarse frock, +rosary, and patched cloak avail? Abstain from such evil works as may +defile thee. There is no occasion to put a felt cowl upon thy head. Be a +dervish in thy actions, and wear a Tartarian coronet. + + +XVI + +A pedestrian, naked from head to foot, left Cufah with the caravan of +pilgrims for Hijaz, or Mecca, and came along with us. I looked at and +saw him destitute of every necessary for the journey; yet he was +cheerfully pushing on, and bravely remarking:--"I am neither mounted on +a camel nor a mule under a burden. I am neither the lord of vassals nor +the vassal of a lord. I think not of present sorrows or past vanities, +but breathe the breath of ease and live the life of freedom!" + +A gentleman mounted on a camel said to him, "O dervish, whither are you +going? return, or you must perish miserably." He did not heed what he +said, but entered the desert on foot and proceeded. On our reaching the +palm plantation of Mahmud, fate overtook the rich man, and he died. The +dervish went up to his bier and said, "I did not perish amidst hardship +on foot, and you expired on a camel's back." A person sat all night +weeping by the side of a sick friend. Next day he died, and the invalid +recovered!--Yes! many a fleet horse perished by the way, and that lame +ass reached the end of the journey. How many of the vigorous and hale +did they put underground, and that wounded man recovered! + + * * * * * + + +XVIII + +In the territory of the Greeks a caravan was attacked by robbers, and +plundered of much property. The merchants set up a lamentation and +complaint, and besought the intercession of God and the prophet; but all +to no purpose.--When the gloomy-minded robber is flushed with victory, +what will he feel for the traveller's despair. + +Lucman, the fabulist and philosopher, happened to be among them. One of +the travellers spoke to him, saying, "Direct some maxims of wisdom and +admonition to them; perhaps they may restore a part of our goods; for it +were a pity that articles of such value should be cast away." He +answered: "It were a pity to cast away the admonitions of wisdom upon +them!" From that iron which the rust has corroded thou canst not +eradicate the canker with a file. What purpose will it answer to preach +to the gloomy-minded infidel? A nail of iron cannot penetrate into a +piece of flint. + +Perhaps the fault has been on our part (in not being charitable), as +they have said:--"On the day of thy prosperity remember the bankrupt and +needy, for by visiting the hearts of the poor with charity thou shalt +divert calamity. When the beggar solicits alms from thee, bestow it with +a good grace; otherwise the tyrant may come and take it by force." + + * * * * * + + +XX + +They asked Lucman, the fabulist, "From whom did you learn manners?" He +answered, "From the unmannerly, for I was careful to avoid whatever part +of their behavior seemed to me bad." They will not speak a word in joke +from which the wise cannot derive instruction; let them read a hundred +chapters of wisdom to a fool, and they will all seem but a jest to him. + + +XXI + +They tell a story of an abid, who in the course of a night would eat ten +mans, or pounds, of food, and in his devotions repeat the whole Koran +before morning. A good and holy man heard this, and said, "Had he eaten +half a loaf of bread, and gone to sleep, he would have done a more +meritorious act." Keep thy inside unencumbered with victuals, that the +light of good works may shine within thee; but thou art void of wisdom +and knowledge, because thou art filled up to the nose with food. + + +XXII + +The divine favor had placed the lamp of grace in the path of a wanderer +in forbidden ways, till it directed him into the circle of the +righteous, and the blessed society of dervishes, and their spiritual +co-operation enabled him to convert his wicked propensities into +praiseworthy deeds, and to restrain himself in sensual indulgences; yet +were the tongues of calumniators questioning his sincerity, and saying, +He retains his original habits, and there is no trusting to his piety +and goodness.--By the means of repentance thou mayest get delivered from +the wrath of God, but there is no escape from the slanderous tongue of +man.--He was unable to put up with the virulence of their remarks, and +took his complaint to his ghostly father, saying, "I am much troubled by +the tongues of mankind." The holy man wept, and answered, "How can you +be sufficiently grateful for this blessing, that you are better than +they represent you?--How often wilt thou call aloud saying, The +malignant and envious are calumniating wretched me, that they rise up to +shed my blood, and that they sit down to devise me mischief. Be thou +good thyself, and let people speak evil of thee; it is better than to be +wicked, and that they should consider thee as good."--But, on the other +hand, behold me, of whose perfectness all entertain the best opinion, +while I am the mirror of imperfection.--Had I done what they have said, +I should have been a pious and moral man.--_Verily, I may conceal myself +from the sight of my neighbor, but God knows what is secret and what is +open_.--There is a shut door between me and mankind, that they may not +pry into my sins; but what, O Omniscience! can a closed door avail +against thee, who art equally informed of what is manifest or concealed? + + +XXIII + +I lodged a complaint with one of our reverend Shaikhs, saying: "A +certain person has borne testimony against my character on the score of +lasciviousness." He answered, "Shame him by your continence.--Be thou +virtuously disposed, that the detractor may not have it in his power to +indulge his malignity. So long as the harp is in tune, how can it have +its ear pulled (or suffer correction by being put in tune) by the +minstrel?" + + +XXIV + +They asked one of the Shaikhs of Sham, or Syria, saying: "What is the +condition of the Sufi sect?" He answered, "Formerly they were in this +world a fraternity dispersed in the flesh, but united in the spirit; but +now they are a body well clothed carnally, and ragged in divine +mystery." Whilst thy heart will be every moment wandering into a +different place, in thy recluse state thou canst not see purity; but +though thou possessest rank and wealth, lands and chattels, if thy heart +be fixed on God, thou art a hermit. + + +XXV + +On one occasion we had marched, I recollect, all the night along with +the caravan, and halted towards morning on the skirts of the wilderness. +One mystically distracted, who accompanied us on that journey, set up a +loud lamentation at dawn, went a-wandering into the desert, and did not +take a moment's rest. Next day I said to him, "What condition was that?" +He replied, "I remarked the nightingales that they had come to carol in +the groves, the pheasants to prattle on the mountains, the frogs to +croak in the pools, and the wild beasts to roar in the forests, and +thought with myself, saying, It cannot be generous that all are awake in +God's praise and I am wrapt up in the sleep of forgetfulness!--Last +night a bird was carolling towards the morning; it stole my patience +and reason, my fortitude and understanding. My lamentation had perhaps +reached the ear of one of my dearly-beloved friends. He said, 'I did not +believe that the singing of a bird could so distract thee!' I answered, +This is not the duty of the human species, that the birds are singing +God's praise and that I am silent." + + +XXVI + +Once, on a pilgrimage to Hijaz, I was the fellow-traveller of some +piously-disposed young men, and on a footing of familiarity and intimacy +with them. From time to time we were humming a tune and chanting a +spiritual hymn, and an abid, who bore us company, kept disparaging the +morals of the dervishes, and was callous to their sufferings, till we +reached the palm plantation of the tribe of Hulal, when a boy of a tawny +complexion issued from the Arab horde and sung such a plaintive melody +as would arrest the bird in its flight through the air. I remarked the +abid's camel that it kicked up and pranced, and, throwing the abid, +danced into the wilderness. I said: "O reverend Shaikh! that spiritual +strain threw a brute into an ecstasy, and it is not in like manner +working a change in you!--Knowest thou what that nightingale of the dawn +whispered to me? What sort of man art thou, indeed, who art ignorant of +love?--The camel is in an ecstasy of delight from the Arab's song. If +thou hast no taste to relish this, thou art a cross-grained brute.--Now +that the camel is elated with rapture and delight, if a man is +insensible to these he is an ass.--_The zephyr, gliding through the +verdure on the earth, shakes the twig of the ban-tree, but moves not the +solid rock_.--Whatever thou beholdest is loud in extolling him. That +heart which has an ear is full of the divine mystery. It is not the +nightingale that alone serenades his rose; for every thorn on the +rose-bush is a tongue in his or God's praise!" + + +XXVII + +A king had reached the end of his days and had no heir to succeed him. +He made his will, stating, "You will place the crown of sovereignty upon +the head of whatever person first enters the city gate in the morning, +and commit the kingdom to his charge." It happened that the first man +that presented himself at the city gate was a beggar, who had passed his +whole life in scraping broken meat and in patching rags. The ministers +of state and nobles of the court fulfilled the conditions of the king's +will, and laid the keys of the treasury and citadel at his feet. + +For a time the dervish governed the kingdom, till some of the chiefs of +the empire swerved from their allegiance, and the princes of the +territories on every side rose in opposition to him, and levied armies +for the contest. In short, his troops and subjects were routed and +subdued, and several of his provinces taken from him. + +The dervish was hurt to the soul at these events, when one of his old +friends, who had been the companion of his state of poverty, returned +from a journey and found him in such dignity. He exclaimed: +"Thanksgiving be to a Deity of majesty and glory that lofty fortune +succored you and prosperity was your guide, till roses issued from your +thorns and the thorns were extracted from your feet, and till you +arrived at this elevated rank!--_Along with hardship there is ease; or, +to sorrow succeeds joy_.--The plant is at one season in flower and at +another withered; the tree is at one time naked and at another clothed +with leaves." He said: "O, my dear friend, offer me condolence, for here +is no place for congratulation. When you last saw me I had to think of +getting a crumb of bread; now I have the cares of a whole kingdom on my +head. If the world be adverse, we are the victims of pain; if +prosperous, the fettered slaves of affection for it. Amidst this life no +calamity is more afflicting than that, whether fortunate or not, the +mind is equally disquieted. If thou covetest riches, ask not but for +contentment, which is an immense treasure. Should a rich man throw money +into thy lap, take heed, and do not look upon it as a benefit; for I +have often heard from the great and good that the patience of the poor +is more meritorious than the gift of the rich. Were King Bahram Ghor to +distribute a whole roasted elk, it would not be equal to the gift of a +locust's leg from an ant." + + +XXVIII + +A person had a friend who was holding the office of king's divan, or +prime minister, and it happened that he had not seen him for some time. +Somebody remarked, saying, "It is some time since you saw such a +gentleman." He answered, "I am no ways anxious about seeing him." One of +the divan's people chanced to be present. He asked, "What has happened +amiss that you should dislike to visit him?" He replied, "There is no +dislike; but my friend, the divan, can be seen at a time when he is out +of office, and my idle intrusion might not come amiss." Amidst the state +patronage and authority of office they might take umbrage at their +acquaintance; but on the day of vexation and loss of place they would +impart their mental disquietudes to their friends. + + +XXIX + +Abu-Horairah was making a daily visit to the prophet Mustafa Mohammed, +on whom be God's blessing and peace. He said: "_O Abu-Horairah! let me +alone every other day, that so affection may increase_; that is, come +not every day, that we may get more loving!" + +They said to a good and holy man, "Notwithstanding all these charms +which the sun commands, we have never heard of anybody that has fallen +in love with him!" He answered, "It is because he is seen every day, +unless during the winter, when he is veiled (in the clouds), and thus +much coveted and loved."--To visit mankind has no blame in it, but not +to such a degree as to let them say, Enough of it. If we see occasion to +interrogate ourselves, we need not listen to the reprehension of others. + + +XXX + +Having taken offence with the society of my friends at Damascus, I +retired into the wilderness of the Holy Land, or Jerusalem, and sought +the company of brutes till such time as I was made a prisoner by the +Franks, and employed by them, along with some Jews, in digging earth in +the ditches of Tripoli. At length one of the chiefs of Aleppo, between +whom and me an intimacy had of old subsisted, happening to pass that +way, recognized me, and said, "How is this? and how came you to be thus +occupied?" I replied: "What can I say?--I was flying from mankind into +the forests and mountains, for my resource was in God and in none else. +Fancy to thyself what my condition must now be, when forced to associate +with a tribe scarcely human?--To be linked in a chain with a company of +acquaintance were pleasanter than to walk in a garden with strangers." + +He took pity on my situation; and, having for ten dinars redeemed me +from captivity with the Franks, carried me along with him to Aleppo. +Here he had a daughter, and her he gave me in marriage, with a dower of +a hundred dinars. Soon after this damsel turned out a termagant and +vixen, and discovered such a perverse spirit and virulent tongue as +quite unhinged all my domestic comfort.--A scolding wife in the dwelling +of a peaceful man is his hell, even in this world. Protect and guard us +against a wicked inmate. Save us, O Lord, and preserve us from the +fiery, or hell, torture. + +Having on one occasion given a liberty to the tongue of reproach, she +was saying, "Are you not the fellow whom my father redeemed from the +captivity of the Franks for ten dinars?" I replied, "Yes, I am that same +he delivered from captivity for ten dinars, and enslaved me with you for +a hundred!" I have heard that a reverend and mighty man released a sheep +from the paws and jaws of a wolf. That same night he was sticking a +knife into its throat, when the spirit of the sheep reproached him, +saying, "Thou didst deliver me from the clutches of a wolf, when I at +length saw that thou didst prove a wolf to me thyself." + + * * * * * + + +XXXIII + +One of the holy men of Syria had passed many years of devotion in the +wilderness, and was feeding on the leaves of trees. The king of that +country, in the way of a pilgrimage, visited him, and said, "If you can +see the propriety of removing into my capital I will prepare an abode, +where you may perform your devotions more at ease than in this place, +and others may benefit by the blessing of your spiritual communion, and +be edified by the example of your pious labors." The hermit was adverse +to this advice, and turned away his face. One of the king's ministers +spoke to him, saying: "For the satisfaction of his Majesty, it were +proper that you would for a few days remove into the city, and ascertain +the nature of the place; when, if it should prove that your purity might +be tarnished by coming in contact with the wicked, you have still the +option left of moving back." + +It is reported that they prevailed on the hermit to accompany them into +the city; and, in a garden near the sacred residence of the king, +prepared for him a dwelling, which, like the mansions of paradise, was +rejoicing the heart, and exhilarating the soul.--Its damask roses were +blooming as the cheeks of the lovely, and its tufted spikenard like the +ringlets of our mistresses. It had as much to fear from the angry blasts +of winter as the babe who has not yet tasted its nurse's milk: _boughs +of trees on which hung crimson flowers, that gleamed like a flame amidst +their dusky foliage_. + +Forthwith the king sent him a moon-faced damsel.--Such was this delicate +crescent of the moon, and fascination of the holy, this form of an +angel, and decoration of a peacock, that let them once behold her, and +continence must cease to exist in the constitutions of the chaste. + +And, in like manner, there followed her a youth of such rare beauty and +exquisite symmetry, that the powerful grasp of his charms had broken the +wrists of the pious, and tied up behind their backs the arms of the +upright.--Mankind stand around him _parched with thirst, whilst he, who +seems thy cup-bearer, will give thee no drink_.--The eye could not be +satiated by beholding him, like the dropsical man with water by looking +at the river Euphrates. + +The hermit began to relish dainty food, and to wear sumptuous apparel; +to regale himself with fruits, perfumes, and sweetmeats; and to behold +with delight the charms of the handmaid and bondsman. And the wise have +said, "The ringlets of the lovely are a chain on the feet of reason, and +a snare for the bird of wisdom."--To the mystery of thy service I +devoted my heart, religion, and all my mental faculties; verily, I am +now the bird of reason, and thou art the lure and bait. + +In short, the good fortune of his many years of sanctity ran to waste, +as has been said:--"Whatever he had laid up from theologician, sage, or +saint, or of recondite knowledge from the eloquent and pure of spirit, +now that he had stooped to mix with a vile world, like the feet of a fly +he got entangled in its honey." + +The king had the curiosity of making him another visit, and found the +hermit much altered from what he first saw of him. His face had become +fair and ruddy, and his body plump and jolly; and he was reclining at +his ease on cushions of brocade, and had the Houri-like damsel lolling +by his side, and the fairy-formed youth holding a fly-flap of peacock's +feathers in his hand, and standing by him in attendance. The king +congratulated him upon his portly appearance, and they entered together +upon a variety of topics, till his majesty concluded by observing, "In +this world I have an affection for these two orders of mankind, the +learned and the recluse." A philosophic vizir, and man of much worldly +experience, happened to be present. He said: "O sire! such is the canon +of affection that you should confer a benefit on each. Give money to the +learned man, that he may teach others; and give nothing to the hermit, +that he may remain an anchorite.--A zahid, or hermit, stands in need of +neither diram nor dinar; when an anchorite takes either, look out for +another.--Whoever is virtuously disposed, and holds a mystical +communication with God, is sufficient of a hermit without requiring the +bread of charity, or the crumbs of mendicity. The tapering finger of the +lovely, and her soul-deluding ear-lobe, are decoration enough without a +turquoise ring or ear-jewel. Tell that piously-disposed and +serene-minded dervish that he needs not the bread of consecration or +scraping of beggary; tell that handsome and fair-faced matron that she +does not require paint, coloring, or jewelry.--When I have of my own, +and covet what is another's, if they esteem me not a hermit they treat +me as I merit." + + +XXXIV + +Conformably with the above apologue, a king had a business of importance +in hand. He said: "If this affair prosper to my wish I will distribute +among the recluses a certain sum in dirams." Now his object was +accomplished, and mind made easy, he thought it incumbent to fulfil the +condition of his eleemosynary vow, and gave a bag of dinars to a +favorite servant, that he might distribute them among the anchorites. +This was a discreet and considerate young man. He wandered about for the +whole day; and, returning in the evening, kissed the bag of money, and +laid it before the king, saying, "However much I sought after, I have +met with no recluses!" The king answered, "What a story is this? for I +myself know four hundred recluses within this city." He said, "O +sovereign of the universe! such as are recluses do not take money; and +such as take money are not anchorites!" The king smiled, and observed to +his courtiers, "However much I reverence and favor this tribe of God's +worshippers, this saucy fellow expresses for them a spite and ill-will; +and, if you desire the truth, he has justice on his side. Instead of +that hermit who took dirams and dinars, get hold of one who is more an +anchorite." + + +XXXV + +They asked a profoundly-learned man, saying, "What is your opinion of +consecrated bread, or almstaking?" He answered, "If with the view of +composing their minds, and promoting their devotions, it is lawful to +take it; but if monks collect for the sake of an endowment, it is +forbidden. Good and holy men have received the bread of consecration for +the sake of religious retirement; and are not recluses, that they may +receive such bread." + + +XXXVI + +A dervish came to put up at a place where the master of the house was a +gentleman of an hospitable disposition. He had as his guests an assembly +of learned and witty men, each of whom was repeating such a jest, or +anecdote, as is usual with the facetious. Having travelled across a +desert, the dervish was much fatigued, and well-nigh famished. One of +the company observed, in the way of pleasantry, "You must also repeat +something." The dervish answered, "I am not, like the others, +overstocked with learning and wit, nor am I much read in books; and you +must be satisfied with my reciting one distich." One and all eagerly +cried, "Let us hear it." He said, "Hungry as I am, I sit by a table +spread with food, like a bachelor at the entrance of a bath full of +women!" + +They applauded what he said, and ordered the tray to be placed before +him. The lord of the feast said, "Stay your appetite, my friend! till my +handmaids can prepare for you some forced meat." He raised his head from +the tray, and answered, "Say there is no need for forced meat on my +tray, for a crust of plain bread is sufficient for one baked as I have +been in the desert." + + +XXXVII + +A disciple complained to his ghostly father, saying, "What can I do, for +I am much annoyed by the people, who are interrupting me with their +frequent visits, and break in upon my precious hours with their +impertinent intrusions." He replied, "To such of them as are poor lend +money, and from such as are rich ask some in loan; and neither of them +will trouble you again." Let a beggar be the harbinger of an army of +Islam, or the orthodox, and the infidel will fly his importunity as far +as the wall of China. + + * * * * * + + +XXXIX + +A drunken fellow had lain down to sleep on the highway, and was quite +overcome with the fumes of intoxication. An abid was passing close by, +and looking at him with scorn. The youth raised his head, and said, +"_Whenever they pass anything shameful they pass it with +compassion.--Whenever thou beholdest a sinner, hide and bear with his +transgressions: thou, who art aware of them, why not overlook my sins +with pity_?--Turn not away, O reverend sir! from a sinner; but look upon +him with compassion. Though in my actions I am not a hero, do thou pass +by as the heroic would pass me." + + +XL + +A gang of dissolute vagabonds broke in upon a dervish, used opprobrious +language, and beat and ill-used him. In his helplessness he carried his +complaint before his ghostly father, and said, "Thus it has befallen +me." He replied: "O my son! the patched cloak of dervishes is the +garment of resignation; whosoever wears this garb, and cannot bear with +disappointment, is a hypocrite, and to him our cloth is forbidden.--A +vast and deep river is not rendered turbid by throwing into it a stone. +That religious man who can be vexed at an injury is as yet a shallow +brook.--If thou art subjected to trouble, bear with it; for by +forgiveness thou art purified from sin. Seeing, O brother! that we are +ultimately to become dust, be humble as the dust, before thou moulderest +into dust." + + +XLI + +Hear what occurred once at Bagdad in a dispute that took place between a +roll-up curtain and standard. Covered with the road-dust, and jaded with +a march, the standard, in reproach, observed to the curtain: "Thou and I +are gentlemen in livery; we are fellow-servants at the court of his +majesty. I never enjoy a moment's relief from duty; early and late I am +equally marching. Thou hast never experienced any peril or a siege, the +heavy sand of the desert or dust of a whirlwind; my foot is most forward +in any enterprise. Then why art thou my superior in dignity? Thou art +cared for by youths with faces splendid as the moon, and handled by +damsels scenting like jasmine; while I am fallen into the hands of raw +recruits, am rolled up on our march, and turned upside down." The +curtain answered: "I lay my head humble at the threshold, and hold it +not up like thine, flaring in the face of heaven! Whoever is thus vainly +rearing his crest exalts himself only to be humbled." + + +XLII + +A good and holy man saw a huge and strong fellow, who, having got much +enraged, was storming with passion and foaming at the mouth. He asked, +"What has happened to this man?" Somebody answered, "Such a one has +given him bad names!" He said, "This paltry wretch is able to carry a +thousand-weight of stone, and cannot bear with one light word! Cease to +boast of thy strong arm and pretended manhood, infirm as thou art in +mind, and mean in spirit. What difference is there between such a man +and a woman? Though thou art strong of arm, let thy mouth utter sweet +words; it is no proof of courage to thrust thy fist into another man's +face:--Though thou art able to tear the scalp off an elephant, if +deficient in humanity, thou art no hero. The sons of Adam are formed +from dust; if not humble as the dust, they fall short of being men." + + * * * * * + + +XLIV + +A facetious old gentleman of Bagdad gave his daughter in marriage to a +shoemaker. The flint-hearted fellow bit so deeply into the damsel's lip +that the blood trickled from the wound. Next morning the father found +her in this plight; he went up to his son-in-law, and asked him, saying: +"Lowborn wretch! what sort of teeth are these that thou shouldst chew +her lips as if they were a piece of leather? I speak not in play what I +have to say. Lay jesting aside, and take with her thy legal +enjoyment.--When once a vicious disposition has taken root in the habit, +the hand of death can only eradicate it." + + +XLV + +A doctor of laws had a daughter preciously ugly, and she had reached the +age of womanhood; but, notwithstanding her dowry and fortune, nobody +seemed inclined to ask her in marriage:--Damask or brocade but add to +her deformity when put upon a bride void of symmetry. + +In short, they were under the necessity of uniting her in the bonds of +wedlock to a blind man. They add, that soon after there arrived from +Sirandip, or Ceylon, a physician that could restore sight to the blind. +They spoke to the law doctor, saying, "Why do you not get him to +prescribe for your son-in-law?" He answered: "Because I am afraid he may +recover his sight, and repudiate my daughter; for--'the husband of an +ugly woman should be blind.'" + + * * * * * + + +XLVIII + +They asked a wise man which was preferable, munificence or courage? He +answered, "Whoever has munificence has no need of courage." On the +tombstone of Bahram-gor was inscribed: "The hand of liberality is +stronger than the arm of power.--Hatim Tayi remains not, yet will his +exalted name live renowned for generosity to all eternity. Distribute +the tithe of thy wealth in alms, for the more the gardener prunes his +vine the more he adds to his crop of grapes." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +On the Preciousness of Contentment + + +I + +A mendicant from the west of Africa had taken his station amidst a group +of shopkeepers at Aleppo, and was saying: "O lords of plenty! had ye a +just sense of equity, and we of contentment, all manner of importunity +would cease in this world!" O contentment! do thou make me rich, for +without thee there is no wealth. The treasure of patience was the choice +of Lucman. Whoever has no patience has no wisdom. + + +II + +There dwelt in Egypt two youths of noble birth, one of whom applied +himself to study knowledge, and the other to accumulate wealth. In +process of time that became the wisest man of his age, and this king of +Egypt. Then was the rich man casting an eye of scorn upon his +philosophic brother, and saying, "I have reached a sovereignty, and you +remain thus in a state of poverty." He replied: "O brother! I am all the +more grateful for the bounty of a Most High God, whose name was +glorified, that I have found the heritage of the prophets--namely, +wisdom; and you have got the estate of Pharaoh and Haman--that is, the +kingdom of Egypt. I am an emmet, that mankind shall tread under foot; +not a hornet, that they shall complain of my sting. How can I +sufficiently express my grateful sense of this blessing, that I possess +not the means of injuring my fellow-creatures?" + + +III + +I heard of a dervish who was consuming in the flame of want, tacking +patch after patch upon his ragged garment, and solacing his mind with +this couplet:--"I can rest content with a dry crust of bread and a +coarse woollen frock, for the burden of my own exertion bears lighter +than laying myself under obligation to another."--Somebody observed to +him, "Why do you sit quiet, while a certain gentleman of this city is so +nobly disposed and universally benevolent, that he has girt up his loins +in the service of the religious independents, and seated himself by the +door of their hearts? Were he apprised of your condition, he would +esteem himself obliged, and be happy in the opportunity of relieving +it." He said: "Be silent; for it is better to die of want than to expose +our necessities before another, as they have remarked:--'Patching a +tattered cloak, and the consequent treasure of content, are more +commendable than petitioning the great for every new garment.'" By my +troth, I swear it were equal to the torments of hell to enter into +paradise through the interest of a neighbor. + + +IV + +One of the Persian kings sent a skilful physician to attend Mohammed +Mustafa, on whom be salutation. He remained some years in the territory +of the Arabs; but nobody went to try his skill, or asked him for any +medicine. One day he presented himself before the blessed prince of +prophets, and complained, saying, "The king had sent me to dispense +medicine to your companions; but, till this moment, nobody has been so +good as to enable me to practise any skill that this your servant may +possess." The blessed messenger of God was pleased to answer, saying, +"It is a rule with this tribe never to eat till hard pressed by hunger, +and to discontinue their repast while they have yet an appetite." The +physician said, "This accounts for their health." Then he kissed the +earth of respect and took his leave. The physician will then begin to +inculcate temperance, or to extend the finger of indulgence, when from +silence his patient might suffer by excess, or his life be endangered by +abstinence:--of course, the skill of the physician is advice, and the +patient's regimen and diet yield the fruits of health! + + +V + +A certain person would be making vows of abstinence and breaking them. +At last a reverend gentleman observed to him, "So I understand that you +make a practice of eating to excess; and that any restraint on your +appetite, namely, this vow, is weaker than a hair, and this +voraciousness, as you indulge it, would break an iron chain; but the day +must come when it will destroy you." A man was rearing the whelp of a +wolf; when full grown it tore its patron and master. + + +VI + +In the annals of Ardishir Babagan it is recorded that he asked an +Arabian physician, saying, "What quantity of food ought to be eaten +daily?" He replied, "A hundred dirams' weight were sufficient." The king +said, "What strength can a man derive from so small a quantity?" The +physician replied: "_So much can support you; but in whatever you exceed +that you must support it_.--Eating is for the purpose of living, and +speaking in praise of God; but thou believest that we live only to eat." + + +VII + +Two dervishes of Khorasan were fellow-companions on a journey. One was +so spare and moderate that he would break his fast only every other +night, and the other so robust and intemperate that he ate three meals a +day. It happened that they were taken up at the gate of a city on +suspicion of being spies, and both together put into a place, the +entrance of which was built up with mud. After a fortnight it was +discovered that they were innocent, when, on breaking open the door, +they found the strong man dead, and the weak one alive and well. They +were astonished at this circumstance. A wise man said, "The contrary of +this had been strange, for this one was a voracious eater, and not +having strength to support a want of food, perished; and that other was +abstemious, and being patient, according to his habitual practice, +survived it.--When a person is habitually temperate, and a hardship +shall cross him, he will get over it with ease; but if he has pampered +his body and lived in luxury, and shall get into straitened +circumstances, he must perish." + + +VIII + +A certain philosopher admonished his son against eating to an excess, +because repletion made a man sick. The boy answered, "O father, hunger +will kill. Have you not heard what the wits have remarked, To die of a +surfeit were better than to bear with a craving appetite?" The father +said, "Study moderation, for the Most High God has told us in the +Koran:--'_Eat ye and drink ye, but not to an excess_:'--eat not so +voraciously that the food shall be regorged from thy mouth, nor so +abstemiously that from depletion life shall desert thee:--though food be +the means of preserving breath in the body. Yet, if taken to excess, it +will prove noxious. If conserve of roses be frequently indulged in it +will cause a surfeit, whereas a crust of bread, eaten after a long +interval, will relish like conserve of roses." + + +XI + +In a battle with the Tartars, a gallant young man was grievously +wounded. Somebody said to him, "A certain merchant has a stock of the +mummy antidote; if you would ask him, he might perhaps accommodate you +with a portion of it." They say that merchant was so notorious for his +stinginess, that--"If, in the place of his loaf of bread, the orb of the +sun had been in his wallet, nobody would have seen daylight in the world +till the day of judgment." + +The spirited youth replied: "Were I to ask him for this antidote, he +might give it, or he might not; and if he did it might cure me, or it +might not; at any rate, to ask such a man were itself a deadly poison!" +Whatever thou wouldst ask of the mean, in obligation, might add to the +body, but would take from the soul.--And philosophers have observed, +that were the water of immortality, for example, to be sold at the +price of the reputation, a wise man would not buy it, for an honorable +death is preferable to a life of infamy.--Wert thou to eat colocynth +from the hand of the kind-hearted, it would relish better than a +sweetmeat from that of the crabbed. + + +XII + +One of the learned had a large family and small means. He stated his +case to a great man, who entertained a favorable opinion of his +character. This one turned away from his solicitation, and viewed this +prostitution of begging as discreditable with a gentleman of education. +If soured by misfortune, present not thyself before a dear friend, for +thou may'st also imbitter his pleasure. When thou bringest forward a +distress, do it with a cheerful and smiling face, for an openness of +countenance can never retard business.--They have related that he rose a +little in the pension, but sunk much in the estimation of the great man. +After some days, when he perceived this falling off in his affection, he +said:--"_Miserable is that supply of food which thou obtainest in the +hour of need; the pot is put to boil, but my reputation is bubbled into +vapor_.--He added to my means of subsistence, but took from my +reputation; absolute starving were better than the disgrace of begging." + + +XIII + +A dervish had a pressing call for money. Somebody told him a certain +person is inconceivably rich; were he made aware of your want, he would +somehow manage to accommodate it. He said, "I do not know him." The +other answered, "I will introduce you;" and having taken his hand, he +brought him to that person's dwelling. The dervish beheld a man with a +hanging lip, and sitting in sullen discontent. He said nothing, and +returned home. His friend asked, "What have you done?" He replied, "His +gift I gave in exchange for his look:--Lay not thy words before a man +with a sour face, otherwise thou may'st be ruffled by his ill-nature. If +thou tellest the sorrows of thy heart let it be to him in whose +countenance thou may'st be assured of prompt consolation." + + * * * * * + + +XV + +They asked Hatim Tayi: "Have you ever met, or heard of, a person of a +more independent spirit than yourself?" He answered: "Yes, one day I had +made a sacrifice of forty camels, and invited the chief of every Arab +tribe to a feast. Then I repaired to the border of the desert, where I +met a wood-cutter, who had tied up his fagot to carry it into the city. +I said, Why do you not go to the feast of Hatim, where a crowd have +assembled round his carpet? He replied:--'Whoever can eat the bread of +his own industry will not lay himself under obligation to Hatim +Tayi.'--And in him I met my superior in spirit and independence." + + +XVI + +The Prophet Moses, on whom be peace, saw a dervish who had buried his +body, in his want of clothes to cover it, in the sand. He said: "O +Moses, put up a prayer, that the Most High God would bestow a +subsistence upon me, for I am perishing in distress." The blessed Moses +prayed accordingly, that God on high would succor him. + +Some days afterwards, as he was returning from a conference with God on +Mount Sinai, he met that dervish in the hands of justice, and a mob +following him. He asked: "What has befallen this man?" They answered: +"He had drunk wine and got into a quarrel, and having killed somebody, +they are now going to exact retaliation."--The God who set forth the +seven climates of this world assigned to every creature its appropriate +lot. Had that wretched cat been gifted with wings, she would not have +left one sparrow's egg on the earth. It might happen that were a weak +man to get the ability, he would rise and domineer over his weak +brethren. + +The blessed Moses acknowledged the wisdom of the Creator of the +universe, and, confessing his own presumption, repeated this verse of +the Koran:--"_Were God to spread abroad his stores of subsistence to +servants, verily they would rebel all over the earth._" What happened, O +vain man! that thou didst precipitate thyself into destruction? Would +that the ant might not have the means of flying!--A mean person, when +he has got rank and wealth, will bring a storm of blows upon his head. +Was not this at last the adage of a philosopher, 'That ant is best +disposed of that has no wings.'--The father is a man of much sweetness +of disposition, but the son is full of heat and passions:--That Being, +God, who would not make thee rich, must have known thy good better than +thou couldst thyself know it. + + +XVII + +I saw an Arab, who was standing amidst a circle of jewellers at Busrah, +and saying: "On one occasion I had missed my way in the desert, and +having no road-provision left, I had given myself up for lost, when all +at once I found a bag of pearls. Never shall I forget that relish and +delight, so long as I mistook them for parched wheat; nor that +bitterness and disappointment, when I discovered that they were real +pearls." In the mouth of the thirsty traveller, amidst parched deserts +and moving sands, pearl, or mother-of-pearl, were equally distasteful. +To a man without provision, and knocked up in the desert, a piece of +stone or of gold, in his scrip, is all one. + + +XVIII + +An Arab, suffering under all the extremity of thirst in the desert, was +saying:--"_Would to God that yet, before I perish, I could but for one +day gratify my wish: that a stream of water might dash against my knees, +and I could fill my leathern flask or stomach with it_." + +In like manner a traveller had got bewildered in the great desert, and +had neither provisions nor strength left, yet a few dirams remained with +him in his scrip. He kept wandering about, but could not find the path, +and sunk under his fatigue. A party of travellers arrived where his body +lay; they saw the dirams spread before him, and these verses written in +the sand:--"Were he possessed of all the gold of Jafier (a famous gold +refiner), a man without food could not satisfy his appetite. To a +wretched mendicant, parched in the desert, a boiled turnip would relish +better than an ingot of virgin silver." + + +XIX + +I had never complained of the vicissitudes of fortune, nor murmured at +the ordinances of heaven, excepting on one occasion, that my feet were +bare, and I had not wherewithal to shoe them. In this desponding state I +entered the metropolitan mosque at Cufah, and there I beheld a man that +had no feet. I offered up praise and thanksgiving for God's goodness to +myself, and submitted with patience to my want of shoes.--In the eye of +one satiated with meat a roast fowl is less esteemed at his table than a +salad; but to him who is stinted of food a boiled turnip will relish +like a roast fowl. + + +XX + +A king, attended by a select retinue, had, on a sporting excursion +during the winter, got at a distance from any of his hunting seats, and +the evening was closing fast, when they espied from afar a peasant's +cottage. The king said: "Let us repair thither for the night, that we +may shelter ourselves from the inclemency of the weather." One of the +courtiers replied: "It would not become the dignity of the sovereign to +take refuge in the cottage of a low peasant; we can pitch a tent here +and kindle a fire." The peasant saw what was passing; he came forward +with what refreshments he had at hand, and, laying them before the king, +kissed the earth of subserviency, and said: "The lofty dignity of the +king would not be lowered by this condescension; but these gentlemen did +not choose that the condition of a peasant should be exalted." The king +was pleased with this speech; and they passed the night at his cottage. +In the morning he bestowed an honorary dress and handsome largess upon +him. I have heard that the peasant was resting his hand for some paces +upon the king's stirrup, and saying: "The state and pomp of the +sovereign suffered no degradation by his condescension in becoming a +guest at the cottage of a peasant; but the corner of the peasant's cap +rose to a level with the sun when the shadow of such a monarch as thou +art fell upon his head." + + +XXI + +They tell a story of an importunate mendicant who had amassed much +riches. A certain king said: "It seems that you possess immense wealth, +and I have a business of some consequence in hand. If you will assist me +with a little of it, by way of a loan, when the public revenue is +realized I will repay it and thank you to the bargain." He replied: "O +sire, it would ill become the sublime majesty of the sovereign of the +universe to soil the hand of lofty enterprise with the property of such +a mendicant as I am, which I have scraped together grain by grain." He +said: "There is no occasion to vex yourself, for I mean it for the +Tartars, as impurities are suiting for the impure:--_They said, 'The +compost of a dunghill is unclean.' We replied, 'That with it we will +fill up the chinks of a necessary_.'--If the water of a Christian's well +is defiled, and we wash a Jew's corpse in it, there is no sin." I have +heard that he disobeyed the royal command, questioned its justice, and +resisted it with insolence. The king ordered that the exchequer +stipulations should be put in force with rigidness and violence. When a +business cannot be settled with fair words, we must of necessity make +use of foul. When a man will not contribute of his own free will, if +another enforces him he meets his desert. + + +XXII + +I knew a merchant who had a hundred and fifty camels of burden and forty +bondsmen and servants in his train. One night he entertained me at his +lodgings in the island of Keish, in the Persian Gulf, and continued for +the whole night talking idly, and saying: "Such a store of goods I have +in Turkestan, and such an assortment of merchandise in Hindustan; this +is the mortgage-deed of a certain estate, and this the security-bond of +a certain individual's concern." Then he would say: "I have a mind to +visit Alexandria, the air of which is salubrious; but that cannot be, +for the Mediterranean Sea is boisterous. O Sa'di! I have one more +journey in view, and, that once accomplished, I will pass my remaining +life in retirement and leave off trade." I asked: "What journey is +that?" He replied: "I will carry the sulphur of Persia to Chin, where, +I have heard, it will fetch a high price; thence I will take China +porcelain to Greece; the brocade of Greece or Venice I will carry to +India; and Indian steel I will bring to Aleppo; the glassware of Aleppo +I will take to Yamin; and with the bardimani, or striped stuffs, of +Yamin I will return to Persia. After that I will give up foreign +commerce and settle myself in a warehouse." He went on in this +melancholy strain till he was quite exhausted with speaking. He said: "O +Sa'di! do you too relate what you have seen and heard." I +replied:--"Hast thou not heard that in the desert of Ghor as the body of +a chief merchant fell exhausted from his camel, he said, 'Either +contentment or the dust of the grave will fill the stingy eye of the +worldly-minded.'" + + * * * * * + + +XXIV + +A weak fisherman got a strong fish into his net, but not having the +power of mastering it, the fish got the better of him, and, dragging the +net from his hand, escaped:--A bondsman went that he might take water +from the brook; the brook came to rise and carried off the bondsman. On +most occasions the net would bring out the fish; on this occasion the +fish escaped, and took away the net. The other fishermen expressed their +vexation, and reproached him, saying, "Such a fish came into your net, +and you were not able to master it." He replied: "Alas! my brethren, +what could be done? It was not my day of fortune, and the fish had in +this way another day left it. And they have said: 'Unless it be his lot, +the fisherman cannot catch a fish in the Tigris; and, except it be its +fate, the fish will not die on the dry shore.'" + + +XXV + +A person without hands or feet killed a milleped. A good and holy man +passed by him at the time, and said: "Glory be to God! notwithstanding +the thousand feet he had when his destiny overtook him, he was unable to +escape from one destitute of hand or foot."--When the life-plundering +foe comes up behind, fate arrests the speed of the swift-going warrior. +At the moment when the enemy might approach step by step it were useless +to bend the kayani, or Parthian bow. + + +XXVI + +I met a fat blockhead decked in rich apparel, and mounted on an Arab +horse, with a turban of fine Egyptian linen on his head. A person said: +"O Sa'di, how comes it that you see these garments of the learned on +this ignorant beast?" I replied: "It is a vile epistle which has been +written in golden letters:--'_Verily this ass, with the resemblance of a +man, has the carcase of a calf, and the voice or bleating of a +calf_.'--Thou canst not say that this brute appears like a man, unless +in his garments, turban, and outward form. Examine into all the ways and +means of his existence, and thou shalt find nothing lawful but the +shedding of his blood:--though a man of noble birth be reduced to +poverty, imagine not that his lofty dignity can be lowered; and though +he may secure his silver threshold with a hasp of gold, conclude not +that a Jew can be thereby ennobled." + + +XXVII + +A thief said to a mendicant: "Are you not ashamed when you hold forth +your hand to every mean fellow for a barleycorn of silver?" He replied: +"It is better to hold forth the hand for one grain of silver than to +have it cut off for one and a half dang." + + * * * * * + + +XXIX + +I saw a dervish who had withdrawn into a cave, shut the door of +communication between the world and himself, and with his lofty and +independent eye viewed emperors and kings without awe or +reverence:--Whoever opens to himself the door of mendicity, must +continue a beggar till the day of his death. Put covetousness aside, and +be independent as a prince; the neck of contentment can raise its head +erect. + +One of the sovereigns of those parts sent a message to him, stating: "So +far I can rely on the generous disposition of his reverence, that he +will one day favor me by partaking of my bread and salt, by becoming my +guest." The shaikh, or holy man, consented; for the acceptance of such +an invitation accorded with the sunnat, or law and tradition of the +prophet. Next day the king went to apologize for the trouble he had +caused him. The abid rose from his place, took the king in his arms, +showed him much kindness, and was full of his compliments. After he was +gone, one of the shaikh's companions asked him, saying: "Was not such +condescending kindness as you this day showed the king contrary to what +is usual; what does this mean?" He answered: "Have you not heard what +they have said:--'It is proper to stand up and administer to him whom +thou hast seated on thy carpet, or made thy guest.'" + +He could so manage that, during his whole life, his ear should not +indulge in the music of the tabor, cymbal, and pipe. He could restrain +his eyes from enjoying the garden, and gratify his sense of smell +without the rose or narcissus. Though he had not a pillow stuffed with +down, he could compose himself to rest with a stone under his head; +though he had no heart-solacer as the partner of his bed, he could hug +himself to sleep with his arms across his breast. If he could not ride +an ambling nag, he was content to take his walk on foot; only this +grumbling and vile belly he could not keep under, without stuffing it +with food. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +On the Benefit of Being Silent + + +I + +I spoke to one of my friends, saying: "A prudent restraint on my words +is on that account advisable, because in conversation there on most +occasions occur good and bad; and the eyes of rivals only note what is +bad." He replied: "O brother! that is our best rival who does not, or +will not, see our good!--_The malignant brotherhood pass not by the +virtuous man without imputing to him what is infamous_:--To the eye of +enmity, virtue appears the ugliest blemish; it is a rose, O Sa'di! which +to the eyes of our rivals seems a thorn. The world-illuminating +brilliancy of the fountain of the sun, in like manner, appears dim to +the eye of the purblind mole." + + +II + +A merchant happened to lose a thousand dinars. He said to his son: "It +will be prudent not to mention this loss to anybody." The son answered: +"O father, it is your orders, and I shall not mention it; but +communicate the benefit so far, as what the policy may be in keeping it +a secret." He said: "That I may not suffer two evils: one, the loss of +my money; another, the reproach of my neighbor;--Impart not thy +grievances to rivals, for they are glad at heart, while praying, _God +preserve us_; or _there is neither strength nor power, unless it be from +God!_" + + +III + +A sensible youth made vast progress in the arts and sciences, and was of +a docile disposition; but however much he frequented the societies of +the learned, they never could get him to utter a word. On one occasion +his father said: "O my son, why do not you also say what you know on +this subject?" He replied: "I am afraid lest they question me upon what +I know not, and put me to shame:--Hast thou not heard of a Sufi who was +hammering some nails into the sole of his sandal. An officer of cavalry +took him by the sleeve, saying, 'Come along, and shoe my horse.'--So +long as thou art silent and quiet, nobody will meddle with thy business; +but once thou divulgest it, be ready with thy proofs." + + +IV + +A man, respectable for his learning, got into a discussion with an +atheist; but, failing to convince him, he threw down his shield and +fled. A person asked him, "With all your wisdom and address, learning +and science, how came you not to controvert an infidel?" He replied: "My +learning is the Koran, and the traditions and sayings of our holy +fathers; but he puts no faith in the articles of our belief, and what +good could it do to listen to his blasphemy?" To him whom thou canst not +convince by revelation or tradition, the best answer is that thou shalt +not answer him. + + * * * * * + + +VI + +They have esteemed Sahban Wabil as unrivalled in eloquence, insomuch +that he could speak for a year before an assembly, and would not use the +same word twice; or should he chance to repeat it, he would give it a +different signification; and this is one of the special accomplishments +of a courtier:--Though a speech be captivating and sweet, worthy of +belief, and meriting applause, yet what thou hast once delivered thou +must not repeat, for if they eat a sweetmeat once they find that enough. + + +VII + +I overheard a sage, who was remarking: "Never has anybody acknowledged +his own ignorance, excepting that person who, while another may be +talking, and has not finished what he has to say, will begin +speaking:--A speech, O wiseacre! has a beginning and an end; bring not +one speech into the middle of another. A man of judgment, discretion, +and prudence, delivers not his speech till he find an interval of +silence." + + +VIII + +Some of the courtiers of Sultan Mahmud asked Husan Maimandi, saying: +"What did the king whisper to you to-day on a certain state affair?" He +said: "You are also acquainted with it." They replied: "You are the +prime minister; what the king tells you, he does not think proper to +communicate to such as we are." He replied: "He communicates with me in +the confidence that I will not divulge to anybody; then why do you ask +me?" A man of sense blabs not, whatever he may come to know; he should +not make his own head the forfeit of the king's secret. + + +IX + +I was hesitating about the purchase of a dwelling-house. A Jew said: "I +am an old housekeeper in this street: ask the character of this house +from me and buy it, for it has no fault." I replied: "True! only that +you are its neighbor:--Any such house as has thee for its neighbor could +scarce be worth ten dirams of silver; yet it should behoove us to hope +that after thy death it may fetch a thousand." + + +X + +A certain poet presented himself before the chief of a gang of robbers, +and recited a casidah, or elegy, in his praise. He ordered that they +should strip off his clothes, and thrust him from the village. The naked +wretch was going away shivering in the cold, and the village dogs were +barking at his heels. He stooped to pick up a stone, in order to shy at +the dogs, but found the earth frost-bound, and was disappointed. He +exclaimed: "What rogues these villagers are, for they let loose their +dogs, and tie up their stones!" The chief robber saw and overheard him +from a window. He smiled at his wit, and, calling him near said: "O +learned sir! ask me for a boon." He replied, "I ask for my own garments, +if you will vouchsafe to give them:--_I shall have enough of boons in +your suffering me to depart_.--Mankind expects charity from others; I +expect no charity from thee, only do me no injury." The chief robber +felt compassion for him. He ordered his clothes to be restored, and +added to them a robe of fur and sum of money. + + * * * * * + + +XII + +A preacher of a harsh tone of voice fancied himself a fine-spoken man, +and would hold forth at the mosque to a very idle purpose. You might say +that the croaking of the raven of the desert was the burden of his +chant, and this text of the Koran expressive of his manner:--_The most +abominable of noises is the braying of an ass:--"Whenever this ass of a +preacher sets up a braying, his voice will make the city of Istakhar, or +Persepolis, shake to its base_." + +In reverence of his rank his townsmen indulged this defect, and would +not distress him by remarking on it, till another preacher of those +parts, actuated by a private pique, came on one occasion to tantalize +him, and said, "I have seen you in a dream; may it prove fortunate!" He +asked: "What have you seen?" He replied: "So it seemed in my vision that +your voice had become harmonious, and mankind were charmed with your +melodious cadences." For a while the preacher bowed his head in thought, +then raised it, and said: "What a fortunate vision is it that you had, +that has made me sensible of my weakness! I am now aware that I have an +unpleasant voice, and that the people are distressed at my delivery. I +have vowed that I will henceforth preach only in a soft tone of voice." +I am distressed with the society of friends who extol my vices into +virtues, my blemishes they view as excellences and perfections, my +thorns they regard as roses and jasmines. Where is that rude and bold +rival who will expose all my deformities? + + +XIII + +At a mosque in the city of Sanjar, the capital of Khorasan, a person was +volunteering to chant forth the call to prayers with so discordant a +note as to drive all that heard him away in disgust. The intendant of +that mosque was a just and well-disposed gentleman, who was averse to +giving offence to anybody. He said: "O generous youth, there belong to +this mosque some mowuzzins, or criers, of long standing, to each of +whom I allow a monthly stipend of five dinars; now I will give you ten +to go elsewhere." To this he agreed, and took himself off. After a while +he came to the nobleman, and said: "O my lord! you did me an injury when +for ten dinars you prevailed upon me to quit this station, for where I +went they offered me twenty to remove to another place, but I would not +consent." The nobleman smiled and replied: "Take heed, and do not accept +them, for they may be content to give you fifty!--No person can with a +mattock scrape off the clay from the face of a hard rock in so grating a +manner as thy harsh voice is harrowing up my soul." + + +XIV + +A person with a harsh voice was reciting the Koran in a loud tone. A +good and holy man went up to him, and asked: "What is your monthly +stipend?" He answered, "Nothing." "Then," added he, "why give yourself +so much trouble?" He said: "I am reading for the sake of God." The good +and holy man replied: "For God's sake do not read:--for if thou chantest +the Koran after this manner, thou must cast a shade over the glory of +Islamism or Mussulman orthodoxy." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +On Love and Youth + + +I + +They asked Husan Maimandi: "How comes it that Sultan Mahmud, who has so +many handsome bondswomen, each of whom is the wonder of the world and +most select of the age, entertains not such fondness and affection for +any of them as he does for Ayaz, who can boast of no superiority of +charms?" He replied: "Whatever makes an impression on the heart seems +lovely in the eye. That person of whom the sultan makes choice must be +altogether good, though a compendium of vice; but where he is estranged +from the favor of the king none of the household will think of courting +him." Were a person to view it with a fastidious eye, the form of a +Joseph might seem a deformity; but let him look with desire on a demon, +and he will appear like an angel and cherub. + + * * * * * + + +III + +I saw a parsa, or holy man, so enamoured of a lovely person that he had +neither fortitude to bear with, nor resolution to declare, his passion: +and, however much he was the object of remark and censure, he would not +forego this infatuation, and was saying:--"I quit not my hold on the +skirt of thy garment, though thou may'st verily smite me with a sharp +sword. Besides thee I have neither asylum nor defence; if I am to flee, +I must take refuge with thee." + +On one occasion I reproached him, and said: "What is become of your +precious reason, that a vile passion should thus master you?" He made a +short pause, and replied:--"Wherever the king of love came, he left no +room for the strong arm of chastity. How can that wretch live undefiled +who has fallen in a quagmire up to the neck?" + + +IV + +A certain person had lost his heart and abandoned himself to despair. +The object of his desire was not such a dainty that he could gratify his +palate with it, or a bird that he could lure it into his net, but a +frightful precipice and overwhelming whirlpool:--When thy gold attracts +not the charmer's eye, dust or gold is of equal value with thee. + +His friends admonished him, saying: "Put aside this vain fancy, for +multitudes are in the durance and chains of this same passion which you +are cherishing." He sighed aloud, and replied: "Say to my friends, Do +not admonish me, for my eye is fixed on the wish of her. With strength +of wrist and power of shoulders warriors overwhelm their antagonists and +charmers their lovers." Nor can it be consistent with the condition of +love that any thought of life should divert the heart from affection for +its mistress:--Thou, who art the slave of thine own precious self, +playest false in the affairs of love. If thou canst not make good a +passage to thy mistress, it is the duty of a lover to perish in the +attempt.--I persist when policy is no longer left me, though the enemy +may cover me all over with the wounds of swords and arrows. If I can +reach her I will seize her sleeve, or at all events proceed and die at +her threshold. + +His kindred, whose business it was to watch over his concerns, and to +pity his misfortunes, gave him advice, and put upon him restraints, but +all to no good purpose:--The physician is, alas! prescribing +bitter-aloes, and his depraved appetite is craving sweetmeats!--Heardest +thou what a charmer was saying in a whisper to one who had lost his +heart to her: "So long as thou maintainest thine own dignity, of what +value can my dignity appear in thine eye?" + +They informed the princess who was the object of his infatuation, +saying: "A youth of an amiable disposition and sweet flow of tongue is +frequent in his attendance at the top of this plain; and we hear him +delivering brilliant speeches and wonderful sallies of wit; it would +seem that he has a mystery in his head and a flame in his heart, for he +appears to be distractedly in love." The princess was aware that she had +become the object of his attachment, and that this whirlwind of calamity +was raised by himself, and spurred her horse toward him. Now that the +youth saw that it was the princess' intention to approach him, he wept, +and said:--"That personage who inflicted upon me a mortal wound again +presented herself before me; perhaps she took compassion upon her own +victim." However, kindly she spoke, and asked, saying: "Who are you, and +whence come you? what is your name, and what your calling?" the youth +was so entirely overwhelmed in the ocean of love and passion that he +absolutely could not utter a word:--"Couldst thou in fact repeat the +seven Saba, or whole Koran by heart, if distracted with love, thou +wouldst forget the alphabet":--the princess continued: "Why do you not +answer me? for I too am one of the sect of dervishes, nay, I am their +most devoted slave." On the strength of this sympathizing encouragement +of his beloved, the youth raised his head amidst the buffeting waves of +tempestuous passion, and answered:--"It is strange that with thee +present I should remain in existence; that after thou camest to talk, I +should have speech left me."--This he said, and, uttering a loud groan, +surrendered his soul up to God:--No wonder if he died by the door of his +beloved's tent; the wonder was, if alive, how he could have brought his +life back in safety. + + +V + +A boy at school possessed much loveliness of person and sweetness of +conversation; and the master, from the frailty of human nature, was +enamoured of his blooming skin. Like his other scholars, he would not +admonish and correct him, but when he found him in a corner he would +whisper in his ear:--"I am not, O celestial creature! so occupied with +thee, that I am harboring in my mind a thought of myself. Were I to +perceive an arrow coming right into it, I could not shut my eye from +contemplating thee." + +On one occasion the boy said: "In like manner, as you inspect my duties, +also animadvert on my tendency to vice, in order that if you discern any +immorality in my behavior, which has met my own approbation, you can +warn me against it, that I may correct it." He replied: "O my child! +propose this task to somebody else; for the light in which I view you +reflects nothing but virtue." That malignant eye, let it be plucked out +in whose sight his virtue can seem vice. Hadst thou but one perfection +and seventy faults, the lover could discern only that one perfection. + + * * * * * + + +VII + +A person who had not seen his friend for a length of time, said to him: +"Where were you? for I have been very solicitous about you." He replied, +"It is better to be sought after than loathed." Thou hast come late, O +intoxicating idol! I shall not in a hurry quit my hold on thy +skirt:--that mistress whom they see but seldom is at last more desired +than she is whom they are cloyed with seeing. + +The charmer that can bring companions along with her has come to +quarrel; for she cannot be void of jealousy and discontent:--_Whenever +thou contest to visit me attended with comrades or rivals, though thou +comest in peace yet thy object is hostile_:--for one single moment that +my mistress associated with a rival, it went well-nigh to slay me with +jealousy. Smiling, she replied: "O Sa'di! I am the torch of the +assembly; what is it to me if the moth consume itself?" + + +VIII + +In former times, I recollect, a friend and I were associating together +like two kernels within one almond shell. I happened unexpectedly to go +on a journey. After some time, when I was returned, he began to chide +me, saying: "During this long interval you never sent me a messenger." I +replied: "It vexed me to think that the eyes of a courier should be +enlightened by your countenance, whilst I was debarred that +happiness:--Tell my old charmer not to impose a vow upon me with her +tongue; for I would not repent, were she to attempt it with a sword. +Envy stings me to the quick, lest another should be satiated with +beholding thee, till I recollect myself, and say: Nobody can have a +satiety of that!" + + +IX + +I saw a learned gentleman the captive of attachment for a certain +person, and the victim of his reproach; and he would suffer much +violence, and bear it with great patience. On one occasion I said, by +way of admonition: "I know that in your attachment for this person you +have no bad object, and that this friendship rests not on any criminal +design; yet, under this interpretation, it accords not with the dignity +of the learned to expose yourself to calumny, and put up with the +rudeness of the rabble." He replied: "O my friend, withdraw the hand of +reproach from the skirt of my fatality, for I have frequently reflected +on this advice which you offer me, and find it easier to suffer +contumely on his account than to forego his company; and philosophers +have said: 'It is less arduous to persist in the labor of courting than +to restrain the eye from contemplating a beloved object':--Whoever +devotes his heart to a soul deluder puts his beard or reputation into +the hands of another. That person, without whom thou canst not exist, if +he do thee a violence, thou must bear with it. The antelope, that is led +by a string, cannot bound from this side to that. One day I asked a +compact of my mistress; how often have I since that day craved her +forgiveness! A lover exacts not terms of his charmer; I relinquished my +heart to whatever she desired me, whether to call me up to her with +kindness, or drive me from her with harshness she knows best, or it is +her pleasure." + + +X + +In my early youth such an event (as you know) will come to pass. I held +a mystery and intercourse with a young person, because he had a pipe of +exquisite melody, and a form silver bright as the full moon:--"He is +sipping the fountain of immortality, who may taste the down of his +cheek; and he is eating a sweetmeat, who can fancy the sugar of his +lips." + +It happened that something in his behavior having displeased me, I +withdrew the skirt of communication, and removed the seal of my +affection from him, and said: "Go, and take what course best suits thee; +thou regardest not my counsel, follow thine own." I overheard him as he +was going, and saying:--"If the bat does not relish the company of the +sun, the all-current brilliancy of that luminary can suffer no +diminution." He so expressed himself and departed, and his vagabond +condition much distressed me:--_the opportunity of enjoyment was lost, +and a man is insensible to the relish of prosperity till he_ _has +tasted adversity_:--return and slay me, for to die before thy face were +far more pleasant than to survive in thy absence. + +But, thanksgiving and praise to the Almighty, he did not return till +after some interval, when that melodious pipe of David was cracked, and +that handsome form of Joseph in its wane; when that apple his chin was +overgrown with hair, like a quince, and the all-current lustre of his +charms tarnished. He expected me to fold him in my arms; but I took +myself aside and said: "When the down of loveliness flourished on thy +cheek, thou drovest the lord of thy attractions from thy sight; now thou +hast come to court his peace when thy face is thick set with fathahs and +zammahs, or the bristles of a beard:--The verdant foliage of thy spring +is turned yellow; place not thy kettle on my grate, for its fire is +cooled. How long wilt thou display this pomp and vanity; hopest thou to +regain thy former dominion? Make thy court to such as desire thee, sport +thy airs on such as will hire thee:--The verdure of the garden, they +have told us, is charming; that person (Sa'di) knows it who is relating +that story; or, in other words, that the fresh-shooting down on their +charmers' cheeks is what the hearts of their admirers chiefly +covet:--Thy garden is like a bed of chives: the more thou croppest it, +the more it will shoot:--Last year thou didst depart smooth as an +antelope, to-day thou art returned bearded like a pard. Sa'di admires +the fresh-shooting down, not when each hair is stiff as a +packing-needle:--Whether thou hast patience with thy beard, or weed it +from thy face, this happy season of youth must come to a conclusion. Had +I the same command of life as thou hast of beard, it should not escape +me till doomsday." I asked him and said: "What has become of the beauty +of thy countenance, that a beard has sprung up round the orb of the +moon?" He answered: "I know not what has befallen my face, unless it has +put on black to mourn its departed charms." + + * * * * * + + +XII + +They shut up a parrot in the same cage with a crow. The parrot was +affronted at his ugly look, and said: "What an odious visage is this, a +hideous figure; what an accursed appearance, and ungracious +demeanor!--_Would to God, O raven of the desert! we were wide apart +as the east is from the west_:--The serenity of his peaceful day would +change into the gloom of night, who on issuing forth in the morning +might cross thy aspect. An ill-conditioned wretch like thyself should be +thy companion; but where could we find such another in the world?" + +But what is more strange, the crow was also out of all patience, and +vexed to the soul at the society of the parrot. Bewailing his +misfortune, he was railing at the revolutions of the skies; and, +wringing the hands of chagrin, was lamenting his condition, and saying: +"What an unpropitious fate is this; what ill-luck, and untoward fortune! +Could they any way suit the dignity of me, who would in my day strut +with my fellow-crows along the wall of a garden:--It were durance +sufficient for a good and holy man that he should be made the companion +of the wicked:--What sin have I committed that my stars in retribution +of it have linked me in the chain of companionship, and immured me in +the dungeon of calamity, with a conceited blockhead, and +good-for-nothing babbler:--Nobody will approach the foot of a wall on +which they have painted thy portrait; wert thou to get a residence in +paradise, others would go in preference to hell." + +I have introduced this parable to show that however much learned men +despise the ignorant, these are a hundredfold more scornful of the +learned:--A zahid, or holy man, fell in company with some wandering +minstrels. One of them, a charmer of Balkh, said to him: "If thou art +displeased with us, do not look sour, for thou art already sufficiently +offensive.--An assemblage is formed of roses and tulips, and thou art +stuck up amidst them like a withered stalk; like an opposing storm, and +a chilling winter blast; like a ball of snow, or lump of ice." + + +XIII + +I had an associate, who was for years the companion of my travels, +partook of the same bread and salt, and enjoyed the many rights of a +confirmed friendship. At last, on some trifling advantage, he gave me +cause of umbrage, and our intimacy ceased. And notwithstanding all this, +there was a hankering of good-will on both sides; in consequence of +which I heard that he was one day reciting in a certain assembly these +two couplets of my writings:--"When my idol, or mistress, is +approaching me with her tantalizing smiles, she is sprinkling more salt +upon my smarting sores. How fortunate were the tips of her ringlets to +come into my hand, like the sleeve of the generous in the hands of +dervishes." This society of his friends bore testimony, and gave +applause, not to the beauty of this sentiment, but to the liberality of +his own disposition in quoting it; while he had himself been extravagant +in his encomiums, regretted the demise of our former attachment, and +confessed how much he was to blame. I was made aware that he too was +desirous of a reconciliation; and, having sent him these couplets, made +my peace:--"Was there not a treaty of good faith between us, and didst +not thou commence hostilities, and violate the compact? I relinquished +all manner of society, and plighted my heart to thee; for I did not +suspect that thou wouldst have so readily changed. If it still be thy +wish to renew our peace, return, and be more dear to me than ever." + + +XIV + +A man had a beautiful wife, who died; but the mother, a decrepit old +dotard, remained a fixture in his house, because of the dowry. He was +teased to death by her company; but, from the circumstance of the dower, +he had no remedy. In the meantime some of his friends having come to +comfort him, one of them asked: "How is it with you, since the loss of +that dear friend?" He answered: "The absence of my wife is not so +intolerable as the presence of her mother:--They plucked the rose, and +left me the thorn; they plundered the treasure, and let the snake +remain. To have our eye pierced with a spear were more tolerable than to +see the face of an enemy. It were better to break with a thousand +friends than to put up with one rival." + + +XV + +In my youth I recollect I was passing through a street, and caught a +glimpse of a moon-like charmer during the dog-days, when their heat was +drying up the moisture of the mouth, and the samurn, or desert hot-wind, +melting the marrow of the bones. From the weakness of human nature I was +unable to withstand the darting rays of a noon-tide sun, and took +refuge under the shadow of a wall, hopeful that somebody would relieve +me from the oppressive heat of summer, and quench the fire of my thirst +with a draught of water. All at once I beheld a luminary in the shadowed +portico of a mansion, so splendid an object that the tongue of eloquence +falls short in summing up its loveliness; such as the day dawning upon a +dark night, or the fountain of immortality issuing from chaos. She held +in her hand a goblet of snow-cooled water, into which she dropped some +sugar, and tempered it with spirit of wine; but I know not whether she +scented it with attar, or sprinkled it with a few blossoms from her own +rosy cheek. In short, I received the beverage from her idol-fair hand; +and, having drunk it off, found myself restored to a new life. "_Such is +not my parching thirst that it is to be quenched with the limpid element +of water, were I to swallow it in oceans_:--Joy to that happy aspect +whose eye can every morning contemplate such a countenance as thine. A +person intoxicated with wine lies giddy and awake half the night; but if +intoxicated with the cup-bearer (God), the day of judgment must be his +dawn or morning." + + +XVI + +In the year that Sultan Mohammed Khowarazm-Shah had for some political +reason chosen to make peace with the king of Khota, I entered the +metropolitan mosque at Kashghar, and met a youth incomparably lovely, +and exquisitely handsome; such as they have mentioned in resemblance of +him:--"Thy master instructed thee in every bold and captivating grace; +he taught thee coquetry and confidence, tyranny and violence." I have +seen no mortal with such a form and temper, stateliness and manner; +perhaps he learned these fascinating ways from an angel. + +He held the introduction of the Zamakhshari Arabic grammar in his hand, +and was repeating:--"Zaraba Zaidun Amranwa--Zaid beat Amru and is the +assailant of Amru." I said: "O my son! the Khowarazm and Khatayi +sovereigns have made peace, and does war thus subsist between Zaid and +Amru?" He smiled, and asked me the place of my nativity. I answered: +"The territory of Shiraz." He said: "Do you recollect any of Sa'di's +compositions?" I replied: "_I am enamoured with the reader of the +syntax, who, taking offence, assails me in like manner as Zaid does +Amru. And Zaid, when read Zaidin, cannot raise his head; and how canst +thou give a zammah to a word accented with a kasrah_?" + +He reflected a little within himself, and said: "In these parts we have +much of Sa'di's compositions in the Persian language; if you will speak +in that dialect we shall more readily comprehend you, for _you should +address mankind according to their capacities_." + +I replied: "Whilst thy passion was that of studying grammar, all trace +of reason was erased from our hearts. Yes! the lover's heart is fallen a +prey to thy snare: we are occupied about thee, and thou art taken up +with Amru and Zaid." + +On the morrow, which had been fixed on as the period of our stay, some +of my fellow-travellers had perhaps told him such a one is Sa'di; for I +saw that he came running up, and expressed his affection and regret, +saying: "Why did you not during all this time tell us that a certain +person is Sa'di, that I might have shown my gratitude by offering my +service to your reverence." I answered: "In thy presence I cannot even +say that I am I!"--He said: "How good it were if you would tarry here +for a few days, that we might devote ourselves to your service." I +replied: "That cannot be, as this adventure will explain to you:--In the +hilly region I saw a great and holy man, who was content in living +retired from the world in a cavern. I said: 'Why dost thou not come into +the city, that thy heart might be relieved from a load of servitude?' He +replied: 'In it there dwell some wonderful and angel-faced charmers, and +where the path is miry, elephants may find it slippery.'--Having +delivered this speech, we kissed each other's head and face, and took +our leaves:--What profits it to kiss our mistress's cheek, and with the +same breath to bid her adieu. Thou mightest say that the apple had taken +leave of its friends by having this cheek red and that cheek +yellow:--_Were I not to die of grief on that day I say farewell, thou +wouldst charge me with being insincere in my attachments_." + + +XVII + +A ragged dervish accompanied us along with the caravan for Hijaz, and a +certain Arab prince presented him with a hundred dinars for the support +of his family. Suddenly a gang of Khafachah robbers attacked the +caravan, and completely stripped it. The merchants set up a weeping and +wailing, and made much useless lamentation and complaint:--"Whether thou +supplicatest them, or whether thou complainest, the robbers will not +return thee their plunder":--all but that ragged wretch, who stood +collected within himself, and unmoved by this adventure. I said: +"Perhaps they did not plunder you of that money?" He replied: "Yes, they +took it; but I was not so fond of my pet as to break my heart at parting +with it. We should not fix our heart so on any thing or being as to find +any difficulty in removing it." + +I said: "What you have remarked corresponds precisely with what once +befell myself; for in my juvenile days I took a liking to a young man, +and so sincere was my attachment that the Cabah, or fane, of my eye was +his perfect beauty, and the profit of this life's traffic his +much-coveted society:--Perhaps the angels might in paradise, otherwise +no living form can on this earth display such a loveliness of person. By +friendship I swear that after his demise all loving intercourse is +forbidden; for no human emanation can stand a comparison with him. + +"All at once the foot of his existence stumbled at the grave of +annihilation; and the sigh of separation burst from the dwelling of his +family. For many days I sat a fixture at his tomb, and, of the many +dirges I composed upon his demise, this is one:--'On that day, when thy +foot was pierced with the thorn of death, would to God the hand of fate +had cloven my head with the sword of destruction, that my eyes might not +this day have witnessed the world without thee. Such am I, seated at the +head of thy dust, as the ashes are seated on my own:--whoever could not +take his rest and sleep till they first had spread a bed of roses and +narcissuses for him: the whirlwind of the sky has scattered the roses of +his cheek, and brambles and thorns are shooting from his grave.' + +"After my separation from him I came to a steady and firm +determination, that during my remaining life I would fold up the carpet +of enjoyment, and never re-enter the gay circle of society:--Were it not +for the dread of its waves, much would be the profits of a voyage at +sea; were it not for the vexation of the thorn, charming might be the +society of the rose. Yesterday I was walking stately as a peacock in the +garden of enjoyment; to-day I am writhing like a snake from the absence +of my mistress." + + +XVIII. + +To a certain king of Arabia they were relating the story of Laila and +Mujnun, and his insane state, saying: "Notwithstanding his knowledge and +wisdom, he has turned his face towards the desert, and abandoned himself +to distraction." The king ordered that they bring him into his presence; +and he reproved him, and spoke, saying: "What have you seen unworthy in +the noble nature of man that you should assume the manners of a brute, +and forsake the enjoyment of human society?" + +Mujnun wept and answered:--"_Many of my friends reproach me for my love +of her, namely Laila. Alas! that they could one day see her, that my +excuse might be manifest for me!_--Would to God that such as blame me +could behold thy face, O thou ravisher of hearts! that at the sight of +thee they might, from inadvertency, cut their own fingers instead of the +orange in their hands:--Then might the truth of the reality bear +testimony against the semblance of fiction, _what manner of person that +was for whose sake you were upbraiding me_." + +The king resolved within himself, on viewing in person the charms of +Laila, that he might be able to judge what her form could be which had +caused all this misery, and ordered her to be produced in his presence. +Having searched through the Arab tribes, they discovered and presented +her before the king in the courtyard of his seraglio. He viewed her +figure, and beheld a person of a tawny complexion and feeble frame of +body. She appeared to him in a contemptible light, inasmuch as the +lowest menial in his harem, or seraglio, surpassed her in beauty and +excelled her in elegance. Mujnun, in his sagacity, penetrated what was +passing in the royal mind, and said: "It would behoove you, O king, to +contemplate the charms of Laila through the wicket of a Mujnun's eye, +in order that the miracle of such a spectacle might be illustrated to +you. Thou canst have no fellow-feeling for my disorder; a companion to +suit me must have the self-same malady, that I may sit by him the +livelong day repeating my tale; for by rubbing two pieces of dry +fire-wood one upon another they will burn all the brighter:--_had that +grove of verdant reeds heard the murmurings of love which in detail of +my mistress's story have passed through my ear, it would somehow have +sympathised in my pain. Tell it, O my friends, to such as are ignorant +of love; would ye could be aware of what wrings me to the soul_:--the +anguish of a wound is not known to the hale and sound; we must detail +our aches only to a fellow-sufferer. It were idle to talk of a hornet to +him who has never during his life smarted from its sting. Till thy +condition may in some sort resemble mine, my state will seem to thee an +idle fable. Compare not my pain with that of another man; he holds salt +in his hand, but I hold it on a wounded limb." + + * * * * * + + +XX + +There was a handsome and well-disposed young man, who was embarked in a +vessel with a lovely damsel. I have read that, sailing on the mighty +deep, they fell together into a whirlpool. When the pilot came to offer +him assistance, saying: "God forbid that he should perish in that +distress," he was answering from the midst of that overwhelming vortex: +"Leave me, and take the hand of my beloved!" The whole world admired him +for this speech which, as he was expiring, he was heard to make. Learn +not the tale of love from that faithless wretch who can neglect his +beloved when exposed to danger. In this manner ended the lives of those +lovers. Listen to what has happened, that you may understand; for Sa'di +knows the ways and forms of courtship as well as the Tazi, or modern +Arabic, is understood at Bagdad. Devote your whole heart to the +heart-consoler you have chosen (namely, God), and let your eyes be shut +to the whole world beside. Were Laila and Mujnun to return into life, +they might read the history of love in this chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Of Imbecility and Old Age + + +I + +In the metropolitan mosque at Damascus I was engaged in a disputation +with some learned men, when a youth suddenly entered the door, and said: +"Does any of you understand the Persian language?" They directed him to +me, and I answered: "It is true." He continued: "An old man of a hundred +and fifty years of age is in the agonies of death, and is uttering +something in the Persian language, which we do not understand. If you +will have the goodness to go to him you may get rewarded; for he +possibly may be dictating his will." When I sat down by his bedside I +heard him reciting:--"I said, I will enjoy myself for a few moments. +Alas! that my soul took the path of departure. Alas! at the variegated +table of life I partook a few mouthfuls, and the fates said, enough!" + +I explained the signification of these lines in Arabic to the Syrians. +They were astonished that, at his advanced time of life, he should +express himself so solicitous about a worldly existence. I asked him: +"How do you now find yourself?" He replied: "What shall I say?--Hast +thou never witnessed what torture that man suffers from whose jaw they +are extracting a tooth? Fancy to thyself how excruciating is his pain +from whose precious body they are tearing an existence!" + +I said: "Banish all thoughts of death from your mind, and let not doubt +undermine your constitution; for the Greek philosophers have remarked +that although our temperaments are vigorous, that is no proof of a long +life; and that although our sickness is dangerous, that is no positive +sign of immediate dissolution. If you will give me leave, I will call in +a physician to prescribe some medicine that may cure you." He replied: +"Alas! alas! The landlord thinks of refreshing the paintings of his +hall, and the house is tottering to its foundation. The physician smites +the hands of despair when he sees the aged fallen in pieces like a +potsherd; the old man bemoans himself in the agony of death while the +old attendant nurse is anointing him with sandal-wood. When the +equipoise of the temperament is overset, neither amulets nor medicaments +can do any good." + + * * * * * + + +III + +In the territory of Diarbekr, or Mesopotamia, I was the guest of an old +man, who was very rich, and had a handsome son. One night he told a +story, saying: "During my whole life I never had any child but this boy. +And in this valley a certain tree is a place of pilgrimage, where people +go to supplicate their wants; and many was the night that I have +besought God at the foot of that tree before he would bestow upon me +this boy." I have heard that the son was also whispering his companions, +and saying: "How happy I should be if I could discover the site of that +tree, in order that I might pray for the death of my father." The +gentleman was rejoicing and saying: "What a sensible youth is my son!" +and the boy was complaining and crying: "What a tedious old dotard is my +father!" Many years are passing over thy head, during which thou didst +not visit thy father's tomb. What pious oblation didst thou make to the +manes of a parent that thou shouldst expect so much from thy son? + + +IV + +Urged one day by the pride of youthful vanity, I had made a forced +march, and in the evening found myself exhausted at the bottom of an +acclivity. A feeble old man, who had deliberately followed the pace of +the caravan, came up to me and said: "How come you to lie down here? Get +up, this is no fit place for rest." I replied: "How can I proceed, who +have not a foot to stand on?" He said: "Have you not heard what the +prudent have remarked? 'Going on, and halting, is better than running +ahead and breaking down!' Ye who wish to reach the end of your journey, +hurry not on; practise my advice, and learn deliberation. The Arab horse +makes a few stretches at full speed, and is broken down; while the +camel, at its deliberate pace, travels on night and day, and gets to the +end of his journey." + + +V + +An active, merry, cheerful, and sweet-spoken youth was for a length of +time in the circle of my society, whose heart had never known sorrow, +nor his lip ceased from being on a smile. An age had passed, during +which we had not chanced to meet. When I next saw him he had taken to +himself a wife, and got a family; and the root of his enjoyment was torn +up, and the rose of his mirth blasted. I asked him: "How is this?" He +replied: "Since I became a father of children, I ceased to play the +child:--Now thou art old, relinquish childishness, and leave it to the +young to indulge in play and merriment. Expect not the sprightliness of +youth from the aged; for the stream that ran by can never return. Now +that the corn is ripe for the sickle, it rears not its head as when +green and shooting. The season of youth has slipt through my hands; +alas! when I think on those heart-exhilarating days! The lion has lost +the sturdy grasp of his paw: I must now put up, like a lynx, with a bit +of cheese. An old woman had stained her gray locks black. I said to her: +O, my antiquated dame! thy hair I admit thou canst turn dark by art, but +thou never canst make thy crooked back straight." + + +VI + +One day, in the perverseness of youth, I spoke with asperity to my +mother. Vexed at heart, she sat down in a corner, and with tears in her +eyes was saying: "You have perhaps forgot the days of infancy, that you +are speaking to me thus harshly.--How well did an old woman observe to +her own son, when she saw him powerful as a tiger, and formidable as an +elephant: 'Couldst thou call to mind those days of thy infancy when +helpless thou wouldst cling to this my bosom, thou wouldst not thus +assail me with savage fury, now thou art a lion-like hero, and I am a +poor old woman.'" + + +VII + +A rich miser had a son who was grievously sick. His well-wishers and +friends spoke to him, saying: "It were proper that you either read the +Koran throughout or offer an animal in sacrifice, in order that the Most +High God may restore him to health." After a short reflection within +himself he answered, "It is better to read the Koran, which is ready at +hand; and my herds are at a distance." A good and holy man heard this +and remarked: "He makes choice of the reading part because the Koran +slips glibly over the tongue, but his money is to be wrung from the soul +of him. Fie upon that readiness to bow the head in prayer; would that +the hand of charity could accompany it! In bestowing a dinar he will +stickle like an ass in the mire; but ask him to read the Al-hamdi, or +first chapter of the Koran, and he will recite it a hundred times." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Of the Impressions of Education + + +I + +A certain nobleman had a dunce of a son. He sent him to a learned man, +saying: "Verily you will give instruction to this youth, peradventure he +may become a rational being." He continued to give him lessons for some +time, but they made no impression upon him, when he sent a message to +the father, saying: "This son is not getting wise, and he has well-nigh +made me a fool!" Where the innate capacity is good, education may make +an impression upon it; but no furbisher knows how to give a polish to +iron which is of a bad temper. Wash a dog seven times in the ocean, and +so long as he is wet he is all the filthier. Were they to take the ass +of Jesus to Mecca, on his return from that pilgrimage he would still be +an ass. + + +II + +A philosopher was exhorting his children and saying: "O emanations of my +soul, acquire knowledge, as no reliance can be placed on worldly riches +and possessions, for once you leave home rank is of no use, and gold and +silver on a journey are exposed to the risk either of thieves plundering +them at once, or of the owner wasting them by degrees; but knowledge is +a perennial spring and ever-during fortune. Were a professional man to +lose his fortune, he need not feel regret, for his knowledge is of +itself a mine of wealth. Wherever he may sojourn the learned man will +meet respect, and be ushered into the upper seat, whilst the ignorant +man must put up with offal and suffer want:--If thou covet the paternal +heritage, acquire thy father's knowledge, for this thy father's wealth +thou may'st squander in ten days. After having been in authority, it is +hard to obey; after having been fondled with caresses, to put up with +men's violence:--There once occurred an insurrection in Syria, and +everybody forsook his former peaceful abode. The sons of peasants, who +were men of learning, came to be employed as the ministers of kings; and +the children of noblemen, of bankrupt understandings, went a begging +from village to village." + + +III + +A certain learned man was superintending the education of a king's son; +and he was chastising him without mercy, and reproving him with +asperity. The boy, out of all patience, complained to the king his +father, and laid bare before him his much-bruised body. The king was +much offended, and sending for the master, said: "You do not treat the +children of my meanest subject with the harshness and cruelty you do my +boy; what do you mean by this?" He replied: "To think before they speak, +and to deliberate before they act, are duties incumbent upon all +mankind, and more immediately upon kings; because whatever may drop from +their hands and tongue, the special deed or word will somehow become the +subject of public animadversion; whereas any act or remark of the +commonalty attracts not such notice:--Let a dervish, or poor man, commit +a hundred indiscretions, and his companions will not notice one out of +the hundred; and let a king but utter one foolish word, and it will be +echoed from kingdom to kingdom:--therefore in forming the morals of +young princes, more pains are to be taken than with the sons of the +vulgar. Whoever was not taught good manners in his boyhood, fortune will +forsake him when he becomes a man. Thou may'st bend the green bough as +thou likest; but let it once get dry, and it will require heat to +straighten it:--'_Verily thou may'st bend the tender branch, but it were +labor lost to attempt making straight a crooked billet_.'" + +The king greatly approved of this ingenious detail, and the wholesome +course of discipline of the learned doctor; and, bestowing upon him a +dress and largess, raised him one step in his rank as a nobleman! + + +IV + +In the west of Africa I saw a schoolmaster of a sour aspect and bitter +speech, crabbed, misanthropic, beggarly, and intemperate, insomuch that +the sight of him would derange the ecstasies of the orthodox; and his +manner of reading the Koran cast a gloom over the minds of the pious. A +number of handsome boys and lovely virgins were subject to his despotic +sway, who had neither the permission of a smile nor the option of a +word, for this moment he would smite the silver cheek of one of them +with his hand, and the next put the crystalline legs of another in the +stocks. In short their parents, I heard, were made aware of a part of +his disloyal violence, and beat and drove him from his charge. And they +made over his school to a peaceable creature, so pious, meek, simple, +and good-natured that he never spoke till forced to do so, nor would he +utter a word that could offend anybody. The children forgot that awe in +which they had held their first master, and remarking the angelic +disposition of their second master, they became one after another as +wicked as devils; and relying on his clemency, they would so neglect +their studies as to pass most part of their time at play, and break the +tablets of their unfinished tasks over each other's heads:--"When the +schoolmaster relaxes in his discipline, the children will stop to play +at marbles in the market-place." + +A fortnight after I passed by the gate of that mosque and saw the first +schoolmaster, with whom they had been obliged to make friends, and to +restore him to his place. I was in truth offended, and calling on God to +witness, asked, saying: "Why have they again made a devil the preceptor +of angels?" A facetious old gentleman, who had seen much of life, +listened to me and replied: "Have you not heard what they have said:--A +king sent his son to school, and hung a tablet of silver round his neck. +On the face of that tablet he had written in golden letters: 'The +severity of the master is more useful than the indulgence of the +father.'" + + * * * * * + + +VI + +A king gave his son into the charge of a preceptor, and said: "This is +your child, educate him as you would one of your own." For some years he +labored in teaching him, but to no good purpose; whilst the sons of the +preceptor excelled in eloquence and knowledge. The king blamed the +learned man, and remonstrated with him, saying: "You have violated your +trust, and infringed the terms of your engagement." He replied: "O king, +the education is the same, but their capacities are different!" Though +silver and gold are extracted from stones, yet it is not in every stone +that gold and silver are found. The Sohail, or star Canopus, is shedding +his rays all over the globe. In one place he produces common leather, in +another, or in Yamin, that called Adim, or perfumed. + + +VII + +I heard a certain learned senior observing to a disciple:--"If the sons +of Adam were as solicitous after Providence, or God, as they are after +their means of sustenance, their places in Paradise would surpass those +of the angels." God did not overlook thee in that state when thou wert a +senseless embryo in thy mother's womb. He bestowed upon thee a soul, +reason, temper, intellect, symmetry, speech, judgment, understanding, +and reflection. He accommodated thy hands with ten fingers, and +suspended two arms from thy shoulders. Canst thou now suppose, O +good-for-nothing wretch, that he will forget to provide thy daily bread? + + +VIII + +I observed an Arab who was informing his son:--"_O my child, God will +ask thee on the day of judgment: What hast thou done in this life? but +he will not inquire of thee: Whence didst thou derive thy origin?_" That +is, they (or God) will ask, saying: "What are your works?" But he will +not question you, saying: "Who is your father?" The covering of the +Caabah at Mecca, which the pilgrims kiss from devotion, is not prized +from its being the fabric of a silk-worm; for a while it associated with +a venerable friend, and became, in consequence, venerable like him. + + +IX + +They have related in the books of philosophers that scorpions are not +brought forth according to the common course of nature, as other animals +are, but that they eat their way through their mother's wombs, tear open +their bellies, and thus make themselves a passage into the world; and +that the fragments of skin which we find in scorpions' holes corroborate +this fact. On one occasion I was stating this strange event to a good +and great man, when he answered: "My heart is bearing testimony to the +truth of this remark; nor can it be otherwise, for as they have thus +behaved towards their parents in their youth, so they are approved and +beloved in their riper years." On his death-bed a father exhorted his +son, saying: "O generous youth, keep in mind this maxim: 'Whoever is +ungrateful to his own kindred cannot hope that fortune shall befriend +him.'" + + +X + +They asked a scorpion: "Why do you not make your appearance during the +winter?" It answered: "What is my character in the summer that I should +come abroad also in the winter?" + + * * * * * + + +XIII + +One year a dissension arose among the foot-travellers on a pilgrimage to +Mecca, and the author (Sa'di) was also a pedestrian among them. In +truth, we fell head and ears together, and accusation and recrimination +were bandied from all sides. I overheard a kajawah, or gentleman, riding +on one side of a camel-litter, observing to his adil, or opposite +companion: "How strange that the ivory piyadah, or pawns, on reaching +the top of the shatranj, or chess-board, become fazzin, or queens; that +is, they get rank, or become better than they were; and the piyadah, or +pawns, of the pilgrimage--that is, our foot-pilgrims--have crossed the +desert and become worse." Say from me to that haji, or pilgrim, the pest +of his fellow-pilgrims, that he lacerates the skin of mankind by his +contention. Thou art not a real pilgrim, but that meek camel is one who +is feeding on thorns and patient under its burden. + + +XIV + +A Hindu, or Indian, was teaching the art of playing off fireworks. A +philosopher observed to him: "This is an unfit sport for you, whose +dwelling is made of straw." Utter not a word till thou knowest that it +is the mirror of what is correct; and do not put a question where thou +knowest that the answer must be unfavorable. + + +XV + +A fellow had a complaint in his eyes, and went to a horse-doctor, +saying: "Prescribe something for me." The doctor of horses applied to +his eyes what he was in the habit of applying to the eyes of quadrupeds, +and the man got blind. They carried their complaint before the hakim, or +judge. He decreed: "This man has no redress, for had he not been an ass +he would not have applied to a horse or ass doctor!" The moral of this +apologue is, that whoever doth employ an inexperienced person on an +affair of importance, besides being brought to shame, he will incur from +the wise the imputation of a weak mind. A prudent man, with an +enlightened understanding, entrusts not affairs of consequence to one of +mean capacity. The plaiter of mats, notwithstanding he be a weaver, they +would not employ in a silk manufactory. + + +XVI + +A certain great Imaam had a worthy son, and he died. They asked him, +saying: "What shall we inscribe upon the urn at his tomb." He replied: +"Verses of the holy Koran are of such superior reverence and dignity +that they should not be written in places where time might efface, +mankind tread upon, or dogs defile them; yet, if an epitaph be +necessary, let these two couplets suffice:--I said: 'Alas! how grateful +it was proving to my heart, so long as the verdure of thy existence +might flourish in the garden.' He replied: 'O my friend, have patience +till the return of the spring, and thou may'st again see roses +blossoming on my bosom, or shooting from my dust.'" + + +XVII + +A holy man was passing by a wealthy personage's mansion, and saw him +with a slave tied up by the hands and feet, and giving him chastisement. +He said: "O my son! God Almighty has made a creature like yourself +subject to your command, and has given you a superiority over him. +Render thanksgiving to the Most High Judge, and deal not with him so +savagely; lest hereafter, on the day of judgment, he may prove the more +worthy of the two, and you be put to shame:--Be not so enraged with thy +bondsman; torture not his body, nor harrow up his heart. Thou mightest +buy him for ten dinars, but hadst not after all the power of creating +him:--To what length will this authority, pride, and insolence hurry +thee; there is a Master mightier than thou art. Yes, thou art a lord of +slaves and vassals, but do not forget thine own Lord Paramount--namely, +God!" There is a tradition of the prophet Mohammed, on whom be blessing, +announcing:--On the day of resurrection, that will be the most +mortifying event when the good slave will be taken up to heaven, and the +wicked master sent down to hell:--"Upon the bondsman, who is subservient +to thy command, wreak not thy rage and boundless displeasure. For it +must be disgraceful on the day of reckoning to find the slave at liberty +and the master in bondage." + + +XVIII + +One year I was on a journey with some Syrians from Balkh, and the road +was infested with robbers. One of our escort was a youth expert at +wielding his shield and brandishing his spear, mighty as an elephant, +and cased in armor, so strong that ten of the most powerful of us could +not string his bow, or the ablest wrestler on the face of the earth +throw him on his back. Yet, as you must know, he had been brought up in +luxury and reared in a shade, was inexperienced of the world, and had +never travelled. The thunder of the great war-drum had never rattled in +his ears, nor had the lightning of the trooper's scimitar ever flashed +across his eyes:--He had never fallen a captive into the hands of an +enemy, nor been overwhelmed amidst a shower of their arrows. + +It happened that this young man and I kept running on together; and any +venerable ruin that might come in our way he would overthrow with the +strength of his shoulder; and any huge tree that we might see he would +wrench from its root with his lion-seizing wrist, and boastfully +cry:--"Where is the elephant, that he may behold the shoulder and arm of +warriors? Where the lion, that he may feel the wrist and grip of +heroes?" + +Such was our situation when two Hindus darted from behind a rock and +prepared to cut us off, one of them holding a bludgeon in his hand, and +the other having a mallet under his arm. I called to the young man, "Why +do you stop?--Display whatever strength and courage thou hast, for the +foe came on his own feet up to his grave":--I perceived that the youth's +bow and arrows had dropped from his hands, and that a tremor had fallen +upon his limbs:--It is not he that can split a hair with a coat-of-mail +cleaving arrow that is able to withstand an assault from the +formidable:--No alternative was left us but that of surrendering our +arms, accoutrements, and clothes, and escaping with our lives. On an +affair of importance employ a man experienced in business who can bring +the fierce lion within the noose of his halter; though the youth be +strong of arm and has the body of an elephant, in his encounter with a +foe every limb will quake with fear. A man of experience is best +qualified to explore a field of battle, as one of the learned is to +expound a point of law. + + +XIX + +I saw a rich man's son seated by his father's tomb, and in a disputation +with that of a dervish holding forth and saying: "My father's mausoleum +is built of granite, the epitaph inscribed with letters of gold, the +pavement and lining marble, and tessellated with slabs of turquoise; and +what is there left of your father's tomb but two or three bricks +cemented together with a few handfuls of mortar?" The poor man's son +heard this, and answered: "I pray you peace! for before your father can +stir himself under this heavy load of stone mine shall have risen up to +heaven!" And there is a tradition of the prophet, that _death to the +poor is a state of rest_. That ass proceeds all the lighter on his +journey on whom they load the lightest burden:--the poor dervish, who +suffers under a load of indigence, will in like sort enter the gates of +death with an easy burden; but with him who luxuriates in peace, plenty, +and affluence, it must be a real hardship to die amidst all these +comforts. At all events consider the prisoner, who is released from his +thraldom, as better off than the prince who is just fallen a captive. + + * * * * * + + +XXI + +I saw a certain person in the garb of dervishes, but not with their +meekness, seated in a company, and full of his abuse. Having opened the +volume of reproach, and begun to calumniate the rich, his discourse had +reached this place, stating: "The hand of the poor man's ability is tied +up, and the foot of the rich man's inclination crippled:--Men of +liberality have no command of money, nor have the opulent and +worldly-minded a spirit of liberality." + +Owing, as I am, my support to the bounty of the great, I considered this +animadversion as unmerited, and replied: "O my friend! the rich are the +treasury of the indigent, the granary of the hermit, the fane of the +pilgrim, resting-place of the traveller, and the carriers of heavy +burdens for the relief of their fellow-creatures. They put forth their +hand to eat when their servants and dependants are ready to partake with +them; and the bounteous fragments of their tables they distribute among +widows and the aged, their neighbors and kindred:--The rich have their +consecrated foundations, charitable endowments and rites of hospitality; +their alms, oblations, manumissions, peace-offerings, and sacrifices. +How shalt thou rise to this pomp of fortune who canst perform only these +two genuflexions, and them after manifold difficulties?--Whether it +respect their moral dignity or religious duty, the rich are at ease +within themselves; for their property is sanctified by giving tithes, +and their apparel hallowed by cleanliness, their reputations +unblemished, and minds content. The intelligent are aware that the zeal +of devotion is warmed by good fare, and the sincerity of piety rendered +more serene in a nicety of vesture; for it is evident what ardor there +can be in a hungry stomach; what generosity in squalid penury; what +ability of travelling with a bare foot; and what alacrity at bestowing +from an empty hand:--Uneasy must be the night-slumbers of him whose +provision for to-morrow is not forthcoming: the ant is laying by a store +in summer that she may enjoy an abundance in winter. It is clear that +indigence and tranquillity can never go together, nor have fruition and +want the same aspect: the one had composed himself for prayer, and the +other sat anxious, and thinking on his supper; how then could this ever +come in competition with that? The lord of plenty has his mind fixed on +God; when a man's fortune is bankrupt, so is his heart:--accordingly, +the devotion of the rich is more acceptable at the temple of God, +because their thoughts are present and collected, and their minds not +absent and distracted; for they have laid up the conveniences of good +living, and digested at their leisure their scriptural quotations (for +prayer). The Arabs say: '_God preserve us from overwhelming poverty; and +from the company of him whom he loves not, namely, the infidel_':--And +there is a tradition of the prophet--that '_poverty has a gloomy aspect +in this world and in the next_!'" + +My antagonist said: "Have you not heard what the blessed prophet has +declared?--'_poverty is my glory!_'" I replied: "Be silent, for the +allusion of the Lord of both worlds applies to such as are heroes in the +field of resignation, and the devoted victims of their fate, and not to +those who put on the garb of piety, that they may entitle themselves to +the bread of charity. O noisy drum! thou art nothing but an empty sound; +unprovided with the means, what canst thou effect on the last day of +account? If thou art a man of spirit, turn thy face away from begging +charity from thy fellow-creature; and keep not repeating thy rosary of a +thousand beads. Being without divine knowledge, a dervish, or poor man, +rests not till his poverty settles into infidelity; for _he that is poor +is well-nigh being an infidel_:--nor is it practicable, unless through +the agency of wealth, to clothe the naked, and to liberate the prisoner +from jail: how then can such mendicants as we are aspire to their +dignity; or what comparison is there between the arm of the lofty and +the hand of the abject? Do you not perceive that the glorious and great +God announces, in the holy book of the Koran, xxviii, the enjoyments of +the blessed in Paradise?--that '_to this community, namely, the orthodox +Mussulmans, a provision is allotted_';--in order that you may +understand that such as are solely occupied in looking after their daily +subsistence are excluded from this portion of the blessed; and that the +property of present enjoyment is sanctioned under the seal of +Providence:--to the thirsty it will seem in their dreams as if the face +of the earth were wholly a fountain. You may everywhere observe that, +instigated by his appetites, a person who has suffered hardship and +tasted bitterness will engage in dangerous enterprises; and, indifferent +to the consequences, and unawed by future punishments, he will not +discriminate between what is lawful and what is forbid:--Should a clod +of earth be thrown at the head of a dog, he would jump up in joy, and +take it for a bone; or were two people carrying a corpse on a bier, a +greedy man would fancy it a tray of victuals. Whereas the worldly +opulent are regarded with the benevolent eye of Providence, and in their +enjoyments of what is lawful are preserved from things illegal. Having +thus detailed my arguments and adduced my proofs, I rely on your justice +for an equitable decree; whether you ever saw a felon with his arms +pinioned; a bankrupt immured in a jail; the veil of innocency rent, or +the arm mutilated for theft, unless in consequence of poverty: for +lion-like heroes, instigated by want, have been caught undermining +walls, and breaking into houses, and have got themselves suspended by +the heels. It is, moreover, possible that a poor man, urged to it by an +inordinate appetite, may feel desirous of gratifying his lust; and he +may fall the victim of some accursed sin. And of the manifold means of +mental tranquillity and corporeal enjoyment which are the special lots +of the opulent, one is that every night they can command a fresh +mistress, and every day possess a new charmer, such as must excite the +envy of the glorious dawn, and stick the foot of the stately cypress in +the mire of shame:--'She had dipped her hands in the blood of her +lovers, and tinged the tips of her fingers with jujubes':--so that it +were impossible, with such lovely objects before their eyes, for them to +desire what is forbidden or to wish to commit sin:--Why should such a +heart as the houris, or nymphs of Paradise, have captivated and +plundered, show any way partial to the idols of Yaghma (a city in +Turkestan famous for its beauties)?--_He who has in both his hands such +dates as he can relish, will not think of throwing stones at the bunches +of dates on their trees_. In common, such as are in indigent +circumstances will contaminate the skirt of innocency with sin; and such +as are suffering from hunger will steal bread:--When a ravenous dog has +found a piece of meat, he asks not, saying: Is this the flesh of the +prophet Salah's camel or Antichrist's ass? Many are the chaste who, +because of their poverty, have fallen into the sink of wickedness, and +given their fair reputations to the blast of infamy:--The virtue of +temperance remains not with a state of being famished; and bankrupt +circumstances will snatch the rein from the hand of abstemiousness." + +The moment I had finished this speech, the dervish, my antagonist, let +the rein of forbearance drop from the hand of moderation; unsheathed the +sabre of his tongue; set the steed of eloquence at full speed over the +plain of arrogance; and, galloping up to me, said: "You have so +exaggerated in their praise, and amplified with such extravagance, that +we might fancy them an antidote to the poison of poverty and a key to +the store-house of Providence; yet they are a proud, self-conceited, +fastidious, and overbearing set, insatiate after wealth and property, +and ambitious of rank and dignity; who exchange not a word but to +express insolence, or deign a look but to show contempt. Men of science +they call beggars, and the indigent they reproach for their wretched +raggedness. Proud of the property they possess, and vain of the rank +they claim, they take the upper hand of all, and deem themselves +everybody's superior. Nor do they ever condescend to return any person's +salutation, unmindful of the maxim of the wise: That whoever is inferior +to others in humility, and is their superior in opulence, though in +appearance he be rich, yet in reality he is a beggar:--If a worthless +fellow, because of his wealth, treats a learned man with insolence, +reckon him an ass, although he be the ambergris ox." + +I replied: "Do not calumniate the rich, for they are the lords of +munificence." He said: "You mistake them, for they are the slaves of +dinars and dirams, or their gold and silver coins. For example, what +profits it though they be the clouds of the spring, if they may not send +us rain; or the fountain of the sun, and shine upon no one; or though +they be mounted on the steed of capability, and advance not towards +anybody? They will not move a step for the sake of God, nor bestow their +charity without laying you under obligation and thanks. They hoard +their money with solicitude, watch it while they live with sordid +meanness, and leave it behind them with deadening regret, verifying the +saying of the wise: 'That the money of the miser is coming out of the +earth when he is himself going into it:'--One man hoards a treasure with +pain and tribulation, another comes and spends it without tribulation or +pain." + +I replied: "You could have ascertained the parsimony of the wealthy only +through the medium of your own beggary; otherwise to him who lays +covetousness aside the generous man and miser seem all one. The +touchstone can prove which is pure gold, and the beggar can say which is +the niggard." He said: "I speak of them from experience; for they +station dependants by their doors, and plant surly porters at their +gates, to deny admittance to the worthy, and to lay violent hands upon +the collars of the elect, and say: 'There is nobody at home'; and verily +they tell what is true:--When the master has not reason or judgment, +understanding or discernment, the porter reported right of him, saying: +'There is nobody in the house.'" + +I replied: "They are excusable, inasmuch as they are worried out of +their lives by importunate memorialists, and jaded to their hearts by +indigent solicitors; and it might be reasonably doubted whether it would +satisfy the eye of the covetous if the sands of the desert could be +turned into pearls:--The eye of the greedy is not to be filled with +worldly riches, any more than a well can be replenished from the dew of +night. And had Hatim Tayi, who dwelt in the desert, come to live in a +city, he would have been overwhelmed with the importunities of +mendicants, and they would have torn the clothes from his back:--Look +not towards me, lest thou should draw the eyes of others, for at the +mendicant's hand no good can be expected." + +He said: "I pity their condition." I replied: "Not so; but you envy them +their property." We were thus warm in argument, and both of us close +engaged. Whatever chess pawn he might advance I would set one in +opposition to it; and whenever he put my king in check, I would relieve +him with my queen; till he had exhausted all the coin in the purse of +his resolution, and expended all the arrows of the quiver of his +argument. "Take heed and retreat not from the orator's attack, for +nothing is left him but metaphor and hyperbole. Wield thy polemics and +law citations, for the wordy rhetorician made a show of arms over his +gate, but has not a soldier within his fort":--At length, having no +syllogism left, I made him crouch in mental submission. He stretched +forth the arm of violence, and began with vain abuse. As is the case +with the ignorant, when beaten by their antagonist in fair argument, +they shake the chain of rancor; like Azor, the idol-maker, when he could +no longer contend with his son Abraham in words he fell upon him with +blows, as God has said in the Koran--"_If thou wilt not yield this +point, I will overwhelm thee with stones_:"--He gave me abuse, and I +retorted upon him with asperity; he tore my collar, and I plucked his +beard:--He had fallen upon me and I upon him, and a crowd had gathered +round us enjoying the sport. A whole world gnawed the finger of +astonishment when it heard and understood what had taken place between +us. + +In short, we referred our dispute to the cazi, and agreed to abide by +his equitable decree: That the judge of the Mussulmans, or faithful, +might bring about a peace, and discriminate for us between the poor and +rich. After having noted our physiognomies, and listened to our +statements, the cazi rested his chin on the breast of deliberation; and, +after due consideration, raised it, and said: "Be it known to you, who +were lavish in your praise of the rich, and spoke disparagingly of the +poor, that there is no rose without its thorn; intoxication from wine is +followed by a qualm; hidden treasure has its guardian dragon; where the +imperial pearl is found, there swims the man-devouring shark; the honey +of worldly enjoyment has the sting of death in its rear; and between us +and the felicity of Paradise stands a frightful demon, namely, Satan. So +long as the charmer slew not her admirer, what could the rival's malice +avail him? The rose and thorn, the treasure and dragon, joy and sorrow, +all mingle into one.--Do you not observe that in the garden there are +the sweet-scented willows and the withered trunks; so among the classes +of the rich some are grateful and some thankless; and among the orders +of the poor some are resigned and some impatient:--Were every drop of +dew to turn into a pearl, in the market pearls would be as common as +shells. Near by the throne of a great and glorious Judge are the rich +meek in spirit, and the poor rich in resolution. And the chief of the +opulent is he who sympathizes with the sorrows of the indigent; and the +most virtuous of the indigent is he who covets not the society of the +opulent:--_God is all-sufficient for him who trusts in God_." + +Then the cazi turned the face of animadversion from me towards the +dervish, and said: "O you who have charged the rich with being active in +sin, and intoxicated with things forbidden, verily there is such a tribe +as you have described them, illiberal in their bigotry, and stingy of +God's bounty; who are collecting and hoarding money, but will neither +use nor bestow it. If, for example, there was a drought, or if the whole +earth was deluged with a flood, confident of their own abundance, they +would not inquire after the poor man's distress, and, fearless of the +divine wrath, exclaim:--If, in his want of everything, another person be +annihilated, I have plenty; and what does a goose care for a deluge? +_Such as are lolling in their litters, and indulging in the easy pace of +a female camel, feel not for the foot-traveller perishing amidst +overwhelming sands:_--The mean-spirited, when they could escape with +their own rugs, would cry: 'What care we should the whole world die.' + +"Such as you have stated them, there is a tribe of rich men; but there +is another class, who, having spread the table of abundance, and made a +public declaration of their munificence, and smoothed the brow of their +humility, are solicitous of a reputation and forgiveness, and desirous +of enjoying this world and the next; like unto the servants of his +Majesty the sovereign of the universe, just, confirmed, victorious, lord +paramount and conqueror of nations, defender of the stronghold of +Islamism, successor of Solomon, most equitable of contemporary kings. +Mozuffar-ud-din Atabak-Abubakr-Saad, may God give him a long life, and +grant victory to his standards!--A father could never show such +benevolence to his son as thy liberal hand has bestowed upon the race of +Adam. The Deity was desirous of conferring a kindness upon man, and in +his special mercy made thee sovereign of the world." + +Now that the cazi had carried his harangue to this extreme, and had +galloped the steed of metaphor beyond our expectation, we of necessity +acquiesced in the absolute decree of being satisfied, and apologized for +what had passed between us; and after altercation we returned into the +path of reconciliation, laid the heads of reparation at each other's +feet, mutually kissed and embraced, and, letting mischief fall asleep, +and war lull itself into peace, concluded the whole in these two +verses:--"O poor man! complain not of the revolutions of fortune, for +gloomy might be thy lot wert thou to die in such sentiments. And now, O +rich man! that thy hand and heart administer to thy pleasures, spend and +give away, that thou may'st enjoy this world and the next." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Of the Duties of Society + + +I + +Riches are intended for the comfort of life, and not life for the +purpose of hoarding riches. I asked a wise man, saying: "Who is the +fortunate man, and who is the unfortunate?" He said: "That man was +fortunate who spent and gave away, and that man unfortunate who died and +left behind:--Pray not for that good-for-nothing man who did nothing, +for he passed his life in hoarding riches, and did not spend them." + + +II + +The prophet Moses, on whom be peace, _admonished Carum, saying: "Be +bounteous in like manner as God has been bounteous to thee_":--but he +listened not, and you have heard the end of him. Whoever did not an act +of charity with his silver and gold, sacrificed his future prospects on +his hoard of gold and silver. If desirous that thou shouldst benefit by +the wealth of this world, be generous with thy fellow-creature, as God +has been generous with thee. + +The Arabs say:--"_Show thy generosity, but make it not obligatory, that +the benefit of it may redound to thee_":--that is, bestow and make +presents, but do not exact an obligation that the profit of that act may +be returned to you. Wherever the tree of generosity strikes root it +sends forth its boughs, and they shoot above the skies. If thou +cherishest a hope of enjoying its fruit, by gratitude I entreat of thee +not to lay a saw upon its trunk. Render thanks to God, that thou wert +found worthy of his divine grace, that he has not excluded thee from the +riches of his bounty. Esteem it no obligation that thou art serving the +king, but show thy gratitude to him, namely God, who has placed thee in +this service. + + +III + +Two persons labored to a vain, and studied to an unprofitable end: he +who hoarded wealth and did not spend it, and he who acquired science and +did not practise it:--However much thou art read in theory, if thou hast +no practice thou art ignorant. He is neither a sage philosopher nor an +acute divine, but a beast of burden with a load of books. How can that +brainless head know or comprehend whether he carries on his back a +library or bundle of fagots? + + +IV + +Learning is intended to fortify religious practice, and not to gratify +worldly traffic:--Whoever prostituted his temperance, piety, and +science, gathered his harvest into a heap and set fire to it. + + +V + +An intemperate man of learning is like a blind link-boy:--_He shows the +road to others, but sees it not himself_:--whoever ventured his life on +an unproductive hazard gained nothing by the risk, and lost his own +stake. + + +VI + +A kingdom is embellished by the wise, and religion rendered illustrious +by the pious. Kings stand more in need of the company of the intelligent +than the intelligent do of the society of kings:--If, O king! thou wilt +listen to my advice, in all thy archives thou canst not find a wiser +maxim than this: entrust thy concerns only to the learned, +notwithstanding business is not a learned man's concern. + + +VII + +Three things have no durability without their concomitants: property +without trade, knowledge without debate, or a sovereignty without +government. + + +VIII + +To compassionate the wicked is to tyrannize over the good; and to pardon +the oppressor is to deal harshly with the oppressed:--When thou +patronizest and succorest the base-born man, he looks to be made the +partner of thy fortune. + + +IX + +No reliance can be placed on the friendship of kings, nor vain hope put +in the melodious voice of boys; for that passes away like a vision, and +this vanishes like a dream:--Bestow not thy affections upon a mistress +who has a thousand lovers; or, if thou bestowest them upon her, be +prepared for a separation. + + +X + +Reveal not every secret you have to a friend, for how can you tell but +that friend may hereafter become an enemy? And bring not all the +mischief you are able to do upon an enemy, for he may one day become +your friend. And any private affair that you wish to keep secret, do not +divulge to anybody; for, though such a person has your confidence, none +can be so true to your secret as yourself:--Silence is safer than to +communicate the thought of thy mind to anybody, and to warn him, saying: +Do not divulge it, O silly man! confine the water at the dam-head, for +once it has a vent thou canst not stop it. Thou shouldst not utter a +word in secret which thou wouldst not have spoken in the face of the +public. + + +XI + +A reduced foe, who offers his submission and courts your amity, can only +have in view to become a strong enemy, as they have said: "You cannot +trust the sincerity of friends, then what are you to expect from the +cajoling of foes?" Whoever despises a weak enemy resembles him who +neglects a spark of fire:--To-day that thou canst quench it, put it +out; for let fire rise into a flame, and it may consume a whole world. +Now that thou canst transfix him with thy arrow, permit not thy +antagonist to string his bow. + + +XIII + +Whoever is making a league with their enemies has it in his mind to do +his friends an ill turn:--"O wise man! wash thy hands of that friend who +is in confederacy with thy foes." + + +XIV + +When irresolute in the despatch of business, incline to that side which +is the least offensive:--Answer not with harshness a mild-spoken man, +nor force him into war who knocks at the gate of peace. + + +XV + +So long as money can answer, it were wrong in any business to put the +life in danger:--as the Arabs say:--"_let the sword decide after +stratagem has failed_":--When the hand is balked in every crafty +endeavor, it is lawful to lay it upon the hilt of the sabre. + + +XVI + +Show no mercy to a subdued foe, for if he recover himself he will show +you no mercy:--When thou seest thy antagonist in a reduced state, curl +not thy whiskers at him in contempt, for in every bone there is marrow, +and within every jacket there is a man. + + +XVII + +Whoever puts a wicked man to death delivers mankind from his mischief, +and the wretch himself from God's vengeance:--Beneficence is +praiseworthy; yet thou shouldst not administer a balsam to the wound of +the wicked. Knew he not who took compassion on a snake, that it is the +pest of the sons of Adam. + + +XVIII + +It is wrong to follow the advice of an adversary; nevertheless it is +right to hear it, that you may do the contrary; and this is the essence +of good policy:--Sedulously shun whatever thy foe may recommend, +otherwise thou may'st wring the hands of repentance on thy knees. Should +he show thee to the right a path straight as an arrow, turn aside from +that, and take the path to the left. + + * * * * * + + +XX + +Two orders of mankind are the enemies of church and state: the king +without clemency, and the holy man without learning:--Let not that +prince have rule over the state who is not himself obedient to the will +of God. + + +XXI + +It behooves a king so to regulate his anger towards his enemies as not +to alarm the confidence of his friends; for the fire of passion falls +first on the angry man; afterwards its sparks will dart forth towards +the foe, and him they may reach, or they may not. It ill becomes the +children of Adam, formed of dust, to harbor in their head such pride, +arrogance, and passion. I cannot fancy all this thy warmth and obstinacy +to be created from earth, but from fire. I went to a holy man in the +land of Bailcan, and said: "Cleanse me of ignorance by thy instruction?" +He replied: "O fakir, or theologician! go and bear things patiently like +the earth; or whatever thou hast read let it all be buried under the +earth." + + +XXII + +An evil-disposed man is a captive in the hands of an enemy (namely, +himself); for wherever he may go he cannot escape from the grasp of that +enemy's vengeance:--Let a wicked man ascend up to heaven, that he may +escape from the grasp of calamity; even thither would the hand of his +own evil heart follow him with misfortune. + + +XXIII + +When you see discord raging among the troops of your enemy, be on your +side quiet; but if you see them united, think of your own dispersed +state:--When thou beholdest war among thy foes, go and enjoy peace with +thy friends; but if thou findest them of one soul and mind, string thy +bow, and range stones around thy battlements. + + * * * * * + + +XXVI + +Keep to yourself any intelligence that may prove unpleasant, till some +person else has disclosed it:--Bring, O nightingale! the glad tidings of +the spring, and leave to the owl to be the harbinger of evil. + + * * * * * + + +XXVIII + +Whoever is counselling a self-sufficient man stands himself in need of a +counsellor. + + +XXIX + +Swallow not the wheedling of a rival, nor pay for the sycophancy of a +parasite; for that has laid the snare of treachery, and this whetted the +palate of gluttony. The fool is puffed up with his own praise, like a +dead body, which on being stretched upon a bier shows a momentary +corpulency:--Take heed and listen not to the sycophant's blandishments, +who expects in return some small compensation; for shouldst thou any day +disappoint his object he would in like style sum up two hundred of thy +defects. + + +XXX + +Till some person may show its defects, the speech of the orator will +fail of correctness:--Be not vain of the eloquence of thy discourse +because it has the fool's good opinion, and thine own approbation. + + +XXXI + +Every person thinks his own intellect perfect, and his own child +handsome:--A Mussulman and a Jew were warm in argument to such a degree +that I smiled at their subject. The Mussulman said in wrath: "If this +deed of conveyance be not authentic may I, O God, die a Jew!" The Jew +replied: "On the Pentateuch I swear, if what I say be false, I am a +Mussulman like you!" Were intellect to be annihilated from the face of +the earth, nobody could be brought to say: "I am ignorant." + + +XXXII + +Ten people will partake of the same joint of meat, and two dogs will +snarl over a whole carcase. The greedy man is incontinent with a whole +world set before him; the temperate man is content with his crust of +bread:--A loaf of brown bread may fill an empty stomach, but the produce +of the whole globe cannot satisfy a greedy eye:--My father, when the sun +of his life was going down, gave me this sage advice, and it set for +good, saying: "Lust is a fire; refrain from indulging it, and do not +involve thyself in the flames of hell. Since thou hast not the strength +of burning in those flames (as a punishment in the next world), pour in +this world the water of continence upon this fire--namely, lust." + + +XXXIII + +Whoever does not do good, when he has the means of doing it, will suffer +hardship when he has not the means:--None is more unlucky than the +misanthrope, for on the day of adversity he has not a single friend. + + +XXXIV + +Life stands on the verge of a single breath; and this world is an +existence between two nonentities. Such as truck their deen, or +religious practice, for worldly pelf are asses. They sold Joseph, and +what got they by their bargain?--"_Did I not covenant with you, O ye +sons of Adam, that you should not serve Satan; for verily he is your +avowed enemy_":--By the advice of a foe you broke your faith with a +friend; behold from whom you separated, and with whom you united +yourselves. + + * * * * * + + +XXXVI + +Whatever is produced in haste goes hastily to waste:--I have heard that, +after a process of forty years, they convert the clay of the East into a +China porcelain cup. At Bagdad they can make an hundred cups in a day, +and thou may'st of course conceive their respective value. A chicken +walks forth from its shell, and goes in quest of its food; the young of +man possesses not that instinct of prudence and discrimination. That +which was at once something comes to nothing; and this surpasses all +creatures in dignity and wisdom. A piece of crystal or glass is found +everywhere, and held of no value; a ruby is obtained with difficulty, +and therefore inestimable. + + +XXXVII + +Patience accomplishes its object, while hurry speeds to its ruin:--With +my own eyes I saw in the desert that the deliberate man outstripped him +that had hurried on. The wing-footed steed is broken down in his speed, +whilst the camel-driver jogs on with his beast to the end of his +journey. + + +XXXVIII + +Nothing is so good for an ignorant man as silence, and if he knew this +he would no longer be ignorant:--When unadorned with the grace of +eloquence it is wise to keep watch over the tongue in the mouth. The +tongue, by abuse, renders a man contemptible; levity in a nut is a sign +of its being empty. A fool was undertaking the instruction of an ass, +and had devoted his whole time to this occupation. A wise man said to +him: "What art thou endeavoring to do? In this vain attempt dread the +reproof of the censorious! A brute can never learn speech from thee; do +thou learn silence from him." That man who reflects not before he speaks +will only make all the more improper answer. Either like a man arrange +thy speech with judgment, or like a brute sit silent. + + +XXXIX + +Whoever shall argue with one more learned than himself that others may +take him for a wise man, only confirms them in his being a fool:--"When +a person superior to what thou art engages thee in conversation do not +contradict him, though thou may'st know better." + + +XL + +He can see no good who will associate with the wicked:--Were an angel +from heaven to associate with a demon, he would learn his brutality, +perfidy, and hypocrisy. Virtue thou never canst learn of the vicious; it +is not the wolf's occupation to mend skins, but to tear them. + + +XLI + +Expose not the secret failings of mankind, otherwise you must verily +bring scandal upon them and distrust upon yourself. + + +XLII + +Whoever acquires knowledge and does not practise it resembles him who +ploughs his land and leaves it unsown. + + * * * * * + + +XLVI + +It is not every man that has a handsome physical exterior that has a +good moral character; for the faculty of business or virtue resides in +the heart and not in the skin. Thou canst in one day ascertain the +intellectual faculties of a man, and what proficiency he has made in his +degrees of knowledge; but be not secure of his mind, nor foolishly sure, +for it may take years to detect the innate baseness of the heart. + + +XLVII + +Whoever contends with the great sheds his own blood:--Thou contemplatest +thyself as a mighty great man; and they have truly remarked that the +squinter sees double. Thou who canst in play butt with a ram must soon +find thyself with a broken pate. + + +XLVIII + +To grapple with a lion, or to box against a naked scimitar, are not the +acts of the prudent:--Brave not the furious with war and opposition +before their arms of strength cross thy hands of submission. + + +XLIX + +A weak man who tries his courage against the strong leagues with the foe +to his own destruction:--Nurtured in a shade, what strength can he have +that he should engage with the warlike in battle; impotent of arm, he +was falling the victim of folly when he set his wrist in opposition to a +wrist of iron. + + +L + +Whoever will not listen to admonition harbors the fancy of hearing +reprehension:--When advice gains not an admission into the ear, if I +give thee reproof, hear it in silence. + + +LI + +The idle cannot endure the industrious any more than the curs of the +market-place, who, on meeting dogs employed for sporting, will snarl at +and prevent them passing. + + +LII + +A mean wretch that cannot vie with another in virtue will assail him +with malignity:--The narrow-minded envier will somehow manage to revile +thee, who in thy presence might have the tongue of his utterance struck +dumb. + + * * * * * + + +LV + +To hold counsel with women is bad, and to deal generously +with prodigals a fault:--Showing mercy upon the sharp-fanged +pard must prove an injustice to the harmless sheep. + + +LVI + +Whoever has his foe at his mercy, and does not kill him, is his own +enemy:--With a stone in his hand, and the snake's head convenient, a +wise man hesitates not in crushing it. + +Certain people have seen this maxim in an opposite point of view, +saying: "It were wiser to delay the execution of captives, inasmuch as +the option is left so that you can slay, or you can release them; but if +you shall have heedlessly put them to death, the policy is defunct, for +the opportunity of repairing it is lost":--There is no great difficulty +to separate the soul from the body, but it is not so easy to restore +life to the dead: prudence dictates patience in giving the arrow flight, +for let it quit the bow and it never can be recalled. + + +LVII + +A learned man who has got into an argument with the ignorant can have no +hopes of supporting his own dignity; and if an ignoramus by his +loquacity gets the upper hand it should not surprise us, for he is a +stone and can bruise a gem:--No wonder if his spirit flag; the +nightingale is cooped up in the same cage with the crow:--If the man of +sense is coarsely treated by the vulgar, let it not excite our wrath and +indignation; if a piece of worthless stone can bruise a cup of gold, its +worth is not increased, nor that of the gold diminished. + + * * * * * + + +LX + +Genius without education is the subject of our regret, and education +without genius is labor lost. Although embers have a lofty origin (fire +being of a noble nature), yet, as having no intrinsic worth, they fall +upon a level with common dust; on the other hand, sugar does not derive +its value from the cane, but from its own innate quality:--Inasmuch as +the disposition of Canaan was bad, his descent from the prophet Noah +stood him in no stead. Pride thyself on what virtue thou hast, and not +on thy parentage; the rose springs from a thorn-bush, and Abraham from +Azor (neither his father's name, or fire). + + +LXI + +That is musk which discloses itself by its smell, and not what the +perfumers impose upon us:--If a man be expert in any art he needs not +tell it, for his own skill will show it. + + +LXII + +A wise man is, like a vase in a druggist's shop, silent, but full of +virtues; and the ignorant man resembles the drum of the warrior, being +full of noise, and an empty babbler:--The sincerely devout have remarked +that a learned man beset by the illiterate is like one of the lovely in +a circle of the blind, or the holy Koran in the dwelling of the infidel. + + +LXIII + +A friend whom they take an age to conciliate, it were wrong all at once +to alienate:--In a series of years a stone changes into a ruby; take +heed, and destroy it not at once by dashing it against another stone. + + +LXIV + +Reason is in like manner enthralled by passion, as an uxorious man is in +the hands of an artful woman. Thou may'st shut the door of joy upon that +dwelling where thou hearest resounding the scolding voice of a woman. + + +LXV + +Intellect, without firmness, is craft and chicanery; and firmness, +without intellect, perverseness and obstinacy:--First, prudence, good +sense, and discrimination, and then dominion; for the dominion and good +fortune of the ignorant are the armor of rebellion against God. + + +LXVI + +The sinner who spends and gives away is better than the devotee who begs +and lays by. + + +LXVII + +Whoever foregoes carnal indulgence in order to get the good opinion of +mankind, has forsaken a lawful passion and involved himself in what is +forbidden:--What, wretched creature! can that hermit see in his own +tarnished mirror, or heart, who retires to a cell, but not for the sake +of God? + + +LXIX + +A wise man should not through clemency overlook the insolence of the +vulgar, otherwise both sustain a loss, for their respect for him is +lessened and their own brutality confirmed:--When thou addressest the +low with urbanity and kindness, it only adds to their pride and +arrogance. + + * * * * * + + +LXXIV + +In a season of drought and scarcity ask not the distressed dervish, +saying: "How are you?" Unless on the condition that you apply a balm to +his wound, and supply him with the means of subsistence:--The ass which +thou seest stuck in the slough with his rider, compassionate from thy +heart, otherwise do not go near him. Now that thou went and asked him +how he fell, like a sturdy fellow bind up thy loins, and take his ass by +the tail. + + +LXXV + +Two things are repugnant to reason: to expend more than what Providence +has allotted for us, and to die before our ordained time:--Whether +offered up in gratitude, or uttered in complaint, destiny cannot be +altered by a thousand sighs and lamentations. The angel who presides +over the store-house of the winds feels no compunction, though he +extinguish the old woman's lamp. + + +LXXVI + +O you that are going in quest of food, sit down, that you may have to +eat. And, O you that death is in quest of, go not on, for you cannot +carry life along with you:--In search of thy daily bread, whether thou +exertest thyself, or whether thou dost not, the God of Majesty and Glory +will equally provide it. Wert thou to walk into the mouth of a tiger or +lion, he could not devour thee, unless by the ordinance of thy destiny. + + +LXXVII + +Whatever was not designed, the hand cannot reach; and whatever was +ordained, it can attain in any situation:--Thou hast heard that +Alexander got as far as chaos; but after all this toil he drank not the +water of immortality. + + +LXXVIII + +The fisherman, unless it be his lot, catches no fish in the Tigris; and +the fish, unless it be its fate, does not die on the dry land:--The +wretched miser is prowling all over the world, he in quest of pelf, and +death in quest of him. + + * * * * * + + +LXXXI + +The envious man is niggard of the gifts of Providence, and an enemy of +the innocent:--I met a dry-brained fellow of this sort, tricked forth in +the robe of a dignified person. I said: "O sir! if thou art unfortunate +in having this disposition, in what have the fortunate been to +blame?--Take heed, and wish not misfortune to the misanthrope, for his +own ill-conditioned lot is calamity sufficient. What need is there of +showing ill-will to him, who has such an enemy close at his heels." + + +LXXXII + +A scholar without diligence is a lover without money; a traveller +without knowledge is a bird without wings; a theorist without practice +is a tree without fruit; and a devotee without learning is a house +without an entrance. + + +LXXXIII + +The object of sending the Koran down from heaven was that mankind might +make it a manual of morals, and not that they should recite it by +sections. + + +LXXXIV + +The sincere publican has proceeded on foot; the slothful Pharisee is +mounted and gone asleep. + + +LXXXV + +The sinner who humbles himself in prayer is more acceptable than the +devotee who is puffed up with pride:--The courteous and kind-hearted +soldier of fortune is better than the misanthropic and learned divine. + + +LXXXVI + +A learned man without works is a bee without honey:--Tell that harsh and +ungenerous hornet: As thou yieldest no honey, wound not with thy sting. + + * * * * * + + +LXXXIX + +Though a dress presented by the sovereign be honorable, yet is our own +tattered garment preferable; and though the viands at a great man's +table be delicate, yet is our own homely fare more sweet:--A salad and +vinegar, the produce of our own industry, are sweeter than the lamb and +bread sauce at the table of our village chief. + + +XC + +It is contrary to sound judgment, and repugnant to the maxims of the +prudent, to take a medicine on conjecture, or to follow a road but in +the track of the caravan. + + +XCI + +They asked Imaam Mursheed Mohammed-bin-Mohammed Ghazali, on whom be +God's mercy, how he had reached such a pitch of knowledge. He replied: +"Whatever I was ignorant of myself, I felt no shame in asking of +others":--Thy prospect of health conforms with reason, when thy pulse is +in charge of a skilled physician. Ask whatever thou knowest not; for the +condescension of inquiring is a guide on thy road in the excellence of +learning. + + +XCII + +Anything you foresee that you may somehow come to know, be not hasty in +questioning, lest your consequence and respectability may suffer:--When +Lucman perceived that in the hands of David iron was miraculously +moulded like wax, he asked him not, How didst thou do it? for he was +aware that he should know it, through his own wisdom, without asking. + + +XCIII + +It is one of the laws of good breeding that you should forego an +engagement, or accommodate yourself to the master of the +entertainment:--If thou knowest that the inclination is reciprocal, +accommodate thy story to the temper of the hearer. Any discreet man that +was in Mujnun's company would entertain him only with encomiums on +Laila. + + * * * * * + + +XCVI + +Whoever interrupts the conversation of others to make a display of his +fund of knowledge makes notorious his own stock of ignorance. +Philosophers have said:--A prudent man will not obtrude his answer till +he has the question stated to him in form. Notwithstanding the +proposition may have its right demonstration, the cavil of the +fastidious will construe it wrong. + + * * * * * + + +XCVIII + +To tell a falsehood is like the cut of a sabre; for though the wound may +heal, the scar of it will remain. In like manner as the brothers of the +blessed Joseph, who, being notorious for a lie, had no credit afterwards +when they spoke the truth:--God on high has said--Jacob is supposed to +speak--(Koran xii. Sale ii. 35):--"_Nay, but rather ye have contrived +this to gratify your own passion; yet it behooves me to be +patient_":--If a man who is in the habit of speaking truth lets a +mistake escape him, we can overlook it; but if he be notorious for +uttering falsehoods, and tell a truth, thou wilt call it a lie. + + +XCIX + +The noblest of creatures is man, and the vilest of animals is no doubt a +dog; yet, in the concurring opinion of the wise, a dog, thankful for his +food, is more worthy than a human being who is void of gratitude:--A dog +will never forget the crumb thou gavest him, though thou may'st +afterwards throw a hundred stones at his head; but foster with thy +kindness a low man for an age, and on the smallest provocation he will +be up against thee in arms. + + * * * * * + + +CI + +It is written in the Injeel, or Gospel, stating: "O son of man, if I +bestow riches upon you, you will be more intent upon your property than +upon me, and if I leave you in poverty you will sit down dejected; how +then can you feel a relish to praise, or a zeal to worship +me?"--(Proverbs xxx. 7, 8, 9.) In the day of plenty thou art proud and +negligent; in the time of want, full of sorrow and dejected; since in +prosperity and adversity such is thy condition, it were difficult to +state when thou wouldst voluntarily do thy duty. + + +CII + +The pleasure of Him, or God, who has no equal hurls one man from a +throne of sovereignty, and another he preserves in a fish's +belly:--Happy proceeds his time who is enraptured with thy praise, +though, like Jonah, he even may pass it in the belly of a fish! + + +CIII + +Were the Almighty to unsheath the sword of his wrath, prophets and +patriarchs would draw in their heads; and were he to deign a glimpse of +his benevolence, it would reach the wicked along with the good:--Were he +on the day of judgment to call us to a strict account, even the prophets +would have no room for excuse. Say, withdraw the veil from the face of +thy compassion, that sinners may entertain hopes of pardon. + + +CIV + +Whoever is not to be brought into the path of righteousness by the +punishments of this life shall be overtaken with the punishments of that +to come:--"_Verily, I will cause them to taste the lesser punishment +over and above the greater punishment":_--(Koran xxxii. Sale ii. 258.) +Princes, in chastising, admonish, and then confine; when they admonish, +and thou listenest not, they throw thee into prison. + + +CV + +Men of auspicious fortune would rather take warning from the precepts +and examples of their predecessors than that the rising generation +should take warning from their acts:--The bird will not approach the +grain that is spread about, where it sees another bird a captive in the +snare. Take warning by the mischance of others, that others may not take +warning by thine. + + +CVI + +How can he help himself who was born deaf, if he cannot hear; and what +can he do whose thread of fortune is dragging him on that he may not +proceed:--The dark night of such as are beloved of God is serene and +light as the bright day; but this good fortune results not from thine +own strength of arm, till God in his mercy deign to bestow it. To whom +shall I complain of thee? for there is no judge else, nor is any arm +mightier than thine. Him whom thou directest none can lead astray, and +him whom thou bewilderest none can direct upon his way. + + +CVII + +The beggar whose end is good is better off than the king whose end is +evil:--That sorrow which is the harbinger of joy is preferable to the +joy which is followed by sorrow. + + +CVIII + +The sky enriches the earth with rain, and the earth gives it dust in +return. As the Arabs say: "_What the vessels have, that they give_."--If +my moral character strike thee as improper, do not renounce thine own +good character. + + +CIX + +The Most High God discerns and hides what is improper; my neighbor sees +not, and is loud in his clamor:--God preserve us! if man knew what is +hidden, none could be safe from the animadversion of his neighbor. + + +CX + +Gold is got from the mine by digging into the earth; and from the grasp +of the miser by taking away his life:--Misers spend not, but watch with +solicitude: expectation, they say, is preferable to waste. Next day +observe to the joy of their enemies, the gold remains, and they are dead +without the enjoyment of that hope. + + +CXI + +Such as deal hard with the weak will suffer from the extortion of the +strong:--It is not every arm in which there is strength that can wrench +the hand of a weak man. Bring not affliction upon the hearts of the +feeble, lest thou may'st fall under the lash of the strong. + + +CXII + +A wise man, where he meets opposition, labors to get through it, and +where he finds quiet he drops his anchor, for there safety is on one +side, and here enjoyment in the middle of it. + + +CXIII + +The gamester wants three sixes, but he throws only three aces:--The +pasture meadow is a thousand times richer than the common, but the horse +has not his tether at command. + + +CXIV + +The dervish in his prayer is saying: "O God, have compassion on the +wicked, for to the good thou hast been abundantly kind, inasmuch as thou +hast made them virtuous." + + +CXV + +Jemshid was the first person who put an edging round his garment, and a +ring upon his finger. They asked him: "Why did you bestow all the +decoration and ornament on the left hand, whilst the right is the +superior?" He answered: "Sufficient for the right is the ornament of +being right." Feridún commanded the gilders of China that they would +inscribe upon the front of his palace: "Strive, O wise man, to make the +wicked good, for the good are of themselves great and fortunate." + + +CXVI + +They said to a great and holy man: "Notwithstanding the superiority that +the right hand commands, who do they wear the ring on the left hand?" He +replied: "Are you not aware that the best are most neglected! He who +casts our horoscope, provision, and fortune, bestows upon us either good +luck or wisdom." + + +CXVII + +It is proper for him to offer counsel to kings who dreads not to lose +his head, nor looks for a reward:--Whether thou strewest heaps of gold +at his feet, or brandishest an Indian sword over the Unitarian's head, +to hope or fear he is alike indifferent; and in this the divine unity +alone he is resolved and firm. + + +CXVIII + +It belongs to the king to displace extortioners, to the superintendent +of the police to guard against murderers, and to the cazi to decide in +quarrels and disputes. No two complainants ever referred to the cazi +content to abide by justice:--When thou knowest that in right the claim +is just, better pay with a grace than by distress and force. If a man is +refractory in discharging his revenue, the collector must necessarily +coerce him to pay it. + + +CXIX + +Every man's teeth are blunted by acids excepting the cazi's, and they +require sweets:--That cazi, or judge, that can accept of five cucumbers +as a bribe, will confirm thee in a right to ten fields of melons. + + * * * * * + + +CXXI + +They asked a wise man, saying: "Of the many celebrated trees which the +Most High God has created lofty and umbrageous, they call none azad, or +free, excepting the cypress, which bears no fruit; what mystery is there +in this?" He replied: "Each has its appropriate produce and appointed +season, during the continuance of which it is fresh and blooming, and +during their absence dry and withered; to neither of which states is the +cypress exposed, being always flourishing; and of this nature are the +azads, or religious independents. Fix not thy heart on what is +transitory; for the Dijlah, or Tigris, will continue to flow through +Bagdad after the race of Khalifs is extinct. If thy hand has plenty, be +liberal as the date-tree; but if it affords nothing to give away, be an +azad, or free man, like the cypress." + + +CXXII + +Two orders of mankind died, and carried with them regret: such as had +and did not spend, and such as knew and did not practise:--None can see +that wretched mortal a miser who will not endeavor to point out his +faults; but were the generous man to have a hundred defects, his +liberality would cover all his blemishes. + + + + +THE CONCLUSION OF THE BOOK + + +The book of the "Gulistan, or Flower-Garden," was completed through the +assistance and grace of God. Throughout the whole of this work I have +not followed the custom of writers by inserting verses of poetry +borrowed from former authors:--"It is more decorous to wear our own +patched and old cloak than to ask in loan another man's garment." + +Most of Sa'di's sayings have a dash of hilarity and an odor of gayety +about them, in consequence of which short-sighted critics extend the +tongue of animadversion, saying: It is not the occupation of sensible +men to solicit marrow from a shrivelled brain, or to digest the smoke of +a profitless lamp. Nevertheless it cannot be concealed from the +enlightened judgment of the holy and good, to whom these discourses are +specially addressed, that the pearls of salutary admonition are threaded +on the cord of an elegance of language, and the bitter potion of +instruction sweetened with the honey of facetiousness, that the taste of +the reader may not take disgust, and himself be debarred from the +pleasure of approving of them: "On our part we offered some good advice, +and spent an age in bringing it to perfection. If that should not meet +the ear of anybody's good-will, prophets deliver their messages, or warn +mankind; and that is enough." + +"_O thou who perusest this book, ask the mercy of God on the author of +it: his forgiveness on the transcriber. Petition for whatever charitable +gift thou mayst require for thyself, and implore pardon on the owner_." +May I crave thy prayer on the English translator? _The book is finished +through the favor of the Lord God Paramount and the bestower of all +good_! + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13060 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c8b283 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #13060 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13060) diff --git a/old/13060-8.txt b/old/13060-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..afcee9e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13060-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5286 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Persian Literature, Volume 2, Comprising The +Shah Nameh, The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan
, by Anonymous, et +al, Translated by James Ross + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Persian Literature, Volume 2, Comprising The Shah Nameh, The +Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan
+ +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: July 30, 2004 [eBook #13060] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSIAN LITERATURE, VOLUME 2, +COMPRISING THE SHAH NAMEH, THE RUBAIYAT, THE DIVAN, AND THE GULISTAN
*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Karen Lofstrom, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Notes: Volume 1 of this work can be found in Project Gutenberg's library. + See https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10315 + + A few original typesetter's errors (inconsistent spelling, + superfluous quotation marks, and the like) have been corrected + in the interests of producing a smooth-reading text. + + The reader will also occasionally find a line of asterisks + between sections. These are found in the original and they + indicate a missing section. It is not clear why the translator + skipped these sections. Reference to another, complete, + translation of the Gulistan shows no appreciable differences, + in length or subject, between the sections included and those + excluded. + + + + + +PERSIAN LITERATURE + +comprising + +THE SHH NMEH, THE RUBIYT +THE DIVAN, AND THE GULISTAN + +Revised Edition, Volume 2 + +1900 + +With a special introduction by +RICHARD J. H. GOTTHEIL, Ph.D. +Professor of Rabbinical Literature and the Semitic Languages +at Columbia University + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +THE GULISTAN + +Introduction + +CHAPTER + + I. Of the Customs of Kings + + II. Of the Morals of Dervishes + + III. On the Preciousness of Contentment + + IV. On the Benefit of Being Silent + + V. On Love and Youth + + VI. Of Imbecility and Old Age + + VII. Of the Impressions of Education + +VIII. Of the Duties of Society + + + + +THE GULISTAN + +BY + +SA'DI + +[Translation by James Ross] + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The Persian poet Sa'di, generally known in literary history as +Muslih-al-Din, belongs to the great group of writers known as the +Shirazis, or singers of Shiraz. His "Gulistan," or "Rose Garden," is the +mature work of his life-time, and he lived to the age of one hundred and +eight. The Rose Garden was an actual thing, and was part of the little +hermitage, to which he retired, after the vicissitudes and travels of +his earlier life, to spend his days in religious contemplation, and the +embodiment of his experience in reminiscences, which took the form of +anecdotes, sage and pious reflections, _bon-mots_, and exquisite lyrics. +When a friend visited him in his cell and had filled a basket with +nosegays from the garden of the poet with roses, hyacinths, spikenards, +and sweet-basils, Sa'di told him of the book he was writing, and +added:--"What can a nosegay of flowers avail thee? Pluck but one leaf +from my Rose Garden; the rose from yonder bush lasts but a few days, but +this Rose must bloom to all eternity." + +Sa'di has been proved quite correct in this estimate of his own work. +The book is indeed a sweet garden of unfading freshness. If we compare +Sa'di with Hafiz, we find that both of them based their theory of life +upon the same Sufic pantheism. Both of them were profoundly religious +men. Like the strong and life-giving soil out of whose bosom sprang the +rose-tree, wherein the nightingales sang, was the fixed religious +confidence, which formed the support of each poet's mind, amid all the +vagaries of fancy, and the luxuriant growth of fruit and flower which +their genius gave to the world. Hafiz is the Persian Anacreon. As he +raises his voice of thrilling and unvarying sweetness, his steps reel, +he waves the thyrsus, and his flushed cheek shows the inspiration of the +vine. To him the Supreme Being has much in common with the Indian or +Thracian Dionysus, the god of perennial youth, joyous revel, and +exhilaration. Hafiz can never be the guide, though he may be the cheerer +of mortals, adding more to the gayety than to the wisdom of life. But +both in the western and in the eastern world Sa'di must always be looked +upon as the guide and enlightener of those who taste life, and love +poetry. It has been said by a wise man that poetry is the great +instructor of mature minds. Many a man turning away in weariness from +the controversies, the insincerities, and the pretentiousness of the +intellectualists around him, has exclaimed, "Give me my Horace." But +Horace with all his _bonhommie_, his common sense, and his acuteness, is +but the representative of a narrow Roman coterie of the Augustan age. +How thin, flimsy, and unspiritual does he appear in comparison with the +marvellous depth, the spiritual insight, the tenderness and power of +expression which characterized Sa'di. + +Sa'di had begun his life as a student of the Koran and became early +imbued with the quietism of Islam. The cheerfulness and exuberant joy +which characterize the poems he wrote before he reached his fortieth +year, had bubbled up under the repressions of severe discipline and +austerity. But the religion of Mohammed was soon exchanged by him, under +the guidance of a famous teacher, for the wider and more transcendental +system of Sufism. Within the area of this magnificent scheme, the +boldest ever formulated under the name of religion, he found the liberty +which his soul desired. Early discipline had made him a morally sound +man, and it is the goodness of Sa'di that lends such a warm and +endearing charm to his works. The last finish was given to his +intellectual training by the travels which he took after the Tartar +invasion desolated Persia, in the thirteenth century. India, Arabia, +Syria, were in turn visited. He found Damascus a congenial +halting-place, and lived there for some time, with an increasing +reputation as a sage and poet. He preached at Baalbec on the +fugitiveness of human life, on faith, love, and rest in God. He +wandered, like Jerome, in the wilderness about Jerusalem, and worked as +a slave in Africa in the trenches of Tripoli: he travelled the length +and breadth of Asia Minor. When he arrived back at Shiraz, he had passed +the limit of three-score years and ten, and there he remained in his +hermitage and his garden, to arrange the result of all his studies, his +experiences, and his sufferings, in that consummate work which he has +named the "Rose Garden," after the little cultivated plot in which he +spent his declining days and drew his last breath. + +The "Gulistan" is divided into eight chapters, each dealing with a +specific subject and partaking of the nature of an essay: although these +chapters are composed of disjointed paragraphs, generally beginning with +an aphorism or an anecdote and closing with an original poem of a few +lines. Sometimes these paragraphs are altogether lyrical. We are struck, +first of all, by the personal character of these paragraphs; many of +them relate the experience of the poet in some part of his travels, +expressing his comment upon what he had seen and heard. His comments +generally take the form of practical wisdom, or religious suggestion. He +gives us the impression that he knows life and the human heart +thoroughly. It may be said of him, as Arnold said of Sophocles, he was +one "who saw life steadily, and saw it whole." On the other hand, there +is not the slightest trace of cynical acerbity in his writings. He has +passed through the world in the independence of a self-possessed soul, +and has found it all good, saving for the folly of fools and the +wretchedness and degradation of the depraved. There is no bitter +fountain in the "Rose Garden," and the old man's heart is as fresh as +when he left Shiraz, thirty years before; the sprightliness of his +poetry has only been ripened and tempered to a more exquisite flavor, by +the increase of wisdom and the perfecting of art. + +Above all, we find in Sa'di the science of life, as comprising morality +and religion, set forth in a most suggestive and a most attractive form. +In some way or other the "Rose Garden" may remind us of the "Essays" of +Bacon, which were published in their complete form the year before the +great English philosopher died. Both works cover a large area of thought +and experience; but the Englishman is clear, cold, and sometimes +cynical, while the Persian is more spiritual, though not less acute, and +has the fervor of the poet which Bacon lacks, and the religious devotion +which the "Essays" altogether miss. The "Rose Garden" has maxims which +are not unworthy of being cherished amid the highest Christian +civilization, while the serenity of mind, the poetic fire, the +transparent sincerity of Sa'di, make his writings one of those books +which men may safely take as the guide and inspirer of their inmost +life. Sa'di died at Shiraz about the year 1292 at the reputed age of one +hundred and ten. + +E.W. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Of the Customs of Kings + + +I + +I have heard of a king who made the sign to put a captive to death. The +poor wretch, in that state of desperation, began to abuse the king in +the dialect which he spoke, and to revile him with asperity, as has been +said; whoever shall wash his hands of life will utter whatever he may +harbor in his heart:--"_When a man is desperate he will give a latitude +to his tongue, like as a cat at bay will fly at a dog_"--"at the moment +of compulsion when it is impossible to fly, the hand will grasp the +sharp edge of a sword." The king asked, saying, "What does he say?" One +of the Vizirs (or nobles in attendance), and a well-disposed man, made +answer, "O my lord! he is expressing himself and saying, _(paradise is +for such) as are restraining their anger and forgiving their +fellow-creatures; and God will befriend the benevolent_." The king felt +compassion for him, and desisted from shedding his blood. Another +nobleman, and the rival of that former, said, "It is indecorous for such +peers, as we are, to use any language but that of truth in the presence +of kings; this man abused his majesty, and spoke what was unworthy of +him." The king turned away indignant at this remark, and replied, "I was +better pleased with his falsehood than with this truth that you have +told; for that bore the face of good policy, and this was founded in +malignity; and the intelligent have said, 'A peace-mingling falsehood is +preferable to a mischief-stirring truth':--Whatever prince may do that +which he (his counsellor) will recommend, it must be a subject of regret +if he shall advise aught but good." + +They had written over the portico of King Feridn's palace:--"This +world, O brother! abides with none. Set thy heart upon its maker, and +let him suffice thee. Rest not thy pillow and support on a worldly +domain which has fostered and slain many such as thou art. Since the +precious soul must resolve on going, what matters it whether it departs +from a throne or the ground." + + +II + +One of the kings of Khorasan saw, in a dream, Sultan Mahmud, the son of +Saboktagin, an hundred years after his death, when his body was decayed +and fallen into dust, all but his eyes, which as heretofore were moving +in their sockets and looking about them. All the learned were at a stand +for its interpretation, excepting one dervish, who made his obeisance, +and said:--"He is still looking about him, because his kingdom and +wealth are possessed by others!--Many are the heroes whom they have +buried under ground, of whose existence above it not one vestige is +left; and of that old carcase which they committed to the earth, the +earth has so consumed it that not one bone is left. Though many ages are +gone since Nushirowan was in being, yet in the remembrance of his +munificence is his fair renown left. Be generous, O my friend! and avail +thyself of life, before they proclaim it as an event that such a person +is not left." + + +III + +I have heard of a king's son who was short and mean, and his other +brothers were lofty in stature and handsome. On one occasion the king, +his father, looked at him with disparagement and scorn. The son, in his +sagacity, understood him and said, "O father! a short wise man is +preferable to a tall blockhead; it is not everything that is mightier in +stature that is superior in value:--_a sheep's flesh is wholesome, that +of an elephant carrion_.--_Of the mountains of this earth Sinai is one +of the least, yet is it most mighty before God in state and +dignity_.--Heardst thou not what an intelligent lean man said one day to +a sleek fat dolt? An Arab horse, notwithstanding his slim make, is more +prized thus than a herd of asses." + +The father smiled; the pillars of the state, or courtiers, nodded their +assent, and the other brothers were mortified to the quick. Till a man +has declared his mind, his virtue and vice may have lain hidden; do not +conclude that the thicket is unoccupied, peradventure the tiger is gone +asleep! + +I have heard that about that time a formidable antagonist appeared +against the king. Now that an army was levied in each side, the first +person that mounted his horse and sallied upon the plain was that son, +and he exclaimed: "I cannot be that man whose back thou mayest see on +the day of battle, but am him thou mayest descry amidst the thick of it, +with my head covered with dust and blood; for he that engages in the +contest sports with his own blood, but he who flees from it sports with +the blood of an army on the day of fight." He so spoke, assaulting the +enemy's cavalry, and overthrew some renowned warriors. When he came +before the king he kissed the earth of obeisance, and said, "O thou, who +didst view my body with scorn, whilst not aware of valor's rough +exterior, it is the lean steed that will prove of service, and not the +fatted ox, on the day of battle." + +They have reported that the enemy's cavalry was immense, and those of +the king few in number; a body of them was inclined to fly, when the +youth called aloud, and said, "Be resolute, my brave men, that you may +not have to wear the apparel of women!" The troops were more courageous +on this speech, and attacked altogether. I have heard that on that day +they obtained a complete victory over the enemy. The king kissed his +face and eyes, and folded him in his arms, and became daily more +attached to him, till he declared him heir-apparent to the throne. The +brothers bore him a grudge, and put poison into his food. His sister saw +this from a window, and closed the shutter; and the boy understood the +sign, and withdrew his hand from the dish, and said, "It is hard that +the virtuous should perish and that the vicious should occupy their +places." Were the homayi, or phoenix, to be extinct in the world, none +would take refuge under the shadow of an owl. They informed the father +of this event; he sent for the brothers and rebuked them, as they +deserved. Then he made a division of his domains, and gave a suitable +portion to each, that discontent might cease; but the ferment was +increased, as they have said: Ten dervishes can sleep on one rug, but +two kings cannot be accommodated in a whole kingdom. When a man after +God's heart can eat the moiety of his loaf, the other moiety he will +give in alms to the poor. A king may acquire the sovereignty of one +climate or empire; and he will in like manner covet the possession of +another. + + +IV + +A horde of Arab robbers had possessed themselves of the fastness of a +mountain, and waylaid the track of the caravan. The yeomanry of the +villages were frightened at their stratagems, and the king's troops +alarmed, inasmuch as they had secured an impregnable fortress on the +summit of the mountain, and made this stronghold their retreat and +dwelling. + +The superintendents of the adjacent districts consulted together about +obviating their mischief, saying: If they are in this way left to +improve their fortune, any opposition to them may prove impracticable. +The tree that has just taken root, the strength of one man may be able +to extract; but leave it to remain thus for a time, and the machinery of +a purchase may fail to eradicate it: the leak at the dam-head might have +been stopped with a plug, while, now it has a vent, we cannot ford its +current on an elephant. + +Finally it was determined that they should set a spy over them, and +watch an opportunity when they had made a sally upon another tribe, and +left their citadel unguarded. Some companies of able warriors and +experienced troops were sent, that they might conceal themselves in the +recesses of the mountain. At night, when the robbers were returned, +jaded with their march and laden with spoil, and had stripped themselves +of their armor, and deposited their plunder, the foremost enemy they had +to encounter was sleep. Now that the first watch of night was +gone:--"the disc of the sun was withdrawn into a shade, and Jonas had +stepped into the fish's mouth "--the bold-hearted warriors sprang from +their ambush and secured the robbers by pinioning them one after +another. + +In the morning they presented them at the royal tribunal, and the king +gave an order to put the whole to death. There happened to be among them +a stripling, the fruit of whose early spring was ripening in its bloom, +and the flower-garden of his cheek shooting into blossom. One of the +vizirs kissed the foot of the imperial throne, and laid the face of +intercession on the ground, and said, "This boy has not yet tasted the +fruit of the garden of life, nor enjoyed the fragrance of the flowers of +youth: such is my confidence in the generous disposition of his Majesty +that it will favor a devoted servant by sparing his blood." The king +turned his face away from this speech; as it did not accord with his +lofty way of thinking, he replied:--"The rays of the virtuous cannot +illuminate such as are radically vicious; to give education to the +worthless is like throwing walnuts upon a dome:--it were wiser to +eradicate the tree of their wickedness, and annihilate their tribe; for +to put out a fire and leave the embers, and to kill a viper and foster +its young, would not be the acts of rational beings. Though the clouds +pour down the water of vegetation, thou canst never gather fruit from a +willow twig. Exalt not the fortune of the abject, for thou canst never +extract sugar from a mat or common cane." + +The vizir listened to this speech; willingly or not he approved of it, +and applauded the good sense of the king, and said:--"What his majesty, +whose dominion is eternal, is pleased to remark is the mirror of probity +and essence of good policy, for had he been brought up in the society of +those vagabonds, and confined to their service, he would have followed +their vicious courses. Your servant, however, trusts that he may be +instructed to associate with the virtuous, and take to the habits of the +prudent; for he is still a child, and the lawless and refractory +principles of that gang cannot have yet tainted his mind; and it is in +tradition that--_Whatever child is born, and he is verily born after the +right way of orthodoxy, namely Islamism, afterwards his father and his +mother bring him up as a Jew, Christian, or Guebre_.--The wife of Lot +associated with the wicked, and her posterity failed in the gift of +prophecy; the dog of the seven sleepers (at Ephesus) for some time took +the path of the righteous, and became a rational being." + +He said this, and a body of the courtiers joined him in intercession, +till the king acceded to the youth's pardon, and answered: "I gave him +up, though I saw not the good of it.--Knowest thou what Zal said to the +heroic Rustem: 'Thou must not consider thy foe as abject and helpless. I +have often found a small stream at the fountain-head, which, when +followed up, carried away the camel and its load.'" + +In short, the vizir took the boy home, and educated him with kindness +and liberality. And he appointed him masters and tutors, who taught him +the graces of logic and rhetoric, and all manner of courtier +accomplishments, so that he met general approbation. On one occasion the +vizir was detailing some instances of his proficiency and talents in the +royal presence, and saying: "The instruction of the wise has made an +impression upon him, and his former savageness is obliterated from his +mind." The king smiled at this speech, and replied:--"The whelp of a +wolf must prove a wolf at last, notwithstanding he may be brought up by +a man." + +Two years after this a gang of city vagabonds got about him, and joined +in league, till on an opportunity he murdered the vizir and his two +sons; and, carrying off an immense booty, he took up the station of his +father in the den of thieves, and became a hardened villain. The king +was apprised of this event; and, seizing the hand of amazement with the +teeth of regret, said:--"How can any person manufacture a tempered sabre +from base iron; nor can a base-born man, O wiseacre, be made a gentleman +by any education! Rain, in the purity of whose nature there is no +anomaly, cherishes the tulip in the garden and common weed in the +salt-marsh. Waste not thy labor in scattered seed upon a briny soil, for +it can never be made to yield spikenard; to confer a favor on the wicked +is of a like import, as if thou didst an injury to the good." + + +V + +At the gate of Oghlamish Patan, King of Delhi, I (namely Sa'di) saw an +officer's son, who, in his wit and learning, wisdom and understanding, +surpassed all manner of encomium. In the prime of youth, he at the same +time bore on his forehead the traces of ripe age, and exhibited on his +cheek the features of good fortune:--"Above his head, from his prudent +conduct, the star of superiority shone conspicuous." + +In short, it was noticed with approbation by the king that he possessed +bodily accomplishments and mental endowments. And sages have remarked +that worth rests not on riches, but on talents; and the discretion of +age, not in years, but on good sense. His comrades envied his good +fortune, charged him with disaffection, and vainly attempted to have him +put to death:--"but what can the rival effect so long as the charmer is +our friend?" + +The king asked, saying, "Why do they show such a disinclination to do +you justice?" He replied: "Under the shadow of his majesty's good +fortune I have pleased everybody, excepting the envious man, who is not +to be satisfied but with a decline of my success; and let the prosperity +and dominion of my lord the king be perpetual!" I can so manage as to +give umbrage to no man's heart; but what can I do with the envious man, +who harbors within himself the cause of his own chagrin? Die, O ye +envious, that ye may get a deliverance; for this is such an evil that +you can get rid of it only by death. Men soured by misfortune anxiously +desire that the state and fortune of the prosperous may decline; if the +eye of the bat is not suited for seeing by day, how can the fountain of +the sun be to blame? Dost thou require the truth? It were better a +thousand such eyes should suffer, rather than that the light of the sun +were obscured. + + +VI + +They tell a story of a Persian king who had stretched forth the arm of +oppression over the subjects' property, and commenced a system of +violence and rapacity to such a degree that the people emigrated to +avoid the vexatiousness of his tyranny, and took the road of exile to +escape the annoyance of his extortions. Now that the population was +diminished and the resources of the state had failed, the treasury +remained empty, and enemies gathered strength on all sides. Whoever may +expect a comforter on the day of adversity, say, let him practise +humanity during the season of prosperity; if not treated cordially, thy +devoted slave will forsake thee; show him kindness and affection, and +the stranger may become the slave of thy devotion. + +One day they were reading, in his presence, from the Shh Nmeh, of the +tyrant Zohk's declining dominion and the succession of Feridn. The +vizir asked the king, saying: "Can you so far comprehend that Feridn +had no revenue, domain, or army, and how the kingdom came to be +confirmed with him?" He answered: "As you have heard, a body of people +collected about him from attachment, and gave their assistance till he +acquired a kingdom." The vizir said: "Since, O sire, a gathering of the +people is the means of forming a kingdom, how come you in fact to cause +their dispersion unless it be that you covet not a sovereignty? So far +were good that thou wouldst patronize the army with all thy heart, for a +king with an army constitutes a principality." The king asked: "What are +the best means of collecting an army and yeomanry?" He replied: +"Munificence is the duty of a king, that the people may assemble around +him, and clemency, that they may rest secure under the asylum of his +dominion and fortune, neither of which you have. A tyrant cannot govern +a kingdom, for the duty of a shepherd is not expected from the wolf. A +king that can anyhow be accessory to tyranny will undermine the wall of +his own sovereignty." + +The advice of the prudent minister did not accord with the disposition +of the king. He ordered him to be confined, and immured him in a +dungeon. It soon came to pass that the sons of the king's uncle rose in +opposition, levied an army in support of their pretensions, and claimed +the sovereignty of their father. A host of the people, who had cruelly +suffered under the arm of his extortion and were dispersed, gathered +around and succored them till they dispossessed him of his kingdom and +established them in his stead. That king who can approve of tyrannizing +over the weak will find his friend a bitter foe in the day of hardship. +Deal fairly with thy subjects, and rest easy about the warfare of thine +enemies, for with an upright prince his yeomanry is an army. + + * * * * * + + +VIII + +They asked Hormuz, son of Nushirowan, "What fault did you find with your +father's ministers that you ordered them into confinement?" He replied: +"I saw no fault that might deserve imprisonment; yet I perceived that +any reverence for me makes a slight impression on their minds, and that +they put no implicit reliance on my promise. I feared lest from an +apprehension of their own safety they might conspire my ruin; +therefore, put in practice that maxim of philosophers who have told us: +'Stand in awe, O wise man, of him who stands in awe of thee, +notwithstanding thou canst cope with a hundred such as he. Therefore +will the snake bite the herdsman's foot, because it fears that he will +bruise its head with a stone. Seest thou not that now that the cat is +desperate it will tear out the tiger's eyes with its claws.'" + + +IX + +In his old age an Arab king was grievously sick, and had no hopes of +recovery, when, lo! a messenger on horseback presented himself at the +palace-gate, and joyfully announced, saying: "Under his majesty's good +fortune we have taken such a stronghold, made the enemy prisoners of +war, and reduced all the landholders and vassals of that quarter to +obedience as subjects." On hearing this news the king fetched a cold +sigh, and answered: "These glad tidings are not intended for me but for +my rivals, namely, the heirs of the sovereignty. My precious life has, +alas! been wasted in the hope that what my heart chiefly coveted might +enter at my gate. My bounden hope was gratified; yet what do I benefit +by that? There is no hope that my passed life can return. The hand of +death beats the drum of departure. Yes, my two eyes, you must bid adieu +to my head. Yes, palm of my hand, wrist, and arm, all of you say +farewell, and each take leave of the other. Death has overtaken me to +the gratification of my foes; and you, O my friends, must at last be +going. My days were blazed away in folly; what I did not do let you take +warning (and do)." + + +X + +At the metropolitan mosque of Damascus I was one year fervent in prayer +over the tomb of Yahiya, or John the Baptist and prophet, on whom be +God's blessing, when one of the Arab princes, who was notorious for his +injustice, chanced to arrive on a pilgrimage, and he put up his +supplication, asked a benediction, and craved his wants.--The rich and +poor are equally the devoted slaves of this shrine, and the richer they +are the more they stand in need of succor. Then he spoke to me, saying: +"In conformity with the generous resolution of dervishes and their +sincere zeal, you will, I trust, unite with me in prayer, for I have +much to fear from a powerful enemy." I answered him, "Have compassion on +your own weak subjects, that you may not see disquiet from a strong foe. +With a mighty arm and heavy hand it is dastardly to wrench the wrists of +poor and helpless. Is he not afraid who is hardhearted with the fallen +that if he slip his foot nobody will take him by the hand?--Whoever +sowed the seed of vice and expected a virtuous produce, pampered a vain +brain and encouraged an idle whim. Take the cotton from thy ear and do +mankind justice, for if thou refusest them justice there is a day of +retribution. The sons of Adam are members one of another, for in their +creation they have a common origin. If the vicissitudes of fortune +involve one member in pain, all the other members will feel a sympathy. +Thou, who art indifferent to other men's affliction, if they call thee a +man art unworthy of the name." + + +XI + +A dervish, whose prayers had a ready acceptance (with God), made his +appearance at Bagdad. Hojaj Yusuf (a great tyrant) sent for him and +said: "Put up a good prayer for me." He prayed, "O God! take from him +his life!" Hojaj said, "For God's sake, what manner of prayer is this?" +He answered: "It is a salutary prayer for you, and for the whole sect of +Mussulmans.--O mighty sir, thou oppressor of the feeble, how long can +this violence remain marketable? For what purpose came the sovereignty +to thee? Thy death were preferable to thy tyrannizing over mankind." + + +XII + +An unjust king asked a holy man, saying, "What is more excellent than +prayers?" He answered: "For you to remain asleep till mid-day, that for +this one interval you might not afflict mankind."--I saw a tyrant lying +dormant at noon, and said, "This is mischief, and is best lulled to +sleep. It were better that such a reprobate were dead whose state of +sleep is preferable to his being awake." + + +XIII + +I have heard of a king who had turned night into day in the midst of +conviviality, and in the gayety of intoxication was exclaiming--"I never +was in this life happier than at this present moment, for I have no +thought of evil or good, and care for nobody!"--A naked dervish, who had +taken up his rest in the cold outside, answered--"O thou, who in good +fortune hast not thy equal in the world, I admit that thou hast no cause +of care for thyself, but hast thou none for us?"--The king was pleased +at this speech. He put a purse of a thousand dinars out at the window, +and said: "O dervish! hold up your skirt." He replied, "Where can I find +a skirt, who have not a garment." The king was still more touched at the +hardship of his condition, and adding an honorary dress to that +donation, sent them out to him. + +The dervish squandered all that ready cash within a few days, and +falling again into distress, returned.--"Money makes no stay in the hand +of a religious independent; neither does patience in a lover's heart, +nor water in a sieve."--At a time when the king had no thought about +him, they obtruded his case, and he took offence and turned away his +face. And it is on such an occasion that men of prudence and experience +have remarked that it behooves us to guard against the wrath and fury of +kings, whose noble thoughts are chiefly occupied with important affairs +of state, and cannot endure the importunate clamors of the vulgar.--The +bounty of the sovereign is forbid to him who does not watch a proper +opportunity. Till thou canst perceive a convenient time for obtruding an +opinion, undermine not thy consequence by idle talk.--The king said, +"Let this impudent beggar and spendthrift be beaten and driven away, who +in a short time dissipated such a sum of money, for the treasury of the +Beat-al-mal, or charity fund, is intended to afford mouthfuls to the +poor, and not bellyfuls to the imps of the devil.--That fool who can +illuminate the day with a camphorated taper must soon feel a want of oil +for his lamp at night." + +One of his discreet ministers said: "O king, it were expedient to supply +such people with their means of subsistence by instalments, that they +may not squander their absolute necessaries; but, with respect to what +your majesty commanded as to coercion and prohibition, though it be +correct, a party might impute it to parsimony. Nor does it moreover +accord with the principles of the generous to encourage a man to hope +for kindness and then overwhelm him with heartbreaking distrust:--Thou +must not open upon thyself the door of covetousness; and when opened, +thou must not shut it with harshness.--Nobody will see the thirsty +pilgrims crowding towards the shore of the briny ocean; but men, birds, +and reptiles will flock together wherever they can meet a fresh water +fountain." + + +XIV + +One of the ancient kings was easy with the yeomanry in collecting his +revenue, but hard on the soldiery in his issue of pay; and when a +formidable enemy showed its face, these all turned their +backs.--Whenever the king is remiss in paying his troops, the troops +will relax in handling their arms. What bravery can he display in the +ranks of battle whose hand is destitute of the means of living? + +One of those who had excused themselves was in some sort my intimate. I +reproached him and said, "He is base and ungrateful, mean and +disreputable who, on a trifling change of circumstances, can desert his +old master and forget his obligation of many years' employment." He +replied: "Were I to speak out, I swear by generosity you would excuse +me. Peradventure, my horse was without corn, and the housings of his +saddle in pawn.--And the prince who, through parsimony, withholds his +army's pay cannot expect it to enter heartily upon his service."--Give +money to the gallant soldier that he may be zealous in thy cause, for if +he is stinted of his due he will go abroad for service.--_So long as a +warrior is replenished with food he will fight valiantly, and when his +belly is empty he will run away sturdily_. + + +XV + +One of the vizirs was displaced, and withdrew into a fraternity of +dervishes, whose blessed society made its impression upon him and +afforded consolation to his mind. The king was again favorably disposed +towards him, and offered his reinstatement in office; but he consented +not, and said, "With the wise it is deemed preferable to be out of +office than to remain in place.--Such as sat within the cell of +retirement blunted the teeth of dogs, and shut the mouths of mankind; +they destroyed their writings, and broke their writing reeds, and +escaped the lash and venom of the critics."--The king answered: "At all +events I require a prudent and able man, who is capable of managing the +state affairs of my kingdom." The ex-minister said: "The criterion, O +sire, of a wise and competent man is that he will not meddle with such +like matters.--The homayi, or phoenix, is honored above all other birds +because it feeds on bones, and injures no living creature." + +A Tamsil, or application in point.--They asked a Siyah-gosh, or +lion-provider, "Why do you choose the service of the lion?" He answered: +"Because I subsist on the leavings of his prey, and am secure from the +ill-will of my enemies under the asylum of his valor." They said: "Now +you have got within the shadow of his protection and admit a grateful +sense of his bounty, why do you not approach more closely, that he may +include you within the circle of select courtiers and number you among +his chosen servants?" He replied, "I should not thus be safe from his +violence."--Though a Guebre may keep his fire alight for a hundred +years, if he fall once within its flame it will burn him.--_Procul +Jove, procul fulmine_. It on one occasion may chance that the courtier +of the king's presence shall pick up a purse of gold, and the next that +he shall lie shorter by the head. And philosophers have remarked, +saying, "It is incumbent on us to be constantly aware of the fickle +dispositions of kings, who will one moment take offence at a salutation, +and at another make an honorary dress the return for an act of rudeness; +and they have said, That to be over much facetious is the accomplishment +of courtiers and blemish of the wise.--Be wary, and preserve the state +of thine own character, and leave sport and buffoonery to jesters and +courtiers." + + +XVI + +One of my associates brought me a complaint of his perverse fortune, +saying, "I have small means and a large family, and cannot bear up with +my load of poverty. Often has a thought crossed my mind, suggesting, Let +me remove into another country, that in whatever way I can manage a +livelihood none may be informed of my good or bad luck."--(Often he +went asleep hungry, and nobody was aware, saying, "Who is he?" Often did +his life hang upon his lip, and none lamented over him.)--"On the other +hand, I reflect on the exultation of my rivals, saying, They will +scoffingly sneer behind my back, and impute my zeal in behalf of my +family to a want of humanity.--Do but behold that graceless vagabond who +can never witness the face of good fortune. He will consult the ease of +his own person and abandon to distress his wife and children.--And, as +is known, I have some small skill in the science of accounts. If, +through your respected interest, any office can be obtained that may be +the means of quieting my mind, I shall not, during the remainder of +life, be able to express my sense of its gratitude." + +I replied, "O brother, the service of kings offers a twofold prospect--a +hope of maintenance and a fear for existence; and it accords not with +the counsel of the wise, under that expectation, to incur this risk.--No +tax-gatherer will enter the dervish's abode, saying, Pay me the rent of +a field and orchard; either put up with trouble and chagrin, or give thy +heartstrings to the crows to pluck." + +He said, "This speech is not made as applicable to my case, nor have you +given me a categorical answer. Have you not heard what has been +remarked, 'His hand will tremble on rendering his account who has been +accessory to a dishonest act.--Righteousness will insure the divine +favor; I never met him going astray who took the righteous path.'--And +philosophers have said, 'Four orders of people are mortally afraid of +four others--the revenue embezzler, of the king; the thief, of the +watchman; the fornicator, of the eavesdropper; and the adulteress, of +the censor.' But what has he to fear from the comptroller who has a fair +set of account-books?--'Be not extravagant and corrupt while in office +if thou wishest that the malice of thy rival may be circumscribed on +settling thy accounts. Be undefiled, O brother, in thy integrity, and +fear nobody; washermen will beat only dirty clothes against a stone.'" + +I replied, "The story of that fox suits your case, which they saw +running away, stumbling and getting up. Somebody asked him, 'What +calamity has happened to put you in such a state of trepidation?' He +said, 'I have heard that they are putting a camel in requisition.' The +other answered, 'O silly animal! what connection has a camel with you, +or what resemblance is there between you and it?' He said, 'Be silent; +for were the envious from malevolence to insist that this is a camel, +and I should be seized for one, who would be so solicitous about me as +to inquire into my case?' And before they can bring the antidote from +Irac the person bitten by the snake may be dead. In like manner, you +possess knowledge and integrity, discrimination and probity, yet spies +lie in ambush, and informers lurk in corners, who, notwithstanding your +moral rectitude, will note down the opposite; and should you anyhow +stand arraigned before the king, and occupy the place of his +reprehension, who in that state would step forward in your defence? +Accordingly, I would advise that you should secure the kingdom of +contentment, and give up all thoughts of preferment. As the wise have +said:--'The benefits of a sea voyage are innumerable; but if thou +seekest for safety, it is to be found only on shore.'" + +My friend listened to this speech; he got into a passion, cavilled at my +fable, and began to question it with warmth and asperity, saying, "What +wisdom or propriety, good sense or morality, is there in this? Here is +verified that maxim of the sage, which tells us they are friends alone +that can serve us in a jail, for all our enemies may pretend friendship +at our own table.--'Esteem him not a friend who during thy prosperity +will brag of his love and brotherly affection.' I account him a friend +who will take his friend by the hand when struggling with despair, and +overwhelmed with misfortune." + +I perceived within myself, saying, "He is disturbed, and listens to my +advice with impatience;" and, having called the sahib diwan, or lord +high treasurer, in virtue of a former intimacy that subsisted between +us, I stated his case and spoke so fully upon his skill and merits, that +he put him in nomination for a trifling office. After some time, having +adverted to his kindly disposition and approved of his good management, +his promotion was in train, and he got confirmed in a much higher +station. Thus was the star of his good fortune in ascension, till it +rose into the zenith of ambition; and he became the favorite of his +majesty the king, towards whom all turned for counsel, and upon whom all +eyes rested their hopes! I rejoiced at this prosperous change of his +affairs, and said:--"Repine not at thy bankrupt circumstances, nor let +thy heart despond, for the fountain of immortality has its source of +chaos.--_Take heed, O brother in affliction! and be not disheartened, +for God has in store many hidden mercies_.--Sit not down soured at the +revolutions of the times, for patience is bitter, yet it will yield +sweet fruit." + +At that juncture I happened to accompany a party of friends on a journey +to Hijaz, or Arabia Petraea. On my return from the pilgrimage to Mecca, +he came out two stages to meet me. I perceived that his outward plight +was wretched, and his garb that of dervishes. I asked, "How is this?" He +replied, "Just as you said, a faction bore me a grudge and charged me +with malpractices; and the king, be his reign eternal, would not +investigate the truth of that charge, and my old and best friends stood +aloof from my defence, and overlooked my claims on our former +acquaintance.--When, through an act of God, a man has fallen, the whole +world will put their feet upon his neck; when they see that fortune has +taken him by the hand, they will put their hands upon their breasts, and +be loud in his praise.--In short, I underwent all manner of persecution +till within this week, that the tidings of the safe return of the +pilgrims reached us, when I got a release from my heavy durance and a +confiscation of my hereditary tenements." I said, "At that time you did +not listen to my admonition, when I warned you that the service of +princes is, like a voyage at sea, profitable but hazardous: you either +get a treasure or perish miserably.--The merchant gains the shore with +gold in both his hands, or a wave will one day leave him dead on its +beach."--Not deeming it generous any further to irritate a poor man's +wound with the asperity of reproach, or to sprinkle his sore with the +salt of harsh words, I made a summary conclusion in these two verses, +and said:--"Wert thou not aware that thou shouldst find fetters on thy +feet when thou wouldst not listen to the generous man's counsel? Thrust +not again thy finger into a scorpion's hole till thou canst endure the +pain of its sting." + + +XVII + +I was the companion of a holy fraternity, whose manners were correct +from piety, and minds disciplined from probity. An eminent prince +entertained a high and respectful opinion of the worth of this +brotherhood, and had assigned it an endowment. Perhaps one of them +committed an act unworthy of the character of dervishes; for the good +opinion of that personage was forfeited, and the market of their support +shut. I wished that I could by any means re-establish the maintenance of +my friends, and attempted to wait on the great man; but his porter +opposed my entrance, and turned me away with rudeness. I excused him +conformably with what the witty have said:--"Till thou canst take an +introduction along with thee approach not the gate of a prince, vizir, +or lord; for the dog and the doorkeeper, on espying a beggar, will the +one seize his skirt and the other his collar." + +When the favorite attendants of that great man were aware of my +situation, they ushered me into his presence with respect, and offered +me the highest seat; but in humility I took the lowest, and said: +"Permit that I, the slave of the abject, should seat myself on a level +with servants."--The great man answered, "My God, my God! what room is +there for this speech? Wert thou to seat thyself upon the pupil of mine +eye, I would court thy dalliance, for thou art lovely." + +In short, I took my seat, and entered upon a variety of topics, till the +indiscretion of my friends was brought upon the carpet, when I said: +"What fault did the lord of past munificence remark, that his servant +should seem so contemptible in his sight? Individually with God is the +perfection of majesty and goodness, who can discern our failings and +continue to us his support." When the prince heard this sentiment he +subscribed to its omnipotence; and, with regard to the stipendiary +allowance of my friends, he ordered its continuance as heretofore, and a +faithful discharge of all arrears. I thanked him for his generosity, +kissed the dust of obeisance, apologized for my boldness, and at the +moment of taking my leave, added: "When the fane of the Caabah, at +Mecca, became their object from a far distant land, pilgrims would hurry +on to visit it for many farsangs. It behooves thee to put up with such +as we are, for nobody will throw a stone at a tree that bears no +fruit." + + +XVIII + +A prince inherited immense riches by succeeding to his father. He opened +the hand of liberality, displayed his munificence, and bestowed +innumerable gifts upon his troops and people. "The brain will not be +perfumed by a censer of green aloes-wood; place it over the fire that it +may diffuse fragrance like ambergris. If ambitious of a great name, make +a practice of munificence, for the crop will not shoot till thou shalt +sow the seed." + +A narrow-minded courtier began to admonish him, saying, "Verily, former +sovereigns have collected this wealth with scrupulosity and stored it +advisedly. Check your hand in this waste, for accidents wait ahead, and +foes lurk behind. God forbid that you should want it on a day of +need.--Wert thou to distribute the contents of a granary among the +people, every master of a family might receive a grain of rice; why not +exact a grain of silver from each, that thou mightest daily hoard a +chamber full of treasure?" + +The prince turned his face aside from this speech, so contrary to his +own lofty sentiments, and harshly reprimanded him, saying, "A great and +glorious God made me sovereign of this property, that I might enjoy and +spend it; and posted me not a sentinel, to hoard and watch over +it.--Carown perished, who possessed forty magazines of treasure; +Nushirowan died not, who left behind him a fair reputation." + + +XIX + +They have related that at a hunting seat they were roasting some game +for Nushirowan, and as there was no salt they were despatching a servant +to the village to fetch some. Nushirowan called to him, saying, "Take it +at its fair price, and not by force, lest a bad precedent be established +and the village desolated." They asked, "What damage can ensue from this +trifle?" He answered, "Originally, the basis of oppression in this world +was small, and every newcomer added to it, till it reached to its +present extent:--Let the monarch eat but one apple from a peasant's +orchard, and his guards, or slaves, will pull up the tree by its root. +From the plunder of five eggs, that the king shall sanction, his troops +will stick a thousand fowls on their spits." + + +XX + +I have heard of a revenue-collector who would distrain the huts of the +peasantry, that he might enrich the treasury of the sovereign, +regardless of that maxim of the wise, who have said, "Whoever can offend +the Most High, that he may gain the heart of a fellow-creature, God on +high will instigate that creature against him, till he dig out the +foundation of his fortune:--That crackling in the flame is not caused by +burning rue, but it is the sigh of the afflicted that occasions it." + +They say, of all animals the lion is the chief; and of beasts the ass is +the meanest; yet, with the concurrence of the wise, the burden-bearing +ass is preferable to the man-devouring lion. "The poor ass, though +devoid of understanding, will be held precious when carrying a burden; +oxen and asses that carry loads are preferable to men that injure their +fellow-creatures." + +The king had reported to him a part of his nefarious conduct. He put him +to the rack, and tortured him to death. "Thou canst not obtain the +sovereign's approbation till thou make sure of the good-will of his +people. Wishest thou that God shall be bountiful to thee, be thou good +thyself to the creatures of God." + +One who had suffered from his oppression passed him at the time of his +execution, and said: "It is not every man that may have the strong arm +of high station, that can in his government take an immoderate freedom +with the subjects' property. It is possible to cram a bone down the +throat, but when it sticks at the navel it will burst open the belly." + + +XXI + +They tell a story of an evil-disposed person who struck a pious good man +on the head with a stone. Having no power of revenge, the dervish was +keeping the stone by him till an occasion when the sovereign let loose +the army of his wrath, and cast him into a dungeon. The poor man went up +and flung that stone at his head. The person spoke to him, saying, "Who +are you, and why did you throw this stone at my head?" He answered, "I +am that poor man, and this is the same stone that you on a certain +occasion flung at my head." He said, "Where have you been all this +time?" The poor man answered, "I stood in awe of your high station, but +now that I find you in a dungeon, I avail myself of the opportunity, as +they have said--'Whilst they saw the worthless man in prosperity, the +wise thought proper to show him respect. Now thou hast not sharp and +tearing nails, it is prudent for thee to defer to engage with the +wicked. Whoever grappled with a steel-armed wrist exposed his own silver +arm to torture. Wait till fortune can manacle his hands, then beat out +his brains to the satisfaction of thy friends.'" + + * * * * * + + +XXIII + +One of King Umraw-layas's slaves had absconded, and people that went +after him brought him back. The vizir, who had a dislike to him, used +his interest to have him put to death, that the other slaves (as he +pretended) might not commit the same offence. The poor slave fell at +Umraw-layas's feet, and said: "Whatever may befall me, if thou approve +of it, it is so far proper. What plea can a vassal offer against his +lord and master's decree?--Nevertheless, inasmuch as I am the nurtured +gift of this house, I could not wish that on the last day's reckoning my +blood should stand charged to your account. If, at all events, you are +resolved to put this your slave to death, let it be done with a plea of +legality, that you may not be censured at the day of resurrection." The +king asked, "How can I set up a legal plea?" He replied, "Issue your +command that I may kill the vizir, then give an order to put me to death +in retaliation for him, that you may kill me according to law!" The king +smiled and asked the vizir, "What is your advice in this case?" The +vizir said, "O sovereign of the world! I beg, for the sake of God, that +you will manumit this audacious fellow as a propitiation at the tomb of +your forefathers, lest he also involve me in calamity. The fault was on +my side, in not doing justice to the saying of the wise, who have warned +us:--'When thou didst enter the lists with a practised slinger, in thy +want of skill thou exposest thine own head to be broken. When thou didst +discharge thine arrow at thy antagonist's face thou shouldst have been +upon thy guard, for thou hadst become his butt.'" + + +XXIV + +King Zuzan had a minister of a generous spirit and kindly disposition, +who was polite to all persons while present, and spoke well of them when +absent. One of his acts happened to displease the king, who put him +under stoppages, and in rigorous confinement. The officers of the crown +were sensible of his former benefits, and pledged to show their +gratitude of them. Accordingly, whilst under their charge, they treated +him with courtesy and benevolence, and would not use any coercion or +violence:--"If thou desirest to remain at peace with a rival, whenever +he slanders thee behind thy back speak well of him to his face. The +perverse man cavils for the last word; unless thou preferest his bitter +remarks, make his mouth sweet." + +Of the charge against him at the king's exchequer, part had been +adjusted according to its settlement, and he remained in durance for the +balance. A bordering prince sent him underhand a letter, stating, "The +sovereign of that quarter has not appreciated such worth, nay, has +dishonored it, and with us it bore a heavy price. If the precious mind +of a certain personage, may God facilitate his deliverance, will incline +favorably towards us, every possible exertion shall be made to +conciliate his good-will, and the cabinet ministers of this kingdom are +exulting in the prospect of seeing him, and anxious for the answer of +this letter." The minister made himself master of the contents. He +pondered on the danger, wrote such a brief answer as seemed discreet +upon the back of the letter, and returned it. One of the hangers-on at +court had notice of this circumstance. He apprised the king, saying, "A +certain person whom you have put in confinement is corresponding with a +neighboring prince." The king was wroth, and ordered an investigation of +this intelligence. The messenger was seized, and letter read. On the +back of it he had written, stating, "The good opinion of his Majesty +exceeds the merits of this slave; but the honored approbation he has +bestowed upon a servant cannot possibly have his consent, for he is the +fostered gift of this house, and he cannot, on a trifling change of +affection, betray his ancient benefactor and patron.--Though once in his +life he may grate thee with harshness, excuse him who on every occasion +else has soothed thee with kindness." The king commended his fidelity, +bestowed on him an honorary dress and largess, and made his excuses, +saying, "I was to blame, that could do you an injury." He replied, "In +this instance, my lord, your servant sees no blame that attaches to you; +but such was the ordination of God, whose name was glorified, that this +your devoted slave should verily be overtaken with a calamity. +Accordingly, it is more tolerable at the hand of you, who possess the +rights of past good, and have claims of gratitude on this servant:--Be +not offended with mankind should any mischief assail thee, for neither +pleasure nor pain originate with thy fellow-being. Know that the +contrariety of foe and friend proceeds from God, and that the hearts of +both are at his disposal. Though the arrow may seem to issue from the +bow, the intelligent can see that the archer gave it its aim." + + +XXV + +I have heard that one of the kings of Arabia directed the officers of +his treasury, saying, "You will double a certain person's salary, +whatever it may be, for he is constant in attendance and ready for +orders, while the other courtiers are diverted by play, and negligent of +their duty." A good and holy man overheard this, and heaved a sigh and +groan from the bottom of his bosom. They asked, saying, "What vision did +you see?" He replied, "The exalted mansions of his devoted servants will +be after this manner portioned out at the judgment-seat of a Most High +and Mighty Deity!--If for two mornings a person is assiduous about the +person of the king, on the third he will in some shape regard him with +affection. The sincerely devout exist in the hope that they shall not +depart disappointed from God's threshold. The rank of a prince is the +reward of obedience. Disobedience to command is a proof of rejection. +Whoever has the aspect of the upright and good will lay the face of duty +at this threshold." + + +XXVI + +They tell a story of a tyrant who bought fire-wood from the poor at a +low price, and sold it to the rich at an advance. A good and holy man +went up to him and said, "Thou art a snake, who bitest everybody thou +seest; or an owl, who diggest up and makest a ruin of the place where +thou sittest:--Although thy injustice may pass unpunished among us, it +cannot escape God, the knower of secrets. Be not unjust with the people +of this earth, that their complaints may not rise up to heaven." + +They say the unjust man was offended at his words, turned aside his +face, and showed him no civility, as they have expressed it (in the +Koran):--_He, the glorified God, overtook him amidst his sins_:--till +one night, when the fire of his kitchen fell upon the stack of wood, +consumed all his property, and laid him from the bed of voluptuousness +upon the ashes of hell torments. That good and holy man happened to be +passing and observed that he was remarking to his friends, "I cannot +fancy whence this fire fell upon my dwelling." He said, "From the smoke +of the hearts of the poor!--Guard against the smoke of the +sore-afflicted heart, for an inside sore will at last gather into a +head. Give nobody's heart pain so long as thou canst avoid it, for one +sigh may set a whole world into a flame." + +They have related that these verses were inscribed in golden letters +upon Kai-khosru's crown:--"How many years, and what a continuance of +ages, that mankind shall on this earth walk over my head. As the kingdom +came to me from hand to hand, so it shall pass into the hands of +others." + + +XXVII + +A person had become a master in the art of wrestling; he knew three +hundred and sixty sleights in this art, and could exhibit a fresh trick +for every day throughout the year. Perhaps owing to a liking that a +corner of his heart took for the handsome person of one of his scholars, +he taught him three hundred and fifty-nine of those feats, but he was +putting off the instruction of one, and under some pretence deferring +it. + +In short the youth became such a proficient in the art and talent of +wrestling that none of his contemporaries had ability to cope with him, +till he at length had one day boasted before the reigning sovereign, +saying, "To any superiority my master possesses over me, he is beholden +to my reverence of his seniority, and in virtue of his tutorage; +otherwise I am not inferior in power, and am his equal in skill." This +want of respect displeased the king. He ordered a wrestling match to be +held, and a spacious field to be fenced in for the occasion. The +ministers of state, nobles of the court, and gallant men of the realm +were assembled, and the ceremonials of the combat marshalled. Like a +huge and lusty elephant, the youth rushed into the ring with such a +crash that had a brazen mountain opposed him he would have moved it from +its base. The master being aware that the youth was his superior in +strength, engaged him in that strange feat of which he had kept him +ignorant. The youth was unacquainted with its guard. Advancing, +nevertheless, the master seized him with both hands, and, lifting him +bodily from the ground, raised him above his head and flung him on the +earth. The crowd set up a shout. The king ordered them to give the +master an honorary dress and handsome largess, and the youth he +addressed with reproach and asperity, saying, "You played the traitor +with your own patron, and failed in your presumption of opposing him." +He replied, "O sire! my master did not overcome me by strength and +ability, but one cunning trick in the art of wrestling was left which he +was reserved in teaching me, and by that little feat had to-day the +upper hand of me." The master said, "I reserved myself for such a day as +this. As the wise have told us, 'Put it not so much into a friend's +power that, if hostilely disposed, he can do you an injury.' Have you +not heard what that man said who was treacherously dealt with by his own +pupil:--'Either in fact there was no good faith in this world, or nobody +has perhaps practised it in our days. No person learned the art of +archery from me who did not in the end make me his butt.'" + + +XXVIII + +A solitary dervish had taken up his station at the corner of a desert. A +king was passing by him. Inasmuch as contentment is the enjoyment of a +kingdom, the dervish did not raise his head, nor show him the least mark +of attention; and, inasmuch as sovereignty is regal pomp, the king took +offence, and said, "The tribe of ragged mendicants resemble brute +beasts, and have neither grace nor good manners." The vizir stepped up +to him, and said: "O generous man! the sovereign of the universe has +passed by you; why did you not do him homage, and discharge the duty of +obeisance?" He answered and said, "Speak to your sovereign, saying: +Expect service from that person who will court your favor; let him +moreover know that kings are meant for the protection of the people, and +not the people for the subjects of kings.--Though it be for their +benefit that his glory is exalted, yet is the king but the shepherd of +the poor. The sheep are not intended for the service of the shepherd, +but the shepherd is appointed to tend the sheep.--To-day thou mayest +observe one man proud from prosperity, another with a heart sore from +adversity; have patience for a few days till the dust of the grave can +consume the brain of that vain and foolish head. When the record of +destiny came to take effect, the distinction of liege and subject +disappeared. Were a person to turn up the dust of the defunct, he could +not distinguish that of the rich man from the poor." + +These sayings made a strong impression upon the king; he said: "Ask me +for something." He replied: "What I desire is, that you will not trouble +me again!" The king said, "Favor me with a piece of advice." He +answered: "Attend to them now that the good things of this life are in +thy hands; for wealth and dominion are passing from one hand into +another." + + * * * * * + + +XXX + +A king ordered an innocent person to be put to death. The man said, +"Seek not your own hurt by venting any anger you may entertain against +me." The king asked, "How?" He replied, "The pain of this punishment +will continue with me for a moment, but the sin of it will endure with +you forever.--The period of this life passes by like the wind of the +desert. Joy and sorrow, beauty and deformity, equally pass away. The +tyrant vainly thought that he did me an injury, but round his neck it +clung and passed over me." + +The king profited by this advice, spared his life, and asked his +forgiveness. + + +XXXI + +The cabinet ministers of Nushirowan were debating an important affair of +state, and each delivered his opinion according to the best of his +judgment. In like manner the king also delivered his sentiments, and +Abu-zarchamahr, the prime minister, accorded in opinion with him. The +other ministers whispered him, saying, "What did you see superior in the +king's opinion that you preferred it to the judgment of so many wise +heads?" He replied: "Because the event is doubtful, and the opinion of +all rests in the pleasure of the most high God whether it shall be right +or wrong. Accordingly it is safer to conform with the judgment of the +king, because if that shall prove wrong, our obsequiousness to his will +shall secure us from his displeasure.--To sport an opinion contrary to +the judgment of the king were to wash our hands in our own blood. Were +he verily to say this day is night, it would behoove us to reply: Lo! +there are the moon and seven stars." + + +XXXII + +An impostor plaited his hair and spake, saying, "I am a descendant of +Ali;" and he entered the city along with the caravan from Hijaz, saying, +"I come a pilgrim from Mecca;" and he presented a Casidah or elegy to +the king, saying, "I have composed it!" The king gave him money, treated +him with respect, and ordered him to be shown much flattering attention; +till one of the courtiers, who had that day returned from a voyage at +sea, said, "I saw him on the Eeduzha, or anniversary of sacrifice at +Busrah; how then can he be a Haji, or pilgrim?" Another said, "Now I +recollect him, his father was a Christian at Malatiyah (Malta); how then +can he be a descendant of Ali?" And they discovered his verses in the +divan of Anwari. The king ordered that they should beat and drive him +away, saying, "How came you to utter so many falsehoods?" He replied, "O +sovereign of the universe! I will utter one speech more, and if that may +not prove true, I shall deserve whatever punishment you may command." +The king asked, "What may that be?" He said: "If a peasant bring thee a +cup of junket, two measures of it will be water and one spoonful of it +buttermilk. If thy slave spake idly be not offended, for great +travellers deal most in the marvellous!" The king smiled and replied, +"You never in your life spake a truer word." He directed them to gratify +his expectations, and he departed happy and content. + + +XXXIII + +They have related that one of the vizirs would compassionate the weak +and meditate the good of everybody. He happened to fall under the royal +displeasure, and they all strove to obtain his release. Such as had him +in custody were indulgent in their restraint, and his fellow-grandees +were loud in proclaiming his virtues, till the king pardoned his fault. +A good and holy man was apprised of these events, and said:--"In order +to conciliate the good-will of friends, it were better to sell our +patrimonial garden; in order to boil the pot of well-wishers, it were +good to convert our household furniture into fire-wood. Do good even to +the wicked; it is as well to shut a dog's mouth with a crumb." + + +XXXIV + +One of Harun-al-Rashid's children went up to his father in a passion, +saying, "A certain officer's son has abused me in my mother's name." +Harun asked his ministers, "What ought to be such a person's +punishment?" One made a sign to have him put to death; another to have +his tongue cut out; and a third, to have him fined and banished. Harun +said: "O my child! it were generous to forgive him; but if you have not +resolution to do that, do you abuse his mother in return, yet not to +such a degree as to exceed the bounds of retaliation, for in that case +the injury would be on our part, and the complaint on that of the +antagonist.--In the opinion of the prudent he is no hero that can dare +to combat a furious elephant; but that man is in truth a hero who, when +provoked to anger, will not speak intemperately. A cross-grained fellow +abused a certain person; he bore it patiently, and said, O well-disposed +man! I am still more wicked than thou art calling me; for I know my +defects better than thou canst know them." + + +XXXV + +I was seated in a vessel, along with some persons of distinction, when a +boat sunk astern of us and two brothers were drawn into the whirlpool. +One of our gentlemen called to the pilot, saying, "Save those two +drowning men and I will give you a hundred dinars." The pilot went and +rescued one of them, but the other perished. I observed, "That man's +time was come, therefore you were tardy in assisting him, and alert in +saving this other." The pilot smiled, and replied, "What you say is the +essence of inevitable necessity; yet was my zeal more hearty in rescuing +this one, because on an occasion when I was tired in the desert he set +me on a camel; whereas, when a boy, I had received a horsewhipping from +that other."--_God Almighty was all justice and equity: whoever labored +unto good experienced good in himself; and he who toiled unto evil +experienced evil_.--So long as thou art able grate nobody's heart, for +in this path there must be thorns. Expedite the concerns of the poor and +needy; for thy own concerns may need to be expedited. + + * * * * * + + +XXXVII + +A person announced to Nushirowan the Just, saying, "I have heard that +God, glorious and great, has removed from this world a certain man who +was your enemy." He said, "Have you had any intelligence that he has +overlooked me? In the death of a rival I have no room for exultation, +since my life also is not to last forever." + + +XXXVIII + +At the court of Kisra, or Nushirowan, a cabinet council was debating +some state affair. Abu-zarchamahr, who sat as president, was silent. +They asked him, "Why do you not join us in this discussion?" He replied, +"Such ministers of state are like physicians, and a physician will +prescribe a medicine only to a sick man; accordingly, so long as I see +that your opinions are judicious, it were ill-judged in me to obtrude a +word.--While business can proceed without my interference, it does not +behoove me to speak on the subject; but were I to see a blind man +walking into a pit, I would be much to blame if I remained silent." + + +XXXIX + +When he reduced the kingdom of Misr, or Egypt, to obedience, +Harun-al-Rashid said, "In contempt of that impious rebel (Pharaoh), who, +in his pride of the sovereignty of Egypt, boasted a divinity, I will +bestow its government only on the vilest of my slaves." He had a negro +bondsman, called Khosayib, preciously stupid, and him he appointed to +rule over Egypt. They tell us that his judgment and understanding were +such, that when a body of farmers complained to him, saying, "We had +planted some cotton shrubs on the banks of the Nile, and the rains came +unseasonably, and swept them all away;"--he replied, "You ought to sow +wool, that it might not be swept away!" A good and holy man heard this, +and said: "Were our fortune to be increased in proportion to our +knowledge, none could be scantier than the share of the fool; but +fortune will bestow such wealth upon the ignorant as shall astonish a +hundred of the learned. Power and fortune depend not on knowledge, they +are obtained only through the aid of heaven; for it has often happened +in this world that the illiterate are honored, and the wise held in +scorn. The fool in his idleness found a treasure under a ruin; the +chemist, or projector, fell the victim of disappointment and chagrin." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Of the Morals of Dervishes + + +I + +A person of distinction asked a parsa, or devout and holy man, saying, +"What do you offer in justification of a certain abid, another species +of Mohammedan monk, whose character others have been so ready to +question?" He replied: "In his outward behavior I see nothing to blame, +and with the secrets of his heart I claim no acquaintance.--Whomsoever +thou seest in a parsa's habit, consider him a parsa, or holy, and esteem +him as a good man; and if thou knowest not what is passing in his mind, +what business has the mohtasib, or censor, with the inside of the +house?" + + +II + +I saw a dervish who, having laid his head at the fane of the Cabah of +Mecca, was complaining and saying, "O gracious, O merciful God! thou +knowest what can proceed from the sinful and ignorant that may be worthy +of thy acceptance!--I brought my excuse of imperfect performance, for I +have no claim on the score of obedience. The wicked repent them of their +sins; such as know God confess a deficiency of worship." + +Abids, or the pious, seek a reward of their devotion, merchants a profit +on their traffic. I, a devoted servant, have brought hope, not +obedience, and have come as a beggar, and not for lucre!--_Do unto me +what is worthy of thyself; but deal not with me as I myself have +deserved_.--Whether thou wilt slay me or pardon my offence, my head and +face are prostrate at thy threshold. Thy servant has no will of his own; +whatever thou commandest, that he will perform. At the door of the Cabah +I saw a petitioner, who was praying and weeping bitterly. I ask not, +saying, "Approve of my obedience, but draw the pen of forgiveness across +my sins." + + +III + +Within the sanctuary of the Cabah, at Mecca, I saw Abd-u'l-cadur the +Gilani, who having laid his face upon the Hasa, or black stone, was +saying, "Spare and pardon me, O God! and if, at all events, I am doomed +to punishment, raise me up at the day of resurrection blindfolded, that +I may not be put to shame in the eyes of the righteous." Every morning +when the day begins to dawn, with my face in the dust of humility, I am +saying, "O thou, whom I never can forget, dost thou ever bestow a +thought on thy servant?" + + +IV + +A thief got into a holy man's cell; but, however much he searched, he +could find nothing to steal, and was going away disappointed. The good +soul was aware of what was passing, and taking up the rug on which he +had slept, he put it in his way that he might not miss his object.--I +have heard that the heroes on the path of God will not distress the +hearts of their enemies. How canst thou attain this dignified station +who art at strife and warfare with thy friends? + +The loving kindness of the righteous, whether before your face or behind +your back, is not such that they will censure you when absent, and offer +to die for you when present.--Face to face meek as a lamb, behind your +back like a man-devouring wolf. Whoever brings you, and sums up the +faults of others, will doubtless expose your defects to them. + + +V + +Some travelling mendicants had agreed to club in a body and participate +in the cares and comforts of society. I expressed a wish that I might be +one of the party, but they refused to admit me. I said: "It is rare and +inconsistent with the generous dispositions of dervishes to turn their +faces from a good-fellowship with the poor, and to deny them its +benefits, for on my part I feel such a zeal and good-will, that in the +service of the liberal I am likely to prove rather an active associate +than a grievous load.--_Though not one of those who are mounted on the +camels, I will do my best, that I may carry their saddle-cloths_." + +One of them answered and said: "Be not offended at what you have heard, +for some days back a thief joined us in the garb of a dervish, and +strung himself upon the cord of our acquaintance.--How can people know +what he is that wears that dress? The writer can alone tell the +contents of the letter." In consequence of that reverence in which the +dervish character is held, they did not think of his profligacy and +admitted him into their society. The outward character of the holy is a +patched cloak; this much is sufficient, that it has a threadbare hood. +Be industrious in thy calling, and wear whatever dress thou choosest. +Put a diadem on thy head, and bear a standard on thy shoulder. Holiness +does not consist in a coarse frock. Let a zahid, or holy man, be truly +pious, and he may dress in satin. Sanctity is not merely a change of +dress; it is an abandonment of the world, its pomp and vanity. It +requires a hero to wear a coat of mail, for what would it profit to +dress an hermaphrodite, or coward, in a suit of armor? + +In short we had one day travelled till dark, and at night composed +ourselves for sleep under the wall of a castle. That graceless thief +took up his neighbor's ewer, saying, "I am going to my ablutions;" and +he was setting out for plunder. Behold a religious man, who threw a +patched cloak over his shoulders; he made the covering of the Cabah the +housing of an ass. So soon as he got out of the sight of the dervishes, +he scaled a bastion of the fort and stole a casket. Before break of day +that gloomy-minded robber had got a great way off, and left his innocent +companions asleep. In the morning they were all carried into the +citadel, and thrown into a dungeon. From that time we have declined any +addition to our party, and kept apart to ourselves, _for there is safety +in unity, but danger in duality or a multitude_.--When an individual of +a sect committed an act of folly, the high and the low sunk in their +dignity. Dost thou not see that one ox in a pasturage will cast a slur +upon all the oxen of the village? + +I said: "Let there be thanksgiving to a Deity of majesty and glory that +I am not forbid the benefits of dervishes, notwithstanding I am in +appearance excluded from their society; and I am instructed by this +narration, and others like me may profit by its moral during their +remaining lives.--From one indiscreet person in an assembly a host of +the prudent may get hurt. If they fill a cistern to the brim with +rose-water, and let a dog fall into it, the whole will be +contaminated." + + +VI + +A zahid was the guest of a king. When he sat down at table he ate more +sparingly from that than his appetite inclined him, and when he stood up +at prayers he continued longer at them than it was his custom; that they +might form a high opinion of his sanctity.--I fear, O Arab! that thou +wilt not reach the Caabah; for the road that thou art taking leads to +Turkistan, or the region of infidels. + +When he returned home he ordered the table to be spread that he might +eat. His son was a youth of a shrewd understanding. He said: "O father, +perhaps you ate little or nothing at the feast of the king?" He +answered, "In his presence I ate scarce anything that could answer its +purpose!" Then retorted the boy, "Repeat also your prayers, that nothing +be omitted that can serve a purpose." Yes, thy virtues thou hast exposed +in the palm of thy hand, thy vices thou hast hid under thy arm-pit. Take +heed, O hypocrite, what thou wilt be able to purchase with this base +money on the day of need or day of judgment. + + +VII + +I remember that in my early youth I was overmuch religious and vigilant, +and scrupulously pious and abstinent. One night I sat up in attendance +on my father, on whom be God's mercy, never once closed my eyes during +the whole night, and held the precious Koran open on my lap, while the +company around us were fast asleep. I said to my father: "Not an +individual of these will raise his head that he may perform his +genuflections, or ritual of prayer; but they are all so sound asleep, +that you might conclude they were dead." He replied: "O emanation of +your father, you had also better have slept than that you should thus +calumniate the failings of mankind.--The braggart can discern only his +own precious person; he will draw the veil of conceit all around him. +Were fortune to bestow upon him God's all-searching eye, he would find +nobody weaker than himself." + + * * * * * + + +X + +On one occasion, at the metropolitan mosque of Balbek, I was holding +forth, by way of admonition to a congregation cold and dead at heart, +and not to be moved from the materialism of this world into the paths of +mysticism. I perceived that the spirit of my discourse was making no +impression, nor were the sparks of my enthusiasm likely to strike fire +into their humid wood. I grew weary of instructing brutes, and of +holding up a mirror to an assembly of the blind; but the door of +exposition was thrown open, and the chain of argument extended; and in +explanation of this text in the Koran--_We are nearer to him_ (God) +_than the vein of his neck_.--I had reached that passage of my sermon +where I thus express myself:--"Such a mistress as is closer to me in her +affection than I am to myself, but this is marvellous that I am +estranged from her. What shall I say, and to whom can I tell it, that +she lies on my bosom and I am alienated from her." + +The intoxicating spirit of this discourse ran into my head, and the +dregs of the cup still rested in my hand, when a traveller, as passing +by, entered the outer circle of the congregation, and its expiring +undulation lit upon him. He sent forth such a groan that the others in +sympathy with him joined in lamentation, and the rawest of the assembly +bubbled in unison. I exclaimed, "Praise be to God! those far off are +present in their knowledge, and those near by are distant from their +ignorance. If the hearer has not the faculty of comprehending the +sermon, expect not the vigor of genius in the preacher. Give a scope to +the field of inclination, that the orator may have room to strike the +ball of eloquence over it." + + +XI + +One night in the desert of Mecca, from an excess of drowsiness, I had +not a foot to enable me to proceed; and, laying my head on the earth, I +gave myself up for lost, and desired the camel-driver to leave me to my +fate.--How could the foot of the poor jaded pedestrian go on, now that +the Bactrian dromedary got impatient of its burden? While the body of a +fat man is getting lean, a lean man must fall the victim of a hardship. + +The camel-driver replied: "O brother, holy Mecca is ahead, and the +profane robber behind; if you come forward you escape, but if you stay +here you die!" During the night journey of the caravan, and in the track +of the desert, it is fascinating to dose under the acacia-thorn tree; +but, on this indulgence, we must resign all thoughts of surviving it. + + +XII + +I saw on the sea-shore a holy man who had been torn by a tiger, and +could get no salve to heal his wound. For a length of time he suffered +much pain, and was all along offering thanks to the Most High. They +asked him, saying, "Why are you so grateful?" He answered, "God be +praised that I am overtaken with misfortune and not with sin! Were that +beloved friend, God, to give me over to death, take heed, and think not +that I should be solicitous about life. I would ask, What hast thou seen +amiss in thy poor servant that thy heart should take offence at me? for +that could alone give me a moment's uneasiness." + + +XIII + +Having some pressing occasion, a dervish stole a rug from the hut of a +friend. The judge ordered that they should cut off his hand. The owner +of the rug made intercession for him, saying, "I have forgiven him." The +judge replied, "At your instance I cannot relax the extreme sentence of +the law." He said: "In what you ordered you spoke justly. Nevertheless, +whoever steals a portion of any property dedicated to alms must not +suffer the forfeiture of his hand, for a _religious mendicant is not the +proprietor of anything_; and whatever appertains to dervishes is devoted +to the necessitous." The judge withdrew his hand from punishing him, and +by way of reprimand asked, "Had the world become so circumscribed that +you could not commit a theft but in the dwelling of such a friend?" He +answered, "Have you not heard what they have said, 'Sweep everything +away from the houses of your friends, but knock not at the doors of your +enemies.' When overwhelmed with calamity let not thy body pine in +misery. Strip thy foes of their skins, and thy friends of their +jackets." + + +XIV + +A king said to a holy man, "Are you ever thinking of me?" "Yes," replied +he, "at such time as I am forgetting God Almighty! He will wander all +around whom God shall drive from his gate; and he will not let him go to +another door whom he shall direct into his own." + + +XV + +One of the righteous in a dream saw a king in paradise, and a parsa, or +holy man, in hell. He questioned himself, saying, "What is the cause of +the exaltation of this, and the degradation of that, for we have fancied +their converse?" A voice came from above, answering, "This king is in +heaven because of his affection for the holy, and that parsa is in hell +because of his connection with the kingly."--What can a coarse frock, +rosary, and patched cloak avail? Abstain from such evil works as may +defile thee. There is no occasion to put a felt cowl upon thy head. Be a +dervish in thy actions, and wear a Tartarian coronet. + + +XVI + +A pedestrian, naked from head to foot, left Cufah with the caravan of +pilgrims for Hijaz, or Mecca, and came along with us. I looked at and +saw him destitute of every necessary for the journey; yet he was +cheerfully pushing on, and bravely remarking:--"I am neither mounted on +a camel nor a mule under a burden. I am neither the lord of vassals nor +the vassal of a lord. I think not of present sorrows or past vanities, +but breathe the breath of ease and live the life of freedom!" + +A gentleman mounted on a camel said to him, "O dervish, whither are you +going? return, or you must perish miserably." He did not heed what he +said, but entered the desert on foot and proceeded. On our reaching the +palm plantation of Mahmud, fate overtook the rich man, and he died. The +dervish went up to his bier and said, "I did not perish amidst hardship +on foot, and you expired on a camel's back." A person sat all night +weeping by the side of a sick friend. Next day he died, and the invalid +recovered!--Yes! many a fleet horse perished by the way, and that lame +ass reached the end of the journey. How many of the vigorous and hale +did they put underground, and that wounded man recovered! + + * * * * * + + +XVIII + +In the territory of the Greeks a caravan was attacked by robbers, and +plundered of much property. The merchants set up a lamentation and +complaint, and besought the intercession of God and the prophet; but all +to no purpose.--When the gloomy-minded robber is flushed with victory, +what will he feel for the traveller's despair. + +Lucman, the fabulist and philosopher, happened to be among them. One of +the travellers spoke to him, saying, "Direct some maxims of wisdom and +admonition to them; perhaps they may restore a part of our goods; for it +were a pity that articles of such value should be cast away." He +answered: "It were a pity to cast away the admonitions of wisdom upon +them!" From that iron which the rust has corroded thou canst not +eradicate the canker with a file. What purpose will it answer to preach +to the gloomy-minded infidel? A nail of iron cannot penetrate into a +piece of flint. + +Perhaps the fault has been on our part (in not being charitable), as +they have said:--"On the day of thy prosperity remember the bankrupt and +needy, for by visiting the hearts of the poor with charity thou shalt +divert calamity. When the beggar solicits alms from thee, bestow it with +a good grace; otherwise the tyrant may come and take it by force." + + * * * * * + + +XX + +They asked Lucman, the fabulist, "From whom did you learn manners?" He +answered, "From the unmannerly, for I was careful to avoid whatever part +of their behavior seemed to me bad." They will not speak a word in joke +from which the wise cannot derive instruction; let them read a hundred +chapters of wisdom to a fool, and they will all seem but a jest to him. + + +XXI + +They tell a story of an abid, who in the course of a night would eat ten +mans, or pounds, of food, and in his devotions repeat the whole Koran +before morning. A good and holy man heard this, and said, "Had he eaten +half a loaf of bread, and gone to sleep, he would have done a more +meritorious act." Keep thy inside unencumbered with victuals, that the +light of good works may shine within thee; but thou art void of wisdom +and knowledge, because thou art filled up to the nose with food. + + +XXII + +The divine favor had placed the lamp of grace in the path of a wanderer +in forbidden ways, till it directed him into the circle of the +righteous, and the blessed society of dervishes, and their spiritual +co-operation enabled him to convert his wicked propensities into +praiseworthy deeds, and to restrain himself in sensual indulgences; yet +were the tongues of calumniators questioning his sincerity, and saying, +He retains his original habits, and there is no trusting to his piety +and goodness.--By the means of repentance thou mayest get delivered from +the wrath of God, but there is no escape from the slanderous tongue of +man.--He was unable to put up with the virulence of their remarks, and +took his complaint to his ghostly father, saying, "I am much troubled by +the tongues of mankind." The holy man wept, and answered, "How can you +be sufficiently grateful for this blessing, that you are better than +they represent you?--How often wilt thou call aloud saying, The +malignant and envious are calumniating wretched me, that they rise up to +shed my blood, and that they sit down to devise me mischief. Be thou +good thyself, and let people speak evil of thee; it is better than to be +wicked, and that they should consider thee as good."--But, on the other +hand, behold me, of whose perfectness all entertain the best opinion, +while I am the mirror of imperfection.--Had I done what they have said, +I should have been a pious and moral man.--_Verily, I may conceal myself +from the sight of my neighbor, but God knows what is secret and what is +open_.--There is a shut door between me and mankind, that they may not +pry into my sins; but what, O Omniscience! can a closed door avail +against thee, who art equally informed of what is manifest or concealed? + + +XXIII + +I lodged a complaint with one of our reverend Shaikhs, saying: "A +certain person has borne testimony against my character on the score of +lasciviousness." He answered, "Shame him by your continence.--Be thou +virtuously disposed, that the detractor may not have it in his power to +indulge his malignity. So long as the harp is in tune, how can it have +its ear pulled (or suffer correction by being put in tune) by the +minstrel?" + + +XXIV + +They asked one of the Shaikhs of Sham, or Syria, saying: "What is the +condition of the Sufi sect?" He answered, "Formerly they were in this +world a fraternity dispersed in the flesh, but united in the spirit; but +now they are a body well clothed carnally, and ragged in divine +mystery." Whilst thy heart will be every moment wandering into a +different place, in thy recluse state thou canst not see purity; but +though thou possessest rank and wealth, lands and chattels, if thy heart +be fixed on God, thou art a hermit. + + +XXV + +On one occasion we had marched, I recollect, all the night along with +the caravan, and halted towards morning on the skirts of the wilderness. +One mystically distracted, who accompanied us on that journey, set up a +loud lamentation at dawn, went a-wandering into the desert, and did not +take a moment's rest. Next day I said to him, "What condition was that?" +He replied, "I remarked the nightingales that they had come to carol in +the groves, the pheasants to prattle on the mountains, the frogs to +croak in the pools, and the wild beasts to roar in the forests, and +thought with myself, saying, It cannot be generous that all are awake in +God's praise and I am wrapt up in the sleep of forgetfulness!--Last +night a bird was carolling towards the morning; it stole my patience +and reason, my fortitude and understanding. My lamentation had perhaps +reached the ear of one of my dearly-beloved friends. He said, 'I did not +believe that the singing of a bird could so distract thee!' I answered, +This is not the duty of the human species, that the birds are singing +God's praise and that I am silent." + + +XXVI + +Once, on a pilgrimage to Hijaz, I was the fellow-traveller of some +piously-disposed young men, and on a footing of familiarity and intimacy +with them. From time to time we were humming a tune and chanting a +spiritual hymn, and an abid, who bore us company, kept disparaging the +morals of the dervishes, and was callous to their sufferings, till we +reached the palm plantation of the tribe of Hulal, when a boy of a tawny +complexion issued from the Arab horde and sung such a plaintive melody +as would arrest the bird in its flight through the air. I remarked the +abid's camel that it kicked up and pranced, and, throwing the abid, +danced into the wilderness. I said: "O reverend Shaikh! that spiritual +strain threw a brute into an ecstasy, and it is not in like manner +working a change in you!--Knowest thou what that nightingale of the dawn +whispered to me? What sort of man art thou, indeed, who art ignorant of +love?--The camel is in an ecstasy of delight from the Arab's song. If +thou hast no taste to relish this, thou art a cross-grained brute.--Now +that the camel is elated with rapture and delight, if a man is +insensible to these he is an ass.--_The zephyr, gliding through the +verdure on the earth, shakes the twig of the ban-tree, but moves not the +solid rock_.--Whatever thou beholdest is loud in extolling him. That +heart which has an ear is full of the divine mystery. It is not the +nightingale that alone serenades his rose; for every thorn on the +rose-bush is a tongue in his or God's praise!" + + +XXVII + +A king had reached the end of his days and had no heir to succeed him. +He made his will, stating, "You will place the crown of sovereignty upon +the head of whatever person first enters the city gate in the morning, +and commit the kingdom to his charge." It happened that the first man +that presented himself at the city gate was a beggar, who had passed his +whole life in scraping broken meat and in patching rags. The ministers +of state and nobles of the court fulfilled the conditions of the king's +will, and laid the keys of the treasury and citadel at his feet. + +For a time the dervish governed the kingdom, till some of the chiefs of +the empire swerved from their allegiance, and the princes of the +territories on every side rose in opposition to him, and levied armies +for the contest. In short, his troops and subjects were routed and +subdued, and several of his provinces taken from him. + +The dervish was hurt to the soul at these events, when one of his old +friends, who had been the companion of his state of poverty, returned +from a journey and found him in such dignity. He exclaimed: +"Thanksgiving be to a Deity of majesty and glory that lofty fortune +succored you and prosperity was your guide, till roses issued from your +thorns and the thorns were extracted from your feet, and till you +arrived at this elevated rank!--_Along with hardship there is ease; or, +to sorrow succeeds joy_.--The plant is at one season in flower and at +another withered; the tree is at one time naked and at another clothed +with leaves." He said: "O, my dear friend, offer me condolence, for here +is no place for congratulation. When you last saw me I had to think of +getting a crumb of bread; now I have the cares of a whole kingdom on my +head. If the world be adverse, we are the victims of pain; if +prosperous, the fettered slaves of affection for it. Amidst this life no +calamity is more afflicting than that, whether fortunate or not, the +mind is equally disquieted. If thou covetest riches, ask not but for +contentment, which is an immense treasure. Should a rich man throw money +into thy lap, take heed, and do not look upon it as a benefit; for I +have often heard from the great and good that the patience of the poor +is more meritorious than the gift of the rich. Were King Bahram Ghor to +distribute a whole roasted elk, it would not be equal to the gift of a +locust's leg from an ant." + + +XXVIII + +A person had a friend who was holding the office of king's divan, or +prime minister, and it happened that he had not seen him for some time. +Somebody remarked, saying, "It is some time since you saw such a +gentleman." He answered, "I am no ways anxious about seeing him." One of +the divan's people chanced to be present. He asked, "What has happened +amiss that you should dislike to visit him?" He replied, "There is no +dislike; but my friend, the divan, can be seen at a time when he is out +of office, and my idle intrusion might not come amiss." Amidst the state +patronage and authority of office they might take umbrage at their +acquaintance; but on the day of vexation and loss of place they would +impart their mental disquietudes to their friends. + + +XXIX + +Abu-Horairah was making a daily visit to the prophet Mustafa Mohammed, +on whom be God's blessing and peace. He said: "_O Abu-Horairah! let me +alone every other day, that so affection may increase_; that is, come +not every day, that we may get more loving!" + +They said to a good and holy man, "Notwithstanding all these charms +which the sun commands, we have never heard of anybody that has fallen +in love with him!" He answered, "It is because he is seen every day, +unless during the winter, when he is veiled (in the clouds), and thus +much coveted and loved."--To visit mankind has no blame in it, but not +to such a degree as to let them say, Enough of it. If we see occasion to +interrogate ourselves, we need not listen to the reprehension of others. + + +XXX + +Having taken offence with the society of my friends at Damascus, I +retired into the wilderness of the Holy Land, or Jerusalem, and sought +the company of brutes till such time as I was made a prisoner by the +Franks, and employed by them, along with some Jews, in digging earth in +the ditches of Tripoli. At length one of the chiefs of Aleppo, between +whom and me an intimacy had of old subsisted, happening to pass that +way, recognized me, and said, "How is this? and how came you to be thus +occupied?" I replied: "What can I say?--I was flying from mankind into +the forests and mountains, for my resource was in God and in none else. +Fancy to thyself what my condition must now be, when forced to associate +with a tribe scarcely human?--To be linked in a chain with a company of +acquaintance were pleasanter than to walk in a garden with strangers." + +He took pity on my situation; and, having for ten dinars redeemed me +from captivity with the Franks, carried me along with him to Aleppo. +Here he had a daughter, and her he gave me in marriage, with a dower of +a hundred dinars. Soon after this damsel turned out a termagant and +vixen, and discovered such a perverse spirit and virulent tongue as +quite unhinged all my domestic comfort.--A scolding wife in the dwelling +of a peaceful man is his hell, even in this world. Protect and guard us +against a wicked inmate. Save us, O Lord, and preserve us from the +fiery, or hell, torture. + +Having on one occasion given a liberty to the tongue of reproach, she +was saying, "Are you not the fellow whom my father redeemed from the +captivity of the Franks for ten dinars?" I replied, "Yes, I am that same +he delivered from captivity for ten dinars, and enslaved me with you for +a hundred!" I have heard that a reverend and mighty man released a sheep +from the paws and jaws of a wolf. That same night he was sticking a +knife into its throat, when the spirit of the sheep reproached him, +saying, "Thou didst deliver me from the clutches of a wolf, when I at +length saw that thou didst prove a wolf to me thyself." + + * * * * * + + +XXXIII + +One of the holy men of Syria had passed many years of devotion in the +wilderness, and was feeding on the leaves of trees. The king of that +country, in the way of a pilgrimage, visited him, and said, "If you can +see the propriety of removing into my capital I will prepare an abode, +where you may perform your devotions more at ease than in this place, +and others may benefit by the blessing of your spiritual communion, and +be edified by the example of your pious labors." The hermit was adverse +to this advice, and turned away his face. One of the king's ministers +spoke to him, saying: "For the satisfaction of his Majesty, it were +proper that you would for a few days remove into the city, and ascertain +the nature of the place; when, if it should prove that your purity might +be tarnished by coming in contact with the wicked, you have still the +option left of moving back." + +It is reported that they prevailed on the hermit to accompany them into +the city; and, in a garden near the sacred residence of the king, +prepared for him a dwelling, which, like the mansions of paradise, was +rejoicing the heart, and exhilarating the soul.--Its damask roses were +blooming as the cheeks of the lovely, and its tufted spikenard like the +ringlets of our mistresses. It had as much to fear from the angry blasts +of winter as the babe who has not yet tasted its nurse's milk: _boughs +of trees on which hung crimson flowers, that gleamed like a flame amidst +their dusky foliage_. + +Forthwith the king sent him a moon-faced damsel.--Such was this delicate +crescent of the moon, and fascination of the holy, this form of an +angel, and decoration of a peacock, that let them once behold her, and +continence must cease to exist in the constitutions of the chaste. + +And, in like manner, there followed her a youth of such rare beauty and +exquisite symmetry, that the powerful grasp of his charms had broken the +wrists of the pious, and tied up behind their backs the arms of the +upright.--Mankind stand around him _parched with thirst, whilst he, who +seems thy cup-bearer, will give thee no drink_.--The eye could not be +satiated by beholding him, like the dropsical man with water by looking +at the river Euphrates. + +The hermit began to relish dainty food, and to wear sumptuous apparel; +to regale himself with fruits, perfumes, and sweetmeats; and to behold +with delight the charms of the handmaid and bondsman. And the wise have +said, "The ringlets of the lovely are a chain on the feet of reason, and +a snare for the bird of wisdom."--To the mystery of thy service I +devoted my heart, religion, and all my mental faculties; verily, I am +now the bird of reason, and thou art the lure and bait. + +In short, the good fortune of his many years of sanctity ran to waste, +as has been said:--"Whatever he had laid up from theologician, sage, or +saint, or of recondite knowledge from the eloquent and pure of spirit, +now that he had stooped to mix with a vile world, like the feet of a fly +he got entangled in its honey." + +The king had the curiosity of making him another visit, and found the +hermit much altered from what he first saw of him. His face had become +fair and ruddy, and his body plump and jolly; and he was reclining at +his ease on cushions of brocade, and had the Houri-like damsel lolling +by his side, and the fairy-formed youth holding a fly-flap of peacock's +feathers in his hand, and standing by him in attendance. The king +congratulated him upon his portly appearance, and they entered together +upon a variety of topics, till his majesty concluded by observing, "In +this world I have an affection for these two orders of mankind, the +learned and the recluse." A philosophic vizir, and man of much worldly +experience, happened to be present. He said: "O sire! such is the canon +of affection that you should confer a benefit on each. Give money to the +learned man, that he may teach others; and give nothing to the hermit, +that he may remain an anchorite.--A zahid, or hermit, stands in need of +neither diram nor dinar; when an anchorite takes either, look out for +another.--Whoever is virtuously disposed, and holds a mystical +communication with God, is sufficient of a hermit without requiring the +bread of charity, or the crumbs of mendicity. The tapering finger of the +lovely, and her soul-deluding ear-lobe, are decoration enough without a +turquoise ring or ear-jewel. Tell that piously-disposed and +serene-minded dervish that he needs not the bread of consecration or +scraping of beggary; tell that handsome and fair-faced matron that she +does not require paint, coloring, or jewelry.--When I have of my own, +and covet what is another's, if they esteem me not a hermit they treat +me as I merit." + + +XXXIV + +Conformably with the above apologue, a king had a business of importance +in hand. He said: "If this affair prosper to my wish I will distribute +among the recluses a certain sum in dirams." Now his object was +accomplished, and mind made easy, he thought it incumbent to fulfil the +condition of his eleemosynary vow, and gave a bag of dinars to a +favorite servant, that he might distribute them among the anchorites. +This was a discreet and considerate young man. He wandered about for the +whole day; and, returning in the evening, kissed the bag of money, and +laid it before the king, saying, "However much I sought after, I have +met with no recluses!" The king answered, "What a story is this? for I +myself know four hundred recluses within this city." He said, "O +sovereign of the universe! such as are recluses do not take money; and +such as take money are not anchorites!" The king smiled, and observed to +his courtiers, "However much I reverence and favor this tribe of God's +worshippers, this saucy fellow expresses for them a spite and ill-will; +and, if you desire the truth, he has justice on his side. Instead of +that hermit who took dirams and dinars, get hold of one who is more an +anchorite." + + +XXXV + +They asked a profoundly-learned man, saying, "What is your opinion of +consecrated bread, or almstaking?" He answered, "If with the view of +composing their minds, and promoting their devotions, it is lawful to +take it; but if monks collect for the sake of an endowment, it is +forbidden. Good and holy men have received the bread of consecration for +the sake of religious retirement; and are not recluses, that they may +receive such bread." + + +XXXVI + +A dervish came to put up at a place where the master of the house was a +gentleman of an hospitable disposition. He had as his guests an assembly +of learned and witty men, each of whom was repeating such a jest, or +anecdote, as is usual with the facetious. Having travelled across a +desert, the dervish was much fatigued, and well-nigh famished. One of +the company observed, in the way of pleasantry, "You must also repeat +something." The dervish answered, "I am not, like the others, +overstocked with learning and wit, nor am I much read in books; and you +must be satisfied with my reciting one distich." One and all eagerly +cried, "Let us hear it." He said, "Hungry as I am, I sit by a table +spread with food, like a bachelor at the entrance of a bath full of +women!" + +They applauded what he said, and ordered the tray to be placed before +him. The lord of the feast said, "Stay your appetite, my friend! till my +handmaids can prepare for you some forced meat." He raised his head from +the tray, and answered, "Say there is no need for forced meat on my +tray, for a crust of plain bread is sufficient for one baked as I have +been in the desert." + + +XXXVII + +A disciple complained to his ghostly father, saying, "What can I do, for +I am much annoyed by the people, who are interrupting me with their +frequent visits, and break in upon my precious hours with their +impertinent intrusions." He replied, "To such of them as are poor lend +money, and from such as are rich ask some in loan; and neither of them +will trouble you again." Let a beggar be the harbinger of an army of +Islam, or the orthodox, and the infidel will fly his importunity as far +as the wall of China. + + * * * * * + + +XXXIX + +A drunken fellow had lain down to sleep on the highway, and was quite +overcome with the fumes of intoxication. An abid was passing close by, +and looking at him with scorn. The youth raised his head, and said, +"_Whenever they pass anything shameful they pass it with +compassion.--Whenever thou beholdest a sinner, hide and bear with his +transgressions: thou, who art aware of them, why not overlook my sins +with pity_?--Turn not away, O reverend sir! from a sinner; but look upon +him with compassion. Though in my actions I am not a hero, do thou pass +by as the heroic would pass me." + + +XL + +A gang of dissolute vagabonds broke in upon a dervish, used opprobrious +language, and beat and ill-used him. In his helplessness he carried his +complaint before his ghostly father, and said, "Thus it has befallen +me." He replied: "O my son! the patched cloak of dervishes is the +garment of resignation; whosoever wears this garb, and cannot bear with +disappointment, is a hypocrite, and to him our cloth is forbidden.--A +vast and deep river is not rendered turbid by throwing into it a stone. +That religious man who can be vexed at an injury is as yet a shallow +brook.--If thou art subjected to trouble, bear with it; for by +forgiveness thou art purified from sin. Seeing, O brother! that we are +ultimately to become dust, be humble as the dust, before thou moulderest +into dust." + + +XLI + +Hear what occurred once at Bagdad in a dispute that took place between a +roll-up curtain and standard. Covered with the road-dust, and jaded with +a march, the standard, in reproach, observed to the curtain: "Thou and I +are gentlemen in livery; we are fellow-servants at the court of his +majesty. I never enjoy a moment's relief from duty; early and late I am +equally marching. Thou hast never experienced any peril or a siege, the +heavy sand of the desert or dust of a whirlwind; my foot is most forward +in any enterprise. Then why art thou my superior in dignity? Thou art +cared for by youths with faces splendid as the moon, and handled by +damsels scenting like jasmine; while I am fallen into the hands of raw +recruits, am rolled up on our march, and turned upside down." The +curtain answered: "I lay my head humble at the threshold, and hold it +not up like thine, flaring in the face of heaven! Whoever is thus vainly +rearing his crest exalts himself only to be humbled." + + +XLII + +A good and holy man saw a huge and strong fellow, who, having got much +enraged, was storming with passion and foaming at the mouth. He asked, +"What has happened to this man?" Somebody answered, "Such a one has +given him bad names!" He said, "This paltry wretch is able to carry a +thousand-weight of stone, and cannot bear with one light word! Cease to +boast of thy strong arm and pretended manhood, infirm as thou art in +mind, and mean in spirit. What difference is there between such a man +and a woman? Though thou art strong of arm, let thy mouth utter sweet +words; it is no proof of courage to thrust thy fist into another man's +face:--Though thou art able to tear the scalp off an elephant, if +deficient in humanity, thou art no hero. The sons of Adam are formed +from dust; if not humble as the dust, they fall short of being men." + + * * * * * + + +XLIV + +A facetious old gentleman of Bagdad gave his daughter in marriage to a +shoemaker. The flint-hearted fellow bit so deeply into the damsel's lip +that the blood trickled from the wound. Next morning the father found +her in this plight; he went up to his son-in-law, and asked him, saying: +"Lowborn wretch! what sort of teeth are these that thou shouldst chew +her lips as if they were a piece of leather? I speak not in play what I +have to say. Lay jesting aside, and take with her thy legal +enjoyment.--When once a vicious disposition has taken root in the habit, +the hand of death can only eradicate it." + + +XLV + +A doctor of laws had a daughter preciously ugly, and she had reached the +age of womanhood; but, notwithstanding her dowry and fortune, nobody +seemed inclined to ask her in marriage:--Damask or brocade but add to +her deformity when put upon a bride void of symmetry. + +In short, they were under the necessity of uniting her in the bonds of +wedlock to a blind man. They add, that soon after there arrived from +Sirandip, or Ceylon, a physician that could restore sight to the blind. +They spoke to the law doctor, saying, "Why do you not get him to +prescribe for your son-in-law?" He answered: "Because I am afraid he may +recover his sight, and repudiate my daughter; for--'the husband of an +ugly woman should be blind.'" + + * * * * * + + +XLVIII + +They asked a wise man which was preferable, munificence or courage? He +answered, "Whoever has munificence has no need of courage." On the +tombstone of Bahram-gor was inscribed: "The hand of liberality is +stronger than the arm of power.--Hatim Tayi remains not, yet will his +exalted name live renowned for generosity to all eternity. Distribute +the tithe of thy wealth in alms, for the more the gardener prunes his +vine the more he adds to his crop of grapes." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +On the Preciousness of Contentment + + +I + +A mendicant from the west of Africa had taken his station amidst a group +of shopkeepers at Aleppo, and was saying: "O lords of plenty! had ye a +just sense of equity, and we of contentment, all manner of importunity +would cease in this world!" O contentment! do thou make me rich, for +without thee there is no wealth. The treasure of patience was the choice +of Lucman. Whoever has no patience has no wisdom. + + +II + +There dwelt in Egypt two youths of noble birth, one of whom applied +himself to study knowledge, and the other to accumulate wealth. In +process of time that became the wisest man of his age, and this king of +Egypt. Then was the rich man casting an eye of scorn upon his +philosophic brother, and saying, "I have reached a sovereignty, and you +remain thus in a state of poverty." He replied: "O brother! I am all the +more grateful for the bounty of a Most High God, whose name was +glorified, that I have found the heritage of the prophets--namely, +wisdom; and you have got the estate of Pharaoh and Haman--that is, the +kingdom of Egypt. I am an emmet, that mankind shall tread under foot; +not a hornet, that they shall complain of my sting. How can I +sufficiently express my grateful sense of this blessing, that I possess +not the means of injuring my fellow-creatures?" + + +III + +I heard of a dervish who was consuming in the flame of want, tacking +patch after patch upon his ragged garment, and solacing his mind with +this couplet:--"I can rest content with a dry crust of bread and a +coarse woollen frock, for the burden of my own exertion bears lighter +than laying myself under obligation to another."--Somebody observed to +him, "Why do you sit quiet, while a certain gentleman of this city is so +nobly disposed and universally benevolent, that he has girt up his loins +in the service of the religious independents, and seated himself by the +door of their hearts? Were he apprised of your condition, he would +esteem himself obliged, and be happy in the opportunity of relieving +it." He said: "Be silent; for it is better to die of want than to expose +our necessities before another, as they have remarked:--'Patching a +tattered cloak, and the consequent treasure of content, are more +commendable than petitioning the great for every new garment.'" By my +troth, I swear it were equal to the torments of hell to enter into +paradise through the interest of a neighbor. + + +IV + +One of the Persian kings sent a skilful physician to attend Mohammed +Mustafa, on whom be salutation. He remained some years in the territory +of the Arabs; but nobody went to try his skill, or asked him for any +medicine. One day he presented himself before the blessed prince of +prophets, and complained, saying, "The king had sent me to dispense +medicine to your companions; but, till this moment, nobody has been so +good as to enable me to practise any skill that this your servant may +possess." The blessed messenger of God was pleased to answer, saying, +"It is a rule with this tribe never to eat till hard pressed by hunger, +and to discontinue their repast while they have yet an appetite." The +physician said, "This accounts for their health." Then he kissed the +earth of respect and took his leave. The physician will then begin to +inculcate temperance, or to extend the finger of indulgence, when from +silence his patient might suffer by excess, or his life be endangered by +abstinence:--of course, the skill of the physician is advice, and the +patient's regimen and diet yield the fruits of health! + + +V + +A certain person would be making vows of abstinence and breaking them. +At last a reverend gentleman observed to him, "So I understand that you +make a practice of eating to excess; and that any restraint on your +appetite, namely, this vow, is weaker than a hair, and this +voraciousness, as you indulge it, would break an iron chain; but the day +must come when it will destroy you." A man was rearing the whelp of a +wolf; when full grown it tore its patron and master. + + +VI + +In the annals of Ardishir Babagan it is recorded that he asked an +Arabian physician, saying, "What quantity of food ought to be eaten +daily?" He replied, "A hundred dirams' weight were sufficient." The king +said, "What strength can a man derive from so small a quantity?" The +physician replied: "_So much can support you; but in whatever you exceed +that you must support it_.--Eating is for the purpose of living, and +speaking in praise of God; but thou believest that we live only to eat." + + +VII + +Two dervishes of Khorasan were fellow-companions on a journey. One was +so spare and moderate that he would break his fast only every other +night, and the other so robust and intemperate that he ate three meals a +day. It happened that they were taken up at the gate of a city on +suspicion of being spies, and both together put into a place, the +entrance of which was built up with mud. After a fortnight it was +discovered that they were innocent, when, on breaking open the door, +they found the strong man dead, and the weak one alive and well. They +were astonished at this circumstance. A wise man said, "The contrary of +this had been strange, for this one was a voracious eater, and not +having strength to support a want of food, perished; and that other was +abstemious, and being patient, according to his habitual practice, +survived it.--When a person is habitually temperate, and a hardship +shall cross him, he will get over it with ease; but if he has pampered +his body and lived in luxury, and shall get into straitened +circumstances, he must perish." + + +VIII + +A certain philosopher admonished his son against eating to an excess, +because repletion made a man sick. The boy answered, "O father, hunger +will kill. Have you not heard what the wits have remarked, To die of a +surfeit were better than to bear with a craving appetite?" The father +said, "Study moderation, for the Most High God has told us in the +Koran:--'_Eat ye and drink ye, but not to an excess_:'--eat not so +voraciously that the food shall be regorged from thy mouth, nor so +abstemiously that from depletion life shall desert thee:--though food be +the means of preserving breath in the body. Yet, if taken to excess, it +will prove noxious. If conserve of roses be frequently indulged in it +will cause a surfeit, whereas a crust of bread, eaten after a long +interval, will relish like conserve of roses." + + +XI + +In a battle with the Tartars, a gallant young man was grievously +wounded. Somebody said to him, "A certain merchant has a stock of the +mummy antidote; if you would ask him, he might perhaps accommodate you +with a portion of it." They say that merchant was so notorious for his +stinginess, that--"If, in the place of his loaf of bread, the orb of the +sun had been in his wallet, nobody would have seen daylight in the world +till the day of judgment." + +The spirited youth replied: "Were I to ask him for this antidote, he +might give it, or he might not; and if he did it might cure me, or it +might not; at any rate, to ask such a man were itself a deadly poison!" +Whatever thou wouldst ask of the mean, in obligation, might add to the +body, but would take from the soul.--And philosophers have observed, +that were the water of immortality, for example, to be sold at the +price of the reputation, a wise man would not buy it, for an honorable +death is preferable to a life of infamy.--Wert thou to eat colocynth +from the hand of the kind-hearted, it would relish better than a +sweetmeat from that of the crabbed. + + +XII + +One of the learned had a large family and small means. He stated his +case to a great man, who entertained a favorable opinion of his +character. This one turned away from his solicitation, and viewed this +prostitution of begging as discreditable with a gentleman of education. +If soured by misfortune, present not thyself before a dear friend, for +thou may'st also imbitter his pleasure. When thou bringest forward a +distress, do it with a cheerful and smiling face, for an openness of +countenance can never retard business.--They have related that he rose a +little in the pension, but sunk much in the estimation of the great man. +After some days, when he perceived this falling off in his affection, he +said:--"_Miserable is that supply of food which thou obtainest in the +hour of need; the pot is put to boil, but my reputation is bubbled into +vapor_.--He added to my means of subsistence, but took from my +reputation; absolute starving were better than the disgrace of begging." + + +XIII + +A dervish had a pressing call for money. Somebody told him a certain +person is inconceivably rich; were he made aware of your want, he would +somehow manage to accommodate it. He said, "I do not know him." The +other answered, "I will introduce you;" and having taken his hand, he +brought him to that person's dwelling. The dervish beheld a man with a +hanging lip, and sitting in sullen discontent. He said nothing, and +returned home. His friend asked, "What have you done?" He replied, "His +gift I gave in exchange for his look:--Lay not thy words before a man +with a sour face, otherwise thou may'st be ruffled by his ill-nature. If +thou tellest the sorrows of thy heart let it be to him in whose +countenance thou may'st be assured of prompt consolation." + + * * * * * + + +XV + +They asked Hatim Tayi: "Have you ever met, or heard of, a person of a +more independent spirit than yourself?" He answered: "Yes, one day I had +made a sacrifice of forty camels, and invited the chief of every Arab +tribe to a feast. Then I repaired to the border of the desert, where I +met a wood-cutter, who had tied up his fagot to carry it into the city. +I said, Why do you not go to the feast of Hatim, where a crowd have +assembled round his carpet? He replied:--'Whoever can eat the bread of +his own industry will not lay himself under obligation to Hatim +Tayi.'--And in him I met my superior in spirit and independence." + + +XVI + +The Prophet Moses, on whom be peace, saw a dervish who had buried his +body, in his want of clothes to cover it, in the sand. He said: "O +Moses, put up a prayer, that the Most High God would bestow a +subsistence upon me, for I am perishing in distress." The blessed Moses +prayed accordingly, that God on high would succor him. + +Some days afterwards, as he was returning from a conference with God on +Mount Sinai, he met that dervish in the hands of justice, and a mob +following him. He asked: "What has befallen this man?" They answered: +"He had drunk wine and got into a quarrel, and having killed somebody, +they are now going to exact retaliation."--The God who set forth the +seven climates of this world assigned to every creature its appropriate +lot. Had that wretched cat been gifted with wings, she would not have +left one sparrow's egg on the earth. It might happen that were a weak +man to get the ability, he would rise and domineer over his weak +brethren. + +The blessed Moses acknowledged the wisdom of the Creator of the +universe, and, confessing his own presumption, repeated this verse of +the Koran:--"_Were God to spread abroad his stores of subsistence to +servants, verily they would rebel all over the earth._" What happened, O +vain man! that thou didst precipitate thyself into destruction? Would +that the ant might not have the means of flying!--A mean person, when +he has got rank and wealth, will bring a storm of blows upon his head. +Was not this at last the adage of a philosopher, 'That ant is best +disposed of that has no wings.'--The father is a man of much sweetness +of disposition, but the son is full of heat and passions:--That Being, +God, who would not make thee rich, must have known thy good better than +thou couldst thyself know it. + + +XVII + +I saw an Arab, who was standing amidst a circle of jewellers at Busrah, +and saying: "On one occasion I had missed my way in the desert, and +having no road-provision left, I had given myself up for lost, when all +at once I found a bag of pearls. Never shall I forget that relish and +delight, so long as I mistook them for parched wheat; nor that +bitterness and disappointment, when I discovered that they were real +pearls." In the mouth of the thirsty traveller, amidst parched deserts +and moving sands, pearl, or mother-of-pearl, were equally distasteful. +To a man without provision, and knocked up in the desert, a piece of +stone or of gold, in his scrip, is all one. + + +XVIII + +An Arab, suffering under all the extremity of thirst in the desert, was +saying:--"_Would to God that yet, before I perish, I could but for one +day gratify my wish: that a stream of water might dash against my knees, +and I could fill my leathern flask or stomach with it_." + +In like manner a traveller had got bewildered in the great desert, and +had neither provisions nor strength left, yet a few dirams remained with +him in his scrip. He kept wandering about, but could not find the path, +and sunk under his fatigue. A party of travellers arrived where his body +lay; they saw the dirams spread before him, and these verses written in +the sand:--"Were he possessed of all the gold of Jafier (a famous gold +refiner), a man without food could not satisfy his appetite. To a +wretched mendicant, parched in the desert, a boiled turnip would relish +better than an ingot of virgin silver." + + +XIX + +I had never complained of the vicissitudes of fortune, nor murmured at +the ordinances of heaven, excepting on one occasion, that my feet were +bare, and I had not wherewithal to shoe them. In this desponding state I +entered the metropolitan mosque at Cufah, and there I beheld a man that +had no feet. I offered up praise and thanksgiving for God's goodness to +myself, and submitted with patience to my want of shoes.--In the eye of +one satiated with meat a roast fowl is less esteemed at his table than a +salad; but to him who is stinted of food a boiled turnip will relish +like a roast fowl. + + +XX + +A king, attended by a select retinue, had, on a sporting excursion +during the winter, got at a distance from any of his hunting seats, and +the evening was closing fast, when they espied from afar a peasant's +cottage. The king said: "Let us repair thither for the night, that we +may shelter ourselves from the inclemency of the weather." One of the +courtiers replied: "It would not become the dignity of the sovereign to +take refuge in the cottage of a low peasant; we can pitch a tent here +and kindle a fire." The peasant saw what was passing; he came forward +with what refreshments he had at hand, and, laying them before the king, +kissed the earth of subserviency, and said: "The lofty dignity of the +king would not be lowered by this condescension; but these gentlemen did +not choose that the condition of a peasant should be exalted." The king +was pleased with this speech; and they passed the night at his cottage. +In the morning he bestowed an honorary dress and handsome largess upon +him. I have heard that the peasant was resting his hand for some paces +upon the king's stirrup, and saying: "The state and pomp of the +sovereign suffered no degradation by his condescension in becoming a +guest at the cottage of a peasant; but the corner of the peasant's cap +rose to a level with the sun when the shadow of such a monarch as thou +art fell upon his head." + + +XXI + +They tell a story of an importunate mendicant who had amassed much +riches. A certain king said: "It seems that you possess immense wealth, +and I have a business of some consequence in hand. If you will assist me +with a little of it, by way of a loan, when the public revenue is +realized I will repay it and thank you to the bargain." He replied: "O +sire, it would ill become the sublime majesty of the sovereign of the +universe to soil the hand of lofty enterprise with the property of such +a mendicant as I am, which I have scraped together grain by grain." He +said: "There is no occasion to vex yourself, for I mean it for the +Tartars, as impurities are suiting for the impure:--_They said, 'The +compost of a dunghill is unclean.' We replied, 'That with it we will +fill up the chinks of a necessary_.'--If the water of a Christian's well +is defiled, and we wash a Jew's corpse in it, there is no sin." I have +heard that he disobeyed the royal command, questioned its justice, and +resisted it with insolence. The king ordered that the exchequer +stipulations should be put in force with rigidness and violence. When a +business cannot be settled with fair words, we must of necessity make +use of foul. When a man will not contribute of his own free will, if +another enforces him he meets his desert. + + +XXII + +I knew a merchant who had a hundred and fifty camels of burden and forty +bondsmen and servants in his train. One night he entertained me at his +lodgings in the island of Keish, in the Persian Gulf, and continued for +the whole night talking idly, and saying: "Such a store of goods I have +in Turkestan, and such an assortment of merchandise in Hindustan; this +is the mortgage-deed of a certain estate, and this the security-bond of +a certain individual's concern." Then he would say: "I have a mind to +visit Alexandria, the air of which is salubrious; but that cannot be, +for the Mediterranean Sea is boisterous. O Sa'di! I have one more +journey in view, and, that once accomplished, I will pass my remaining +life in retirement and leave off trade." I asked: "What journey is +that?" He replied: "I will carry the sulphur of Persia to Chin, where, +I have heard, it will fetch a high price; thence I will take China +porcelain to Greece; the brocade of Greece or Venice I will carry to +India; and Indian steel I will bring to Aleppo; the glassware of Aleppo +I will take to Yamin; and with the bardimani, or striped stuffs, of +Yamin I will return to Persia. After that I will give up foreign +commerce and settle myself in a warehouse." He went on in this +melancholy strain till he was quite exhausted with speaking. He said: "O +Sa'di! do you too relate what you have seen and heard." I +replied:--"Hast thou not heard that in the desert of Ghor as the body of +a chief merchant fell exhausted from his camel, he said, 'Either +contentment or the dust of the grave will fill the stingy eye of the +worldly-minded.'" + + * * * * * + + +XXIV + +A weak fisherman got a strong fish into his net, but not having the +power of mastering it, the fish got the better of him, and, dragging the +net from his hand, escaped:--A bondsman went that he might take water +from the brook; the brook came to rise and carried off the bondsman. On +most occasions the net would bring out the fish; on this occasion the +fish escaped, and took away the net. The other fishermen expressed their +vexation, and reproached him, saying, "Such a fish came into your net, +and you were not able to master it." He replied: "Alas! my brethren, +what could be done? It was not my day of fortune, and the fish had in +this way another day left it. And they have said: 'Unless it be his lot, +the fisherman cannot catch a fish in the Tigris; and, except it be its +fate, the fish will not die on the dry shore.'" + + +XXV + +A person without hands or feet killed a milleped. A good and holy man +passed by him at the time, and said: "Glory be to God! notwithstanding +the thousand feet he had when his destiny overtook him, he was unable to +escape from one destitute of hand or foot."--When the life-plundering +foe comes up behind, fate arrests the speed of the swift-going warrior. +At the moment when the enemy might approach step by step it were useless +to bend the kayani, or Parthian bow. + + +XXVI + +I met a fat blockhead decked in rich apparel, and mounted on an Arab +horse, with a turban of fine Egyptian linen on his head. A person said: +"O Sa'di, how comes it that you see these garments of the learned on +this ignorant beast?" I replied: "It is a vile epistle which has been +written in golden letters:--'_Verily this ass, with the resemblance of a +man, has the carcase of a calf, and the voice or bleating of a +calf_.'--Thou canst not say that this brute appears like a man, unless +in his garments, turban, and outward form. Examine into all the ways and +means of his existence, and thou shalt find nothing lawful but the +shedding of his blood:--though a man of noble birth be reduced to +poverty, imagine not that his lofty dignity can be lowered; and though +he may secure his silver threshold with a hasp of gold, conclude not +that a Jew can be thereby ennobled." + + +XXVII + +A thief said to a mendicant: "Are you not ashamed when you hold forth +your hand to every mean fellow for a barleycorn of silver?" He replied: +"It is better to hold forth the hand for one grain of silver than to +have it cut off for one and a half dang." + + * * * * * + + +XXIX + +I saw a dervish who had withdrawn into a cave, shut the door of +communication between the world and himself, and with his lofty and +independent eye viewed emperors and kings without awe or +reverence:--Whoever opens to himself the door of mendicity, must +continue a beggar till the day of his death. Put covetousness aside, and +be independent as a prince; the neck of contentment can raise its head +erect. + +One of the sovereigns of those parts sent a message to him, stating: "So +far I can rely on the generous disposition of his reverence, that he +will one day favor me by partaking of my bread and salt, by becoming my +guest." The shaikh, or holy man, consented; for the acceptance of such +an invitation accorded with the sunnat, or law and tradition of the +prophet. Next day the king went to apologize for the trouble he had +caused him. The abid rose from his place, took the king in his arms, +showed him much kindness, and was full of his compliments. After he was +gone, one of the shaikh's companions asked him, saying: "Was not such +condescending kindness as you this day showed the king contrary to what +is usual; what does this mean?" He answered: "Have you not heard what +they have said:--'It is proper to stand up and administer to him whom +thou hast seated on thy carpet, or made thy guest.'" + +He could so manage that, during his whole life, his ear should not +indulge in the music of the tabor, cymbal, and pipe. He could restrain +his eyes from enjoying the garden, and gratify his sense of smell +without the rose or narcissus. Though he had not a pillow stuffed with +down, he could compose himself to rest with a stone under his head; +though he had no heart-solacer as the partner of his bed, he could hug +himself to sleep with his arms across his breast. If he could not ride +an ambling nag, he was content to take his walk on foot; only this +grumbling and vile belly he could not keep under, without stuffing it +with food. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +On the Benefit of Being Silent + + +I + +I spoke to one of my friends, saying: "A prudent restraint on my words +is on that account advisable, because in conversation there on most +occasions occur good and bad; and the eyes of rivals only note what is +bad." He replied: "O brother! that is our best rival who does not, or +will not, see our good!--_The malignant brotherhood pass not by the +virtuous man without imputing to him what is infamous_:--To the eye of +enmity, virtue appears the ugliest blemish; it is a rose, O Sa'di! which +to the eyes of our rivals seems a thorn. The world-illuminating +brilliancy of the fountain of the sun, in like manner, appears dim to +the eye of the purblind mole." + + +II + +A merchant happened to lose a thousand dinars. He said to his son: "It +will be prudent not to mention this loss to anybody." The son answered: +"O father, it is your orders, and I shall not mention it; but +communicate the benefit so far, as what the policy may be in keeping it +a secret." He said: "That I may not suffer two evils: one, the loss of +my money; another, the reproach of my neighbor;--Impart not thy +grievances to rivals, for they are glad at heart, while praying, _God +preserve us_; or _there is neither strength nor power, unless it be from +God!_" + + +III + +A sensible youth made vast progress in the arts and sciences, and was of +a docile disposition; but however much he frequented the societies of +the learned, they never could get him to utter a word. On one occasion +his father said: "O my son, why do not you also say what you know on +this subject?" He replied: "I am afraid lest they question me upon what +I know not, and put me to shame:--Hast thou not heard of a Sufi who was +hammering some nails into the sole of his sandal. An officer of cavalry +took him by the sleeve, saying, 'Come along, and shoe my horse.'--So +long as thou art silent and quiet, nobody will meddle with thy business; +but once thou divulgest it, be ready with thy proofs." + + +IV + +A man, respectable for his learning, got into a discussion with an +atheist; but, failing to convince him, he threw down his shield and +fled. A person asked him, "With all your wisdom and address, learning +and science, how came you not to controvert an infidel?" He replied: "My +learning is the Koran, and the traditions and sayings of our holy +fathers; but he puts no faith in the articles of our belief, and what +good could it do to listen to his blasphemy?" To him whom thou canst not +convince by revelation or tradition, the best answer is that thou shalt +not answer him. + + * * * * * + + +VI + +They have esteemed Sahban Wabil as unrivalled in eloquence, insomuch +that he could speak for a year before an assembly, and would not use the +same word twice; or should he chance to repeat it, he would give it a +different signification; and this is one of the special accomplishments +of a courtier:--Though a speech be captivating and sweet, worthy of +belief, and meriting applause, yet what thou hast once delivered thou +must not repeat, for if they eat a sweetmeat once they find that enough. + + +VII + +I overheard a sage, who was remarking: "Never has anybody acknowledged +his own ignorance, excepting that person who, while another may be +talking, and has not finished what he has to say, will begin +speaking:--A speech, O wiseacre! has a beginning and an end; bring not +one speech into the middle of another. A man of judgment, discretion, +and prudence, delivers not his speech till he find an interval of +silence." + + +VIII + +Some of the courtiers of Sultan Mahmud asked Husan Maimandi, saying: +"What did the king whisper to you to-day on a certain state affair?" He +said: "You are also acquainted with it." They replied: "You are the +prime minister; what the king tells you, he does not think proper to +communicate to such as we are." He replied: "He communicates with me in +the confidence that I will not divulge to anybody; then why do you ask +me?" A man of sense blabs not, whatever he may come to know; he should +not make his own head the forfeit of the king's secret. + + +IX + +I was hesitating about the purchase of a dwelling-house. A Jew said: "I +am an old housekeeper in this street: ask the character of this house +from me and buy it, for it has no fault." I replied: "True! only that +you are its neighbor:--Any such house as has thee for its neighbor could +scarce be worth ten dirams of silver; yet it should behoove us to hope +that after thy death it may fetch a thousand." + + +X + +A certain poet presented himself before the chief of a gang of robbers, +and recited a casidah, or elegy, in his praise. He ordered that they +should strip off his clothes, and thrust him from the village. The naked +wretch was going away shivering in the cold, and the village dogs were +barking at his heels. He stooped to pick up a stone, in order to shy at +the dogs, but found the earth frost-bound, and was disappointed. He +exclaimed: "What rogues these villagers are, for they let loose their +dogs, and tie up their stones!" The chief robber saw and overheard him +from a window. He smiled at his wit, and, calling him near said: "O +learned sir! ask me for a boon." He replied, "I ask for my own garments, +if you will vouchsafe to give them:--_I shall have enough of boons in +your suffering me to depart_.--Mankind expects charity from others; I +expect no charity from thee, only do me no injury." The chief robber +felt compassion for him. He ordered his clothes to be restored, and +added to them a robe of fur and sum of money. + + * * * * * + + +XII + +A preacher of a harsh tone of voice fancied himself a fine-spoken man, +and would hold forth at the mosque to a very idle purpose. You might say +that the croaking of the raven of the desert was the burden of his +chant, and this text of the Koran expressive of his manner:--_The most +abominable of noises is the braying of an ass:--"Whenever this ass of a +preacher sets up a braying, his voice will make the city of Istakhar, or +Persepolis, shake to its base_." + +In reverence of his rank his townsmen indulged this defect, and would +not distress him by remarking on it, till another preacher of those +parts, actuated by a private pique, came on one occasion to tantalize +him, and said, "I have seen you in a dream; may it prove fortunate!" He +asked: "What have you seen?" He replied: "So it seemed in my vision that +your voice had become harmonious, and mankind were charmed with your +melodious cadences." For a while the preacher bowed his head in thought, +then raised it, and said: "What a fortunate vision is it that you had, +that has made me sensible of my weakness! I am now aware that I have an +unpleasant voice, and that the people are distressed at my delivery. I +have vowed that I will henceforth preach only in a soft tone of voice." +I am distressed with the society of friends who extol my vices into +virtues, my blemishes they view as excellences and perfections, my +thorns they regard as roses and jasmines. Where is that rude and bold +rival who will expose all my deformities? + + +XIII + +At a mosque in the city of Sanjar, the capital of Khorasan, a person was +volunteering to chant forth the call to prayers with so discordant a +note as to drive all that heard him away in disgust. The intendant of +that mosque was a just and well-disposed gentleman, who was averse to +giving offence to anybody. He said: "O generous youth, there belong to +this mosque some mowuzzins, or criers, of long standing, to each of +whom I allow a monthly stipend of five dinars; now I will give you ten +to go elsewhere." To this he agreed, and took himself off. After a while +he came to the nobleman, and said: "O my lord! you did me an injury when +for ten dinars you prevailed upon me to quit this station, for where I +went they offered me twenty to remove to another place, but I would not +consent." The nobleman smiled and replied: "Take heed, and do not accept +them, for they may be content to give you fifty!--No person can with a +mattock scrape off the clay from the face of a hard rock in so grating a +manner as thy harsh voice is harrowing up my soul." + + +XIV + +A person with a harsh voice was reciting the Koran in a loud tone. A +good and holy man went up to him, and asked: "What is your monthly +stipend?" He answered, "Nothing." "Then," added he, "why give yourself +so much trouble?" He said: "I am reading for the sake of God." The good +and holy man replied: "For God's sake do not read:--for if thou chantest +the Koran after this manner, thou must cast a shade over the glory of +Islamism or Mussulman orthodoxy." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +On Love and Youth + + +I + +They asked Husan Maimandi: "How comes it that Sultan Mahmud, who has so +many handsome bondswomen, each of whom is the wonder of the world and +most select of the age, entertains not such fondness and affection for +any of them as he does for Ayaz, who can boast of no superiority of +charms?" He replied: "Whatever makes an impression on the heart seems +lovely in the eye. That person of whom the sultan makes choice must be +altogether good, though a compendium of vice; but where he is estranged +from the favor of the king none of the household will think of courting +him." Were a person to view it with a fastidious eye, the form of a +Joseph might seem a deformity; but let him look with desire on a demon, +and he will appear like an angel and cherub. + + * * * * * + + +III + +I saw a parsa, or holy man, so enamoured of a lovely person that he had +neither fortitude to bear with, nor resolution to declare, his passion: +and, however much he was the object of remark and censure, he would not +forego this infatuation, and was saying:--"I quit not my hold on the +skirt of thy garment, though thou may'st verily smite me with a sharp +sword. Besides thee I have neither asylum nor defence; if I am to flee, +I must take refuge with thee." + +On one occasion I reproached him, and said: "What is become of your +precious reason, that a vile passion should thus master you?" He made a +short pause, and replied:--"Wherever the king of love came, he left no +room for the strong arm of chastity. How can that wretch live undefiled +who has fallen in a quagmire up to the neck?" + + +IV + +A certain person had lost his heart and abandoned himself to despair. +The object of his desire was not such a dainty that he could gratify his +palate with it, or a bird that he could lure it into his net, but a +frightful precipice and overwhelming whirlpool:--When thy gold attracts +not the charmer's eye, dust or gold is of equal value with thee. + +His friends admonished him, saying: "Put aside this vain fancy, for +multitudes are in the durance and chains of this same passion which you +are cherishing." He sighed aloud, and replied: "Say to my friends, Do +not admonish me, for my eye is fixed on the wish of her. With strength +of wrist and power of shoulders warriors overwhelm their antagonists and +charmers their lovers." Nor can it be consistent with the condition of +love that any thought of life should divert the heart from affection for +its mistress:--Thou, who art the slave of thine own precious self, +playest false in the affairs of love. If thou canst not make good a +passage to thy mistress, it is the duty of a lover to perish in the +attempt.--I persist when policy is no longer left me, though the enemy +may cover me all over with the wounds of swords and arrows. If I can +reach her I will seize her sleeve, or at all events proceed and die at +her threshold. + +His kindred, whose business it was to watch over his concerns, and to +pity his misfortunes, gave him advice, and put upon him restraints, but +all to no good purpose:--The physician is, alas! prescribing +bitter-aloes, and his depraved appetite is craving sweetmeats!--Heardest +thou what a charmer was saying in a whisper to one who had lost his +heart to her: "So long as thou maintainest thine own dignity, of what +value can my dignity appear in thine eye?" + +They informed the princess who was the object of his infatuation, +saying: "A youth of an amiable disposition and sweet flow of tongue is +frequent in his attendance at the top of this plain; and we hear him +delivering brilliant speeches and wonderful sallies of wit; it would +seem that he has a mystery in his head and a flame in his heart, for he +appears to be distractedly in love." The princess was aware that she had +become the object of his attachment, and that this whirlwind of calamity +was raised by himself, and spurred her horse toward him. Now that the +youth saw that it was the princess' intention to approach him, he wept, +and said:--"That personage who inflicted upon me a mortal wound again +presented herself before me; perhaps she took compassion upon her own +victim." However, kindly she spoke, and asked, saying: "Who are you, and +whence come you? what is your name, and what your calling?" the youth +was so entirely overwhelmed in the ocean of love and passion that he +absolutely could not utter a word:--"Couldst thou in fact repeat the +seven Saba, or whole Koran by heart, if distracted with love, thou +wouldst forget the alphabet":--the princess continued: "Why do you not +answer me? for I too am one of the sect of dervishes, nay, I am their +most devoted slave." On the strength of this sympathizing encouragement +of his beloved, the youth raised his head amidst the buffeting waves of +tempestuous passion, and answered:--"It is strange that with thee +present I should remain in existence; that after thou camest to talk, I +should have speech left me."--This he said, and, uttering a loud groan, +surrendered his soul up to God:--No wonder if he died by the door of his +beloved's tent; the wonder was, if alive, how he could have brought his +life back in safety. + + +V + +A boy at school possessed much loveliness of person and sweetness of +conversation; and the master, from the frailty of human nature, was +enamoured of his blooming skin. Like his other scholars, he would not +admonish and correct him, but when he found him in a corner he would +whisper in his ear:--"I am not, O celestial creature! so occupied with +thee, that I am harboring in my mind a thought of myself. Were I to +perceive an arrow coming right into it, I could not shut my eye from +contemplating thee." + +On one occasion the boy said: "In like manner, as you inspect my duties, +also animadvert on my tendency to vice, in order that if you discern any +immorality in my behavior, which has met my own approbation, you can +warn me against it, that I may correct it." He replied: "O my child! +propose this task to somebody else; for the light in which I view you +reflects nothing but virtue." That malignant eye, let it be plucked out +in whose sight his virtue can seem vice. Hadst thou but one perfection +and seventy faults, the lover could discern only that one perfection. + + * * * * * + + +VII + +A person who had not seen his friend for a length of time, said to him: +"Where were you? for I have been very solicitous about you." He replied, +"It is better to be sought after than loathed." Thou hast come late, O +intoxicating idol! I shall not in a hurry quit my hold on thy +skirt:--that mistress whom they see but seldom is at last more desired +than she is whom they are cloyed with seeing. + +The charmer that can bring companions along with her has come to +quarrel; for she cannot be void of jealousy and discontent:--_Whenever +thou contest to visit me attended with comrades or rivals, though thou +comest in peace yet thy object is hostile_:--for one single moment that +my mistress associated with a rival, it went well-nigh to slay me with +jealousy. Smiling, she replied: "O Sa'di! I am the torch of the +assembly; what is it to me if the moth consume itself?" + + +VIII + +In former times, I recollect, a friend and I were associating together +like two kernels within one almond shell. I happened unexpectedly to go +on a journey. After some time, when I was returned, he began to chide +me, saying: "During this long interval you never sent me a messenger." I +replied: "It vexed me to think that the eyes of a courier should be +enlightened by your countenance, whilst I was debarred that +happiness:--Tell my old charmer not to impose a vow upon me with her +tongue; for I would not repent, were she to attempt it with a sword. +Envy stings me to the quick, lest another should be satiated with +beholding thee, till I recollect myself, and say: Nobody can have a +satiety of that!" + + +IX + +I saw a learned gentleman the captive of attachment for a certain +person, and the victim of his reproach; and he would suffer much +violence, and bear it with great patience. On one occasion I said, by +way of admonition: "I know that in your attachment for this person you +have no bad object, and that this friendship rests not on any criminal +design; yet, under this interpretation, it accords not with the dignity +of the learned to expose yourself to calumny, and put up with the +rudeness of the rabble." He replied: "O my friend, withdraw the hand of +reproach from the skirt of my fatality, for I have frequently reflected +on this advice which you offer me, and find it easier to suffer +contumely on his account than to forego his company; and philosophers +have said: 'It is less arduous to persist in the labor of courting than +to restrain the eye from contemplating a beloved object':--Whoever +devotes his heart to a soul deluder puts his beard or reputation into +the hands of another. That person, without whom thou canst not exist, if +he do thee a violence, thou must bear with it. The antelope, that is led +by a string, cannot bound from this side to that. One day I asked a +compact of my mistress; how often have I since that day craved her +forgiveness! A lover exacts not terms of his charmer; I relinquished my +heart to whatever she desired me, whether to call me up to her with +kindness, or drive me from her with harshness she knows best, or it is +her pleasure." + + +X + +In my early youth such an event (as you know) will come to pass. I held +a mystery and intercourse with a young person, because he had a pipe of +exquisite melody, and a form silver bright as the full moon:--"He is +sipping the fountain of immortality, who may taste the down of his +cheek; and he is eating a sweetmeat, who can fancy the sugar of his +lips." + +It happened that something in his behavior having displeased me, I +withdrew the skirt of communication, and removed the seal of my +affection from him, and said: "Go, and take what course best suits thee; +thou regardest not my counsel, follow thine own." I overheard him as he +was going, and saying:--"If the bat does not relish the company of the +sun, the all-current brilliancy of that luminary can suffer no +diminution." He so expressed himself and departed, and his vagabond +condition much distressed me:--_the opportunity of enjoyment was lost, +and a man is insensible to the relish of prosperity till he_ _has +tasted adversity_:--return and slay me, for to die before thy face were +far more pleasant than to survive in thy absence. + +But, thanksgiving and praise to the Almighty, he did not return till +after some interval, when that melodious pipe of David was cracked, and +that handsome form of Joseph in its wane; when that apple his chin was +overgrown with hair, like a quince, and the all-current lustre of his +charms tarnished. He expected me to fold him in my arms; but I took +myself aside and said: "When the down of loveliness flourished on thy +cheek, thou drovest the lord of thy attractions from thy sight; now thou +hast come to court his peace when thy face is thick set with fathahs and +zammahs, or the bristles of a beard:--The verdant foliage of thy spring +is turned yellow; place not thy kettle on my grate, for its fire is +cooled. How long wilt thou display this pomp and vanity; hopest thou to +regain thy former dominion? Make thy court to such as desire thee, sport +thy airs on such as will hire thee:--The verdure of the garden, they +have told us, is charming; that person (Sa'di) knows it who is relating +that story; or, in other words, that the fresh-shooting down on their +charmers' cheeks is what the hearts of their admirers chiefly +covet:--Thy garden is like a bed of chives: the more thou croppest it, +the more it will shoot:--Last year thou didst depart smooth as an +antelope, to-day thou art returned bearded like a pard. Sa'di admires +the fresh-shooting down, not when each hair is stiff as a +packing-needle:--Whether thou hast patience with thy beard, or weed it +from thy face, this happy season of youth must come to a conclusion. Had +I the same command of life as thou hast of beard, it should not escape +me till doomsday." I asked him and said: "What has become of the beauty +of thy countenance, that a beard has sprung up round the orb of the +moon?" He answered: "I know not what has befallen my face, unless it has +put on black to mourn its departed charms." + + * * * * * + + +XII + +They shut up a parrot in the same cage with a crow. The parrot was +affronted at his ugly look, and said: "What an odious visage is this, a +hideous figure; what an accursed appearance, and ungracious +demeanor!--_Would to God, O raven of the desert! we were wide apart +as the east is from the west_:--The serenity of his peaceful day would +change into the gloom of night, who on issuing forth in the morning +might cross thy aspect. An ill-conditioned wretch like thyself should be +thy companion; but where could we find such another in the world?" + +But what is more strange, the crow was also out of all patience, and +vexed to the soul at the society of the parrot. Bewailing his +misfortune, he was railing at the revolutions of the skies; and, +wringing the hands of chagrin, was lamenting his condition, and saying: +"What an unpropitious fate is this; what ill-luck, and untoward fortune! +Could they any way suit the dignity of me, who would in my day strut +with my fellow-crows along the wall of a garden:--It were durance +sufficient for a good and holy man that he should be made the companion +of the wicked:--What sin have I committed that my stars in retribution +of it have linked me in the chain of companionship, and immured me in +the dungeon of calamity, with a conceited blockhead, and +good-for-nothing babbler:--Nobody will approach the foot of a wall on +which they have painted thy portrait; wert thou to get a residence in +paradise, others would go in preference to hell." + +I have introduced this parable to show that however much learned men +despise the ignorant, these are a hundredfold more scornful of the +learned:--A zahid, or holy man, fell in company with some wandering +minstrels. One of them, a charmer of Balkh, said to him: "If thou art +displeased with us, do not look sour, for thou art already sufficiently +offensive.--An assemblage is formed of roses and tulips, and thou art +stuck up amidst them like a withered stalk; like an opposing storm, and +a chilling winter blast; like a ball of snow, or lump of ice." + + +XIII + +I had an associate, who was for years the companion of my travels, +partook of the same bread and salt, and enjoyed the many rights of a +confirmed friendship. At last, on some trifling advantage, he gave me +cause of umbrage, and our intimacy ceased. And notwithstanding all this, +there was a hankering of good-will on both sides; in consequence of +which I heard that he was one day reciting in a certain assembly these +two couplets of my writings:--"When my idol, or mistress, is +approaching me with her tantalizing smiles, she is sprinkling more salt +upon my smarting sores. How fortunate were the tips of her ringlets to +come into my hand, like the sleeve of the generous in the hands of +dervishes." This society of his friends bore testimony, and gave +applause, not to the beauty of this sentiment, but to the liberality of +his own disposition in quoting it; while he had himself been extravagant +in his encomiums, regretted the demise of our former attachment, and +confessed how much he was to blame. I was made aware that he too was +desirous of a reconciliation; and, having sent him these couplets, made +my peace:--"Was there not a treaty of good faith between us, and didst +not thou commence hostilities, and violate the compact? I relinquished +all manner of society, and plighted my heart to thee; for I did not +suspect that thou wouldst have so readily changed. If it still be thy +wish to renew our peace, return, and be more dear to me than ever." + + +XIV + +A man had a beautiful wife, who died; but the mother, a decrepit old +dotard, remained a fixture in his house, because of the dowry. He was +teased to death by her company; but, from the circumstance of the dower, +he had no remedy. In the meantime some of his friends having come to +comfort him, one of them asked: "How is it with you, since the loss of +that dear friend?" He answered: "The absence of my wife is not so +intolerable as the presence of her mother:--They plucked the rose, and +left me the thorn; they plundered the treasure, and let the snake +remain. To have our eye pierced with a spear were more tolerable than to +see the face of an enemy. It were better to break with a thousand +friends than to put up with one rival." + + +XV + +In my youth I recollect I was passing through a street, and caught a +glimpse of a moon-like charmer during the dog-days, when their heat was +drying up the moisture of the mouth, and the samurn, or desert hot-wind, +melting the marrow of the bones. From the weakness of human nature I was +unable to withstand the darting rays of a noon-tide sun, and took +refuge under the shadow of a wall, hopeful that somebody would relieve +me from the oppressive heat of summer, and quench the fire of my thirst +with a draught of water. All at once I beheld a luminary in the shadowed +portico of a mansion, so splendid an object that the tongue of eloquence +falls short in summing up its loveliness; such as the day dawning upon a +dark night, or the fountain of immortality issuing from chaos. She held +in her hand a goblet of snow-cooled water, into which she dropped some +sugar, and tempered it with spirit of wine; but I know not whether she +scented it with attar, or sprinkled it with a few blossoms from her own +rosy cheek. In short, I received the beverage from her idol-fair hand; +and, having drunk it off, found myself restored to a new life. "_Such is +not my parching thirst that it is to be quenched with the limpid element +of water, were I to swallow it in oceans_:--Joy to that happy aspect +whose eye can every morning contemplate such a countenance as thine. A +person intoxicated with wine lies giddy and awake half the night; but if +intoxicated with the cup-bearer (God), the day of judgment must be his +dawn or morning." + + +XVI + +In the year that Sultan Mohammed Khowarazm-Shah had for some political +reason chosen to make peace with the king of Khota, I entered the +metropolitan mosque at Kashghar, and met a youth incomparably lovely, +and exquisitely handsome; such as they have mentioned in resemblance of +him:--"Thy master instructed thee in every bold and captivating grace; +he taught thee coquetry and confidence, tyranny and violence." I have +seen no mortal with such a form and temper, stateliness and manner; +perhaps he learned these fascinating ways from an angel. + +He held the introduction of the Zamakhshari Arabic grammar in his hand, +and was repeating:--"Zaraba Zaidun Amranwa--Zaid beat Amru and is the +assailant of Amru." I said: "O my son! the Khowarazm and Khatayi +sovereigns have made peace, and does war thus subsist between Zaid and +Amru?" He smiled, and asked me the place of my nativity. I answered: +"The territory of Shiraz." He said: "Do you recollect any of Sa'di's +compositions?" I replied: "_I am enamoured with the reader of the +syntax, who, taking offence, assails me in like manner as Zaid does +Amru. And Zaid, when read Zaidin, cannot raise his head; and how canst +thou give a zammah to a word accented with a kasrah_?" + +He reflected a little within himself, and said: "In these parts we have +much of Sa'di's compositions in the Persian language; if you will speak +in that dialect we shall more readily comprehend you, for _you should +address mankind according to their capacities_." + +I replied: "Whilst thy passion was that of studying grammar, all trace +of reason was erased from our hearts. Yes! the lover's heart is fallen a +prey to thy snare: we are occupied about thee, and thou art taken up +with Amru and Zaid." + +On the morrow, which had been fixed on as the period of our stay, some +of my fellow-travellers had perhaps told him such a one is Sa'di; for I +saw that he came running up, and expressed his affection and regret, +saying: "Why did you not during all this time tell us that a certain +person is Sa'di, that I might have shown my gratitude by offering my +service to your reverence." I answered: "In thy presence I cannot even +say that I am I!"--He said: "How good it were if you would tarry here +for a few days, that we might devote ourselves to your service." I +replied: "That cannot be, as this adventure will explain to you:--In the +hilly region I saw a great and holy man, who was content in living +retired from the world in a cavern. I said: 'Why dost thou not come into +the city, that thy heart might be relieved from a load of servitude?' He +replied: 'In it there dwell some wonderful and angel-faced charmers, and +where the path is miry, elephants may find it slippery.'--Having +delivered this speech, we kissed each other's head and face, and took +our leaves:--What profits it to kiss our mistress's cheek, and with the +same breath to bid her adieu. Thou mightest say that the apple had taken +leave of its friends by having this cheek red and that cheek +yellow:--_Were I not to die of grief on that day I say farewell, thou +wouldst charge me with being insincere in my attachments_." + + +XVII + +A ragged dervish accompanied us along with the caravan for Hijaz, and a +certain Arab prince presented him with a hundred dinars for the support +of his family. Suddenly a gang of Khafachah robbers attacked the +caravan, and completely stripped it. The merchants set up a weeping and +wailing, and made much useless lamentation and complaint:--"Whether thou +supplicatest them, or whether thou complainest, the robbers will not +return thee their plunder":--all but that ragged wretch, who stood +collected within himself, and unmoved by this adventure. I said: +"Perhaps they did not plunder you of that money?" He replied: "Yes, they +took it; but I was not so fond of my pet as to break my heart at parting +with it. We should not fix our heart so on any thing or being as to find +any difficulty in removing it." + +I said: "What you have remarked corresponds precisely with what once +befell myself; for in my juvenile days I took a liking to a young man, +and so sincere was my attachment that the Cabah, or fane, of my eye was +his perfect beauty, and the profit of this life's traffic his +much-coveted society:--Perhaps the angels might in paradise, otherwise +no living form can on this earth display such a loveliness of person. By +friendship I swear that after his demise all loving intercourse is +forbidden; for no human emanation can stand a comparison with him. + +"All at once the foot of his existence stumbled at the grave of +annihilation; and the sigh of separation burst from the dwelling of his +family. For many days I sat a fixture at his tomb, and, of the many +dirges I composed upon his demise, this is one:--'On that day, when thy +foot was pierced with the thorn of death, would to God the hand of fate +had cloven my head with the sword of destruction, that my eyes might not +this day have witnessed the world without thee. Such am I, seated at the +head of thy dust, as the ashes are seated on my own:--whoever could not +take his rest and sleep till they first had spread a bed of roses and +narcissuses for him: the whirlwind of the sky has scattered the roses of +his cheek, and brambles and thorns are shooting from his grave.' + +"After my separation from him I came to a steady and firm +determination, that during my remaining life I would fold up the carpet +of enjoyment, and never re-enter the gay circle of society:--Were it not +for the dread of its waves, much would be the profits of a voyage at +sea; were it not for the vexation of the thorn, charming might be the +society of the rose. Yesterday I was walking stately as a peacock in the +garden of enjoyment; to-day I am writhing like a snake from the absence +of my mistress." + + +XVIII. + +To a certain king of Arabia they were relating the story of Laila and +Mujnun, and his insane state, saying: "Notwithstanding his knowledge and +wisdom, he has turned his face towards the desert, and abandoned himself +to distraction." The king ordered that they bring him into his presence; +and he reproved him, and spoke, saying: "What have you seen unworthy in +the noble nature of man that you should assume the manners of a brute, +and forsake the enjoyment of human society?" + +Mujnun wept and answered:--"_Many of my friends reproach me for my love +of her, namely Laila. Alas! that they could one day see her, that my +excuse might be manifest for me!_--Would to God that such as blame me +could behold thy face, O thou ravisher of hearts! that at the sight of +thee they might, from inadvertency, cut their own fingers instead of the +orange in their hands:--Then might the truth of the reality bear +testimony against the semblance of fiction, _what manner of person that +was for whose sake you were upbraiding me_." + +The king resolved within himself, on viewing in person the charms of +Laila, that he might be able to judge what her form could be which had +caused all this misery, and ordered her to be produced in his presence. +Having searched through the Arab tribes, they discovered and presented +her before the king in the courtyard of his seraglio. He viewed her +figure, and beheld a person of a tawny complexion and feeble frame of +body. She appeared to him in a contemptible light, inasmuch as the +lowest menial in his harem, or seraglio, surpassed her in beauty and +excelled her in elegance. Mujnun, in his sagacity, penetrated what was +passing in the royal mind, and said: "It would behoove you, O king, to +contemplate the charms of Laila through the wicket of a Mujnun's eye, +in order that the miracle of such a spectacle might be illustrated to +you. Thou canst have no fellow-feeling for my disorder; a companion to +suit me must have the self-same malady, that I may sit by him the +livelong day repeating my tale; for by rubbing two pieces of dry +fire-wood one upon another they will burn all the brighter:--_had that +grove of verdant reeds heard the murmurings of love which in detail of +my mistress's story have passed through my ear, it would somehow have +sympathised in my pain. Tell it, O my friends, to such as are ignorant +of love; would ye could be aware of what wrings me to the soul_:--the +anguish of a wound is not known to the hale and sound; we must detail +our aches only to a fellow-sufferer. It were idle to talk of a hornet to +him who has never during his life smarted from its sting. Till thy +condition may in some sort resemble mine, my state will seem to thee an +idle fable. Compare not my pain with that of another man; he holds salt +in his hand, but I hold it on a wounded limb." + + * * * * * + + +XX + +There was a handsome and well-disposed young man, who was embarked in a +vessel with a lovely damsel. I have read that, sailing on the mighty +deep, they fell together into a whirlpool. When the pilot came to offer +him assistance, saying: "God forbid that he should perish in that +distress," he was answering from the midst of that overwhelming vortex: +"Leave me, and take the hand of my beloved!" The whole world admired him +for this speech which, as he was expiring, he was heard to make. Learn +not the tale of love from that faithless wretch who can neglect his +beloved when exposed to danger. In this manner ended the lives of those +lovers. Listen to what has happened, that you may understand; for Sa'di +knows the ways and forms of courtship as well as the Tazi, or modern +Arabic, is understood at Bagdad. Devote your whole heart to the +heart-consoler you have chosen (namely, God), and let your eyes be shut +to the whole world beside. Were Laila and Mujnun to return into life, +they might read the history of love in this chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Of Imbecility and Old Age + + +I + +In the metropolitan mosque at Damascus I was engaged in a disputation +with some learned men, when a youth suddenly entered the door, and said: +"Does any of you understand the Persian language?" They directed him to +me, and I answered: "It is true." He continued: "An old man of a hundred +and fifty years of age is in the agonies of death, and is uttering +something in the Persian language, which we do not understand. If you +will have the goodness to go to him you may get rewarded; for he +possibly may be dictating his will." When I sat down by his bedside I +heard him reciting:--"I said, I will enjoy myself for a few moments. +Alas! that my soul took the path of departure. Alas! at the variegated +table of life I partook a few mouthfuls, and the fates said, enough!" + +I explained the signification of these lines in Arabic to the Syrians. +They were astonished that, at his advanced time of life, he should +express himself so solicitous about a worldly existence. I asked him: +"How do you now find yourself?" He replied: "What shall I say?--Hast +thou never witnessed what torture that man suffers from whose jaw they +are extracting a tooth? Fancy to thyself how excruciating is his pain +from whose precious body they are tearing an existence!" + +I said: "Banish all thoughts of death from your mind, and let not doubt +undermine your constitution; for the Greek philosophers have remarked +that although our temperaments are vigorous, that is no proof of a long +life; and that although our sickness is dangerous, that is no positive +sign of immediate dissolution. If you will give me leave, I will call in +a physician to prescribe some medicine that may cure you." He replied: +"Alas! alas! The landlord thinks of refreshing the paintings of his +hall, and the house is tottering to its foundation. The physician smites +the hands of despair when he sees the aged fallen in pieces like a +potsherd; the old man bemoans himself in the agony of death while the +old attendant nurse is anointing him with sandal-wood. When the +equipoise of the temperament is overset, neither amulets nor medicaments +can do any good." + + * * * * * + + +III + +In the territory of Diarbekr, or Mesopotamia, I was the guest of an old +man, who was very rich, and had a handsome son. One night he told a +story, saying: "During my whole life I never had any child but this boy. +And in this valley a certain tree is a place of pilgrimage, where people +go to supplicate their wants; and many was the night that I have +besought God at the foot of that tree before he would bestow upon me +this boy." I have heard that the son was also whispering his companions, +and saying: "How happy I should be if I could discover the site of that +tree, in order that I might pray for the death of my father." The +gentleman was rejoicing and saying: "What a sensible youth is my son!" +and the boy was complaining and crying: "What a tedious old dotard is my +father!" Many years are passing over thy head, during which thou didst +not visit thy father's tomb. What pious oblation didst thou make to the +manes of a parent that thou shouldst expect so much from thy son? + + +IV + +Urged one day by the pride of youthful vanity, I had made a forced +march, and in the evening found myself exhausted at the bottom of an +acclivity. A feeble old man, who had deliberately followed the pace of +the caravan, came up to me and said: "How come you to lie down here? Get +up, this is no fit place for rest." I replied: "How can I proceed, who +have not a foot to stand on?" He said: "Have you not heard what the +prudent have remarked? 'Going on, and halting, is better than running +ahead and breaking down!' Ye who wish to reach the end of your journey, +hurry not on; practise my advice, and learn deliberation. The Arab horse +makes a few stretches at full speed, and is broken down; while the +camel, at its deliberate pace, travels on night and day, and gets to the +end of his journey." + + +V + +An active, merry, cheerful, and sweet-spoken youth was for a length of +time in the circle of my society, whose heart had never known sorrow, +nor his lip ceased from being on a smile. An age had passed, during +which we had not chanced to meet. When I next saw him he had taken to +himself a wife, and got a family; and the root of his enjoyment was torn +up, and the rose of his mirth blasted. I asked him: "How is this?" He +replied: "Since I became a father of children, I ceased to play the +child:--Now thou art old, relinquish childishness, and leave it to the +young to indulge in play and merriment. Expect not the sprightliness of +youth from the aged; for the stream that ran by can never return. Now +that the corn is ripe for the sickle, it rears not its head as when +green and shooting. The season of youth has slipt through my hands; +alas! when I think on those heart-exhilarating days! The lion has lost +the sturdy grasp of his paw: I must now put up, like a lynx, with a bit +of cheese. An old woman had stained her gray locks black. I said to her: +O, my antiquated dame! thy hair I admit thou canst turn dark by art, but +thou never canst make thy crooked back straight." + + +VI + +One day, in the perverseness of youth, I spoke with asperity to my +mother. Vexed at heart, she sat down in a corner, and with tears in her +eyes was saying: "You have perhaps forgot the days of infancy, that you +are speaking to me thus harshly.--How well did an old woman observe to +her own son, when she saw him powerful as a tiger, and formidable as an +elephant: 'Couldst thou call to mind those days of thy infancy when +helpless thou wouldst cling to this my bosom, thou wouldst not thus +assail me with savage fury, now thou art a lion-like hero, and I am a +poor old woman.'" + + +VII + +A rich miser had a son who was grievously sick. His well-wishers and +friends spoke to him, saying: "It were proper that you either read the +Koran throughout or offer an animal in sacrifice, in order that the Most +High God may restore him to health." After a short reflection within +himself he answered, "It is better to read the Koran, which is ready at +hand; and my herds are at a distance." A good and holy man heard this +and remarked: "He makes choice of the reading part because the Koran +slips glibly over the tongue, but his money is to be wrung from the soul +of him. Fie upon that readiness to bow the head in prayer; would that +the hand of charity could accompany it! In bestowing a dinar he will +stickle like an ass in the mire; but ask him to read the Al-hamdi, or +first chapter of the Koran, and he will recite it a hundred times." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Of the Impressions of Education + + +I + +A certain nobleman had a dunce of a son. He sent him to a learned man, +saying: "Verily you will give instruction to this youth, peradventure he +may become a rational being." He continued to give him lessons for some +time, but they made no impression upon him, when he sent a message to +the father, saying: "This son is not getting wise, and he has well-nigh +made me a fool!" Where the innate capacity is good, education may make +an impression upon it; but no furbisher knows how to give a polish to +iron which is of a bad temper. Wash a dog seven times in the ocean, and +so long as he is wet he is all the filthier. Were they to take the ass +of Jesus to Mecca, on his return from that pilgrimage he would still be +an ass. + + +II + +A philosopher was exhorting his children and saying: "O emanations of my +soul, acquire knowledge, as no reliance can be placed on worldly riches +and possessions, for once you leave home rank is of no use, and gold and +silver on a journey are exposed to the risk either of thieves plundering +them at once, or of the owner wasting them by degrees; but knowledge is +a perennial spring and ever-during fortune. Were a professional man to +lose his fortune, he need not feel regret, for his knowledge is of +itself a mine of wealth. Wherever he may sojourn the learned man will +meet respect, and be ushered into the upper seat, whilst the ignorant +man must put up with offal and suffer want:--If thou covet the paternal +heritage, acquire thy father's knowledge, for this thy father's wealth +thou may'st squander in ten days. After having been in authority, it is +hard to obey; after having been fondled with caresses, to put up with +men's violence:--There once occurred an insurrection in Syria, and +everybody forsook his former peaceful abode. The sons of peasants, who +were men of learning, came to be employed as the ministers of kings; and +the children of noblemen, of bankrupt understandings, went a begging +from village to village." + + +III + +A certain learned man was superintending the education of a king's son; +and he was chastising him without mercy, and reproving him with +asperity. The boy, out of all patience, complained to the king his +father, and laid bare before him his much-bruised body. The king was +much offended, and sending for the master, said: "You do not treat the +children of my meanest subject with the harshness and cruelty you do my +boy; what do you mean by this?" He replied: "To think before they speak, +and to deliberate before they act, are duties incumbent upon all +mankind, and more immediately upon kings; because whatever may drop from +their hands and tongue, the special deed or word will somehow become the +subject of public animadversion; whereas any act or remark of the +commonalty attracts not such notice:--Let a dervish, or poor man, commit +a hundred indiscretions, and his companions will not notice one out of +the hundred; and let a king but utter one foolish word, and it will be +echoed from kingdom to kingdom:--therefore in forming the morals of +young princes, more pains are to be taken than with the sons of the +vulgar. Whoever was not taught good manners in his boyhood, fortune will +forsake him when he becomes a man. Thou may'st bend the green bough as +thou likest; but let it once get dry, and it will require heat to +straighten it:--'_Verily thou may'st bend the tender branch, but it were +labor lost to attempt making straight a crooked billet_.'" + +The king greatly approved of this ingenious detail, and the wholesome +course of discipline of the learned doctor; and, bestowing upon him a +dress and largess, raised him one step in his rank as a nobleman! + + +IV + +In the west of Africa I saw a schoolmaster of a sour aspect and bitter +speech, crabbed, misanthropic, beggarly, and intemperate, insomuch that +the sight of him would derange the ecstasies of the orthodox; and his +manner of reading the Koran cast a gloom over the minds of the pious. A +number of handsome boys and lovely virgins were subject to his despotic +sway, who had neither the permission of a smile nor the option of a +word, for this moment he would smite the silver cheek of one of them +with his hand, and the next put the crystalline legs of another in the +stocks. In short their parents, I heard, were made aware of a part of +his disloyal violence, and beat and drove him from his charge. And they +made over his school to a peaceable creature, so pious, meek, simple, +and good-natured that he never spoke till forced to do so, nor would he +utter a word that could offend anybody. The children forgot that awe in +which they had held their first master, and remarking the angelic +disposition of their second master, they became one after another as +wicked as devils; and relying on his clemency, they would so neglect +their studies as to pass most part of their time at play, and break the +tablets of their unfinished tasks over each other's heads:--"When the +schoolmaster relaxes in his discipline, the children will stop to play +at marbles in the market-place." + +A fortnight after I passed by the gate of that mosque and saw the first +schoolmaster, with whom they had been obliged to make friends, and to +restore him to his place. I was in truth offended, and calling on God to +witness, asked, saying: "Why have they again made a devil the preceptor +of angels?" A facetious old gentleman, who had seen much of life, +listened to me and replied: "Have you not heard what they have said:--A +king sent his son to school, and hung a tablet of silver round his neck. +On the face of that tablet he had written in golden letters: 'The +severity of the master is more useful than the indulgence of the +father.'" + + * * * * * + + +VI + +A king gave his son into the charge of a preceptor, and said: "This is +your child, educate him as you would one of your own." For some years he +labored in teaching him, but to no good purpose; whilst the sons of the +preceptor excelled in eloquence and knowledge. The king blamed the +learned man, and remonstrated with him, saying: "You have violated your +trust, and infringed the terms of your engagement." He replied: "O king, +the education is the same, but their capacities are different!" Though +silver and gold are extracted from stones, yet it is not in every stone +that gold and silver are found. The Sohail, or star Canopus, is shedding +his rays all over the globe. In one place he produces common leather, in +another, or in Yamin, that called Adim, or perfumed. + + +VII + +I heard a certain learned senior observing to a disciple:--"If the sons +of Adam were as solicitous after Providence, or God, as they are after +their means of sustenance, their places in Paradise would surpass those +of the angels." God did not overlook thee in that state when thou wert a +senseless embryo in thy mother's womb. He bestowed upon thee a soul, +reason, temper, intellect, symmetry, speech, judgment, understanding, +and reflection. He accommodated thy hands with ten fingers, and +suspended two arms from thy shoulders. Canst thou now suppose, O +good-for-nothing wretch, that he will forget to provide thy daily bread? + + +VIII + +I observed an Arab who was informing his son:--"_O my child, God will +ask thee on the day of judgment: What hast thou done in this life? but +he will not inquire of thee: Whence didst thou derive thy origin?_" That +is, they (or God) will ask, saying: "What are your works?" But he will +not question you, saying: "Who is your father?" The covering of the +Caabah at Mecca, which the pilgrims kiss from devotion, is not prized +from its being the fabric of a silk-worm; for a while it associated with +a venerable friend, and became, in consequence, venerable like him. + + +IX + +They have related in the books of philosophers that scorpions are not +brought forth according to the common course of nature, as other animals +are, but that they eat their way through their mother's wombs, tear open +their bellies, and thus make themselves a passage into the world; and +that the fragments of skin which we find in scorpions' holes corroborate +this fact. On one occasion I was stating this strange event to a good +and great man, when he answered: "My heart is bearing testimony to the +truth of this remark; nor can it be otherwise, for as they have thus +behaved towards their parents in their youth, so they are approved and +beloved in their riper years." On his death-bed a father exhorted his +son, saying: "O generous youth, keep in mind this maxim: 'Whoever is +ungrateful to his own kindred cannot hope that fortune shall befriend +him.'" + + +X + +They asked a scorpion: "Why do you not make your appearance during the +winter?" It answered: "What is my character in the summer that I should +come abroad also in the winter?" + + * * * * * + + +XIII + +One year a dissension arose among the foot-travellers on a pilgrimage to +Mecca, and the author (Sa'di) was also a pedestrian among them. In +truth, we fell head and ears together, and accusation and recrimination +were bandied from all sides. I overheard a kajawah, or gentleman, riding +on one side of a camel-litter, observing to his adil, or opposite +companion: "How strange that the ivory piyadah, or pawns, on reaching +the top of the shatranj, or chess-board, become fazzin, or queens; that +is, they get rank, or become better than they were; and the piyadah, or +pawns, of the pilgrimage--that is, our foot-pilgrims--have crossed the +desert and become worse." Say from me to that haji, or pilgrim, the pest +of his fellow-pilgrims, that he lacerates the skin of mankind by his +contention. Thou art not a real pilgrim, but that meek camel is one who +is feeding on thorns and patient under its burden. + + +XIV + +A Hindu, or Indian, was teaching the art of playing off fireworks. A +philosopher observed to him: "This is an unfit sport for you, whose +dwelling is made of straw." Utter not a word till thou knowest that it +is the mirror of what is correct; and do not put a question where thou +knowest that the answer must be unfavorable. + + +XV + +A fellow had a complaint in his eyes, and went to a horse-doctor, +saying: "Prescribe something for me." The doctor of horses applied to +his eyes what he was in the habit of applying to the eyes of quadrupeds, +and the man got blind. They carried their complaint before the hakim, or +judge. He decreed: "This man has no redress, for had he not been an ass +he would not have applied to a horse or ass doctor!" The moral of this +apologue is, that whoever doth employ an inexperienced person on an +affair of importance, besides being brought to shame, he will incur from +the wise the imputation of a weak mind. A prudent man, with an +enlightened understanding, entrusts not affairs of consequence to one of +mean capacity. The plaiter of mats, notwithstanding he be a weaver, they +would not employ in a silk manufactory. + + +XVI + +A certain great Imaam had a worthy son, and he died. They asked him, +saying: "What shall we inscribe upon the urn at his tomb." He replied: +"Verses of the holy Koran are of such superior reverence and dignity +that they should not be written in places where time might efface, +mankind tread upon, or dogs defile them; yet, if an epitaph be +necessary, let these two couplets suffice:--I said: 'Alas! how grateful +it was proving to my heart, so long as the verdure of thy existence +might flourish in the garden.' He replied: 'O my friend, have patience +till the return of the spring, and thou may'st again see roses +blossoming on my bosom, or shooting from my dust.'" + + +XVII + +A holy man was passing by a wealthy personage's mansion, and saw him +with a slave tied up by the hands and feet, and giving him chastisement. +He said: "O my son! God Almighty has made a creature like yourself +subject to your command, and has given you a superiority over him. +Render thanksgiving to the Most High Judge, and deal not with him so +savagely; lest hereafter, on the day of judgment, he may prove the more +worthy of the two, and you be put to shame:--Be not so enraged with thy +bondsman; torture not his body, nor harrow up his heart. Thou mightest +buy him for ten dinars, but hadst not after all the power of creating +him:--To what length will this authority, pride, and insolence hurry +thee; there is a Master mightier than thou art. Yes, thou art a lord of +slaves and vassals, but do not forget thine own Lord Paramount--namely, +God!" There is a tradition of the prophet Mohammed, on whom be blessing, +announcing:--On the day of resurrection, that will be the most +mortifying event when the good slave will be taken up to heaven, and the +wicked master sent down to hell:--"Upon the bondsman, who is subservient +to thy command, wreak not thy rage and boundless displeasure. For it +must be disgraceful on the day of reckoning to find the slave at liberty +and the master in bondage." + + +XVIII + +One year I was on a journey with some Syrians from Balkh, and the road +was infested with robbers. One of our escort was a youth expert at +wielding his shield and brandishing his spear, mighty as an elephant, +and cased in armor, so strong that ten of the most powerful of us could +not string his bow, or the ablest wrestler on the face of the earth +throw him on his back. Yet, as you must know, he had been brought up in +luxury and reared in a shade, was inexperienced of the world, and had +never travelled. The thunder of the great war-drum had never rattled in +his ears, nor had the lightning of the trooper's scimitar ever flashed +across his eyes:--He had never fallen a captive into the hands of an +enemy, nor been overwhelmed amidst a shower of their arrows. + +It happened that this young man and I kept running on together; and any +venerable ruin that might come in our way he would overthrow with the +strength of his shoulder; and any huge tree that we might see he would +wrench from its root with his lion-seizing wrist, and boastfully +cry:--"Where is the elephant, that he may behold the shoulder and arm of +warriors? Where the lion, that he may feel the wrist and grip of +heroes?" + +Such was our situation when two Hindus darted from behind a rock and +prepared to cut us off, one of them holding a bludgeon in his hand, and +the other having a mallet under his arm. I called to the young man, "Why +do you stop?--Display whatever strength and courage thou hast, for the +foe came on his own feet up to his grave":--I perceived that the youth's +bow and arrows had dropped from his hands, and that a tremor had fallen +upon his limbs:--It is not he that can split a hair with a coat-of-mail +cleaving arrow that is able to withstand an assault from the +formidable:--No alternative was left us but that of surrendering our +arms, accoutrements, and clothes, and escaping with our lives. On an +affair of importance employ a man experienced in business who can bring +the fierce lion within the noose of his halter; though the youth be +strong of arm and has the body of an elephant, in his encounter with a +foe every limb will quake with fear. A man of experience is best +qualified to explore a field of battle, as one of the learned is to +expound a point of law. + + +XIX + +I saw a rich man's son seated by his father's tomb, and in a disputation +with that of a dervish holding forth and saying: "My father's mausoleum +is built of granite, the epitaph inscribed with letters of gold, the +pavement and lining marble, and tessellated with slabs of turquoise; and +what is there left of your father's tomb but two or three bricks +cemented together with a few handfuls of mortar?" The poor man's son +heard this, and answered: "I pray you peace! for before your father can +stir himself under this heavy load of stone mine shall have risen up to +heaven!" And there is a tradition of the prophet, that _death to the +poor is a state of rest_. That ass proceeds all the lighter on his +journey on whom they load the lightest burden:--the poor dervish, who +suffers under a load of indigence, will in like sort enter the gates of +death with an easy burden; but with him who luxuriates in peace, plenty, +and affluence, it must be a real hardship to die amidst all these +comforts. At all events consider the prisoner, who is released from his +thraldom, as better off than the prince who is just fallen a captive. + + * * * * * + + +XXI + +I saw a certain person in the garb of dervishes, but not with their +meekness, seated in a company, and full of his abuse. Having opened the +volume of reproach, and begun to calumniate the rich, his discourse had +reached this place, stating: "The hand of the poor man's ability is tied +up, and the foot of the rich man's inclination crippled:--Men of +liberality have no command of money, nor have the opulent and +worldly-minded a spirit of liberality." + +Owing, as I am, my support to the bounty of the great, I considered this +animadversion as unmerited, and replied: "O my friend! the rich are the +treasury of the indigent, the granary of the hermit, the fane of the +pilgrim, resting-place of the traveller, and the carriers of heavy +burdens for the relief of their fellow-creatures. They put forth their +hand to eat when their servants and dependants are ready to partake with +them; and the bounteous fragments of their tables they distribute among +widows and the aged, their neighbors and kindred:--The rich have their +consecrated foundations, charitable endowments and rites of hospitality; +their alms, oblations, manumissions, peace-offerings, and sacrifices. +How shalt thou rise to this pomp of fortune who canst perform only these +two genuflexions, and them after manifold difficulties?--Whether it +respect their moral dignity or religious duty, the rich are at ease +within themselves; for their property is sanctified by giving tithes, +and their apparel hallowed by cleanliness, their reputations +unblemished, and minds content. The intelligent are aware that the zeal +of devotion is warmed by good fare, and the sincerity of piety rendered +more serene in a nicety of vesture; for it is evident what ardor there +can be in a hungry stomach; what generosity in squalid penury; what +ability of travelling with a bare foot; and what alacrity at bestowing +from an empty hand:--Uneasy must be the night-slumbers of him whose +provision for to-morrow is not forthcoming: the ant is laying by a store +in summer that she may enjoy an abundance in winter. It is clear that +indigence and tranquillity can never go together, nor have fruition and +want the same aspect: the one had composed himself for prayer, and the +other sat anxious, and thinking on his supper; how then could this ever +come in competition with that? The lord of plenty has his mind fixed on +God; when a man's fortune is bankrupt, so is his heart:--accordingly, +the devotion of the rich is more acceptable at the temple of God, +because their thoughts are present and collected, and their minds not +absent and distracted; for they have laid up the conveniences of good +living, and digested at their leisure their scriptural quotations (for +prayer). The Arabs say: '_God preserve us from overwhelming poverty; and +from the company of him whom he loves not, namely, the infidel_':--And +there is a tradition of the prophet--that '_poverty has a gloomy aspect +in this world and in the next_!'" + +My antagonist said: "Have you not heard what the blessed prophet has +declared?--'_poverty is my glory!_'" I replied: "Be silent, for the +allusion of the Lord of both worlds applies to such as are heroes in the +field of resignation, and the devoted victims of their fate, and not to +those who put on the garb of piety, that they may entitle themselves to +the bread of charity. O noisy drum! thou art nothing but an empty sound; +unprovided with the means, what canst thou effect on the last day of +account? If thou art a man of spirit, turn thy face away from begging +charity from thy fellow-creature; and keep not repeating thy rosary of a +thousand beads. Being without divine knowledge, a dervish, or poor man, +rests not till his poverty settles into infidelity; for _he that is poor +is well-nigh being an infidel_:--nor is it practicable, unless through +the agency of wealth, to clothe the naked, and to liberate the prisoner +from jail: how then can such mendicants as we are aspire to their +dignity; or what comparison is there between the arm of the lofty and +the hand of the abject? Do you not perceive that the glorious and great +God announces, in the holy book of the Koran, xxviii, the enjoyments of +the blessed in Paradise?--that '_to this community, namely, the orthodox +Mussulmans, a provision is allotted_';--in order that you may +understand that such as are solely occupied in looking after their daily +subsistence are excluded from this portion of the blessed; and that the +property of present enjoyment is sanctioned under the seal of +Providence:--to the thirsty it will seem in their dreams as if the face +of the earth were wholly a fountain. You may everywhere observe that, +instigated by his appetites, a person who has suffered hardship and +tasted bitterness will engage in dangerous enterprises; and, indifferent +to the consequences, and unawed by future punishments, he will not +discriminate between what is lawful and what is forbid:--Should a clod +of earth be thrown at the head of a dog, he would jump up in joy, and +take it for a bone; or were two people carrying a corpse on a bier, a +greedy man would fancy it a tray of victuals. Whereas the worldly +opulent are regarded with the benevolent eye of Providence, and in their +enjoyments of what is lawful are preserved from things illegal. Having +thus detailed my arguments and adduced my proofs, I rely on your justice +for an equitable decree; whether you ever saw a felon with his arms +pinioned; a bankrupt immured in a jail; the veil of innocency rent, or +the arm mutilated for theft, unless in consequence of poverty: for +lion-like heroes, instigated by want, have been caught undermining +walls, and breaking into houses, and have got themselves suspended by +the heels. It is, moreover, possible that a poor man, urged to it by an +inordinate appetite, may feel desirous of gratifying his lust; and he +may fall the victim of some accursed sin. And of the manifold means of +mental tranquillity and corporeal enjoyment which are the special lots +of the opulent, one is that every night they can command a fresh +mistress, and every day possess a new charmer, such as must excite the +envy of the glorious dawn, and stick the foot of the stately cypress in +the mire of shame:--'She had dipped her hands in the blood of her +lovers, and tinged the tips of her fingers with jujubes':--so that it +were impossible, with such lovely objects before their eyes, for them to +desire what is forbidden or to wish to commit sin:--Why should such a +heart as the houris, or nymphs of Paradise, have captivated and +plundered, show any way partial to the idols of Yaghma (a city in +Turkestan famous for its beauties)?--_He who has in both his hands such +dates as he can relish, will not think of throwing stones at the bunches +of dates on their trees_. In common, such as are in indigent +circumstances will contaminate the skirt of innocency with sin; and such +as are suffering from hunger will steal bread:--When a ravenous dog has +found a piece of meat, he asks not, saying: Is this the flesh of the +prophet Salah's camel or Antichrist's ass? Many are the chaste who, +because of their poverty, have fallen into the sink of wickedness, and +given their fair reputations to the blast of infamy:--The virtue of +temperance remains not with a state of being famished; and bankrupt +circumstances will snatch the rein from the hand of abstemiousness." + +The moment I had finished this speech, the dervish, my antagonist, let +the rein of forbearance drop from the hand of moderation; unsheathed the +sabre of his tongue; set the steed of eloquence at full speed over the +plain of arrogance; and, galloping up to me, said: "You have so +exaggerated in their praise, and amplified with such extravagance, that +we might fancy them an antidote to the poison of poverty and a key to +the store-house of Providence; yet they are a proud, self-conceited, +fastidious, and overbearing set, insatiate after wealth and property, +and ambitious of rank and dignity; who exchange not a word but to +express insolence, or deign a look but to show contempt. Men of science +they call beggars, and the indigent they reproach for their wretched +raggedness. Proud of the property they possess, and vain of the rank +they claim, they take the upper hand of all, and deem themselves +everybody's superior. Nor do they ever condescend to return any person's +salutation, unmindful of the maxim of the wise: That whoever is inferior +to others in humility, and is their superior in opulence, though in +appearance he be rich, yet in reality he is a beggar:--If a worthless +fellow, because of his wealth, treats a learned man with insolence, +reckon him an ass, although he be the ambergris ox." + +I replied: "Do not calumniate the rich, for they are the lords of +munificence." He said: "You mistake them, for they are the slaves of +dinars and dirams, or their gold and silver coins. For example, what +profits it though they be the clouds of the spring, if they may not send +us rain; or the fountain of the sun, and shine upon no one; or though +they be mounted on the steed of capability, and advance not towards +anybody? They will not move a step for the sake of God, nor bestow their +charity without laying you under obligation and thanks. They hoard +their money with solicitude, watch it while they live with sordid +meanness, and leave it behind them with deadening regret, verifying the +saying of the wise: 'That the money of the miser is coming out of the +earth when he is himself going into it:'--One man hoards a treasure with +pain and tribulation, another comes and spends it without tribulation or +pain." + +I replied: "You could have ascertained the parsimony of the wealthy only +through the medium of your own beggary; otherwise to him who lays +covetousness aside the generous man and miser seem all one. The +touchstone can prove which is pure gold, and the beggar can say which is +the niggard." He said: "I speak of them from experience; for they +station dependants by their doors, and plant surly porters at their +gates, to deny admittance to the worthy, and to lay violent hands upon +the collars of the elect, and say: 'There is nobody at home'; and verily +they tell what is true:--When the master has not reason or judgment, +understanding or discernment, the porter reported right of him, saying: +'There is nobody in the house.'" + +I replied: "They are excusable, inasmuch as they are worried out of +their lives by importunate memorialists, and jaded to their hearts by +indigent solicitors; and it might be reasonably doubted whether it would +satisfy the eye of the covetous if the sands of the desert could be +turned into pearls:--The eye of the greedy is not to be filled with +worldly riches, any more than a well can be replenished from the dew of +night. And had Hatim Tayi, who dwelt in the desert, come to live in a +city, he would have been overwhelmed with the importunities of +mendicants, and they would have torn the clothes from his back:--Look +not towards me, lest thou should draw the eyes of others, for at the +mendicant's hand no good can be expected." + +He said: "I pity their condition." I replied: "Not so; but you envy them +their property." We were thus warm in argument, and both of us close +engaged. Whatever chess pawn he might advance I would set one in +opposition to it; and whenever he put my king in check, I would relieve +him with my queen; till he had exhausted all the coin in the purse of +his resolution, and expended all the arrows of the quiver of his +argument. "Take heed and retreat not from the orator's attack, for +nothing is left him but metaphor and hyperbole. Wield thy polemics and +law citations, for the wordy rhetorician made a show of arms over his +gate, but has not a soldier within his fort":--At length, having no +syllogism left, I made him crouch in mental submission. He stretched +forth the arm of violence, and began with vain abuse. As is the case +with the ignorant, when beaten by their antagonist in fair argument, +they shake the chain of rancor; like Azor, the idol-maker, when he could +no longer contend with his son Abraham in words he fell upon him with +blows, as God has said in the Koran--"_If thou wilt not yield this +point, I will overwhelm thee with stones_:"--He gave me abuse, and I +retorted upon him with asperity; he tore my collar, and I plucked his +beard:--He had fallen upon me and I upon him, and a crowd had gathered +round us enjoying the sport. A whole world gnawed the finger of +astonishment when it heard and understood what had taken place between +us. + +In short, we referred our dispute to the cazi, and agreed to abide by +his equitable decree: That the judge of the Mussulmans, or faithful, +might bring about a peace, and discriminate for us between the poor and +rich. After having noted our physiognomies, and listened to our +statements, the cazi rested his chin on the breast of deliberation; and, +after due consideration, raised it, and said: "Be it known to you, who +were lavish in your praise of the rich, and spoke disparagingly of the +poor, that there is no rose without its thorn; intoxication from wine is +followed by a qualm; hidden treasure has its guardian dragon; where the +imperial pearl is found, there swims the man-devouring shark; the honey +of worldly enjoyment has the sting of death in its rear; and between us +and the felicity of Paradise stands a frightful demon, namely, Satan. So +long as the charmer slew not her admirer, what could the rival's malice +avail him? The rose and thorn, the treasure and dragon, joy and sorrow, +all mingle into one.--Do you not observe that in the garden there are +the sweet-scented willows and the withered trunks; so among the classes +of the rich some are grateful and some thankless; and among the orders +of the poor some are resigned and some impatient:--Were every drop of +dew to turn into a pearl, in the market pearls would be as common as +shells. Near by the throne of a great and glorious Judge are the rich +meek in spirit, and the poor rich in resolution. And the chief of the +opulent is he who sympathizes with the sorrows of the indigent; and the +most virtuous of the indigent is he who covets not the society of the +opulent:--_God is all-sufficient for him who trusts in God_." + +Then the cazi turned the face of animadversion from me towards the +dervish, and said: "O you who have charged the rich with being active in +sin, and intoxicated with things forbidden, verily there is such a tribe +as you have described them, illiberal in their bigotry, and stingy of +God's bounty; who are collecting and hoarding money, but will neither +use nor bestow it. If, for example, there was a drought, or if the whole +earth was deluged with a flood, confident of their own abundance, they +would not inquire after the poor man's distress, and, fearless of the +divine wrath, exclaim:--If, in his want of everything, another person be +annihilated, I have plenty; and what does a goose care for a deluge? +_Such as are lolling in their litters, and indulging in the easy pace of +a female camel, feel not for the foot-traveller perishing amidst +overwhelming sands:_--The mean-spirited, when they could escape with +their own rugs, would cry: 'What care we should the whole world die.' + +"Such as you have stated them, there is a tribe of rich men; but there +is another class, who, having spread the table of abundance, and made a +public declaration of their munificence, and smoothed the brow of their +humility, are solicitous of a reputation and forgiveness, and desirous +of enjoying this world and the next; like unto the servants of his +Majesty the sovereign of the universe, just, confirmed, victorious, lord +paramount and conqueror of nations, defender of the stronghold of +Islamism, successor of Solomon, most equitable of contemporary kings. +Mozuffar-ud-din Atabak-Abubakr-Saad, may God give him a long life, and +grant victory to his standards!--A father could never show such +benevolence to his son as thy liberal hand has bestowed upon the race of +Adam. The Deity was desirous of conferring a kindness upon man, and in +his special mercy made thee sovereign of the world." + +Now that the cazi had carried his harangue to this extreme, and had +galloped the steed of metaphor beyond our expectation, we of necessity +acquiesced in the absolute decree of being satisfied, and apologized for +what had passed between us; and after altercation we returned into the +path of reconciliation, laid the heads of reparation at each other's +feet, mutually kissed and embraced, and, letting mischief fall asleep, +and war lull itself into peace, concluded the whole in these two +verses:--"O poor man! complain not of the revolutions of fortune, for +gloomy might be thy lot wert thou to die in such sentiments. And now, O +rich man! that thy hand and heart administer to thy pleasures, spend and +give away, that thou may'st enjoy this world and the next." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Of the Duties of Society + + +I + +Riches are intended for the comfort of life, and not life for the +purpose of hoarding riches. I asked a wise man, saying: "Who is the +fortunate man, and who is the unfortunate?" He said: "That man was +fortunate who spent and gave away, and that man unfortunate who died and +left behind:--Pray not for that good-for-nothing man who did nothing, +for he passed his life in hoarding riches, and did not spend them." + + +II + +The prophet Moses, on whom be peace, _admonished Carum, saying: "Be +bounteous in like manner as God has been bounteous to thee_":--but he +listened not, and you have heard the end of him. Whoever did not an act +of charity with his silver and gold, sacrificed his future prospects on +his hoard of gold and silver. If desirous that thou shouldst benefit by +the wealth of this world, be generous with thy fellow-creature, as God +has been generous with thee. + +The Arabs say:--"_Show thy generosity, but make it not obligatory, that +the benefit of it may redound to thee_":--that is, bestow and make +presents, but do not exact an obligation that the profit of that act may +be returned to you. Wherever the tree of generosity strikes root it +sends forth its boughs, and they shoot above the skies. If thou +cherishest a hope of enjoying its fruit, by gratitude I entreat of thee +not to lay a saw upon its trunk. Render thanks to God, that thou wert +found worthy of his divine grace, that he has not excluded thee from the +riches of his bounty. Esteem it no obligation that thou art serving the +king, but show thy gratitude to him, namely God, who has placed thee in +this service. + + +III + +Two persons labored to a vain, and studied to an unprofitable end: he +who hoarded wealth and did not spend it, and he who acquired science and +did not practise it:--However much thou art read in theory, if thou hast +no practice thou art ignorant. He is neither a sage philosopher nor an +acute divine, but a beast of burden with a load of books. How can that +brainless head know or comprehend whether he carries on his back a +library or bundle of fagots? + + +IV + +Learning is intended to fortify religious practice, and not to gratify +worldly traffic:--Whoever prostituted his temperance, piety, and +science, gathered his harvest into a heap and set fire to it. + + +V + +An intemperate man of learning is like a blind link-boy:--_He shows the +road to others, but sees it not himself_:--whoever ventured his life on +an unproductive hazard gained nothing by the risk, and lost his own +stake. + + +VI + +A kingdom is embellished by the wise, and religion rendered illustrious +by the pious. Kings stand more in need of the company of the intelligent +than the intelligent do of the society of kings:--If, O king! thou wilt +listen to my advice, in all thy archives thou canst not find a wiser +maxim than this: entrust thy concerns only to the learned, +notwithstanding business is not a learned man's concern. + + +VII + +Three things have no durability without their concomitants: property +without trade, knowledge without debate, or a sovereignty without +government. + + +VIII + +To compassionate the wicked is to tyrannize over the good; and to pardon +the oppressor is to deal harshly with the oppressed:--When thou +patronizest and succorest the base-born man, he looks to be made the +partner of thy fortune. + + +IX + +No reliance can be placed on the friendship of kings, nor vain hope put +in the melodious voice of boys; for that passes away like a vision, and +this vanishes like a dream:--Bestow not thy affections upon a mistress +who has a thousand lovers; or, if thou bestowest them upon her, be +prepared for a separation. + + +X + +Reveal not every secret you have to a friend, for how can you tell but +that friend may hereafter become an enemy? And bring not all the +mischief you are able to do upon an enemy, for he may one day become +your friend. And any private affair that you wish to keep secret, do not +divulge to anybody; for, though such a person has your confidence, none +can be so true to your secret as yourself:--Silence is safer than to +communicate the thought of thy mind to anybody, and to warn him, saying: +Do not divulge it, O silly man! confine the water at the dam-head, for +once it has a vent thou canst not stop it. Thou shouldst not utter a +word in secret which thou wouldst not have spoken in the face of the +public. + + +XI + +A reduced foe, who offers his submission and courts your amity, can only +have in view to become a strong enemy, as they have said: "You cannot +trust the sincerity of friends, then what are you to expect from the +cajoling of foes?" Whoever despises a weak enemy resembles him who +neglects a spark of fire:--To-day that thou canst quench it, put it +out; for let fire rise into a flame, and it may consume a whole world. +Now that thou canst transfix him with thy arrow, permit not thy +antagonist to string his bow. + + +XIII + +Whoever is making a league with their enemies has it in his mind to do +his friends an ill turn:--"O wise man! wash thy hands of that friend who +is in confederacy with thy foes." + + +XIV + +When irresolute in the despatch of business, incline to that side which +is the least offensive:--Answer not with harshness a mild-spoken man, +nor force him into war who knocks at the gate of peace. + + +XV + +So long as money can answer, it were wrong in any business to put the +life in danger:--as the Arabs say:--"_let the sword decide after +stratagem has failed_":--When the hand is balked in every crafty +endeavor, it is lawful to lay it upon the hilt of the sabre. + + +XVI + +Show no mercy to a subdued foe, for if he recover himself he will show +you no mercy:--When thou seest thy antagonist in a reduced state, curl +not thy whiskers at him in contempt, for in every bone there is marrow, +and within every jacket there is a man. + + +XVII + +Whoever puts a wicked man to death delivers mankind from his mischief, +and the wretch himself from God's vengeance:--Beneficence is +praiseworthy; yet thou shouldst not administer a balsam to the wound of +the wicked. Knew he not who took compassion on a snake, that it is the +pest of the sons of Adam. + + +XVIII + +It is wrong to follow the advice of an adversary; nevertheless it is +right to hear it, that you may do the contrary; and this is the essence +of good policy:--Sedulously shun whatever thy foe may recommend, +otherwise thou may'st wring the hands of repentance on thy knees. Should +he show thee to the right a path straight as an arrow, turn aside from +that, and take the path to the left. + + * * * * * + + +XX + +Two orders of mankind are the enemies of church and state: the king +without clemency, and the holy man without learning:--Let not that +prince have rule over the state who is not himself obedient to the will +of God. + + +XXI + +It behooves a king so to regulate his anger towards his enemies as not +to alarm the confidence of his friends; for the fire of passion falls +first on the angry man; afterwards its sparks will dart forth towards +the foe, and him they may reach, or they may not. It ill becomes the +children of Adam, formed of dust, to harbor in their head such pride, +arrogance, and passion. I cannot fancy all this thy warmth and obstinacy +to be created from earth, but from fire. I went to a holy man in the +land of Bailcan, and said: "Cleanse me of ignorance by thy instruction?" +He replied: "O fakir, or theologician! go and bear things patiently like +the earth; or whatever thou hast read let it all be buried under the +earth." + + +XXII + +An evil-disposed man is a captive in the hands of an enemy (namely, +himself); for wherever he may go he cannot escape from the grasp of that +enemy's vengeance:--Let a wicked man ascend up to heaven, that he may +escape from the grasp of calamity; even thither would the hand of his +own evil heart follow him with misfortune. + + +XXIII + +When you see discord raging among the troops of your enemy, be on your +side quiet; but if you see them united, think of your own dispersed +state:--When thou beholdest war among thy foes, go and enjoy peace with +thy friends; but if thou findest them of one soul and mind, string thy +bow, and range stones around thy battlements. + + * * * * * + + +XXVI + +Keep to yourself any intelligence that may prove unpleasant, till some +person else has disclosed it:--Bring, O nightingale! the glad tidings of +the spring, and leave to the owl to be the harbinger of evil. + + * * * * * + + +XXVIII + +Whoever is counselling a self-sufficient man stands himself in need of a +counsellor. + + +XXIX + +Swallow not the wheedling of a rival, nor pay for the sycophancy of a +parasite; for that has laid the snare of treachery, and this whetted the +palate of gluttony. The fool is puffed up with his own praise, like a +dead body, which on being stretched upon a bier shows a momentary +corpulency:--Take heed and listen not to the sycophant's blandishments, +who expects in return some small compensation; for shouldst thou any day +disappoint his object he would in like style sum up two hundred of thy +defects. + + +XXX + +Till some person may show its defects, the speech of the orator will +fail of correctness:--Be not vain of the eloquence of thy discourse +because it has the fool's good opinion, and thine own approbation. + + +XXXI + +Every person thinks his own intellect perfect, and his own child +handsome:--A Mussulman and a Jew were warm in argument to such a degree +that I smiled at their subject. The Mussulman said in wrath: "If this +deed of conveyance be not authentic may I, O God, die a Jew!" The Jew +replied: "On the Pentateuch I swear, if what I say be false, I am a +Mussulman like you!" Were intellect to be annihilated from the face of +the earth, nobody could be brought to say: "I am ignorant." + + +XXXII + +Ten people will partake of the same joint of meat, and two dogs will +snarl over a whole carcase. The greedy man is incontinent with a whole +world set before him; the temperate man is content with his crust of +bread:--A loaf of brown bread may fill an empty stomach, but the produce +of the whole globe cannot satisfy a greedy eye:--My father, when the sun +of his life was going down, gave me this sage advice, and it set for +good, saying: "Lust is a fire; refrain from indulging it, and do not +involve thyself in the flames of hell. Since thou hast not the strength +of burning in those flames (as a punishment in the next world), pour in +this world the water of continence upon this fire--namely, lust." + + +XXXIII + +Whoever does not do good, when he has the means of doing it, will suffer +hardship when he has not the means:--None is more unlucky than the +misanthrope, for on the day of adversity he has not a single friend. + + +XXXIV + +Life stands on the verge of a single breath; and this world is an +existence between two nonentities. Such as truck their deen, or +religious practice, for worldly pelf are asses. They sold Joseph, and +what got they by their bargain?--"_Did I not covenant with you, O ye +sons of Adam, that you should not serve Satan; for verily he is your +avowed enemy_":--By the advice of a foe you broke your faith with a +friend; behold from whom you separated, and with whom you united +yourselves. + + * * * * * + + +XXXVI + +Whatever is produced in haste goes hastily to waste:--I have heard that, +after a process of forty years, they convert the clay of the East into a +China porcelain cup. At Bagdad they can make an hundred cups in a day, +and thou may'st of course conceive their respective value. A chicken +walks forth from its shell, and goes in quest of its food; the young of +man possesses not that instinct of prudence and discrimination. That +which was at once something comes to nothing; and this surpasses all +creatures in dignity and wisdom. A piece of crystal or glass is found +everywhere, and held of no value; a ruby is obtained with difficulty, +and therefore inestimable. + + +XXXVII + +Patience accomplishes its object, while hurry speeds to its ruin:--With +my own eyes I saw in the desert that the deliberate man outstripped him +that had hurried on. The wing-footed steed is broken down in his speed, +whilst the camel-driver jogs on with his beast to the end of his +journey. + + +XXXVIII + +Nothing is so good for an ignorant man as silence, and if he knew this +he would no longer be ignorant:--When unadorned with the grace of +eloquence it is wise to keep watch over the tongue in the mouth. The +tongue, by abuse, renders a man contemptible; levity in a nut is a sign +of its being empty. A fool was undertaking the instruction of an ass, +and had devoted his whole time to this occupation. A wise man said to +him: "What art thou endeavoring to do? In this vain attempt dread the +reproof of the censorious! A brute can never learn speech from thee; do +thou learn silence from him." That man who reflects not before he speaks +will only make all the more improper answer. Either like a man arrange +thy speech with judgment, or like a brute sit silent. + + +XXXIX + +Whoever shall argue with one more learned than himself that others may +take him for a wise man, only confirms them in his being a fool:--"When +a person superior to what thou art engages thee in conversation do not +contradict him, though thou may'st know better." + + +XL + +He can see no good who will associate with the wicked:--Were an angel +from heaven to associate with a demon, he would learn his brutality, +perfidy, and hypocrisy. Virtue thou never canst learn of the vicious; it +is not the wolf's occupation to mend skins, but to tear them. + + +XLI + +Expose not the secret failings of mankind, otherwise you must verily +bring scandal upon them and distrust upon yourself. + + +XLII + +Whoever acquires knowledge and does not practise it resembles him who +ploughs his land and leaves it unsown. + + * * * * * + + +XLVI + +It is not every man that has a handsome physical exterior that has a +good moral character; for the faculty of business or virtue resides in +the heart and not in the skin. Thou canst in one day ascertain the +intellectual faculties of a man, and what proficiency he has made in his +degrees of knowledge; but be not secure of his mind, nor foolishly sure, +for it may take years to detect the innate baseness of the heart. + + +XLVII + +Whoever contends with the great sheds his own blood:--Thou contemplatest +thyself as a mighty great man; and they have truly remarked that the +squinter sees double. Thou who canst in play butt with a ram must soon +find thyself with a broken pate. + + +XLVIII + +To grapple with a lion, or to box against a naked scimitar, are not the +acts of the prudent:--Brave not the furious with war and opposition +before their arms of strength cross thy hands of submission. + + +XLIX + +A weak man who tries his courage against the strong leagues with the foe +to his own destruction:--Nurtured in a shade, what strength can he have +that he should engage with the warlike in battle; impotent of arm, he +was falling the victim of folly when he set his wrist in opposition to a +wrist of iron. + + +L + +Whoever will not listen to admonition harbors the fancy of hearing +reprehension:--When advice gains not an admission into the ear, if I +give thee reproof, hear it in silence. + + +LI + +The idle cannot endure the industrious any more than the curs of the +market-place, who, on meeting dogs employed for sporting, will snarl at +and prevent them passing. + + +LII + +A mean wretch that cannot vie with another in virtue will assail him +with malignity:--The narrow-minded envier will somehow manage to revile +thee, who in thy presence might have the tongue of his utterance struck +dumb. + + * * * * * + + +LV + +To hold counsel with women is bad, and to deal generously +with prodigals a fault:--Showing mercy upon the sharp-fanged +pard must prove an injustice to the harmless sheep. + + +LVI + +Whoever has his foe at his mercy, and does not kill him, is his own +enemy:--With a stone in his hand, and the snake's head convenient, a +wise man hesitates not in crushing it. + +Certain people have seen this maxim in an opposite point of view, +saying: "It were wiser to delay the execution of captives, inasmuch as +the option is left so that you can slay, or you can release them; but if +you shall have heedlessly put them to death, the policy is defunct, for +the opportunity of repairing it is lost":--There is no great difficulty +to separate the soul from the body, but it is not so easy to restore +life to the dead: prudence dictates patience in giving the arrow flight, +for let it quit the bow and it never can be recalled. + + +LVII + +A learned man who has got into an argument with the ignorant can have no +hopes of supporting his own dignity; and if an ignoramus by his +loquacity gets the upper hand it should not surprise us, for he is a +stone and can bruise a gem:--No wonder if his spirit flag; the +nightingale is cooped up in the same cage with the crow:--If the man of +sense is coarsely treated by the vulgar, let it not excite our wrath and +indignation; if a piece of worthless stone can bruise a cup of gold, its +worth is not increased, nor that of the gold diminished. + + * * * * * + + +LX + +Genius without education is the subject of our regret, and education +without genius is labor lost. Although embers have a lofty origin (fire +being of a noble nature), yet, as having no intrinsic worth, they fall +upon a level with common dust; on the other hand, sugar does not derive +its value from the cane, but from its own innate quality:--Inasmuch as +the disposition of Canaan was bad, his descent from the prophet Noah +stood him in no stead. Pride thyself on what virtue thou hast, and not +on thy parentage; the rose springs from a thorn-bush, and Abraham from +Azor (neither his father's name, or fire). + + +LXI + +That is musk which discloses itself by its smell, and not what the +perfumers impose upon us:--If a man be expert in any art he needs not +tell it, for his own skill will show it. + + +LXII + +A wise man is, like a vase in a druggist's shop, silent, but full of +virtues; and the ignorant man resembles the drum of the warrior, being +full of noise, and an empty babbler:--The sincerely devout have remarked +that a learned man beset by the illiterate is like one of the lovely in +a circle of the blind, or the holy Koran in the dwelling of the infidel. + + +LXIII + +A friend whom they take an age to conciliate, it were wrong all at once +to alienate:--In a series of years a stone changes into a ruby; take +heed, and destroy it not at once by dashing it against another stone. + + +LXIV + +Reason is in like manner enthralled by passion, as an uxorious man is in +the hands of an artful woman. Thou may'st shut the door of joy upon that +dwelling where thou hearest resounding the scolding voice of a woman. + + +LXV + +Intellect, without firmness, is craft and chicanery; and firmness, +without intellect, perverseness and obstinacy:--First, prudence, good +sense, and discrimination, and then dominion; for the dominion and good +fortune of the ignorant are the armor of rebellion against God. + + +LXVI + +The sinner who spends and gives away is better than the devotee who begs +and lays by. + + +LXVII + +Whoever foregoes carnal indulgence in order to get the good opinion of +mankind, has forsaken a lawful passion and involved himself in what is +forbidden:--What, wretched creature! can that hermit see in his own +tarnished mirror, or heart, who retires to a cell, but not for the sake +of God? + + +LXIX + +A wise man should not through clemency overlook the insolence of the +vulgar, otherwise both sustain a loss, for their respect for him is +lessened and their own brutality confirmed:--When thou addressest the +low with urbanity and kindness, it only adds to their pride and +arrogance. + + * * * * * + + +LXXIV + +In a season of drought and scarcity ask not the distressed dervish, +saying: "How are you?" Unless on the condition that you apply a balm to +his wound, and supply him with the means of subsistence:--The ass which +thou seest stuck in the slough with his rider, compassionate from thy +heart, otherwise do not go near him. Now that thou went and asked him +how he fell, like a sturdy fellow bind up thy loins, and take his ass by +the tail. + + +LXXV + +Two things are repugnant to reason: to expend more than what Providence +has allotted for us, and to die before our ordained time:--Whether +offered up in gratitude, or uttered in complaint, destiny cannot be +altered by a thousand sighs and lamentations. The angel who presides +over the store-house of the winds feels no compunction, though he +extinguish the old woman's lamp. + + +LXXVI + +O you that are going in quest of food, sit down, that you may have to +eat. And, O you that death is in quest of, go not on, for you cannot +carry life along with you:--In search of thy daily bread, whether thou +exertest thyself, or whether thou dost not, the God of Majesty and Glory +will equally provide it. Wert thou to walk into the mouth of a tiger or +lion, he could not devour thee, unless by the ordinance of thy destiny. + + +LXXVII + +Whatever was not designed, the hand cannot reach; and whatever was +ordained, it can attain in any situation:--Thou hast heard that +Alexander got as far as chaos; but after all this toil he drank not the +water of immortality. + + +LXXVIII + +The fisherman, unless it be his lot, catches no fish in the Tigris; and +the fish, unless it be its fate, does not die on the dry land:--The +wretched miser is prowling all over the world, he in quest of pelf, and +death in quest of him. + + * * * * * + + +LXXXI + +The envious man is niggard of the gifts of Providence, and an enemy of +the innocent:--I met a dry-brained fellow of this sort, tricked forth in +the robe of a dignified person. I said: "O sir! if thou art unfortunate +in having this disposition, in what have the fortunate been to +blame?--Take heed, and wish not misfortune to the misanthrope, for his +own ill-conditioned lot is calamity sufficient. What need is there of +showing ill-will to him, who has such an enemy close at his heels." + + +LXXXII + +A scholar without diligence is a lover without money; a traveller +without knowledge is a bird without wings; a theorist without practice +is a tree without fruit; and a devotee without learning is a house +without an entrance. + + +LXXXIII + +The object of sending the Koran down from heaven was that mankind might +make it a manual of morals, and not that they should recite it by +sections. + + +LXXXIV + +The sincere publican has proceeded on foot; the slothful Pharisee is +mounted and gone asleep. + + +LXXXV + +The sinner who humbles himself in prayer is more acceptable than the +devotee who is puffed up with pride:--The courteous and kind-hearted +soldier of fortune is better than the misanthropic and learned divine. + + +LXXXVI + +A learned man without works is a bee without honey:--Tell that harsh and +ungenerous hornet: As thou yieldest no honey, wound not with thy sting. + + * * * * * + + +LXXXIX + +Though a dress presented by the sovereign be honorable, yet is our own +tattered garment preferable; and though the viands at a great man's +table be delicate, yet is our own homely fare more sweet:--A salad and +vinegar, the produce of our own industry, are sweeter than the lamb and +bread sauce at the table of our village chief. + + +XC + +It is contrary to sound judgment, and repugnant to the maxims of the +prudent, to take a medicine on conjecture, or to follow a road but in +the track of the caravan. + + +XCI + +They asked Imaam Mursheed Mohammed-bin-Mohammed Ghazali, on whom be +God's mercy, how he had reached such a pitch of knowledge. He replied: +"Whatever I was ignorant of myself, I felt no shame in asking of +others":--Thy prospect of health conforms with reason, when thy pulse is +in charge of a skilled physician. Ask whatever thou knowest not; for the +condescension of inquiring is a guide on thy road in the excellence of +learning. + + +XCII + +Anything you foresee that you may somehow come to know, be not hasty in +questioning, lest your consequence and respectability may suffer:--When +Lucman perceived that in the hands of David iron was miraculously +moulded like wax, he asked him not, How didst thou do it? for he was +aware that he should know it, through his own wisdom, without asking. + + +XCIII + +It is one of the laws of good breeding that you should forego an +engagement, or accommodate yourself to the master of the +entertainment:--If thou knowest that the inclination is reciprocal, +accommodate thy story to the temper of the hearer. Any discreet man that +was in Mujnun's company would entertain him only with encomiums on +Laila. + + * * * * * + + +XCVI + +Whoever interrupts the conversation of others to make a display of his +fund of knowledge makes notorious his own stock of ignorance. +Philosophers have said:--A prudent man will not obtrude his answer till +he has the question stated to him in form. Notwithstanding the +proposition may have its right demonstration, the cavil of the +fastidious will construe it wrong. + + * * * * * + + +XCVIII + +To tell a falsehood is like the cut of a sabre; for though the wound may +heal, the scar of it will remain. In like manner as the brothers of the +blessed Joseph, who, being notorious for a lie, had no credit afterwards +when they spoke the truth:--God on high has said--Jacob is supposed to +speak--(Koran xii. Sale ii. 35):--"_Nay, but rather ye have contrived +this to gratify your own passion; yet it behooves me to be +patient_":--If a man who is in the habit of speaking truth lets a +mistake escape him, we can overlook it; but if he be notorious for +uttering falsehoods, and tell a truth, thou wilt call it a lie. + + +XCIX + +The noblest of creatures is man, and the vilest of animals is no doubt a +dog; yet, in the concurring opinion of the wise, a dog, thankful for his +food, is more worthy than a human being who is void of gratitude:--A dog +will never forget the crumb thou gavest him, though thou may'st +afterwards throw a hundred stones at his head; but foster with thy +kindness a low man for an age, and on the smallest provocation he will +be up against thee in arms. + + * * * * * + + +CI + +It is written in the Injeel, or Gospel, stating: "O son of man, if I +bestow riches upon you, you will be more intent upon your property than +upon me, and if I leave you in poverty you will sit down dejected; how +then can you feel a relish to praise, or a zeal to worship +me?"--(Proverbs xxx. 7, 8, 9.) In the day of plenty thou art proud and +negligent; in the time of want, full of sorrow and dejected; since in +prosperity and adversity such is thy condition, it were difficult to +state when thou wouldst voluntarily do thy duty. + + +CII + +The pleasure of Him, or God, who has no equal hurls one man from a +throne of sovereignty, and another he preserves in a fish's +belly:--Happy proceeds his time who is enraptured with thy praise, +though, like Jonah, he even may pass it in the belly of a fish! + + +CIII + +Were the Almighty to unsheath the sword of his wrath, prophets and +patriarchs would draw in their heads; and were he to deign a glimpse of +his benevolence, it would reach the wicked along with the good:--Were he +on the day of judgment to call us to a strict account, even the prophets +would have no room for excuse. Say, withdraw the veil from the face of +thy compassion, that sinners may entertain hopes of pardon. + + +CIV + +Whoever is not to be brought into the path of righteousness by the +punishments of this life shall be overtaken with the punishments of that +to come:--"_Verily, I will cause them to taste the lesser punishment +over and above the greater punishment":_--(Koran xxxii. Sale ii. 258.) +Princes, in chastising, admonish, and then confine; when they admonish, +and thou listenest not, they throw thee into prison. + + +CV + +Men of auspicious fortune would rather take warning from the precepts +and examples of their predecessors than that the rising generation +should take warning from their acts:--The bird will not approach the +grain that is spread about, where it sees another bird a captive in the +snare. Take warning by the mischance of others, that others may not take +warning by thine. + + +CVI + +How can he help himself who was born deaf, if he cannot hear; and what +can he do whose thread of fortune is dragging him on that he may not +proceed:--The dark night of such as are beloved of God is serene and +light as the bright day; but this good fortune results not from thine +own strength of arm, till God in his mercy deign to bestow it. To whom +shall I complain of thee? for there is no judge else, nor is any arm +mightier than thine. Him whom thou directest none can lead astray, and +him whom thou bewilderest none can direct upon his way. + + +CVII + +The beggar whose end is good is better off than the king whose end is +evil:--That sorrow which is the harbinger of joy is preferable to the +joy which is followed by sorrow. + + +CVIII + +The sky enriches the earth with rain, and the earth gives it dust in +return. As the Arabs say: "_What the vessels have, that they give_."--If +my moral character strike thee as improper, do not renounce thine own +good character. + + +CIX + +The Most High God discerns and hides what is improper; my neighbor sees +not, and is loud in his clamor:--God preserve us! if man knew what is +hidden, none could be safe from the animadversion of his neighbor. + + +CX + +Gold is got from the mine by digging into the earth; and from the grasp +of the miser by taking away his life:--Misers spend not, but watch with +solicitude: expectation, they say, is preferable to waste. Next day +observe to the joy of their enemies, the gold remains, and they are dead +without the enjoyment of that hope. + + +CXI + +Such as deal hard with the weak will suffer from the extortion of the +strong:--It is not every arm in which there is strength that can wrench +the hand of a weak man. Bring not affliction upon the hearts of the +feeble, lest thou may'st fall under the lash of the strong. + + +CXII + +A wise man, where he meets opposition, labors to get through it, and +where he finds quiet he drops his anchor, for there safety is on one +side, and here enjoyment in the middle of it. + + +CXIII + +The gamester wants three sixes, but he throws only three aces:--The +pasture meadow is a thousand times richer than the common, but the horse +has not his tether at command. + + +CXIV + +The dervish in his prayer is saying: "O God, have compassion on the +wicked, for to the good thou hast been abundantly kind, inasmuch as thou +hast made them virtuous." + + +CXV + +Jemshid was the first person who put an edging round his garment, and a +ring upon his finger. They asked him: "Why did you bestow all the +decoration and ornament on the left hand, whilst the right is the +superior?" He answered: "Sufficient for the right is the ornament of +being right." Feridn commanded the gilders of China that they would +inscribe upon the front of his palace: "Strive, O wise man, to make the +wicked good, for the good are of themselves great and fortunate." + + +CXVI + +They said to a great and holy man: "Notwithstanding the superiority that +the right hand commands, who do they wear the ring on the left hand?" He +replied: "Are you not aware that the best are most neglected! He who +casts our horoscope, provision, and fortune, bestows upon us either good +luck or wisdom." + + +CXVII + +It is proper for him to offer counsel to kings who dreads not to lose +his head, nor looks for a reward:--Whether thou strewest heaps of gold +at his feet, or brandishest an Indian sword over the Unitarian's head, +to hope or fear he is alike indifferent; and in this the divine unity +alone he is resolved and firm. + + +CXVIII + +It belongs to the king to displace extortioners, to the superintendent +of the police to guard against murderers, and to the cazi to decide in +quarrels and disputes. No two complainants ever referred to the cazi +content to abide by justice:--When thou knowest that in right the claim +is just, better pay with a grace than by distress and force. If a man is +refractory in discharging his revenue, the collector must necessarily +coerce him to pay it. + + +CXIX + +Every man's teeth are blunted by acids excepting the cazi's, and they +require sweets:--That cazi, or judge, that can accept of five cucumbers +as a bribe, will confirm thee in a right to ten fields of melons. + + * * * * * + + +CXXI + +They asked a wise man, saying: "Of the many celebrated trees which the +Most High God has created lofty and umbrageous, they call none azad, or +free, excepting the cypress, which bears no fruit; what mystery is there +in this?" He replied: "Each has its appropriate produce and appointed +season, during the continuance of which it is fresh and blooming, and +during their absence dry and withered; to neither of which states is the +cypress exposed, being always flourishing; and of this nature are the +azads, or religious independents. Fix not thy heart on what is +transitory; for the Dijlah, or Tigris, will continue to flow through +Bagdad after the race of Khalifs is extinct. If thy hand has plenty, be +liberal as the date-tree; but if it affords nothing to give away, be an +azad, or free man, like the cypress." + + +CXXII + +Two orders of mankind died, and carried with them regret: such as had +and did not spend, and such as knew and did not practise:--None can see +that wretched mortal a miser who will not endeavor to point out his +faults; but were the generous man to have a hundred defects, his +liberality would cover all his blemishes. + + + + +THE CONCLUSION OF THE BOOK + + +The book of the "Gulistan, or Flower-Garden," was completed through the +assistance and grace of God. Throughout the whole of this work I have +not followed the custom of writers by inserting verses of poetry +borrowed from former authors:--"It is more decorous to wear our own +patched and old cloak than to ask in loan another man's garment." + +Most of Sa'di's sayings have a dash of hilarity and an odor of gayety +about them, in consequence of which short-sighted critics extend the +tongue of animadversion, saying: It is not the occupation of sensible +men to solicit marrow from a shrivelled brain, or to digest the smoke of +a profitless lamp. Nevertheless it cannot be concealed from the +enlightened judgment of the holy and good, to whom these discourses are +specially addressed, that the pearls of salutary admonition are threaded +on the cord of an elegance of language, and the bitter potion of +instruction sweetened with the honey of facetiousness, that the taste of +the reader may not take disgust, and himself be debarred from the +pleasure of approving of them: "On our part we offered some good advice, +and spent an age in bringing it to perfection. If that should not meet +the ear of anybody's good-will, prophets deliver their messages, or warn +mankind; and that is enough." + +"_O thou who perusest this book, ask the mercy of God on the author of +it: his forgiveness on the transcriber. Petition for whatever charitable +gift thou mayst require for thyself, and implore pardon on the owner_." +May I crave thy prayer on the English translator? _The book is finished +through the favor of the Lord God Paramount and the bestower of all +good_! + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSIAN LITERATURE, VOLUME 2, +COMPRISING THE SHAH NAMEH, THE RUBAIYAT, THE DIVAN, AND THE GULISTAN
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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/13060-8.zip b/old/13060-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4fbd65a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13060-8.zip diff --git a/old/13060.txt b/old/13060.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91bc3ed --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13060.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5286 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Persian Literature, Volume 2, Comprising The +Shah Nameh, The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan
, by Anonymous, et +al, Translated by James Ross + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Persian Literature, Volume 2, Comprising The Shah Nameh, The +Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan
+ +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: July 30, 2004 [eBook #13060] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSIAN LITERATURE, VOLUME 2, +COMPRISING THE SHAH NAMEH, THE RUBAIYAT, THE DIVAN, AND THE GULISTAN
*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Karen Lofstrom, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Notes: Volume 1 of this work can be found in Project Gutenberg's library. + See https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10315 + + A few original typesetter's errors (inconsistent spelling, + superfluous quotation marks, and the like) have been corrected + in the interests of producing a smooth-reading text. + + The reader will also occasionally find a line of asterisks + between sections. These are found in the original and they + indicate a missing section. It is not clear why the translator + skipped these sections. Reference to another, complete, + translation of the Gulistan shows no appreciable differences, + in length or subject, between the sections included and those + excluded. + + + + + +PERSIAN LITERATURE + +comprising + +THE SHAH NAMEH, THE RUBAIYAT +THE DIVAN, AND THE GULISTAN + +Revised Edition, Volume 2 + +1900 + +With a special introduction by +RICHARD J. H. GOTTHEIL, Ph.D. +Professor of Rabbinical Literature and the Semitic Languages +at Columbia University + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +THE GULISTAN + +Introduction + +CHAPTER + + I. Of the Customs of Kings + + II. Of the Morals of Dervishes + + III. On the Preciousness of Contentment + + IV. On the Benefit of Being Silent + + V. On Love and Youth + + VI. Of Imbecility and Old Age + + VII. Of the Impressions of Education + +VIII. Of the Duties of Society + + + + +THE GULISTAN + +BY + +SA'DI + +[Translation by James Ross] + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The Persian poet Sa'di, generally known in literary history as +Muslih-al-Din, belongs to the great group of writers known as the +Shirazis, or singers of Shiraz. His "Gulistan," or "Rose Garden," is the +mature work of his life-time, and he lived to the age of one hundred and +eight. The Rose Garden was an actual thing, and was part of the little +hermitage, to which he retired, after the vicissitudes and travels of +his earlier life, to spend his days in religious contemplation, and the +embodiment of his experience in reminiscences, which took the form of +anecdotes, sage and pious reflections, _bon-mots_, and exquisite lyrics. +When a friend visited him in his cell and had filled a basket with +nosegays from the garden of the poet with roses, hyacinths, spikenards, +and sweet-basils, Sa'di told him of the book he was writing, and +added:--"What can a nosegay of flowers avail thee? Pluck but one leaf +from my Rose Garden; the rose from yonder bush lasts but a few days, but +this Rose must bloom to all eternity." + +Sa'di has been proved quite correct in this estimate of his own work. +The book is indeed a sweet garden of unfading freshness. If we compare +Sa'di with Hafiz, we find that both of them based their theory of life +upon the same Sufic pantheism. Both of them were profoundly religious +men. Like the strong and life-giving soil out of whose bosom sprang the +rose-tree, wherein the nightingales sang, was the fixed religious +confidence, which formed the support of each poet's mind, amid all the +vagaries of fancy, and the luxuriant growth of fruit and flower which +their genius gave to the world. Hafiz is the Persian Anacreon. As he +raises his voice of thrilling and unvarying sweetness, his steps reel, +he waves the thyrsus, and his flushed cheek shows the inspiration of the +vine. To him the Supreme Being has much in common with the Indian or +Thracian Dionysus, the god of perennial youth, joyous revel, and +exhilaration. Hafiz can never be the guide, though he may be the cheerer +of mortals, adding more to the gayety than to the wisdom of life. But +both in the western and in the eastern world Sa'di must always be looked +upon as the guide and enlightener of those who taste life, and love +poetry. It has been said by a wise man that poetry is the great +instructor of mature minds. Many a man turning away in weariness from +the controversies, the insincerities, and the pretentiousness of the +intellectualists around him, has exclaimed, "Give me my Horace." But +Horace with all his _bonhommie_, his common sense, and his acuteness, is +but the representative of a narrow Roman coterie of the Augustan age. +How thin, flimsy, and unspiritual does he appear in comparison with the +marvellous depth, the spiritual insight, the tenderness and power of +expression which characterized Sa'di. + +Sa'di had begun his life as a student of the Koran and became early +imbued with the quietism of Islam. The cheerfulness and exuberant joy +which characterize the poems he wrote before he reached his fortieth +year, had bubbled up under the repressions of severe discipline and +austerity. But the religion of Mohammed was soon exchanged by him, under +the guidance of a famous teacher, for the wider and more transcendental +system of Sufism. Within the area of this magnificent scheme, the +boldest ever formulated under the name of religion, he found the liberty +which his soul desired. Early discipline had made him a morally sound +man, and it is the goodness of Sa'di that lends such a warm and +endearing charm to his works. The last finish was given to his +intellectual training by the travels which he took after the Tartar +invasion desolated Persia, in the thirteenth century. India, Arabia, +Syria, were in turn visited. He found Damascus a congenial +halting-place, and lived there for some time, with an increasing +reputation as a sage and poet. He preached at Baalbec on the +fugitiveness of human life, on faith, love, and rest in God. He +wandered, like Jerome, in the wilderness about Jerusalem, and worked as +a slave in Africa in the trenches of Tripoli: he travelled the length +and breadth of Asia Minor. When he arrived back at Shiraz, he had passed +the limit of three-score years and ten, and there he remained in his +hermitage and his garden, to arrange the result of all his studies, his +experiences, and his sufferings, in that consummate work which he has +named the "Rose Garden," after the little cultivated plot in which he +spent his declining days and drew his last breath. + +The "Gulistan" is divided into eight chapters, each dealing with a +specific subject and partaking of the nature of an essay: although these +chapters are composed of disjointed paragraphs, generally beginning with +an aphorism or an anecdote and closing with an original poem of a few +lines. Sometimes these paragraphs are altogether lyrical. We are struck, +first of all, by the personal character of these paragraphs; many of +them relate the experience of the poet in some part of his travels, +expressing his comment upon what he had seen and heard. His comments +generally take the form of practical wisdom, or religious suggestion. He +gives us the impression that he knows life and the human heart +thoroughly. It may be said of him, as Arnold said of Sophocles, he was +one "who saw life steadily, and saw it whole." On the other hand, there +is not the slightest trace of cynical acerbity in his writings. He has +passed through the world in the independence of a self-possessed soul, +and has found it all good, saving for the folly of fools and the +wretchedness and degradation of the depraved. There is no bitter +fountain in the "Rose Garden," and the old man's heart is as fresh as +when he left Shiraz, thirty years before; the sprightliness of his +poetry has only been ripened and tempered to a more exquisite flavor, by +the increase of wisdom and the perfecting of art. + +Above all, we find in Sa'di the science of life, as comprising morality +and religion, set forth in a most suggestive and a most attractive form. +In some way or other the "Rose Garden" may remind us of the "Essays" of +Bacon, which were published in their complete form the year before the +great English philosopher died. Both works cover a large area of thought +and experience; but the Englishman is clear, cold, and sometimes +cynical, while the Persian is more spiritual, though not less acute, and +has the fervor of the poet which Bacon lacks, and the religious devotion +which the "Essays" altogether miss. The "Rose Garden" has maxims which +are not unworthy of being cherished amid the highest Christian +civilization, while the serenity of mind, the poetic fire, the +transparent sincerity of Sa'di, make his writings one of those books +which men may safely take as the guide and inspirer of their inmost +life. Sa'di died at Shiraz about the year 1292 at the reputed age of one +hundred and ten. + +E.W. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Of the Customs of Kings + + +I + +I have heard of a king who made the sign to put a captive to death. The +poor wretch, in that state of desperation, began to abuse the king in +the dialect which he spoke, and to revile him with asperity, as has been +said; whoever shall wash his hands of life will utter whatever he may +harbor in his heart:--"_When a man is desperate he will give a latitude +to his tongue, like as a cat at bay will fly at a dog_"--"at the moment +of compulsion when it is impossible to fly, the hand will grasp the +sharp edge of a sword." The king asked, saying, "What does he say?" One +of the Vizirs (or nobles in attendance), and a well-disposed man, made +answer, "O my lord! he is expressing himself and saying, _(paradise is +for such) as are restraining their anger and forgiving their +fellow-creatures; and God will befriend the benevolent_." The king felt +compassion for him, and desisted from shedding his blood. Another +nobleman, and the rival of that former, said, "It is indecorous for such +peers, as we are, to use any language but that of truth in the presence +of kings; this man abused his majesty, and spoke what was unworthy of +him." The king turned away indignant at this remark, and replied, "I was +better pleased with his falsehood than with this truth that you have +told; for that bore the face of good policy, and this was founded in +malignity; and the intelligent have said, 'A peace-mingling falsehood is +preferable to a mischief-stirring truth':--Whatever prince may do that +which he (his counsellor) will recommend, it must be a subject of regret +if he shall advise aught but good." + +They had written over the portico of King Feridun's palace:--"This +world, O brother! abides with none. Set thy heart upon its maker, and +let him suffice thee. Rest not thy pillow and support on a worldly +domain which has fostered and slain many such as thou art. Since the +precious soul must resolve on going, what matters it whether it departs +from a throne or the ground." + + +II + +One of the kings of Khorasan saw, in a dream, Sultan Mahmud, the son of +Saboktagin, an hundred years after his death, when his body was decayed +and fallen into dust, all but his eyes, which as heretofore were moving +in their sockets and looking about them. All the learned were at a stand +for its interpretation, excepting one dervish, who made his obeisance, +and said:--"He is still looking about him, because his kingdom and +wealth are possessed by others!--Many are the heroes whom they have +buried under ground, of whose existence above it not one vestige is +left; and of that old carcase which they committed to the earth, the +earth has so consumed it that not one bone is left. Though many ages are +gone since Nushirowan was in being, yet in the remembrance of his +munificence is his fair renown left. Be generous, O my friend! and avail +thyself of life, before they proclaim it as an event that such a person +is not left." + + +III + +I have heard of a king's son who was short and mean, and his other +brothers were lofty in stature and handsome. On one occasion the king, +his father, looked at him with disparagement and scorn. The son, in his +sagacity, understood him and said, "O father! a short wise man is +preferable to a tall blockhead; it is not everything that is mightier in +stature that is superior in value:--_a sheep's flesh is wholesome, that +of an elephant carrion_.--_Of the mountains of this earth Sinai is one +of the least, yet is it most mighty before God in state and +dignity_.--Heardst thou not what an intelligent lean man said one day to +a sleek fat dolt? An Arab horse, notwithstanding his slim make, is more +prized thus than a herd of asses." + +The father smiled; the pillars of the state, or courtiers, nodded their +assent, and the other brothers were mortified to the quick. Till a man +has declared his mind, his virtue and vice may have lain hidden; do not +conclude that the thicket is unoccupied, peradventure the tiger is gone +asleep! + +I have heard that about that time a formidable antagonist appeared +against the king. Now that an army was levied in each side, the first +person that mounted his horse and sallied upon the plain was that son, +and he exclaimed: "I cannot be that man whose back thou mayest see on +the day of battle, but am him thou mayest descry amidst the thick of it, +with my head covered with dust and blood; for he that engages in the +contest sports with his own blood, but he who flees from it sports with +the blood of an army on the day of fight." He so spoke, assaulting the +enemy's cavalry, and overthrew some renowned warriors. When he came +before the king he kissed the earth of obeisance, and said, "O thou, who +didst view my body with scorn, whilst not aware of valor's rough +exterior, it is the lean steed that will prove of service, and not the +fatted ox, on the day of battle." + +They have reported that the enemy's cavalry was immense, and those of +the king few in number; a body of them was inclined to fly, when the +youth called aloud, and said, "Be resolute, my brave men, that you may +not have to wear the apparel of women!" The troops were more courageous +on this speech, and attacked altogether. I have heard that on that day +they obtained a complete victory over the enemy. The king kissed his +face and eyes, and folded him in his arms, and became daily more +attached to him, till he declared him heir-apparent to the throne. The +brothers bore him a grudge, and put poison into his food. His sister saw +this from a window, and closed the shutter; and the boy understood the +sign, and withdrew his hand from the dish, and said, "It is hard that +the virtuous should perish and that the vicious should occupy their +places." Were the homayi, or phoenix, to be extinct in the world, none +would take refuge under the shadow of an owl. They informed the father +of this event; he sent for the brothers and rebuked them, as they +deserved. Then he made a division of his domains, and gave a suitable +portion to each, that discontent might cease; but the ferment was +increased, as they have said: Ten dervishes can sleep on one rug, but +two kings cannot be accommodated in a whole kingdom. When a man after +God's heart can eat the moiety of his loaf, the other moiety he will +give in alms to the poor. A king may acquire the sovereignty of one +climate or empire; and he will in like manner covet the possession of +another. + + +IV + +A horde of Arab robbers had possessed themselves of the fastness of a +mountain, and waylaid the track of the caravan. The yeomanry of the +villages were frightened at their stratagems, and the king's troops +alarmed, inasmuch as they had secured an impregnable fortress on the +summit of the mountain, and made this stronghold their retreat and +dwelling. + +The superintendents of the adjacent districts consulted together about +obviating their mischief, saying: If they are in this way left to +improve their fortune, any opposition to them may prove impracticable. +The tree that has just taken root, the strength of one man may be able +to extract; but leave it to remain thus for a time, and the machinery of +a purchase may fail to eradicate it: the leak at the dam-head might have +been stopped with a plug, while, now it has a vent, we cannot ford its +current on an elephant. + +Finally it was determined that they should set a spy over them, and +watch an opportunity when they had made a sally upon another tribe, and +left their citadel unguarded. Some companies of able warriors and +experienced troops were sent, that they might conceal themselves in the +recesses of the mountain. At night, when the robbers were returned, +jaded with their march and laden with spoil, and had stripped themselves +of their armor, and deposited their plunder, the foremost enemy they had +to encounter was sleep. Now that the first watch of night was +gone:--"the disc of the sun was withdrawn into a shade, and Jonas had +stepped into the fish's mouth "--the bold-hearted warriors sprang from +their ambush and secured the robbers by pinioning them one after +another. + +In the morning they presented them at the royal tribunal, and the king +gave an order to put the whole to death. There happened to be among them +a stripling, the fruit of whose early spring was ripening in its bloom, +and the flower-garden of his cheek shooting into blossom. One of the +vizirs kissed the foot of the imperial throne, and laid the face of +intercession on the ground, and said, "This boy has not yet tasted the +fruit of the garden of life, nor enjoyed the fragrance of the flowers of +youth: such is my confidence in the generous disposition of his Majesty +that it will favor a devoted servant by sparing his blood." The king +turned his face away from this speech; as it did not accord with his +lofty way of thinking, he replied:--"The rays of the virtuous cannot +illuminate such as are radically vicious; to give education to the +worthless is like throwing walnuts upon a dome:--it were wiser to +eradicate the tree of their wickedness, and annihilate their tribe; for +to put out a fire and leave the embers, and to kill a viper and foster +its young, would not be the acts of rational beings. Though the clouds +pour down the water of vegetation, thou canst never gather fruit from a +willow twig. Exalt not the fortune of the abject, for thou canst never +extract sugar from a mat or common cane." + +The vizir listened to this speech; willingly or not he approved of it, +and applauded the good sense of the king, and said:--"What his majesty, +whose dominion is eternal, is pleased to remark is the mirror of probity +and essence of good policy, for had he been brought up in the society of +those vagabonds, and confined to their service, he would have followed +their vicious courses. Your servant, however, trusts that he may be +instructed to associate with the virtuous, and take to the habits of the +prudent; for he is still a child, and the lawless and refractory +principles of that gang cannot have yet tainted his mind; and it is in +tradition that--_Whatever child is born, and he is verily born after the +right way of orthodoxy, namely Islamism, afterwards his father and his +mother bring him up as a Jew, Christian, or Guebre_.--The wife of Lot +associated with the wicked, and her posterity failed in the gift of +prophecy; the dog of the seven sleepers (at Ephesus) for some time took +the path of the righteous, and became a rational being." + +He said this, and a body of the courtiers joined him in intercession, +till the king acceded to the youth's pardon, and answered: "I gave him +up, though I saw not the good of it.--Knowest thou what Zal said to the +heroic Rustem: 'Thou must not consider thy foe as abject and helpless. I +have often found a small stream at the fountain-head, which, when +followed up, carried away the camel and its load.'" + +In short, the vizir took the boy home, and educated him with kindness +and liberality. And he appointed him masters and tutors, who taught him +the graces of logic and rhetoric, and all manner of courtier +accomplishments, so that he met general approbation. On one occasion the +vizir was detailing some instances of his proficiency and talents in the +royal presence, and saying: "The instruction of the wise has made an +impression upon him, and his former savageness is obliterated from his +mind." The king smiled at this speech, and replied:--"The whelp of a +wolf must prove a wolf at last, notwithstanding he may be brought up by +a man." + +Two years after this a gang of city vagabonds got about him, and joined +in league, till on an opportunity he murdered the vizir and his two +sons; and, carrying off an immense booty, he took up the station of his +father in the den of thieves, and became a hardened villain. The king +was apprised of this event; and, seizing the hand of amazement with the +teeth of regret, said:--"How can any person manufacture a tempered sabre +from base iron; nor can a base-born man, O wiseacre, be made a gentleman +by any education! Rain, in the purity of whose nature there is no +anomaly, cherishes the tulip in the garden and common weed in the +salt-marsh. Waste not thy labor in scattered seed upon a briny soil, for +it can never be made to yield spikenard; to confer a favor on the wicked +is of a like import, as if thou didst an injury to the good." + + +V + +At the gate of Oghlamish Patan, King of Delhi, I (namely Sa'di) saw an +officer's son, who, in his wit and learning, wisdom and understanding, +surpassed all manner of encomium. In the prime of youth, he at the same +time bore on his forehead the traces of ripe age, and exhibited on his +cheek the features of good fortune:--"Above his head, from his prudent +conduct, the star of superiority shone conspicuous." + +In short, it was noticed with approbation by the king that he possessed +bodily accomplishments and mental endowments. And sages have remarked +that worth rests not on riches, but on talents; and the discretion of +age, not in years, but on good sense. His comrades envied his good +fortune, charged him with disaffection, and vainly attempted to have him +put to death:--"but what can the rival effect so long as the charmer is +our friend?" + +The king asked, saying, "Why do they show such a disinclination to do +you justice?" He replied: "Under the shadow of his majesty's good +fortune I have pleased everybody, excepting the envious man, who is not +to be satisfied but with a decline of my success; and let the prosperity +and dominion of my lord the king be perpetual!" I can so manage as to +give umbrage to no man's heart; but what can I do with the envious man, +who harbors within himself the cause of his own chagrin? Die, O ye +envious, that ye may get a deliverance; for this is such an evil that +you can get rid of it only by death. Men soured by misfortune anxiously +desire that the state and fortune of the prosperous may decline; if the +eye of the bat is not suited for seeing by day, how can the fountain of +the sun be to blame? Dost thou require the truth? It were better a +thousand such eyes should suffer, rather than that the light of the sun +were obscured. + + +VI + +They tell a story of a Persian king who had stretched forth the arm of +oppression over the subjects' property, and commenced a system of +violence and rapacity to such a degree that the people emigrated to +avoid the vexatiousness of his tyranny, and took the road of exile to +escape the annoyance of his extortions. Now that the population was +diminished and the resources of the state had failed, the treasury +remained empty, and enemies gathered strength on all sides. Whoever may +expect a comforter on the day of adversity, say, let him practise +humanity during the season of prosperity; if not treated cordially, thy +devoted slave will forsake thee; show him kindness and affection, and +the stranger may become the slave of thy devotion. + +One day they were reading, in his presence, from the Shah Nameh, of the +tyrant Zohak's declining dominion and the succession of Feridun. The +vizir asked the king, saying: "Can you so far comprehend that Feridun +had no revenue, domain, or army, and how the kingdom came to be +confirmed with him?" He answered: "As you have heard, a body of people +collected about him from attachment, and gave their assistance till he +acquired a kingdom." The vizir said: "Since, O sire, a gathering of the +people is the means of forming a kingdom, how come you in fact to cause +their dispersion unless it be that you covet not a sovereignty? So far +were good that thou wouldst patronize the army with all thy heart, for a +king with an army constitutes a principality." The king asked: "What are +the best means of collecting an army and yeomanry?" He replied: +"Munificence is the duty of a king, that the people may assemble around +him, and clemency, that they may rest secure under the asylum of his +dominion and fortune, neither of which you have. A tyrant cannot govern +a kingdom, for the duty of a shepherd is not expected from the wolf. A +king that can anyhow be accessory to tyranny will undermine the wall of +his own sovereignty." + +The advice of the prudent minister did not accord with the disposition +of the king. He ordered him to be confined, and immured him in a +dungeon. It soon came to pass that the sons of the king's uncle rose in +opposition, levied an army in support of their pretensions, and claimed +the sovereignty of their father. A host of the people, who had cruelly +suffered under the arm of his extortion and were dispersed, gathered +around and succored them till they dispossessed him of his kingdom and +established them in his stead. That king who can approve of tyrannizing +over the weak will find his friend a bitter foe in the day of hardship. +Deal fairly with thy subjects, and rest easy about the warfare of thine +enemies, for with an upright prince his yeomanry is an army. + + * * * * * + + +VIII + +They asked Hormuz, son of Nushirowan, "What fault did you find with your +father's ministers that you ordered them into confinement?" He replied: +"I saw no fault that might deserve imprisonment; yet I perceived that +any reverence for me makes a slight impression on their minds, and that +they put no implicit reliance on my promise. I feared lest from an +apprehension of their own safety they might conspire my ruin; +therefore, put in practice that maxim of philosophers who have told us: +'Stand in awe, O wise man, of him who stands in awe of thee, +notwithstanding thou canst cope with a hundred such as he. Therefore +will the snake bite the herdsman's foot, because it fears that he will +bruise its head with a stone. Seest thou not that now that the cat is +desperate it will tear out the tiger's eyes with its claws.'" + + +IX + +In his old age an Arab king was grievously sick, and had no hopes of +recovery, when, lo! a messenger on horseback presented himself at the +palace-gate, and joyfully announced, saying: "Under his majesty's good +fortune we have taken such a stronghold, made the enemy prisoners of +war, and reduced all the landholders and vassals of that quarter to +obedience as subjects." On hearing this news the king fetched a cold +sigh, and answered: "These glad tidings are not intended for me but for +my rivals, namely, the heirs of the sovereignty. My precious life has, +alas! been wasted in the hope that what my heart chiefly coveted might +enter at my gate. My bounden hope was gratified; yet what do I benefit +by that? There is no hope that my passed life can return. The hand of +death beats the drum of departure. Yes, my two eyes, you must bid adieu +to my head. Yes, palm of my hand, wrist, and arm, all of you say +farewell, and each take leave of the other. Death has overtaken me to +the gratification of my foes; and you, O my friends, must at last be +going. My days were blazed away in folly; what I did not do let you take +warning (and do)." + + +X + +At the metropolitan mosque of Damascus I was one year fervent in prayer +over the tomb of Yahiya, or John the Baptist and prophet, on whom be +God's blessing, when one of the Arab princes, who was notorious for his +injustice, chanced to arrive on a pilgrimage, and he put up his +supplication, asked a benediction, and craved his wants.--The rich and +poor are equally the devoted slaves of this shrine, and the richer they +are the more they stand in need of succor. Then he spoke to me, saying: +"In conformity with the generous resolution of dervishes and their +sincere zeal, you will, I trust, unite with me in prayer, for I have +much to fear from a powerful enemy." I answered him, "Have compassion on +your own weak subjects, that you may not see disquiet from a strong foe. +With a mighty arm and heavy hand it is dastardly to wrench the wrists of +poor and helpless. Is he not afraid who is hardhearted with the fallen +that if he slip his foot nobody will take him by the hand?--Whoever +sowed the seed of vice and expected a virtuous produce, pampered a vain +brain and encouraged an idle whim. Take the cotton from thy ear and do +mankind justice, for if thou refusest them justice there is a day of +retribution. The sons of Adam are members one of another, for in their +creation they have a common origin. If the vicissitudes of fortune +involve one member in pain, all the other members will feel a sympathy. +Thou, who art indifferent to other men's affliction, if they call thee a +man art unworthy of the name." + + +XI + +A dervish, whose prayers had a ready acceptance (with God), made his +appearance at Bagdad. Hojaj Yusuf (a great tyrant) sent for him and +said: "Put up a good prayer for me." He prayed, "O God! take from him +his life!" Hojaj said, "For God's sake, what manner of prayer is this?" +He answered: "It is a salutary prayer for you, and for the whole sect of +Mussulmans.--O mighty sir, thou oppressor of the feeble, how long can +this violence remain marketable? For what purpose came the sovereignty +to thee? Thy death were preferable to thy tyrannizing over mankind." + + +XII + +An unjust king asked a holy man, saying, "What is more excellent than +prayers?" He answered: "For you to remain asleep till mid-day, that for +this one interval you might not afflict mankind."--I saw a tyrant lying +dormant at noon, and said, "This is mischief, and is best lulled to +sleep. It were better that such a reprobate were dead whose state of +sleep is preferable to his being awake." + + +XIII + +I have heard of a king who had turned night into day in the midst of +conviviality, and in the gayety of intoxication was exclaiming--"I never +was in this life happier than at this present moment, for I have no +thought of evil or good, and care for nobody!"--A naked dervish, who had +taken up his rest in the cold outside, answered--"O thou, who in good +fortune hast not thy equal in the world, I admit that thou hast no cause +of care for thyself, but hast thou none for us?"--The king was pleased +at this speech. He put a purse of a thousand dinars out at the window, +and said: "O dervish! hold up your skirt." He replied, "Where can I find +a skirt, who have not a garment." The king was still more touched at the +hardship of his condition, and adding an honorary dress to that +donation, sent them out to him. + +The dervish squandered all that ready cash within a few days, and +falling again into distress, returned.--"Money makes no stay in the hand +of a religious independent; neither does patience in a lover's heart, +nor water in a sieve."--At a time when the king had no thought about +him, they obtruded his case, and he took offence and turned away his +face. And it is on such an occasion that men of prudence and experience +have remarked that it behooves us to guard against the wrath and fury of +kings, whose noble thoughts are chiefly occupied with important affairs +of state, and cannot endure the importunate clamors of the vulgar.--The +bounty of the sovereign is forbid to him who does not watch a proper +opportunity. Till thou canst perceive a convenient time for obtruding an +opinion, undermine not thy consequence by idle talk.--The king said, +"Let this impudent beggar and spendthrift be beaten and driven away, who +in a short time dissipated such a sum of money, for the treasury of the +Beat-al-mal, or charity fund, is intended to afford mouthfuls to the +poor, and not bellyfuls to the imps of the devil.--That fool who can +illuminate the day with a camphorated taper must soon feel a want of oil +for his lamp at night." + +One of his discreet ministers said: "O king, it were expedient to supply +such people with their means of subsistence by instalments, that they +may not squander their absolute necessaries; but, with respect to what +your majesty commanded as to coercion and prohibition, though it be +correct, a party might impute it to parsimony. Nor does it moreover +accord with the principles of the generous to encourage a man to hope +for kindness and then overwhelm him with heartbreaking distrust:--Thou +must not open upon thyself the door of covetousness; and when opened, +thou must not shut it with harshness.--Nobody will see the thirsty +pilgrims crowding towards the shore of the briny ocean; but men, birds, +and reptiles will flock together wherever they can meet a fresh water +fountain." + + +XIV + +One of the ancient kings was easy with the yeomanry in collecting his +revenue, but hard on the soldiery in his issue of pay; and when a +formidable enemy showed its face, these all turned their +backs.--Whenever the king is remiss in paying his troops, the troops +will relax in handling their arms. What bravery can he display in the +ranks of battle whose hand is destitute of the means of living? + +One of those who had excused themselves was in some sort my intimate. I +reproached him and said, "He is base and ungrateful, mean and +disreputable who, on a trifling change of circumstances, can desert his +old master and forget his obligation of many years' employment." He +replied: "Were I to speak out, I swear by generosity you would excuse +me. Peradventure, my horse was without corn, and the housings of his +saddle in pawn.--And the prince who, through parsimony, withholds his +army's pay cannot expect it to enter heartily upon his service."--Give +money to the gallant soldier that he may be zealous in thy cause, for if +he is stinted of his due he will go abroad for service.--_So long as a +warrior is replenished with food he will fight valiantly, and when his +belly is empty he will run away sturdily_. + + +XV + +One of the vizirs was displaced, and withdrew into a fraternity of +dervishes, whose blessed society made its impression upon him and +afforded consolation to his mind. The king was again favorably disposed +towards him, and offered his reinstatement in office; but he consented +not, and said, "With the wise it is deemed preferable to be out of +office than to remain in place.--Such as sat within the cell of +retirement blunted the teeth of dogs, and shut the mouths of mankind; +they destroyed their writings, and broke their writing reeds, and +escaped the lash and venom of the critics."--The king answered: "At all +events I require a prudent and able man, who is capable of managing the +state affairs of my kingdom." The ex-minister said: "The criterion, O +sire, of a wise and competent man is that he will not meddle with such +like matters.--The homayi, or phoenix, is honored above all other birds +because it feeds on bones, and injures no living creature." + +A Tamsil, or application in point.--They asked a Siyah-gosh, or +lion-provider, "Why do you choose the service of the lion?" He answered: +"Because I subsist on the leavings of his prey, and am secure from the +ill-will of my enemies under the asylum of his valor." They said: "Now +you have got within the shadow of his protection and admit a grateful +sense of his bounty, why do you not approach more closely, that he may +include you within the circle of select courtiers and number you among +his chosen servants?" He replied, "I should not thus be safe from his +violence."--Though a Guebre may keep his fire alight for a hundred +years, if he fall once within its flame it will burn him.--_Procul a +Jove, procul a fulmine_. It on one occasion may chance that the courtier +of the king's presence shall pick up a purse of gold, and the next that +he shall lie shorter by the head. And philosophers have remarked, +saying, "It is incumbent on us to be constantly aware of the fickle +dispositions of kings, who will one moment take offence at a salutation, +and at another make an honorary dress the return for an act of rudeness; +and they have said, That to be over much facetious is the accomplishment +of courtiers and blemish of the wise.--Be wary, and preserve the state +of thine own character, and leave sport and buffoonery to jesters and +courtiers." + + +XVI + +One of my associates brought me a complaint of his perverse fortune, +saying, "I have small means and a large family, and cannot bear up with +my load of poverty. Often has a thought crossed my mind, suggesting, Let +me remove into another country, that in whatever way I can manage a +livelihood none may be informed of my good or bad luck."--(Often he +went asleep hungry, and nobody was aware, saying, "Who is he?" Often did +his life hang upon his lip, and none lamented over him.)--"On the other +hand, I reflect on the exultation of my rivals, saying, They will +scoffingly sneer behind my back, and impute my zeal in behalf of my +family to a want of humanity.--Do but behold that graceless vagabond who +can never witness the face of good fortune. He will consult the ease of +his own person and abandon to distress his wife and children.--And, as +is known, I have some small skill in the science of accounts. If, +through your respected interest, any office can be obtained that may be +the means of quieting my mind, I shall not, during the remainder of +life, be able to express my sense of its gratitude." + +I replied, "O brother, the service of kings offers a twofold prospect--a +hope of maintenance and a fear for existence; and it accords not with +the counsel of the wise, under that expectation, to incur this risk.--No +tax-gatherer will enter the dervish's abode, saying, Pay me the rent of +a field and orchard; either put up with trouble and chagrin, or give thy +heartstrings to the crows to pluck." + +He said, "This speech is not made as applicable to my case, nor have you +given me a categorical answer. Have you not heard what has been +remarked, 'His hand will tremble on rendering his account who has been +accessory to a dishonest act.--Righteousness will insure the divine +favor; I never met him going astray who took the righteous path.'--And +philosophers have said, 'Four orders of people are mortally afraid of +four others--the revenue embezzler, of the king; the thief, of the +watchman; the fornicator, of the eavesdropper; and the adulteress, of +the censor.' But what has he to fear from the comptroller who has a fair +set of account-books?--'Be not extravagant and corrupt while in office +if thou wishest that the malice of thy rival may be circumscribed on +settling thy accounts. Be undefiled, O brother, in thy integrity, and +fear nobody; washermen will beat only dirty clothes against a stone.'" + +I replied, "The story of that fox suits your case, which they saw +running away, stumbling and getting up. Somebody asked him, 'What +calamity has happened to put you in such a state of trepidation?' He +said, 'I have heard that they are putting a camel in requisition.' The +other answered, 'O silly animal! what connection has a camel with you, +or what resemblance is there between you and it?' He said, 'Be silent; +for were the envious from malevolence to insist that this is a camel, +and I should be seized for one, who would be so solicitous about me as +to inquire into my case?' And before they can bring the antidote from +Irac the person bitten by the snake may be dead. In like manner, you +possess knowledge and integrity, discrimination and probity, yet spies +lie in ambush, and informers lurk in corners, who, notwithstanding your +moral rectitude, will note down the opposite; and should you anyhow +stand arraigned before the king, and occupy the place of his +reprehension, who in that state would step forward in your defence? +Accordingly, I would advise that you should secure the kingdom of +contentment, and give up all thoughts of preferment. As the wise have +said:--'The benefits of a sea voyage are innumerable; but if thou +seekest for safety, it is to be found only on shore.'" + +My friend listened to this speech; he got into a passion, cavilled at my +fable, and began to question it with warmth and asperity, saying, "What +wisdom or propriety, good sense or morality, is there in this? Here is +verified that maxim of the sage, which tells us they are friends alone +that can serve us in a jail, for all our enemies may pretend friendship +at our own table.--'Esteem him not a friend who during thy prosperity +will brag of his love and brotherly affection.' I account him a friend +who will take his friend by the hand when struggling with despair, and +overwhelmed with misfortune." + +I perceived within myself, saying, "He is disturbed, and listens to my +advice with impatience;" and, having called the sahib diwan, or lord +high treasurer, in virtue of a former intimacy that subsisted between +us, I stated his case and spoke so fully upon his skill and merits, that +he put him in nomination for a trifling office. After some time, having +adverted to his kindly disposition and approved of his good management, +his promotion was in train, and he got confirmed in a much higher +station. Thus was the star of his good fortune in ascension, till it +rose into the zenith of ambition; and he became the favorite of his +majesty the king, towards whom all turned for counsel, and upon whom all +eyes rested their hopes! I rejoiced at this prosperous change of his +affairs, and said:--"Repine not at thy bankrupt circumstances, nor let +thy heart despond, for the fountain of immortality has its source of +chaos.--_Take heed, O brother in affliction! and be not disheartened, +for God has in store many hidden mercies_.--Sit not down soured at the +revolutions of the times, for patience is bitter, yet it will yield +sweet fruit." + +At that juncture I happened to accompany a party of friends on a journey +to Hijaz, or Arabia Petraea. On my return from the pilgrimage to Mecca, +he came out two stages to meet me. I perceived that his outward plight +was wretched, and his garb that of dervishes. I asked, "How is this?" He +replied, "Just as you said, a faction bore me a grudge and charged me +with malpractices; and the king, be his reign eternal, would not +investigate the truth of that charge, and my old and best friends stood +aloof from my defence, and overlooked my claims on our former +acquaintance.--When, through an act of God, a man has fallen, the whole +world will put their feet upon his neck; when they see that fortune has +taken him by the hand, they will put their hands upon their breasts, and +be loud in his praise.--In short, I underwent all manner of persecution +till within this week, that the tidings of the safe return of the +pilgrims reached us, when I got a release from my heavy durance and a +confiscation of my hereditary tenements." I said, "At that time you did +not listen to my admonition, when I warned you that the service of +princes is, like a voyage at sea, profitable but hazardous: you either +get a treasure or perish miserably.--The merchant gains the shore with +gold in both his hands, or a wave will one day leave him dead on its +beach."--Not deeming it generous any further to irritate a poor man's +wound with the asperity of reproach, or to sprinkle his sore with the +salt of harsh words, I made a summary conclusion in these two verses, +and said:--"Wert thou not aware that thou shouldst find fetters on thy +feet when thou wouldst not listen to the generous man's counsel? Thrust +not again thy finger into a scorpion's hole till thou canst endure the +pain of its sting." + + +XVII + +I was the companion of a holy fraternity, whose manners were correct +from piety, and minds disciplined from probity. An eminent prince +entertained a high and respectful opinion of the worth of this +brotherhood, and had assigned it an endowment. Perhaps one of them +committed an act unworthy of the character of dervishes; for the good +opinion of that personage was forfeited, and the market of their support +shut. I wished that I could by any means re-establish the maintenance of +my friends, and attempted to wait on the great man; but his porter +opposed my entrance, and turned me away with rudeness. I excused him +conformably with what the witty have said:--"Till thou canst take an +introduction along with thee approach not the gate of a prince, vizir, +or lord; for the dog and the doorkeeper, on espying a beggar, will the +one seize his skirt and the other his collar." + +When the favorite attendants of that great man were aware of my +situation, they ushered me into his presence with respect, and offered +me the highest seat; but in humility I took the lowest, and said: +"Permit that I, the slave of the abject, should seat myself on a level +with servants."--The great man answered, "My God, my God! what room is +there for this speech? Wert thou to seat thyself upon the pupil of mine +eye, I would court thy dalliance, for thou art lovely." + +In short, I took my seat, and entered upon a variety of topics, till the +indiscretion of my friends was brought upon the carpet, when I said: +"What fault did the lord of past munificence remark, that his servant +should seem so contemptible in his sight? Individually with God is the +perfection of majesty and goodness, who can discern our failings and +continue to us his support." When the prince heard this sentiment he +subscribed to its omnipotence; and, with regard to the stipendiary +allowance of my friends, he ordered its continuance as heretofore, and a +faithful discharge of all arrears. I thanked him for his generosity, +kissed the dust of obeisance, apologized for my boldness, and at the +moment of taking my leave, added: "When the fane of the Caabah, at +Mecca, became their object from a far distant land, pilgrims would hurry +on to visit it for many farsangs. It behooves thee to put up with such +as we are, for nobody will throw a stone at a tree that bears no +fruit." + + +XVIII + +A prince inherited immense riches by succeeding to his father. He opened +the hand of liberality, displayed his munificence, and bestowed +innumerable gifts upon his troops and people. "The brain will not be +perfumed by a censer of green aloes-wood; place it over the fire that it +may diffuse fragrance like ambergris. If ambitious of a great name, make +a practice of munificence, for the crop will not shoot till thou shalt +sow the seed." + +A narrow-minded courtier began to admonish him, saying, "Verily, former +sovereigns have collected this wealth with scrupulosity and stored it +advisedly. Check your hand in this waste, for accidents wait ahead, and +foes lurk behind. God forbid that you should want it on a day of +need.--Wert thou to distribute the contents of a granary among the +people, every master of a family might receive a grain of rice; why not +exact a grain of silver from each, that thou mightest daily hoard a +chamber full of treasure?" + +The prince turned his face aside from this speech, so contrary to his +own lofty sentiments, and harshly reprimanded him, saying, "A great and +glorious God made me sovereign of this property, that I might enjoy and +spend it; and posted me not a sentinel, to hoard and watch over +it.--Carown perished, who possessed forty magazines of treasure; +Nushirowan died not, who left behind him a fair reputation." + + +XIX + +They have related that at a hunting seat they were roasting some game +for Nushirowan, and as there was no salt they were despatching a servant +to the village to fetch some. Nushirowan called to him, saying, "Take it +at its fair price, and not by force, lest a bad precedent be established +and the village desolated." They asked, "What damage can ensue from this +trifle?" He answered, "Originally, the basis of oppression in this world +was small, and every newcomer added to it, till it reached to its +present extent:--Let the monarch eat but one apple from a peasant's +orchard, and his guards, or slaves, will pull up the tree by its root. +From the plunder of five eggs, that the king shall sanction, his troops +will stick a thousand fowls on their spits." + + +XX + +I have heard of a revenue-collector who would distrain the huts of the +peasantry, that he might enrich the treasury of the sovereign, +regardless of that maxim of the wise, who have said, "Whoever can offend +the Most High, that he may gain the heart of a fellow-creature, God on +high will instigate that creature against him, till he dig out the +foundation of his fortune:--That crackling in the flame is not caused by +burning rue, but it is the sigh of the afflicted that occasions it." + +They say, of all animals the lion is the chief; and of beasts the ass is +the meanest; yet, with the concurrence of the wise, the burden-bearing +ass is preferable to the man-devouring lion. "The poor ass, though +devoid of understanding, will be held precious when carrying a burden; +oxen and asses that carry loads are preferable to men that injure their +fellow-creatures." + +The king had reported to him a part of his nefarious conduct. He put him +to the rack, and tortured him to death. "Thou canst not obtain the +sovereign's approbation till thou make sure of the good-will of his +people. Wishest thou that God shall be bountiful to thee, be thou good +thyself to the creatures of God." + +One who had suffered from his oppression passed him at the time of his +execution, and said: "It is not every man that may have the strong arm +of high station, that can in his government take an immoderate freedom +with the subjects' property. It is possible to cram a bone down the +throat, but when it sticks at the navel it will burst open the belly." + + +XXI + +They tell a story of an evil-disposed person who struck a pious good man +on the head with a stone. Having no power of revenge, the dervish was +keeping the stone by him till an occasion when the sovereign let loose +the army of his wrath, and cast him into a dungeon. The poor man went up +and flung that stone at his head. The person spoke to him, saying, "Who +are you, and why did you throw this stone at my head?" He answered, "I +am that poor man, and this is the same stone that you on a certain +occasion flung at my head." He said, "Where have you been all this +time?" The poor man answered, "I stood in awe of your high station, but +now that I find you in a dungeon, I avail myself of the opportunity, as +they have said--'Whilst they saw the worthless man in prosperity, the +wise thought proper to show him respect. Now thou hast not sharp and +tearing nails, it is prudent for thee to defer to engage with the +wicked. Whoever grappled with a steel-armed wrist exposed his own silver +arm to torture. Wait till fortune can manacle his hands, then beat out +his brains to the satisfaction of thy friends.'" + + * * * * * + + +XXIII + +One of King Umraw-layas's slaves had absconded, and people that went +after him brought him back. The vizir, who had a dislike to him, used +his interest to have him put to death, that the other slaves (as he +pretended) might not commit the same offence. The poor slave fell at +Umraw-layas's feet, and said: "Whatever may befall me, if thou approve +of it, it is so far proper. What plea can a vassal offer against his +lord and master's decree?--Nevertheless, inasmuch as I am the nurtured +gift of this house, I could not wish that on the last day's reckoning my +blood should stand charged to your account. If, at all events, you are +resolved to put this your slave to death, let it be done with a plea of +legality, that you may not be censured at the day of resurrection." The +king asked, "How can I set up a legal plea?" He replied, "Issue your +command that I may kill the vizir, then give an order to put me to death +in retaliation for him, that you may kill me according to law!" The king +smiled and asked the vizir, "What is your advice in this case?" The +vizir said, "O sovereign of the world! I beg, for the sake of God, that +you will manumit this audacious fellow as a propitiation at the tomb of +your forefathers, lest he also involve me in calamity. The fault was on +my side, in not doing justice to the saying of the wise, who have warned +us:--'When thou didst enter the lists with a practised slinger, in thy +want of skill thou exposest thine own head to be broken. When thou didst +discharge thine arrow at thy antagonist's face thou shouldst have been +upon thy guard, for thou hadst become his butt.'" + + +XXIV + +King Zuzan had a minister of a generous spirit and kindly disposition, +who was polite to all persons while present, and spoke well of them when +absent. One of his acts happened to displease the king, who put him +under stoppages, and in rigorous confinement. The officers of the crown +were sensible of his former benefits, and pledged to show their +gratitude of them. Accordingly, whilst under their charge, they treated +him with courtesy and benevolence, and would not use any coercion or +violence:--"If thou desirest to remain at peace with a rival, whenever +he slanders thee behind thy back speak well of him to his face. The +perverse man cavils for the last word; unless thou preferest his bitter +remarks, make his mouth sweet." + +Of the charge against him at the king's exchequer, part had been +adjusted according to its settlement, and he remained in durance for the +balance. A bordering prince sent him underhand a letter, stating, "The +sovereign of that quarter has not appreciated such worth, nay, has +dishonored it, and with us it bore a heavy price. If the precious mind +of a certain personage, may God facilitate his deliverance, will incline +favorably towards us, every possible exertion shall be made to +conciliate his good-will, and the cabinet ministers of this kingdom are +exulting in the prospect of seeing him, and anxious for the answer of +this letter." The minister made himself master of the contents. He +pondered on the danger, wrote such a brief answer as seemed discreet +upon the back of the letter, and returned it. One of the hangers-on at +court had notice of this circumstance. He apprised the king, saying, "A +certain person whom you have put in confinement is corresponding with a +neighboring prince." The king was wroth, and ordered an investigation of +this intelligence. The messenger was seized, and letter read. On the +back of it he had written, stating, "The good opinion of his Majesty +exceeds the merits of this slave; but the honored approbation he has +bestowed upon a servant cannot possibly have his consent, for he is the +fostered gift of this house, and he cannot, on a trifling change of +affection, betray his ancient benefactor and patron.--Though once in his +life he may grate thee with harshness, excuse him who on every occasion +else has soothed thee with kindness." The king commended his fidelity, +bestowed on him an honorary dress and largess, and made his excuses, +saying, "I was to blame, that could do you an injury." He replied, "In +this instance, my lord, your servant sees no blame that attaches to you; +but such was the ordination of God, whose name was glorified, that this +your devoted slave should verily be overtaken with a calamity. +Accordingly, it is more tolerable at the hand of you, who possess the +rights of past good, and have claims of gratitude on this servant:--Be +not offended with mankind should any mischief assail thee, for neither +pleasure nor pain originate with thy fellow-being. Know that the +contrariety of foe and friend proceeds from God, and that the hearts of +both are at his disposal. Though the arrow may seem to issue from the +bow, the intelligent can see that the archer gave it its aim." + + +XXV + +I have heard that one of the kings of Arabia directed the officers of +his treasury, saying, "You will double a certain person's salary, +whatever it may be, for he is constant in attendance and ready for +orders, while the other courtiers are diverted by play, and negligent of +their duty." A good and holy man overheard this, and heaved a sigh and +groan from the bottom of his bosom. They asked, saying, "What vision did +you see?" He replied, "The exalted mansions of his devoted servants will +be after this manner portioned out at the judgment-seat of a Most High +and Mighty Deity!--If for two mornings a person is assiduous about the +person of the king, on the third he will in some shape regard him with +affection. The sincerely devout exist in the hope that they shall not +depart disappointed from God's threshold. The rank of a prince is the +reward of obedience. Disobedience to command is a proof of rejection. +Whoever has the aspect of the upright and good will lay the face of duty +at this threshold." + + +XXVI + +They tell a story of a tyrant who bought fire-wood from the poor at a +low price, and sold it to the rich at an advance. A good and holy man +went up to him and said, "Thou art a snake, who bitest everybody thou +seest; or an owl, who diggest up and makest a ruin of the place where +thou sittest:--Although thy injustice may pass unpunished among us, it +cannot escape God, the knower of secrets. Be not unjust with the people +of this earth, that their complaints may not rise up to heaven." + +They say the unjust man was offended at his words, turned aside his +face, and showed him no civility, as they have expressed it (in the +Koran):--_He, the glorified God, overtook him amidst his sins_:--till +one night, when the fire of his kitchen fell upon the stack of wood, +consumed all his property, and laid him from the bed of voluptuousness +upon the ashes of hell torments. That good and holy man happened to be +passing and observed that he was remarking to his friends, "I cannot +fancy whence this fire fell upon my dwelling." He said, "From the smoke +of the hearts of the poor!--Guard against the smoke of the +sore-afflicted heart, for an inside sore will at last gather into a +head. Give nobody's heart pain so long as thou canst avoid it, for one +sigh may set a whole world into a flame." + +They have related that these verses were inscribed in golden letters +upon Kai-khosrau's crown:--"How many years, and what a continuance of +ages, that mankind shall on this earth walk over my head. As the kingdom +came to me from hand to hand, so it shall pass into the hands of +others." + + +XXVII + +A person had become a master in the art of wrestling; he knew three +hundred and sixty sleights in this art, and could exhibit a fresh trick +for every day throughout the year. Perhaps owing to a liking that a +corner of his heart took for the handsome person of one of his scholars, +he taught him three hundred and fifty-nine of those feats, but he was +putting off the instruction of one, and under some pretence deferring +it. + +In short the youth became such a proficient in the art and talent of +wrestling that none of his contemporaries had ability to cope with him, +till he at length had one day boasted before the reigning sovereign, +saying, "To any superiority my master possesses over me, he is beholden +to my reverence of his seniority, and in virtue of his tutorage; +otherwise I am not inferior in power, and am his equal in skill." This +want of respect displeased the king. He ordered a wrestling match to be +held, and a spacious field to be fenced in for the occasion. The +ministers of state, nobles of the court, and gallant men of the realm +were assembled, and the ceremonials of the combat marshalled. Like a +huge and lusty elephant, the youth rushed into the ring with such a +crash that had a brazen mountain opposed him he would have moved it from +its base. The master being aware that the youth was his superior in +strength, engaged him in that strange feat of which he had kept him +ignorant. The youth was unacquainted with its guard. Advancing, +nevertheless, the master seized him with both hands, and, lifting him +bodily from the ground, raised him above his head and flung him on the +earth. The crowd set up a shout. The king ordered them to give the +master an honorary dress and handsome largess, and the youth he +addressed with reproach and asperity, saying, "You played the traitor +with your own patron, and failed in your presumption of opposing him." +He replied, "O sire! my master did not overcome me by strength and +ability, but one cunning trick in the art of wrestling was left which he +was reserved in teaching me, and by that little feat had to-day the +upper hand of me." The master said, "I reserved myself for such a day as +this. As the wise have told us, 'Put it not so much into a friend's +power that, if hostilely disposed, he can do you an injury.' Have you +not heard what that man said who was treacherously dealt with by his own +pupil:--'Either in fact there was no good faith in this world, or nobody +has perhaps practised it in our days. No person learned the art of +archery from me who did not in the end make me his butt.'" + + +XXVIII + +A solitary dervish had taken up his station at the corner of a desert. A +king was passing by him. Inasmuch as contentment is the enjoyment of a +kingdom, the dervish did not raise his head, nor show him the least mark +of attention; and, inasmuch as sovereignty is regal pomp, the king took +offence, and said, "The tribe of ragged mendicants resemble brute +beasts, and have neither grace nor good manners." The vizir stepped up +to him, and said: "O generous man! the sovereign of the universe has +passed by you; why did you not do him homage, and discharge the duty of +obeisance?" He answered and said, "Speak to your sovereign, saying: +Expect service from that person who will court your favor; let him +moreover know that kings are meant for the protection of the people, and +not the people for the subjects of kings.--Though it be for their +benefit that his glory is exalted, yet is the king but the shepherd of +the poor. The sheep are not intended for the service of the shepherd, +but the shepherd is appointed to tend the sheep.--To-day thou mayest +observe one man proud from prosperity, another with a heart sore from +adversity; have patience for a few days till the dust of the grave can +consume the brain of that vain and foolish head. When the record of +destiny came to take effect, the distinction of liege and subject +disappeared. Were a person to turn up the dust of the defunct, he could +not distinguish that of the rich man from the poor." + +These sayings made a strong impression upon the king; he said: "Ask me +for something." He replied: "What I desire is, that you will not trouble +me again!" The king said, "Favor me with a piece of advice." He +answered: "Attend to them now that the good things of this life are in +thy hands; for wealth and dominion are passing from one hand into +another." + + * * * * * + + +XXX + +A king ordered an innocent person to be put to death. The man said, +"Seek not your own hurt by venting any anger you may entertain against +me." The king asked, "How?" He replied, "The pain of this punishment +will continue with me for a moment, but the sin of it will endure with +you forever.--The period of this life passes by like the wind of the +desert. Joy and sorrow, beauty and deformity, equally pass away. The +tyrant vainly thought that he did me an injury, but round his neck it +clung and passed over me." + +The king profited by this advice, spared his life, and asked his +forgiveness. + + +XXXI + +The cabinet ministers of Nushirowan were debating an important affair of +state, and each delivered his opinion according to the best of his +judgment. In like manner the king also delivered his sentiments, and +Abu-zarchamahr, the prime minister, accorded in opinion with him. The +other ministers whispered him, saying, "What did you see superior in the +king's opinion that you preferred it to the judgment of so many wise +heads?" He replied: "Because the event is doubtful, and the opinion of +all rests in the pleasure of the most high God whether it shall be right +or wrong. Accordingly it is safer to conform with the judgment of the +king, because if that shall prove wrong, our obsequiousness to his will +shall secure us from his displeasure.--To sport an opinion contrary to +the judgment of the king were to wash our hands in our own blood. Were +he verily to say this day is night, it would behoove us to reply: Lo! +there are the moon and seven stars." + + +XXXII + +An impostor plaited his hair and spake, saying, "I am a descendant of +Ali;" and he entered the city along with the caravan from Hijaz, saying, +"I come a pilgrim from Mecca;" and he presented a Casidah or elegy to +the king, saying, "I have composed it!" The king gave him money, treated +him with respect, and ordered him to be shown much flattering attention; +till one of the courtiers, who had that day returned from a voyage at +sea, said, "I saw him on the Eeduzha, or anniversary of sacrifice at +Busrah; how then can he be a Haji, or pilgrim?" Another said, "Now I +recollect him, his father was a Christian at Malatiyah (Malta); how then +can he be a descendant of Ali?" And they discovered his verses in the +divan of Anwari. The king ordered that they should beat and drive him +away, saying, "How came you to utter so many falsehoods?" He replied, "O +sovereign of the universe! I will utter one speech more, and if that may +not prove true, I shall deserve whatever punishment you may command." +The king asked, "What may that be?" He said: "If a peasant bring thee a +cup of junket, two measures of it will be water and one spoonful of it +buttermilk. If thy slave spake idly be not offended, for great +travellers deal most in the marvellous!" The king smiled and replied, +"You never in your life spake a truer word." He directed them to gratify +his expectations, and he departed happy and content. + + +XXXIII + +They have related that one of the vizirs would compassionate the weak +and meditate the good of everybody. He happened to fall under the royal +displeasure, and they all strove to obtain his release. Such as had him +in custody were indulgent in their restraint, and his fellow-grandees +were loud in proclaiming his virtues, till the king pardoned his fault. +A good and holy man was apprised of these events, and said:--"In order +to conciliate the good-will of friends, it were better to sell our +patrimonial garden; in order to boil the pot of well-wishers, it were +good to convert our household furniture into fire-wood. Do good even to +the wicked; it is as well to shut a dog's mouth with a crumb." + + +XXXIV + +One of Harun-al-Rashid's children went up to his father in a passion, +saying, "A certain officer's son has abused me in my mother's name." +Harun asked his ministers, "What ought to be such a person's +punishment?" One made a sign to have him put to death; another to have +his tongue cut out; and a third, to have him fined and banished. Harun +said: "O my child! it were generous to forgive him; but if you have not +resolution to do that, do you abuse his mother in return, yet not to +such a degree as to exceed the bounds of retaliation, for in that case +the injury would be on our part, and the complaint on that of the +antagonist.--In the opinion of the prudent he is no hero that can dare +to combat a furious elephant; but that man is in truth a hero who, when +provoked to anger, will not speak intemperately. A cross-grained fellow +abused a certain person; he bore it patiently, and said, O well-disposed +man! I am still more wicked than thou art calling me; for I know my +defects better than thou canst know them." + + +XXXV + +I was seated in a vessel, along with some persons of distinction, when a +boat sunk astern of us and two brothers were drawn into the whirlpool. +One of our gentlemen called to the pilot, saying, "Save those two +drowning men and I will give you a hundred dinars." The pilot went and +rescued one of them, but the other perished. I observed, "That man's +time was come, therefore you were tardy in assisting him, and alert in +saving this other." The pilot smiled, and replied, "What you say is the +essence of inevitable necessity; yet was my zeal more hearty in rescuing +this one, because on an occasion when I was tired in the desert he set +me on a camel; whereas, when a boy, I had received a horsewhipping from +that other."--_God Almighty was all justice and equity: whoever labored +unto good experienced good in himself; and he who toiled unto evil +experienced evil_.--So long as thou art able grate nobody's heart, for +in this path there must be thorns. Expedite the concerns of the poor and +needy; for thy own concerns may need to be expedited. + + * * * * * + + +XXXVII + +A person announced to Nushirowan the Just, saying, "I have heard that +God, glorious and great, has removed from this world a certain man who +was your enemy." He said, "Have you had any intelligence that he has +overlooked me? In the death of a rival I have no room for exultation, +since my life also is not to last forever." + + +XXXVIII + +At the court of Kisra, or Nushirowan, a cabinet council was debating +some state affair. Abu-zarchamahr, who sat as president, was silent. +They asked him, "Why do you not join us in this discussion?" He replied, +"Such ministers of state are like physicians, and a physician will +prescribe a medicine only to a sick man; accordingly, so long as I see +that your opinions are judicious, it were ill-judged in me to obtrude a +word.--While business can proceed without my interference, it does not +behoove me to speak on the subject; but were I to see a blind man +walking into a pit, I would be much to blame if I remained silent." + + +XXXIX + +When he reduced the kingdom of Misr, or Egypt, to obedience, +Harun-al-Rashid said, "In contempt of that impious rebel (Pharaoh), who, +in his pride of the sovereignty of Egypt, boasted a divinity, I will +bestow its government only on the vilest of my slaves." He had a negro +bondsman, called Khosayib, preciously stupid, and him he appointed to +rule over Egypt. They tell us that his judgment and understanding were +such, that when a body of farmers complained to him, saying, "We had +planted some cotton shrubs on the banks of the Nile, and the rains came +unseasonably, and swept them all away;"--he replied, "You ought to sow +wool, that it might not be swept away!" A good and holy man heard this, +and said: "Were our fortune to be increased in proportion to our +knowledge, none could be scantier than the share of the fool; but +fortune will bestow such wealth upon the ignorant as shall astonish a +hundred of the learned. Power and fortune depend not on knowledge, they +are obtained only through the aid of heaven; for it has often happened +in this world that the illiterate are honored, and the wise held in +scorn. The fool in his idleness found a treasure under a ruin; the +chemist, or projector, fell the victim of disappointment and chagrin." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Of the Morals of Dervishes + + +I + +A person of distinction asked a parsa, or devout and holy man, saying, +"What do you offer in justification of a certain abid, another species +of Mohammedan monk, whose character others have been so ready to +question?" He replied: "In his outward behavior I see nothing to blame, +and with the secrets of his heart I claim no acquaintance.--Whomsoever +thou seest in a parsa's habit, consider him a parsa, or holy, and esteem +him as a good man; and if thou knowest not what is passing in his mind, +what business has the mohtasib, or censor, with the inside of the +house?" + + +II + +I saw a dervish who, having laid his head at the fane of the Cabah of +Mecca, was complaining and saying, "O gracious, O merciful God! thou +knowest what can proceed from the sinful and ignorant that may be worthy +of thy acceptance!--I brought my excuse of imperfect performance, for I +have no claim on the score of obedience. The wicked repent them of their +sins; such as know God confess a deficiency of worship." + +Abids, or the pious, seek a reward of their devotion, merchants a profit +on their traffic. I, a devoted servant, have brought hope, not +obedience, and have come as a beggar, and not for lucre!--_Do unto me +what is worthy of thyself; but deal not with me as I myself have +deserved_.--Whether thou wilt slay me or pardon my offence, my head and +face are prostrate at thy threshold. Thy servant has no will of his own; +whatever thou commandest, that he will perform. At the door of the Cabah +I saw a petitioner, who was praying and weeping bitterly. I ask not, +saying, "Approve of my obedience, but draw the pen of forgiveness across +my sins." + + +III + +Within the sanctuary of the Cabah, at Mecca, I saw Abd-u'l-cadur the +Gilani, who having laid his face upon the Hasa, or black stone, was +saying, "Spare and pardon me, O God! and if, at all events, I am doomed +to punishment, raise me up at the day of resurrection blindfolded, that +I may not be put to shame in the eyes of the righteous." Every morning +when the day begins to dawn, with my face in the dust of humility, I am +saying, "O thou, whom I never can forget, dost thou ever bestow a +thought on thy servant?" + + +IV + +A thief got into a holy man's cell; but, however much he searched, he +could find nothing to steal, and was going away disappointed. The good +soul was aware of what was passing, and taking up the rug on which he +had slept, he put it in his way that he might not miss his object.--I +have heard that the heroes on the path of God will not distress the +hearts of their enemies. How canst thou attain this dignified station +who art at strife and warfare with thy friends? + +The loving kindness of the righteous, whether before your face or behind +your back, is not such that they will censure you when absent, and offer +to die for you when present.--Face to face meek as a lamb, behind your +back like a man-devouring wolf. Whoever brings you, and sums up the +faults of others, will doubtless expose your defects to them. + + +V + +Some travelling mendicants had agreed to club in a body and participate +in the cares and comforts of society. I expressed a wish that I might be +one of the party, but they refused to admit me. I said: "It is rare and +inconsistent with the generous dispositions of dervishes to turn their +faces from a good-fellowship with the poor, and to deny them its +benefits, for on my part I feel such a zeal and good-will, that in the +service of the liberal I am likely to prove rather an active associate +than a grievous load.--_Though not one of those who are mounted on the +camels, I will do my best, that I may carry their saddle-cloths_." + +One of them answered and said: "Be not offended at what you have heard, +for some days back a thief joined us in the garb of a dervish, and +strung himself upon the cord of our acquaintance.--How can people know +what he is that wears that dress? The writer can alone tell the +contents of the letter." In consequence of that reverence in which the +dervish character is held, they did not think of his profligacy and +admitted him into their society. The outward character of the holy is a +patched cloak; this much is sufficient, that it has a threadbare hood. +Be industrious in thy calling, and wear whatever dress thou choosest. +Put a diadem on thy head, and bear a standard on thy shoulder. Holiness +does not consist in a coarse frock. Let a zahid, or holy man, be truly +pious, and he may dress in satin. Sanctity is not merely a change of +dress; it is an abandonment of the world, its pomp and vanity. It +requires a hero to wear a coat of mail, for what would it profit to +dress an hermaphrodite, or coward, in a suit of armor? + +In short we had one day travelled till dark, and at night composed +ourselves for sleep under the wall of a castle. That graceless thief +took up his neighbor's ewer, saying, "I am going to my ablutions;" and +he was setting out for plunder. Behold a religious man, who threw a +patched cloak over his shoulders; he made the covering of the Cabah the +housing of an ass. So soon as he got out of the sight of the dervishes, +he scaled a bastion of the fort and stole a casket. Before break of day +that gloomy-minded robber had got a great way off, and left his innocent +companions asleep. In the morning they were all carried into the +citadel, and thrown into a dungeon. From that time we have declined any +addition to our party, and kept apart to ourselves, _for there is safety +in unity, but danger in duality or a multitude_.--When an individual of +a sect committed an act of folly, the high and the low sunk in their +dignity. Dost thou not see that one ox in a pasturage will cast a slur +upon all the oxen of the village? + +I said: "Let there be thanksgiving to a Deity of majesty and glory that +I am not forbid the benefits of dervishes, notwithstanding I am in +appearance excluded from their society; and I am instructed by this +narration, and others like me may profit by its moral during their +remaining lives.--From one indiscreet person in an assembly a host of +the prudent may get hurt. If they fill a cistern to the brim with +rose-water, and let a dog fall into it, the whole will be +contaminated." + + +VI + +A zahid was the guest of a king. When he sat down at table he ate more +sparingly from that than his appetite inclined him, and when he stood up +at prayers he continued longer at them than it was his custom; that they +might form a high opinion of his sanctity.--I fear, O Arab! that thou +wilt not reach the Caabah; for the road that thou art taking leads to +Turkistan, or the region of infidels. + +When he returned home he ordered the table to be spread that he might +eat. His son was a youth of a shrewd understanding. He said: "O father, +perhaps you ate little or nothing at the feast of the king?" He +answered, "In his presence I ate scarce anything that could answer its +purpose!" Then retorted the boy, "Repeat also your prayers, that nothing +be omitted that can serve a purpose." Yes, thy virtues thou hast exposed +in the palm of thy hand, thy vices thou hast hid under thy arm-pit. Take +heed, O hypocrite, what thou wilt be able to purchase with this base +money on the day of need or day of judgment. + + +VII + +I remember that in my early youth I was overmuch religious and vigilant, +and scrupulously pious and abstinent. One night I sat up in attendance +on my father, on whom be God's mercy, never once closed my eyes during +the whole night, and held the precious Koran open on my lap, while the +company around us were fast asleep. I said to my father: "Not an +individual of these will raise his head that he may perform his +genuflections, or ritual of prayer; but they are all so sound asleep, +that you might conclude they were dead." He replied: "O emanation of +your father, you had also better have slept than that you should thus +calumniate the failings of mankind.--The braggart can discern only his +own precious person; he will draw the veil of conceit all around him. +Were fortune to bestow upon him God's all-searching eye, he would find +nobody weaker than himself." + + * * * * * + + +X + +On one occasion, at the metropolitan mosque of Balbek, I was holding +forth, by way of admonition to a congregation cold and dead at heart, +and not to be moved from the materialism of this world into the paths of +mysticism. I perceived that the spirit of my discourse was making no +impression, nor were the sparks of my enthusiasm likely to strike fire +into their humid wood. I grew weary of instructing brutes, and of +holding up a mirror to an assembly of the blind; but the door of +exposition was thrown open, and the chain of argument extended; and in +explanation of this text in the Koran--_We are nearer to him_ (God) +_than the vein of his neck_.--I had reached that passage of my sermon +where I thus express myself:--"Such a mistress as is closer to me in her +affection than I am to myself, but this is marvellous that I am +estranged from her. What shall I say, and to whom can I tell it, that +she lies on my bosom and I am alienated from her." + +The intoxicating spirit of this discourse ran into my head, and the +dregs of the cup still rested in my hand, when a traveller, as passing +by, entered the outer circle of the congregation, and its expiring +undulation lit upon him. He sent forth such a groan that the others in +sympathy with him joined in lamentation, and the rawest of the assembly +bubbled in unison. I exclaimed, "Praise be to God! those far off are +present in their knowledge, and those near by are distant from their +ignorance. If the hearer has not the faculty of comprehending the +sermon, expect not the vigor of genius in the preacher. Give a scope to +the field of inclination, that the orator may have room to strike the +ball of eloquence over it." + + +XI + +One night in the desert of Mecca, from an excess of drowsiness, I had +not a foot to enable me to proceed; and, laying my head on the earth, I +gave myself up for lost, and desired the camel-driver to leave me to my +fate.--How could the foot of the poor jaded pedestrian go on, now that +the Bactrian dromedary got impatient of its burden? While the body of a +fat man is getting lean, a lean man must fall the victim of a hardship. + +The camel-driver replied: "O brother, holy Mecca is ahead, and the +profane robber behind; if you come forward you escape, but if you stay +here you die!" During the night journey of the caravan, and in the track +of the desert, it is fascinating to dose under the acacia-thorn tree; +but, on this indulgence, we must resign all thoughts of surviving it. + + +XII + +I saw on the sea-shore a holy man who had been torn by a tiger, and +could get no salve to heal his wound. For a length of time he suffered +much pain, and was all along offering thanks to the Most High. They +asked him, saying, "Why are you so grateful?" He answered, "God be +praised that I am overtaken with misfortune and not with sin! Were that +beloved friend, God, to give me over to death, take heed, and think not +that I should be solicitous about life. I would ask, What hast thou seen +amiss in thy poor servant that thy heart should take offence at me? for +that could alone give me a moment's uneasiness." + + +XIII + +Having some pressing occasion, a dervish stole a rug from the hut of a +friend. The judge ordered that they should cut off his hand. The owner +of the rug made intercession for him, saying, "I have forgiven him." The +judge replied, "At your instance I cannot relax the extreme sentence of +the law." He said: "In what you ordered you spoke justly. Nevertheless, +whoever steals a portion of any property dedicated to alms must not +suffer the forfeiture of his hand, for a _religious mendicant is not the +proprietor of anything_; and whatever appertains to dervishes is devoted +to the necessitous." The judge withdrew his hand from punishing him, and +by way of reprimand asked, "Had the world become so circumscribed that +you could not commit a theft but in the dwelling of such a friend?" He +answered, "Have you not heard what they have said, 'Sweep everything +away from the houses of your friends, but knock not at the doors of your +enemies.' When overwhelmed with calamity let not thy body pine in +misery. Strip thy foes of their skins, and thy friends of their +jackets." + + +XIV + +A king said to a holy man, "Are you ever thinking of me?" "Yes," replied +he, "at such time as I am forgetting God Almighty! He will wander all +around whom God shall drive from his gate; and he will not let him go to +another door whom he shall direct into his own." + + +XV + +One of the righteous in a dream saw a king in paradise, and a parsa, or +holy man, in hell. He questioned himself, saying, "What is the cause of +the exaltation of this, and the degradation of that, for we have fancied +their converse?" A voice came from above, answering, "This king is in +heaven because of his affection for the holy, and that parsa is in hell +because of his connection with the kingly."--What can a coarse frock, +rosary, and patched cloak avail? Abstain from such evil works as may +defile thee. There is no occasion to put a felt cowl upon thy head. Be a +dervish in thy actions, and wear a Tartarian coronet. + + +XVI + +A pedestrian, naked from head to foot, left Cufah with the caravan of +pilgrims for Hijaz, or Mecca, and came along with us. I looked at and +saw him destitute of every necessary for the journey; yet he was +cheerfully pushing on, and bravely remarking:--"I am neither mounted on +a camel nor a mule under a burden. I am neither the lord of vassals nor +the vassal of a lord. I think not of present sorrows or past vanities, +but breathe the breath of ease and live the life of freedom!" + +A gentleman mounted on a camel said to him, "O dervish, whither are you +going? return, or you must perish miserably." He did not heed what he +said, but entered the desert on foot and proceeded. On our reaching the +palm plantation of Mahmud, fate overtook the rich man, and he died. The +dervish went up to his bier and said, "I did not perish amidst hardship +on foot, and you expired on a camel's back." A person sat all night +weeping by the side of a sick friend. Next day he died, and the invalid +recovered!--Yes! many a fleet horse perished by the way, and that lame +ass reached the end of the journey. How many of the vigorous and hale +did they put underground, and that wounded man recovered! + + * * * * * + + +XVIII + +In the territory of the Greeks a caravan was attacked by robbers, and +plundered of much property. The merchants set up a lamentation and +complaint, and besought the intercession of God and the prophet; but all +to no purpose.--When the gloomy-minded robber is flushed with victory, +what will he feel for the traveller's despair. + +Lucman, the fabulist and philosopher, happened to be among them. One of +the travellers spoke to him, saying, "Direct some maxims of wisdom and +admonition to them; perhaps they may restore a part of our goods; for it +were a pity that articles of such value should be cast away." He +answered: "It were a pity to cast away the admonitions of wisdom upon +them!" From that iron which the rust has corroded thou canst not +eradicate the canker with a file. What purpose will it answer to preach +to the gloomy-minded infidel? A nail of iron cannot penetrate into a +piece of flint. + +Perhaps the fault has been on our part (in not being charitable), as +they have said:--"On the day of thy prosperity remember the bankrupt and +needy, for by visiting the hearts of the poor with charity thou shalt +divert calamity. When the beggar solicits alms from thee, bestow it with +a good grace; otherwise the tyrant may come and take it by force." + + * * * * * + + +XX + +They asked Lucman, the fabulist, "From whom did you learn manners?" He +answered, "From the unmannerly, for I was careful to avoid whatever part +of their behavior seemed to me bad." They will not speak a word in joke +from which the wise cannot derive instruction; let them read a hundred +chapters of wisdom to a fool, and they will all seem but a jest to him. + + +XXI + +They tell a story of an abid, who in the course of a night would eat ten +mans, or pounds, of food, and in his devotions repeat the whole Koran +before morning. A good and holy man heard this, and said, "Had he eaten +half a loaf of bread, and gone to sleep, he would have done a more +meritorious act." Keep thy inside unencumbered with victuals, that the +light of good works may shine within thee; but thou art void of wisdom +and knowledge, because thou art filled up to the nose with food. + + +XXII + +The divine favor had placed the lamp of grace in the path of a wanderer +in forbidden ways, till it directed him into the circle of the +righteous, and the blessed society of dervishes, and their spiritual +co-operation enabled him to convert his wicked propensities into +praiseworthy deeds, and to restrain himself in sensual indulgences; yet +were the tongues of calumniators questioning his sincerity, and saying, +He retains his original habits, and there is no trusting to his piety +and goodness.--By the means of repentance thou mayest get delivered from +the wrath of God, but there is no escape from the slanderous tongue of +man.--He was unable to put up with the virulence of their remarks, and +took his complaint to his ghostly father, saying, "I am much troubled by +the tongues of mankind." The holy man wept, and answered, "How can you +be sufficiently grateful for this blessing, that you are better than +they represent you?--How often wilt thou call aloud saying, The +malignant and envious are calumniating wretched me, that they rise up to +shed my blood, and that they sit down to devise me mischief. Be thou +good thyself, and let people speak evil of thee; it is better than to be +wicked, and that they should consider thee as good."--But, on the other +hand, behold me, of whose perfectness all entertain the best opinion, +while I am the mirror of imperfection.--Had I done what they have said, +I should have been a pious and moral man.--_Verily, I may conceal myself +from the sight of my neighbor, but God knows what is secret and what is +open_.--There is a shut door between me and mankind, that they may not +pry into my sins; but what, O Omniscience! can a closed door avail +against thee, who art equally informed of what is manifest or concealed? + + +XXIII + +I lodged a complaint with one of our reverend Shaikhs, saying: "A +certain person has borne testimony against my character on the score of +lasciviousness." He answered, "Shame him by your continence.--Be thou +virtuously disposed, that the detractor may not have it in his power to +indulge his malignity. So long as the harp is in tune, how can it have +its ear pulled (or suffer correction by being put in tune) by the +minstrel?" + + +XXIV + +They asked one of the Shaikhs of Sham, or Syria, saying: "What is the +condition of the Sufi sect?" He answered, "Formerly they were in this +world a fraternity dispersed in the flesh, but united in the spirit; but +now they are a body well clothed carnally, and ragged in divine +mystery." Whilst thy heart will be every moment wandering into a +different place, in thy recluse state thou canst not see purity; but +though thou possessest rank and wealth, lands and chattels, if thy heart +be fixed on God, thou art a hermit. + + +XXV + +On one occasion we had marched, I recollect, all the night along with +the caravan, and halted towards morning on the skirts of the wilderness. +One mystically distracted, who accompanied us on that journey, set up a +loud lamentation at dawn, went a-wandering into the desert, and did not +take a moment's rest. Next day I said to him, "What condition was that?" +He replied, "I remarked the nightingales that they had come to carol in +the groves, the pheasants to prattle on the mountains, the frogs to +croak in the pools, and the wild beasts to roar in the forests, and +thought with myself, saying, It cannot be generous that all are awake in +God's praise and I am wrapt up in the sleep of forgetfulness!--Last +night a bird was carolling towards the morning; it stole my patience +and reason, my fortitude and understanding. My lamentation had perhaps +reached the ear of one of my dearly-beloved friends. He said, 'I did not +believe that the singing of a bird could so distract thee!' I answered, +This is not the duty of the human species, that the birds are singing +God's praise and that I am silent." + + +XXVI + +Once, on a pilgrimage to Hijaz, I was the fellow-traveller of some +piously-disposed young men, and on a footing of familiarity and intimacy +with them. From time to time we were humming a tune and chanting a +spiritual hymn, and an abid, who bore us company, kept disparaging the +morals of the dervishes, and was callous to their sufferings, till we +reached the palm plantation of the tribe of Hulal, when a boy of a tawny +complexion issued from the Arab horde and sung such a plaintive melody +as would arrest the bird in its flight through the air. I remarked the +abid's camel that it kicked up and pranced, and, throwing the abid, +danced into the wilderness. I said: "O reverend Shaikh! that spiritual +strain threw a brute into an ecstasy, and it is not in like manner +working a change in you!--Knowest thou what that nightingale of the dawn +whispered to me? What sort of man art thou, indeed, who art ignorant of +love?--The camel is in an ecstasy of delight from the Arab's song. If +thou hast no taste to relish this, thou art a cross-grained brute.--Now +that the camel is elated with rapture and delight, if a man is +insensible to these he is an ass.--_The zephyr, gliding through the +verdure on the earth, shakes the twig of the ban-tree, but moves not the +solid rock_.--Whatever thou beholdest is loud in extolling him. That +heart which has an ear is full of the divine mystery. It is not the +nightingale that alone serenades his rose; for every thorn on the +rose-bush is a tongue in his or God's praise!" + + +XXVII + +A king had reached the end of his days and had no heir to succeed him. +He made his will, stating, "You will place the crown of sovereignty upon +the head of whatever person first enters the city gate in the morning, +and commit the kingdom to his charge." It happened that the first man +that presented himself at the city gate was a beggar, who had passed his +whole life in scraping broken meat and in patching rags. The ministers +of state and nobles of the court fulfilled the conditions of the king's +will, and laid the keys of the treasury and citadel at his feet. + +For a time the dervish governed the kingdom, till some of the chiefs of +the empire swerved from their allegiance, and the princes of the +territories on every side rose in opposition to him, and levied armies +for the contest. In short, his troops and subjects were routed and +subdued, and several of his provinces taken from him. + +The dervish was hurt to the soul at these events, when one of his old +friends, who had been the companion of his state of poverty, returned +from a journey and found him in such dignity. He exclaimed: +"Thanksgiving be to a Deity of majesty and glory that lofty fortune +succored you and prosperity was your guide, till roses issued from your +thorns and the thorns were extracted from your feet, and till you +arrived at this elevated rank!--_Along with hardship there is ease; or, +to sorrow succeeds joy_.--The plant is at one season in flower and at +another withered; the tree is at one time naked and at another clothed +with leaves." He said: "O, my dear friend, offer me condolence, for here +is no place for congratulation. When you last saw me I had to think of +getting a crumb of bread; now I have the cares of a whole kingdom on my +head. If the world be adverse, we are the victims of pain; if +prosperous, the fettered slaves of affection for it. Amidst this life no +calamity is more afflicting than that, whether fortunate or not, the +mind is equally disquieted. If thou covetest riches, ask not but for +contentment, which is an immense treasure. Should a rich man throw money +into thy lap, take heed, and do not look upon it as a benefit; for I +have often heard from the great and good that the patience of the poor +is more meritorious than the gift of the rich. Were King Bahram Ghor to +distribute a whole roasted elk, it would not be equal to the gift of a +locust's leg from an ant." + + +XXVIII + +A person had a friend who was holding the office of king's divan, or +prime minister, and it happened that he had not seen him for some time. +Somebody remarked, saying, "It is some time since you saw such a +gentleman." He answered, "I am no ways anxious about seeing him." One of +the divan's people chanced to be present. He asked, "What has happened +amiss that you should dislike to visit him?" He replied, "There is no +dislike; but my friend, the divan, can be seen at a time when he is out +of office, and my idle intrusion might not come amiss." Amidst the state +patronage and authority of office they might take umbrage at their +acquaintance; but on the day of vexation and loss of place they would +impart their mental disquietudes to their friends. + + +XXIX + +Abu-Horairah was making a daily visit to the prophet Mustafa Mohammed, +on whom be God's blessing and peace. He said: "_O Abu-Horairah! let me +alone every other day, that so affection may increase_; that is, come +not every day, that we may get more loving!" + +They said to a good and holy man, "Notwithstanding all these charms +which the sun commands, we have never heard of anybody that has fallen +in love with him!" He answered, "It is because he is seen every day, +unless during the winter, when he is veiled (in the clouds), and thus +much coveted and loved."--To visit mankind has no blame in it, but not +to such a degree as to let them say, Enough of it. If we see occasion to +interrogate ourselves, we need not listen to the reprehension of others. + + +XXX + +Having taken offence with the society of my friends at Damascus, I +retired into the wilderness of the Holy Land, or Jerusalem, and sought +the company of brutes till such time as I was made a prisoner by the +Franks, and employed by them, along with some Jews, in digging earth in +the ditches of Tripoli. At length one of the chiefs of Aleppo, between +whom and me an intimacy had of old subsisted, happening to pass that +way, recognized me, and said, "How is this? and how came you to be thus +occupied?" I replied: "What can I say?--I was flying from mankind into +the forests and mountains, for my resource was in God and in none else. +Fancy to thyself what my condition must now be, when forced to associate +with a tribe scarcely human?--To be linked in a chain with a company of +acquaintance were pleasanter than to walk in a garden with strangers." + +He took pity on my situation; and, having for ten dinars redeemed me +from captivity with the Franks, carried me along with him to Aleppo. +Here he had a daughter, and her he gave me in marriage, with a dower of +a hundred dinars. Soon after this damsel turned out a termagant and +vixen, and discovered such a perverse spirit and virulent tongue as +quite unhinged all my domestic comfort.--A scolding wife in the dwelling +of a peaceful man is his hell, even in this world. Protect and guard us +against a wicked inmate. Save us, O Lord, and preserve us from the +fiery, or hell, torture. + +Having on one occasion given a liberty to the tongue of reproach, she +was saying, "Are you not the fellow whom my father redeemed from the +captivity of the Franks for ten dinars?" I replied, "Yes, I am that same +he delivered from captivity for ten dinars, and enslaved me with you for +a hundred!" I have heard that a reverend and mighty man released a sheep +from the paws and jaws of a wolf. That same night he was sticking a +knife into its throat, when the spirit of the sheep reproached him, +saying, "Thou didst deliver me from the clutches of a wolf, when I at +length saw that thou didst prove a wolf to me thyself." + + * * * * * + + +XXXIII + +One of the holy men of Syria had passed many years of devotion in the +wilderness, and was feeding on the leaves of trees. The king of that +country, in the way of a pilgrimage, visited him, and said, "If you can +see the propriety of removing into my capital I will prepare an abode, +where you may perform your devotions more at ease than in this place, +and others may benefit by the blessing of your spiritual communion, and +be edified by the example of your pious labors." The hermit was adverse +to this advice, and turned away his face. One of the king's ministers +spoke to him, saying: "For the satisfaction of his Majesty, it were +proper that you would for a few days remove into the city, and ascertain +the nature of the place; when, if it should prove that your purity might +be tarnished by coming in contact with the wicked, you have still the +option left of moving back." + +It is reported that they prevailed on the hermit to accompany them into +the city; and, in a garden near the sacred residence of the king, +prepared for him a dwelling, which, like the mansions of paradise, was +rejoicing the heart, and exhilarating the soul.--Its damask roses were +blooming as the cheeks of the lovely, and its tufted spikenard like the +ringlets of our mistresses. It had as much to fear from the angry blasts +of winter as the babe who has not yet tasted its nurse's milk: _boughs +of trees on which hung crimson flowers, that gleamed like a flame amidst +their dusky foliage_. + +Forthwith the king sent him a moon-faced damsel.--Such was this delicate +crescent of the moon, and fascination of the holy, this form of an +angel, and decoration of a peacock, that let them once behold her, and +continence must cease to exist in the constitutions of the chaste. + +And, in like manner, there followed her a youth of such rare beauty and +exquisite symmetry, that the powerful grasp of his charms had broken the +wrists of the pious, and tied up behind their backs the arms of the +upright.--Mankind stand around him _parched with thirst, whilst he, who +seems thy cup-bearer, will give thee no drink_.--The eye could not be +satiated by beholding him, like the dropsical man with water by looking +at the river Euphrates. + +The hermit began to relish dainty food, and to wear sumptuous apparel; +to regale himself with fruits, perfumes, and sweetmeats; and to behold +with delight the charms of the handmaid and bondsman. And the wise have +said, "The ringlets of the lovely are a chain on the feet of reason, and +a snare for the bird of wisdom."--To the mystery of thy service I +devoted my heart, religion, and all my mental faculties; verily, I am +now the bird of reason, and thou art the lure and bait. + +In short, the good fortune of his many years of sanctity ran to waste, +as has been said:--"Whatever he had laid up from theologician, sage, or +saint, or of recondite knowledge from the eloquent and pure of spirit, +now that he had stooped to mix with a vile world, like the feet of a fly +he got entangled in its honey." + +The king had the curiosity of making him another visit, and found the +hermit much altered from what he first saw of him. His face had become +fair and ruddy, and his body plump and jolly; and he was reclining at +his ease on cushions of brocade, and had the Houri-like damsel lolling +by his side, and the fairy-formed youth holding a fly-flap of peacock's +feathers in his hand, and standing by him in attendance. The king +congratulated him upon his portly appearance, and they entered together +upon a variety of topics, till his majesty concluded by observing, "In +this world I have an affection for these two orders of mankind, the +learned and the recluse." A philosophic vizir, and man of much worldly +experience, happened to be present. He said: "O sire! such is the canon +of affection that you should confer a benefit on each. Give money to the +learned man, that he may teach others; and give nothing to the hermit, +that he may remain an anchorite.--A zahid, or hermit, stands in need of +neither diram nor dinar; when an anchorite takes either, look out for +another.--Whoever is virtuously disposed, and holds a mystical +communication with God, is sufficient of a hermit without requiring the +bread of charity, or the crumbs of mendicity. The tapering finger of the +lovely, and her soul-deluding ear-lobe, are decoration enough without a +turquoise ring or ear-jewel. Tell that piously-disposed and +serene-minded dervish that he needs not the bread of consecration or +scraping of beggary; tell that handsome and fair-faced matron that she +does not require paint, coloring, or jewelry.--When I have of my own, +and covet what is another's, if they esteem me not a hermit they treat +me as I merit." + + +XXXIV + +Conformably with the above apologue, a king had a business of importance +in hand. He said: "If this affair prosper to my wish I will distribute +among the recluses a certain sum in dirams." Now his object was +accomplished, and mind made easy, he thought it incumbent to fulfil the +condition of his eleemosynary vow, and gave a bag of dinars to a +favorite servant, that he might distribute them among the anchorites. +This was a discreet and considerate young man. He wandered about for the +whole day; and, returning in the evening, kissed the bag of money, and +laid it before the king, saying, "However much I sought after, I have +met with no recluses!" The king answered, "What a story is this? for I +myself know four hundred recluses within this city." He said, "O +sovereign of the universe! such as are recluses do not take money; and +such as take money are not anchorites!" The king smiled, and observed to +his courtiers, "However much I reverence and favor this tribe of God's +worshippers, this saucy fellow expresses for them a spite and ill-will; +and, if you desire the truth, he has justice on his side. Instead of +that hermit who took dirams and dinars, get hold of one who is more an +anchorite." + + +XXXV + +They asked a profoundly-learned man, saying, "What is your opinion of +consecrated bread, or almstaking?" He answered, "If with the view of +composing their minds, and promoting their devotions, it is lawful to +take it; but if monks collect for the sake of an endowment, it is +forbidden. Good and holy men have received the bread of consecration for +the sake of religious retirement; and are not recluses, that they may +receive such bread." + + +XXXVI + +A dervish came to put up at a place where the master of the house was a +gentleman of an hospitable disposition. He had as his guests an assembly +of learned and witty men, each of whom was repeating such a jest, or +anecdote, as is usual with the facetious. Having travelled across a +desert, the dervish was much fatigued, and well-nigh famished. One of +the company observed, in the way of pleasantry, "You must also repeat +something." The dervish answered, "I am not, like the others, +overstocked with learning and wit, nor am I much read in books; and you +must be satisfied with my reciting one distich." One and all eagerly +cried, "Let us hear it." He said, "Hungry as I am, I sit by a table +spread with food, like a bachelor at the entrance of a bath full of +women!" + +They applauded what he said, and ordered the tray to be placed before +him. The lord of the feast said, "Stay your appetite, my friend! till my +handmaids can prepare for you some forced meat." He raised his head from +the tray, and answered, "Say there is no need for forced meat on my +tray, for a crust of plain bread is sufficient for one baked as I have +been in the desert." + + +XXXVII + +A disciple complained to his ghostly father, saying, "What can I do, for +I am much annoyed by the people, who are interrupting me with their +frequent visits, and break in upon my precious hours with their +impertinent intrusions." He replied, "To such of them as are poor lend +money, and from such as are rich ask some in loan; and neither of them +will trouble you again." Let a beggar be the harbinger of an army of +Islam, or the orthodox, and the infidel will fly his importunity as far +as the wall of China. + + * * * * * + + +XXXIX + +A drunken fellow had lain down to sleep on the highway, and was quite +overcome with the fumes of intoxication. An abid was passing close by, +and looking at him with scorn. The youth raised his head, and said, +"_Whenever they pass anything shameful they pass it with +compassion.--Whenever thou beholdest a sinner, hide and bear with his +transgressions: thou, who art aware of them, why not overlook my sins +with pity_?--Turn not away, O reverend sir! from a sinner; but look upon +him with compassion. Though in my actions I am not a hero, do thou pass +by as the heroic would pass me." + + +XL + +A gang of dissolute vagabonds broke in upon a dervish, used opprobrious +language, and beat and ill-used him. In his helplessness he carried his +complaint before his ghostly father, and said, "Thus it has befallen +me." He replied: "O my son! the patched cloak of dervishes is the +garment of resignation; whosoever wears this garb, and cannot bear with +disappointment, is a hypocrite, and to him our cloth is forbidden.--A +vast and deep river is not rendered turbid by throwing into it a stone. +That religious man who can be vexed at an injury is as yet a shallow +brook.--If thou art subjected to trouble, bear with it; for by +forgiveness thou art purified from sin. Seeing, O brother! that we are +ultimately to become dust, be humble as the dust, before thou moulderest +into dust." + + +XLI + +Hear what occurred once at Bagdad in a dispute that took place between a +roll-up curtain and standard. Covered with the road-dust, and jaded with +a march, the standard, in reproach, observed to the curtain: "Thou and I +are gentlemen in livery; we are fellow-servants at the court of his +majesty. I never enjoy a moment's relief from duty; early and late I am +equally marching. Thou hast never experienced any peril or a siege, the +heavy sand of the desert or dust of a whirlwind; my foot is most forward +in any enterprise. Then why art thou my superior in dignity? Thou art +cared for by youths with faces splendid as the moon, and handled by +damsels scenting like jasmine; while I am fallen into the hands of raw +recruits, am rolled up on our march, and turned upside down." The +curtain answered: "I lay my head humble at the threshold, and hold it +not up like thine, flaring in the face of heaven! Whoever is thus vainly +rearing his crest exalts himself only to be humbled." + + +XLII + +A good and holy man saw a huge and strong fellow, who, having got much +enraged, was storming with passion and foaming at the mouth. He asked, +"What has happened to this man?" Somebody answered, "Such a one has +given him bad names!" He said, "This paltry wretch is able to carry a +thousand-weight of stone, and cannot bear with one light word! Cease to +boast of thy strong arm and pretended manhood, infirm as thou art in +mind, and mean in spirit. What difference is there between such a man +and a woman? Though thou art strong of arm, let thy mouth utter sweet +words; it is no proof of courage to thrust thy fist into another man's +face:--Though thou art able to tear the scalp off an elephant, if +deficient in humanity, thou art no hero. The sons of Adam are formed +from dust; if not humble as the dust, they fall short of being men." + + * * * * * + + +XLIV + +A facetious old gentleman of Bagdad gave his daughter in marriage to a +shoemaker. The flint-hearted fellow bit so deeply into the damsel's lip +that the blood trickled from the wound. Next morning the father found +her in this plight; he went up to his son-in-law, and asked him, saying: +"Lowborn wretch! what sort of teeth are these that thou shouldst chew +her lips as if they were a piece of leather? I speak not in play what I +have to say. Lay jesting aside, and take with her thy legal +enjoyment.--When once a vicious disposition has taken root in the habit, +the hand of death can only eradicate it." + + +XLV + +A doctor of laws had a daughter preciously ugly, and she had reached the +age of womanhood; but, notwithstanding her dowry and fortune, nobody +seemed inclined to ask her in marriage:--Damask or brocade but add to +her deformity when put upon a bride void of symmetry. + +In short, they were under the necessity of uniting her in the bonds of +wedlock to a blind man. They add, that soon after there arrived from +Sirandip, or Ceylon, a physician that could restore sight to the blind. +They spoke to the law doctor, saying, "Why do you not get him to +prescribe for your son-in-law?" He answered: "Because I am afraid he may +recover his sight, and repudiate my daughter; for--'the husband of an +ugly woman should be blind.'" + + * * * * * + + +XLVIII + +They asked a wise man which was preferable, munificence or courage? He +answered, "Whoever has munificence has no need of courage." On the +tombstone of Bahram-gor was inscribed: "The hand of liberality is +stronger than the arm of power.--Hatim Tayi remains not, yet will his +exalted name live renowned for generosity to all eternity. Distribute +the tithe of thy wealth in alms, for the more the gardener prunes his +vine the more he adds to his crop of grapes." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +On the Preciousness of Contentment + + +I + +A mendicant from the west of Africa had taken his station amidst a group +of shopkeepers at Aleppo, and was saying: "O lords of plenty! had ye a +just sense of equity, and we of contentment, all manner of importunity +would cease in this world!" O contentment! do thou make me rich, for +without thee there is no wealth. The treasure of patience was the choice +of Lucman. Whoever has no patience has no wisdom. + + +II + +There dwelt in Egypt two youths of noble birth, one of whom applied +himself to study knowledge, and the other to accumulate wealth. In +process of time that became the wisest man of his age, and this king of +Egypt. Then was the rich man casting an eye of scorn upon his +philosophic brother, and saying, "I have reached a sovereignty, and you +remain thus in a state of poverty." He replied: "O brother! I am all the +more grateful for the bounty of a Most High God, whose name was +glorified, that I have found the heritage of the prophets--namely, +wisdom; and you have got the estate of Pharaoh and Haman--that is, the +kingdom of Egypt. I am an emmet, that mankind shall tread under foot; +not a hornet, that they shall complain of my sting. How can I +sufficiently express my grateful sense of this blessing, that I possess +not the means of injuring my fellow-creatures?" + + +III + +I heard of a dervish who was consuming in the flame of want, tacking +patch after patch upon his ragged garment, and solacing his mind with +this couplet:--"I can rest content with a dry crust of bread and a +coarse woollen frock, for the burden of my own exertion bears lighter +than laying myself under obligation to another."--Somebody observed to +him, "Why do you sit quiet, while a certain gentleman of this city is so +nobly disposed and universally benevolent, that he has girt up his loins +in the service of the religious independents, and seated himself by the +door of their hearts? Were he apprised of your condition, he would +esteem himself obliged, and be happy in the opportunity of relieving +it." He said: "Be silent; for it is better to die of want than to expose +our necessities before another, as they have remarked:--'Patching a +tattered cloak, and the consequent treasure of content, are more +commendable than petitioning the great for every new garment.'" By my +troth, I swear it were equal to the torments of hell to enter into +paradise through the interest of a neighbor. + + +IV + +One of the Persian kings sent a skilful physician to attend Mohammed +Mustafa, on whom be salutation. He remained some years in the territory +of the Arabs; but nobody went to try his skill, or asked him for any +medicine. One day he presented himself before the blessed prince of +prophets, and complained, saying, "The king had sent me to dispense +medicine to your companions; but, till this moment, nobody has been so +good as to enable me to practise any skill that this your servant may +possess." The blessed messenger of God was pleased to answer, saying, +"It is a rule with this tribe never to eat till hard pressed by hunger, +and to discontinue their repast while they have yet an appetite." The +physician said, "This accounts for their health." Then he kissed the +earth of respect and took his leave. The physician will then begin to +inculcate temperance, or to extend the finger of indulgence, when from +silence his patient might suffer by excess, or his life be endangered by +abstinence:--of course, the skill of the physician is advice, and the +patient's regimen and diet yield the fruits of health! + + +V + +A certain person would be making vows of abstinence and breaking them. +At last a reverend gentleman observed to him, "So I understand that you +make a practice of eating to excess; and that any restraint on your +appetite, namely, this vow, is weaker than a hair, and this +voraciousness, as you indulge it, would break an iron chain; but the day +must come when it will destroy you." A man was rearing the whelp of a +wolf; when full grown it tore its patron and master. + + +VI + +In the annals of Ardishir Babagan it is recorded that he asked an +Arabian physician, saying, "What quantity of food ought to be eaten +daily?" He replied, "A hundred dirams' weight were sufficient." The king +said, "What strength can a man derive from so small a quantity?" The +physician replied: "_So much can support you; but in whatever you exceed +that you must support it_.--Eating is for the purpose of living, and +speaking in praise of God; but thou believest that we live only to eat." + + +VII + +Two dervishes of Khorasan were fellow-companions on a journey. One was +so spare and moderate that he would break his fast only every other +night, and the other so robust and intemperate that he ate three meals a +day. It happened that they were taken up at the gate of a city on +suspicion of being spies, and both together put into a place, the +entrance of which was built up with mud. After a fortnight it was +discovered that they were innocent, when, on breaking open the door, +they found the strong man dead, and the weak one alive and well. They +were astonished at this circumstance. A wise man said, "The contrary of +this had been strange, for this one was a voracious eater, and not +having strength to support a want of food, perished; and that other was +abstemious, and being patient, according to his habitual practice, +survived it.--When a person is habitually temperate, and a hardship +shall cross him, he will get over it with ease; but if he has pampered +his body and lived in luxury, and shall get into straitened +circumstances, he must perish." + + +VIII + +A certain philosopher admonished his son against eating to an excess, +because repletion made a man sick. The boy answered, "O father, hunger +will kill. Have you not heard what the wits have remarked, To die of a +surfeit were better than to bear with a craving appetite?" The father +said, "Study moderation, for the Most High God has told us in the +Koran:--'_Eat ye and drink ye, but not to an excess_:'--eat not so +voraciously that the food shall be regorged from thy mouth, nor so +abstemiously that from depletion life shall desert thee:--though food be +the means of preserving breath in the body. Yet, if taken to excess, it +will prove noxious. If conserve of roses be frequently indulged in it +will cause a surfeit, whereas a crust of bread, eaten after a long +interval, will relish like conserve of roses." + + +XI + +In a battle with the Tartars, a gallant young man was grievously +wounded. Somebody said to him, "A certain merchant has a stock of the +mummy antidote; if you would ask him, he might perhaps accommodate you +with a portion of it." They say that merchant was so notorious for his +stinginess, that--"If, in the place of his loaf of bread, the orb of the +sun had been in his wallet, nobody would have seen daylight in the world +till the day of judgment." + +The spirited youth replied: "Were I to ask him for this antidote, he +might give it, or he might not; and if he did it might cure me, or it +might not; at any rate, to ask such a man were itself a deadly poison!" +Whatever thou wouldst ask of the mean, in obligation, might add to the +body, but would take from the soul.--And philosophers have observed, +that were the water of immortality, for example, to be sold at the +price of the reputation, a wise man would not buy it, for an honorable +death is preferable to a life of infamy.--Wert thou to eat colocynth +from the hand of the kind-hearted, it would relish better than a +sweetmeat from that of the crabbed. + + +XII + +One of the learned had a large family and small means. He stated his +case to a great man, who entertained a favorable opinion of his +character. This one turned away from his solicitation, and viewed this +prostitution of begging as discreditable with a gentleman of education. +If soured by misfortune, present not thyself before a dear friend, for +thou may'st also imbitter his pleasure. When thou bringest forward a +distress, do it with a cheerful and smiling face, for an openness of +countenance can never retard business.--They have related that he rose a +little in the pension, but sunk much in the estimation of the great man. +After some days, when he perceived this falling off in his affection, he +said:--"_Miserable is that supply of food which thou obtainest in the +hour of need; the pot is put to boil, but my reputation is bubbled into +vapor_.--He added to my means of subsistence, but took from my +reputation; absolute starving were better than the disgrace of begging." + + +XIII + +A dervish had a pressing call for money. Somebody told him a certain +person is inconceivably rich; were he made aware of your want, he would +somehow manage to accommodate it. He said, "I do not know him." The +other answered, "I will introduce you;" and having taken his hand, he +brought him to that person's dwelling. The dervish beheld a man with a +hanging lip, and sitting in sullen discontent. He said nothing, and +returned home. His friend asked, "What have you done?" He replied, "His +gift I gave in exchange for his look:--Lay not thy words before a man +with a sour face, otherwise thou may'st be ruffled by his ill-nature. If +thou tellest the sorrows of thy heart let it be to him in whose +countenance thou may'st be assured of prompt consolation." + + * * * * * + + +XV + +They asked Hatim Tayi: "Have you ever met, or heard of, a person of a +more independent spirit than yourself?" He answered: "Yes, one day I had +made a sacrifice of forty camels, and invited the chief of every Arab +tribe to a feast. Then I repaired to the border of the desert, where I +met a wood-cutter, who had tied up his fagot to carry it into the city. +I said, Why do you not go to the feast of Hatim, where a crowd have +assembled round his carpet? He replied:--'Whoever can eat the bread of +his own industry will not lay himself under obligation to Hatim +Tayi.'--And in him I met my superior in spirit and independence." + + +XVI + +The Prophet Moses, on whom be peace, saw a dervish who had buried his +body, in his want of clothes to cover it, in the sand. He said: "O +Moses, put up a prayer, that the Most High God would bestow a +subsistence upon me, for I am perishing in distress." The blessed Moses +prayed accordingly, that God on high would succor him. + +Some days afterwards, as he was returning from a conference with God on +Mount Sinai, he met that dervish in the hands of justice, and a mob +following him. He asked: "What has befallen this man?" They answered: +"He had drunk wine and got into a quarrel, and having killed somebody, +they are now going to exact retaliation."--The God who set forth the +seven climates of this world assigned to every creature its appropriate +lot. Had that wretched cat been gifted with wings, she would not have +left one sparrow's egg on the earth. It might happen that were a weak +man to get the ability, he would rise and domineer over his weak +brethren. + +The blessed Moses acknowledged the wisdom of the Creator of the +universe, and, confessing his own presumption, repeated this verse of +the Koran:--"_Were God to spread abroad his stores of subsistence to +servants, verily they would rebel all over the earth._" What happened, O +vain man! that thou didst precipitate thyself into destruction? Would +that the ant might not have the means of flying!--A mean person, when +he has got rank and wealth, will bring a storm of blows upon his head. +Was not this at last the adage of a philosopher, 'That ant is best +disposed of that has no wings.'--The father is a man of much sweetness +of disposition, but the son is full of heat and passions:--That Being, +God, who would not make thee rich, must have known thy good better than +thou couldst thyself know it. + + +XVII + +I saw an Arab, who was standing amidst a circle of jewellers at Busrah, +and saying: "On one occasion I had missed my way in the desert, and +having no road-provision left, I had given myself up for lost, when all +at once I found a bag of pearls. Never shall I forget that relish and +delight, so long as I mistook them for parched wheat; nor that +bitterness and disappointment, when I discovered that they were real +pearls." In the mouth of the thirsty traveller, amidst parched deserts +and moving sands, pearl, or mother-of-pearl, were equally distasteful. +To a man without provision, and knocked up in the desert, a piece of +stone or of gold, in his scrip, is all one. + + +XVIII + +An Arab, suffering under all the extremity of thirst in the desert, was +saying:--"_Would to God that yet, before I perish, I could but for one +day gratify my wish: that a stream of water might dash against my knees, +and I could fill my leathern flask or stomach with it_." + +In like manner a traveller had got bewildered in the great desert, and +had neither provisions nor strength left, yet a few dirams remained with +him in his scrip. He kept wandering about, but could not find the path, +and sunk under his fatigue. A party of travellers arrived where his body +lay; they saw the dirams spread before him, and these verses written in +the sand:--"Were he possessed of all the gold of Jafier (a famous gold +refiner), a man without food could not satisfy his appetite. To a +wretched mendicant, parched in the desert, a boiled turnip would relish +better than an ingot of virgin silver." + + +XIX + +I had never complained of the vicissitudes of fortune, nor murmured at +the ordinances of heaven, excepting on one occasion, that my feet were +bare, and I had not wherewithal to shoe them. In this desponding state I +entered the metropolitan mosque at Cufah, and there I beheld a man that +had no feet. I offered up praise and thanksgiving for God's goodness to +myself, and submitted with patience to my want of shoes.--In the eye of +one satiated with meat a roast fowl is less esteemed at his table than a +salad; but to him who is stinted of food a boiled turnip will relish +like a roast fowl. + + +XX + +A king, attended by a select retinue, had, on a sporting excursion +during the winter, got at a distance from any of his hunting seats, and +the evening was closing fast, when they espied from afar a peasant's +cottage. The king said: "Let us repair thither for the night, that we +may shelter ourselves from the inclemency of the weather." One of the +courtiers replied: "It would not become the dignity of the sovereign to +take refuge in the cottage of a low peasant; we can pitch a tent here +and kindle a fire." The peasant saw what was passing; he came forward +with what refreshments he had at hand, and, laying them before the king, +kissed the earth of subserviency, and said: "The lofty dignity of the +king would not be lowered by this condescension; but these gentlemen did +not choose that the condition of a peasant should be exalted." The king +was pleased with this speech; and they passed the night at his cottage. +In the morning he bestowed an honorary dress and handsome largess upon +him. I have heard that the peasant was resting his hand for some paces +upon the king's stirrup, and saying: "The state and pomp of the +sovereign suffered no degradation by his condescension in becoming a +guest at the cottage of a peasant; but the corner of the peasant's cap +rose to a level with the sun when the shadow of such a monarch as thou +art fell upon his head." + + +XXI + +They tell a story of an importunate mendicant who had amassed much +riches. A certain king said: "It seems that you possess immense wealth, +and I have a business of some consequence in hand. If you will assist me +with a little of it, by way of a loan, when the public revenue is +realized I will repay it and thank you to the bargain." He replied: "O +sire, it would ill become the sublime majesty of the sovereign of the +universe to soil the hand of lofty enterprise with the property of such +a mendicant as I am, which I have scraped together grain by grain." He +said: "There is no occasion to vex yourself, for I mean it for the +Tartars, as impurities are suiting for the impure:--_They said, 'The +compost of a dunghill is unclean.' We replied, 'That with it we will +fill up the chinks of a necessary_.'--If the water of a Christian's well +is defiled, and we wash a Jew's corpse in it, there is no sin." I have +heard that he disobeyed the royal command, questioned its justice, and +resisted it with insolence. The king ordered that the exchequer +stipulations should be put in force with rigidness and violence. When a +business cannot be settled with fair words, we must of necessity make +use of foul. When a man will not contribute of his own free will, if +another enforces him he meets his desert. + + +XXII + +I knew a merchant who had a hundred and fifty camels of burden and forty +bondsmen and servants in his train. One night he entertained me at his +lodgings in the island of Keish, in the Persian Gulf, and continued for +the whole night talking idly, and saying: "Such a store of goods I have +in Turkestan, and such an assortment of merchandise in Hindustan; this +is the mortgage-deed of a certain estate, and this the security-bond of +a certain individual's concern." Then he would say: "I have a mind to +visit Alexandria, the air of which is salubrious; but that cannot be, +for the Mediterranean Sea is boisterous. O Sa'di! I have one more +journey in view, and, that once accomplished, I will pass my remaining +life in retirement and leave off trade." I asked: "What journey is +that?" He replied: "I will carry the sulphur of Persia to Chin, where, +I have heard, it will fetch a high price; thence I will take China +porcelain to Greece; the brocade of Greece or Venice I will carry to +India; and Indian steel I will bring to Aleppo; the glassware of Aleppo +I will take to Yamin; and with the bardimani, or striped stuffs, of +Yamin I will return to Persia. After that I will give up foreign +commerce and settle myself in a warehouse." He went on in this +melancholy strain till he was quite exhausted with speaking. He said: "O +Sa'di! do you too relate what you have seen and heard." I +replied:--"Hast thou not heard that in the desert of Ghor as the body of +a chief merchant fell exhausted from his camel, he said, 'Either +contentment or the dust of the grave will fill the stingy eye of the +worldly-minded.'" + + * * * * * + + +XXIV + +A weak fisherman got a strong fish into his net, but not having the +power of mastering it, the fish got the better of him, and, dragging the +net from his hand, escaped:--A bondsman went that he might take water +from the brook; the brook came to rise and carried off the bondsman. On +most occasions the net would bring out the fish; on this occasion the +fish escaped, and took away the net. The other fishermen expressed their +vexation, and reproached him, saying, "Such a fish came into your net, +and you were not able to master it." He replied: "Alas! my brethren, +what could be done? It was not my day of fortune, and the fish had in +this way another day left it. And they have said: 'Unless it be his lot, +the fisherman cannot catch a fish in the Tigris; and, except it be its +fate, the fish will not die on the dry shore.'" + + +XXV + +A person without hands or feet killed a milleped. A good and holy man +passed by him at the time, and said: "Glory be to God! notwithstanding +the thousand feet he had when his destiny overtook him, he was unable to +escape from one destitute of hand or foot."--When the life-plundering +foe comes up behind, fate arrests the speed of the swift-going warrior. +At the moment when the enemy might approach step by step it were useless +to bend the kayani, or Parthian bow. + + +XXVI + +I met a fat blockhead decked in rich apparel, and mounted on an Arab +horse, with a turban of fine Egyptian linen on his head. A person said: +"O Sa'di, how comes it that you see these garments of the learned on +this ignorant beast?" I replied: "It is a vile epistle which has been +written in golden letters:--'_Verily this ass, with the resemblance of a +man, has the carcase of a calf, and the voice or bleating of a +calf_.'--Thou canst not say that this brute appears like a man, unless +in his garments, turban, and outward form. Examine into all the ways and +means of his existence, and thou shalt find nothing lawful but the +shedding of his blood:--though a man of noble birth be reduced to +poverty, imagine not that his lofty dignity can be lowered; and though +he may secure his silver threshold with a hasp of gold, conclude not +that a Jew can be thereby ennobled." + + +XXVII + +A thief said to a mendicant: "Are you not ashamed when you hold forth +your hand to every mean fellow for a barleycorn of silver?" He replied: +"It is better to hold forth the hand for one grain of silver than to +have it cut off for one and a half dang." + + * * * * * + + +XXIX + +I saw a dervish who had withdrawn into a cave, shut the door of +communication between the world and himself, and with his lofty and +independent eye viewed emperors and kings without awe or +reverence:--Whoever opens to himself the door of mendicity, must +continue a beggar till the day of his death. Put covetousness aside, and +be independent as a prince; the neck of contentment can raise its head +erect. + +One of the sovereigns of those parts sent a message to him, stating: "So +far I can rely on the generous disposition of his reverence, that he +will one day favor me by partaking of my bread and salt, by becoming my +guest." The shaikh, or holy man, consented; for the acceptance of such +an invitation accorded with the sunnat, or law and tradition of the +prophet. Next day the king went to apologize for the trouble he had +caused him. The abid rose from his place, took the king in his arms, +showed him much kindness, and was full of his compliments. After he was +gone, one of the shaikh's companions asked him, saying: "Was not such +condescending kindness as you this day showed the king contrary to what +is usual; what does this mean?" He answered: "Have you not heard what +they have said:--'It is proper to stand up and administer to him whom +thou hast seated on thy carpet, or made thy guest.'" + +He could so manage that, during his whole life, his ear should not +indulge in the music of the tabor, cymbal, and pipe. He could restrain +his eyes from enjoying the garden, and gratify his sense of smell +without the rose or narcissus. Though he had not a pillow stuffed with +down, he could compose himself to rest with a stone under his head; +though he had no heart-solacer as the partner of his bed, he could hug +himself to sleep with his arms across his breast. If he could not ride +an ambling nag, he was content to take his walk on foot; only this +grumbling and vile belly he could not keep under, without stuffing it +with food. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +On the Benefit of Being Silent + + +I + +I spoke to one of my friends, saying: "A prudent restraint on my words +is on that account advisable, because in conversation there on most +occasions occur good and bad; and the eyes of rivals only note what is +bad." He replied: "O brother! that is our best rival who does not, or +will not, see our good!--_The malignant brotherhood pass not by the +virtuous man without imputing to him what is infamous_:--To the eye of +enmity, virtue appears the ugliest blemish; it is a rose, O Sa'di! which +to the eyes of our rivals seems a thorn. The world-illuminating +brilliancy of the fountain of the sun, in like manner, appears dim to +the eye of the purblind mole." + + +II + +A merchant happened to lose a thousand dinars. He said to his son: "It +will be prudent not to mention this loss to anybody." The son answered: +"O father, it is your orders, and I shall not mention it; but +communicate the benefit so far, as what the policy may be in keeping it +a secret." He said: "That I may not suffer two evils: one, the loss of +my money; another, the reproach of my neighbor;--Impart not thy +grievances to rivals, for they are glad at heart, while praying, _God +preserve us_; or _there is neither strength nor power, unless it be from +God!_" + + +III + +A sensible youth made vast progress in the arts and sciences, and was of +a docile disposition; but however much he frequented the societies of +the learned, they never could get him to utter a word. On one occasion +his father said: "O my son, why do not you also say what you know on +this subject?" He replied: "I am afraid lest they question me upon what +I know not, and put me to shame:--Hast thou not heard of a Sufi who was +hammering some nails into the sole of his sandal. An officer of cavalry +took him by the sleeve, saying, 'Come along, and shoe my horse.'--So +long as thou art silent and quiet, nobody will meddle with thy business; +but once thou divulgest it, be ready with thy proofs." + + +IV + +A man, respectable for his learning, got into a discussion with an +atheist; but, failing to convince him, he threw down his shield and +fled. A person asked him, "With all your wisdom and address, learning +and science, how came you not to controvert an infidel?" He replied: "My +learning is the Koran, and the traditions and sayings of our holy +fathers; but he puts no faith in the articles of our belief, and what +good could it do to listen to his blasphemy?" To him whom thou canst not +convince by revelation or tradition, the best answer is that thou shalt +not answer him. + + * * * * * + + +VI + +They have esteemed Sahban Wabil as unrivalled in eloquence, insomuch +that he could speak for a year before an assembly, and would not use the +same word twice; or should he chance to repeat it, he would give it a +different signification; and this is one of the special accomplishments +of a courtier:--Though a speech be captivating and sweet, worthy of +belief, and meriting applause, yet what thou hast once delivered thou +must not repeat, for if they eat a sweetmeat once they find that enough. + + +VII + +I overheard a sage, who was remarking: "Never has anybody acknowledged +his own ignorance, excepting that person who, while another may be +talking, and has not finished what he has to say, will begin +speaking:--A speech, O wiseacre! has a beginning and an end; bring not +one speech into the middle of another. A man of judgment, discretion, +and prudence, delivers not his speech till he find an interval of +silence." + + +VIII + +Some of the courtiers of Sultan Mahmud asked Husan Maimandi, saying: +"What did the king whisper to you to-day on a certain state affair?" He +said: "You are also acquainted with it." They replied: "You are the +prime minister; what the king tells you, he does not think proper to +communicate to such as we are." He replied: "He communicates with me in +the confidence that I will not divulge to anybody; then why do you ask +me?" A man of sense blabs not, whatever he may come to know; he should +not make his own head the forfeit of the king's secret. + + +IX + +I was hesitating about the purchase of a dwelling-house. A Jew said: "I +am an old housekeeper in this street: ask the character of this house +from me and buy it, for it has no fault." I replied: "True! only that +you are its neighbor:--Any such house as has thee for its neighbor could +scarce be worth ten dirams of silver; yet it should behoove us to hope +that after thy death it may fetch a thousand." + + +X + +A certain poet presented himself before the chief of a gang of robbers, +and recited a casidah, or elegy, in his praise. He ordered that they +should strip off his clothes, and thrust him from the village. The naked +wretch was going away shivering in the cold, and the village dogs were +barking at his heels. He stooped to pick up a stone, in order to shy at +the dogs, but found the earth frost-bound, and was disappointed. He +exclaimed: "What rogues these villagers are, for they let loose their +dogs, and tie up their stones!" The chief robber saw and overheard him +from a window. He smiled at his wit, and, calling him near said: "O +learned sir! ask me for a boon." He replied, "I ask for my own garments, +if you will vouchsafe to give them:--_I shall have enough of boons in +your suffering me to depart_.--Mankind expects charity from others; I +expect no charity from thee, only do me no injury." The chief robber +felt compassion for him. He ordered his clothes to be restored, and +added to them a robe of fur and sum of money. + + * * * * * + + +XII + +A preacher of a harsh tone of voice fancied himself a fine-spoken man, +and would hold forth at the mosque to a very idle purpose. You might say +that the croaking of the raven of the desert was the burden of his +chant, and this text of the Koran expressive of his manner:--_The most +abominable of noises is the braying of an ass:--"Whenever this ass of a +preacher sets up a braying, his voice will make the city of Istakhar, or +Persepolis, shake to its base_." + +In reverence of his rank his townsmen indulged this defect, and would +not distress him by remarking on it, till another preacher of those +parts, actuated by a private pique, came on one occasion to tantalize +him, and said, "I have seen you in a dream; may it prove fortunate!" He +asked: "What have you seen?" He replied: "So it seemed in my vision that +your voice had become harmonious, and mankind were charmed with your +melodious cadences." For a while the preacher bowed his head in thought, +then raised it, and said: "What a fortunate vision is it that you had, +that has made me sensible of my weakness! I am now aware that I have an +unpleasant voice, and that the people are distressed at my delivery. I +have vowed that I will henceforth preach only in a soft tone of voice." +I am distressed with the society of friends who extol my vices into +virtues, my blemishes they view as excellences and perfections, my +thorns they regard as roses and jasmines. Where is that rude and bold +rival who will expose all my deformities? + + +XIII + +At a mosque in the city of Sanjar, the capital of Khorasan, a person was +volunteering to chant forth the call to prayers with so discordant a +note as to drive all that heard him away in disgust. The intendant of +that mosque was a just and well-disposed gentleman, who was averse to +giving offence to anybody. He said: "O generous youth, there belong to +this mosque some mowuzzins, or criers, of long standing, to each of +whom I allow a monthly stipend of five dinars; now I will give you ten +to go elsewhere." To this he agreed, and took himself off. After a while +he came to the nobleman, and said: "O my lord! you did me an injury when +for ten dinars you prevailed upon me to quit this station, for where I +went they offered me twenty to remove to another place, but I would not +consent." The nobleman smiled and replied: "Take heed, and do not accept +them, for they may be content to give you fifty!--No person can with a +mattock scrape off the clay from the face of a hard rock in so grating a +manner as thy harsh voice is harrowing up my soul." + + +XIV + +A person with a harsh voice was reciting the Koran in a loud tone. A +good and holy man went up to him, and asked: "What is your monthly +stipend?" He answered, "Nothing." "Then," added he, "why give yourself +so much trouble?" He said: "I am reading for the sake of God." The good +and holy man replied: "For God's sake do not read:--for if thou chantest +the Koran after this manner, thou must cast a shade over the glory of +Islamism or Mussulman orthodoxy." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +On Love and Youth + + +I + +They asked Husan Maimandi: "How comes it that Sultan Mahmud, who has so +many handsome bondswomen, each of whom is the wonder of the world and +most select of the age, entertains not such fondness and affection for +any of them as he does for Ayaz, who can boast of no superiority of +charms?" He replied: "Whatever makes an impression on the heart seems +lovely in the eye. That person of whom the sultan makes choice must be +altogether good, though a compendium of vice; but where he is estranged +from the favor of the king none of the household will think of courting +him." Were a person to view it with a fastidious eye, the form of a +Joseph might seem a deformity; but let him look with desire on a demon, +and he will appear like an angel and cherub. + + * * * * * + + +III + +I saw a parsa, or holy man, so enamoured of a lovely person that he had +neither fortitude to bear with, nor resolution to declare, his passion: +and, however much he was the object of remark and censure, he would not +forego this infatuation, and was saying:--"I quit not my hold on the +skirt of thy garment, though thou may'st verily smite me with a sharp +sword. Besides thee I have neither asylum nor defence; if I am to flee, +I must take refuge with thee." + +On one occasion I reproached him, and said: "What is become of your +precious reason, that a vile passion should thus master you?" He made a +short pause, and replied:--"Wherever the king of love came, he left no +room for the strong arm of chastity. How can that wretch live undefiled +who has fallen in a quagmire up to the neck?" + + +IV + +A certain person had lost his heart and abandoned himself to despair. +The object of his desire was not such a dainty that he could gratify his +palate with it, or a bird that he could lure it into his net, but a +frightful precipice and overwhelming whirlpool:--When thy gold attracts +not the charmer's eye, dust or gold is of equal value with thee. + +His friends admonished him, saying: "Put aside this vain fancy, for +multitudes are in the durance and chains of this same passion which you +are cherishing." He sighed aloud, and replied: "Say to my friends, Do +not admonish me, for my eye is fixed on the wish of her. With strength +of wrist and power of shoulders warriors overwhelm their antagonists and +charmers their lovers." Nor can it be consistent with the condition of +love that any thought of life should divert the heart from affection for +its mistress:--Thou, who art the slave of thine own precious self, +playest false in the affairs of love. If thou canst not make good a +passage to thy mistress, it is the duty of a lover to perish in the +attempt.--I persist when policy is no longer left me, though the enemy +may cover me all over with the wounds of swords and arrows. If I can +reach her I will seize her sleeve, or at all events proceed and die at +her threshold. + +His kindred, whose business it was to watch over his concerns, and to +pity his misfortunes, gave him advice, and put upon him restraints, but +all to no good purpose:--The physician is, alas! prescribing +bitter-aloes, and his depraved appetite is craving sweetmeats!--Heardest +thou what a charmer was saying in a whisper to one who had lost his +heart to her: "So long as thou maintainest thine own dignity, of what +value can my dignity appear in thine eye?" + +They informed the princess who was the object of his infatuation, +saying: "A youth of an amiable disposition and sweet flow of tongue is +frequent in his attendance at the top of this plain; and we hear him +delivering brilliant speeches and wonderful sallies of wit; it would +seem that he has a mystery in his head and a flame in his heart, for he +appears to be distractedly in love." The princess was aware that she had +become the object of his attachment, and that this whirlwind of calamity +was raised by himself, and spurred her horse toward him. Now that the +youth saw that it was the princess' intention to approach him, he wept, +and said:--"That personage who inflicted upon me a mortal wound again +presented herself before me; perhaps she took compassion upon her own +victim." However, kindly she spoke, and asked, saying: "Who are you, and +whence come you? what is your name, and what your calling?" the youth +was so entirely overwhelmed in the ocean of love and passion that he +absolutely could not utter a word:--"Couldst thou in fact repeat the +seven Saba, or whole Koran by heart, if distracted with love, thou +wouldst forget the alphabet":--the princess continued: "Why do you not +answer me? for I too am one of the sect of dervishes, nay, I am their +most devoted slave." On the strength of this sympathizing encouragement +of his beloved, the youth raised his head amidst the buffeting waves of +tempestuous passion, and answered:--"It is strange that with thee +present I should remain in existence; that after thou camest to talk, I +should have speech left me."--This he said, and, uttering a loud groan, +surrendered his soul up to God:--No wonder if he died by the door of his +beloved's tent; the wonder was, if alive, how he could have brought his +life back in safety. + + +V + +A boy at school possessed much loveliness of person and sweetness of +conversation; and the master, from the frailty of human nature, was +enamoured of his blooming skin. Like his other scholars, he would not +admonish and correct him, but when he found him in a corner he would +whisper in his ear:--"I am not, O celestial creature! so occupied with +thee, that I am harboring in my mind a thought of myself. Were I to +perceive an arrow coming right into it, I could not shut my eye from +contemplating thee." + +On one occasion the boy said: "In like manner, as you inspect my duties, +also animadvert on my tendency to vice, in order that if you discern any +immorality in my behavior, which has met my own approbation, you can +warn me against it, that I may correct it." He replied: "O my child! +propose this task to somebody else; for the light in which I view you +reflects nothing but virtue." That malignant eye, let it be plucked out +in whose sight his virtue can seem vice. Hadst thou but one perfection +and seventy faults, the lover could discern only that one perfection. + + * * * * * + + +VII + +A person who had not seen his friend for a length of time, said to him: +"Where were you? for I have been very solicitous about you." He replied, +"It is better to be sought after than loathed." Thou hast come late, O +intoxicating idol! I shall not in a hurry quit my hold on thy +skirt:--that mistress whom they see but seldom is at last more desired +than she is whom they are cloyed with seeing. + +The charmer that can bring companions along with her has come to +quarrel; for she cannot be void of jealousy and discontent:--_Whenever +thou contest to visit me attended with comrades or rivals, though thou +comest in peace yet thy object is hostile_:--for one single moment that +my mistress associated with a rival, it went well-nigh to slay me with +jealousy. Smiling, she replied: "O Sa'di! I am the torch of the +assembly; what is it to me if the moth consume itself?" + + +VIII + +In former times, I recollect, a friend and I were associating together +like two kernels within one almond shell. I happened unexpectedly to go +on a journey. After some time, when I was returned, he began to chide +me, saying: "During this long interval you never sent me a messenger." I +replied: "It vexed me to think that the eyes of a courier should be +enlightened by your countenance, whilst I was debarred that +happiness:--Tell my old charmer not to impose a vow upon me with her +tongue; for I would not repent, were she to attempt it with a sword. +Envy stings me to the quick, lest another should be satiated with +beholding thee, till I recollect myself, and say: Nobody can have a +satiety of that!" + + +IX + +I saw a learned gentleman the captive of attachment for a certain +person, and the victim of his reproach; and he would suffer much +violence, and bear it with great patience. On one occasion I said, by +way of admonition: "I know that in your attachment for this person you +have no bad object, and that this friendship rests not on any criminal +design; yet, under this interpretation, it accords not with the dignity +of the learned to expose yourself to calumny, and put up with the +rudeness of the rabble." He replied: "O my friend, withdraw the hand of +reproach from the skirt of my fatality, for I have frequently reflected +on this advice which you offer me, and find it easier to suffer +contumely on his account than to forego his company; and philosophers +have said: 'It is less arduous to persist in the labor of courting than +to restrain the eye from contemplating a beloved object':--Whoever +devotes his heart to a soul deluder puts his beard or reputation into +the hands of another. That person, without whom thou canst not exist, if +he do thee a violence, thou must bear with it. The antelope, that is led +by a string, cannot bound from this side to that. One day I asked a +compact of my mistress; how often have I since that day craved her +forgiveness! A lover exacts not terms of his charmer; I relinquished my +heart to whatever she desired me, whether to call me up to her with +kindness, or drive me from her with harshness she knows best, or it is +her pleasure." + + +X + +In my early youth such an event (as you know) will come to pass. I held +a mystery and intercourse with a young person, because he had a pipe of +exquisite melody, and a form silver bright as the full moon:--"He is +sipping the fountain of immortality, who may taste the down of his +cheek; and he is eating a sweetmeat, who can fancy the sugar of his +lips." + +It happened that something in his behavior having displeased me, I +withdrew the skirt of communication, and removed the seal of my +affection from him, and said: "Go, and take what course best suits thee; +thou regardest not my counsel, follow thine own." I overheard him as he +was going, and saying:--"If the bat does not relish the company of the +sun, the all-current brilliancy of that luminary can suffer no +diminution." He so expressed himself and departed, and his vagabond +condition much distressed me:--_the opportunity of enjoyment was lost, +and a man is insensible to the relish of prosperity till he_ _has +tasted adversity_:--return and slay me, for to die before thy face were +far more pleasant than to survive in thy absence. + +But, thanksgiving and praise to the Almighty, he did not return till +after some interval, when that melodious pipe of David was cracked, and +that handsome form of Joseph in its wane; when that apple his chin was +overgrown with hair, like a quince, and the all-current lustre of his +charms tarnished. He expected me to fold him in my arms; but I took +myself aside and said: "When the down of loveliness flourished on thy +cheek, thou drovest the lord of thy attractions from thy sight; now thou +hast come to court his peace when thy face is thick set with fathahs and +zammahs, or the bristles of a beard:--The verdant foliage of thy spring +is turned yellow; place not thy kettle on my grate, for its fire is +cooled. How long wilt thou display this pomp and vanity; hopest thou to +regain thy former dominion? Make thy court to such as desire thee, sport +thy airs on such as will hire thee:--The verdure of the garden, they +have told us, is charming; that person (Sa'di) knows it who is relating +that story; or, in other words, that the fresh-shooting down on their +charmers' cheeks is what the hearts of their admirers chiefly +covet:--Thy garden is like a bed of chives: the more thou croppest it, +the more it will shoot:--Last year thou didst depart smooth as an +antelope, to-day thou art returned bearded like a pard. Sa'di admires +the fresh-shooting down, not when each hair is stiff as a +packing-needle:--Whether thou hast patience with thy beard, or weed it +from thy face, this happy season of youth must come to a conclusion. Had +I the same command of life as thou hast of beard, it should not escape +me till doomsday." I asked him and said: "What has become of the beauty +of thy countenance, that a beard has sprung up round the orb of the +moon?" He answered: "I know not what has befallen my face, unless it has +put on black to mourn its departed charms." + + * * * * * + + +XII + +They shut up a parrot in the same cage with a crow. The parrot was +affronted at his ugly look, and said: "What an odious visage is this, a +hideous figure; what an accursed appearance, and ungracious +demeanor!--_Would to God, O raven of the desert! we were wide apart +as the east is from the west_:--The serenity of his peaceful day would +change into the gloom of night, who on issuing forth in the morning +might cross thy aspect. An ill-conditioned wretch like thyself should be +thy companion; but where could we find such another in the world?" + +But what is more strange, the crow was also out of all patience, and +vexed to the soul at the society of the parrot. Bewailing his +misfortune, he was railing at the revolutions of the skies; and, +wringing the hands of chagrin, was lamenting his condition, and saying: +"What an unpropitious fate is this; what ill-luck, and untoward fortune! +Could they any way suit the dignity of me, who would in my day strut +with my fellow-crows along the wall of a garden:--It were durance +sufficient for a good and holy man that he should be made the companion +of the wicked:--What sin have I committed that my stars in retribution +of it have linked me in the chain of companionship, and immured me in +the dungeon of calamity, with a conceited blockhead, and +good-for-nothing babbler:--Nobody will approach the foot of a wall on +which they have painted thy portrait; wert thou to get a residence in +paradise, others would go in preference to hell." + +I have introduced this parable to show that however much learned men +despise the ignorant, these are a hundredfold more scornful of the +learned:--A zahid, or holy man, fell in company with some wandering +minstrels. One of them, a charmer of Balkh, said to him: "If thou art +displeased with us, do not look sour, for thou art already sufficiently +offensive.--An assemblage is formed of roses and tulips, and thou art +stuck up amidst them like a withered stalk; like an opposing storm, and +a chilling winter blast; like a ball of snow, or lump of ice." + + +XIII + +I had an associate, who was for years the companion of my travels, +partook of the same bread and salt, and enjoyed the many rights of a +confirmed friendship. At last, on some trifling advantage, he gave me +cause of umbrage, and our intimacy ceased. And notwithstanding all this, +there was a hankering of good-will on both sides; in consequence of +which I heard that he was one day reciting in a certain assembly these +two couplets of my writings:--"When my idol, or mistress, is +approaching me with her tantalizing smiles, she is sprinkling more salt +upon my smarting sores. How fortunate were the tips of her ringlets to +come into my hand, like the sleeve of the generous in the hands of +dervishes." This society of his friends bore testimony, and gave +applause, not to the beauty of this sentiment, but to the liberality of +his own disposition in quoting it; while he had himself been extravagant +in his encomiums, regretted the demise of our former attachment, and +confessed how much he was to blame. I was made aware that he too was +desirous of a reconciliation; and, having sent him these couplets, made +my peace:--"Was there not a treaty of good faith between us, and didst +not thou commence hostilities, and violate the compact? I relinquished +all manner of society, and plighted my heart to thee; for I did not +suspect that thou wouldst have so readily changed. If it still be thy +wish to renew our peace, return, and be more dear to me than ever." + + +XIV + +A man had a beautiful wife, who died; but the mother, a decrepit old +dotard, remained a fixture in his house, because of the dowry. He was +teased to death by her company; but, from the circumstance of the dower, +he had no remedy. In the meantime some of his friends having come to +comfort him, one of them asked: "How is it with you, since the loss of +that dear friend?" He answered: "The absence of my wife is not so +intolerable as the presence of her mother:--They plucked the rose, and +left me the thorn; they plundered the treasure, and let the snake +remain. To have our eye pierced with a spear were more tolerable than to +see the face of an enemy. It were better to break with a thousand +friends than to put up with one rival." + + +XV + +In my youth I recollect I was passing through a street, and caught a +glimpse of a moon-like charmer during the dog-days, when their heat was +drying up the moisture of the mouth, and the samurn, or desert hot-wind, +melting the marrow of the bones. From the weakness of human nature I was +unable to withstand the darting rays of a noon-tide sun, and took +refuge under the shadow of a wall, hopeful that somebody would relieve +me from the oppressive heat of summer, and quench the fire of my thirst +with a draught of water. All at once I beheld a luminary in the shadowed +portico of a mansion, so splendid an object that the tongue of eloquence +falls short in summing up its loveliness; such as the day dawning upon a +dark night, or the fountain of immortality issuing from chaos. She held +in her hand a goblet of snow-cooled water, into which she dropped some +sugar, and tempered it with spirit of wine; but I know not whether she +scented it with attar, or sprinkled it with a few blossoms from her own +rosy cheek. In short, I received the beverage from her idol-fair hand; +and, having drunk it off, found myself restored to a new life. "_Such is +not my parching thirst that it is to be quenched with the limpid element +of water, were I to swallow it in oceans_:--Joy to that happy aspect +whose eye can every morning contemplate such a countenance as thine. A +person intoxicated with wine lies giddy and awake half the night; but if +intoxicated with the cup-bearer (God), the day of judgment must be his +dawn or morning." + + +XVI + +In the year that Sultan Mohammed Khowarazm-Shah had for some political +reason chosen to make peace with the king of Khota, I entered the +metropolitan mosque at Kashghar, and met a youth incomparably lovely, +and exquisitely handsome; such as they have mentioned in resemblance of +him:--"Thy master instructed thee in every bold and captivating grace; +he taught thee coquetry and confidence, tyranny and violence." I have +seen no mortal with such a form and temper, stateliness and manner; +perhaps he learned these fascinating ways from an angel. + +He held the introduction of the Zamakhshari Arabic grammar in his hand, +and was repeating:--"Zaraba Zaidun Amranwa--Zaid beat Amru and is the +assailant of Amru." I said: "O my son! the Khowarazm and Khatayi +sovereigns have made peace, and does war thus subsist between Zaid and +Amru?" He smiled, and asked me the place of my nativity. I answered: +"The territory of Shiraz." He said: "Do you recollect any of Sa'di's +compositions?" I replied: "_I am enamoured with the reader of the +syntax, who, taking offence, assails me in like manner as Zaid does +Amru. And Zaid, when read Zaidin, cannot raise his head; and how canst +thou give a zammah to a word accented with a kasrah_?" + +He reflected a little within himself, and said: "In these parts we have +much of Sa'di's compositions in the Persian language; if you will speak +in that dialect we shall more readily comprehend you, for _you should +address mankind according to their capacities_." + +I replied: "Whilst thy passion was that of studying grammar, all trace +of reason was erased from our hearts. Yes! the lover's heart is fallen a +prey to thy snare: we are occupied about thee, and thou art taken up +with Amru and Zaid." + +On the morrow, which had been fixed on as the period of our stay, some +of my fellow-travellers had perhaps told him such a one is Sa'di; for I +saw that he came running up, and expressed his affection and regret, +saying: "Why did you not during all this time tell us that a certain +person is Sa'di, that I might have shown my gratitude by offering my +service to your reverence." I answered: "In thy presence I cannot even +say that I am I!"--He said: "How good it were if you would tarry here +for a few days, that we might devote ourselves to your service." I +replied: "That cannot be, as this adventure will explain to you:--In the +hilly region I saw a great and holy man, who was content in living +retired from the world in a cavern. I said: 'Why dost thou not come into +the city, that thy heart might be relieved from a load of servitude?' He +replied: 'In it there dwell some wonderful and angel-faced charmers, and +where the path is miry, elephants may find it slippery.'--Having +delivered this speech, we kissed each other's head and face, and took +our leaves:--What profits it to kiss our mistress's cheek, and with the +same breath to bid her adieu. Thou mightest say that the apple had taken +leave of its friends by having this cheek red and that cheek +yellow:--_Were I not to die of grief on that day I say farewell, thou +wouldst charge me with being insincere in my attachments_." + + +XVII + +A ragged dervish accompanied us along with the caravan for Hijaz, and a +certain Arab prince presented him with a hundred dinars for the support +of his family. Suddenly a gang of Khafachah robbers attacked the +caravan, and completely stripped it. The merchants set up a weeping and +wailing, and made much useless lamentation and complaint:--"Whether thou +supplicatest them, or whether thou complainest, the robbers will not +return thee their plunder":--all but that ragged wretch, who stood +collected within himself, and unmoved by this adventure. I said: +"Perhaps they did not plunder you of that money?" He replied: "Yes, they +took it; but I was not so fond of my pet as to break my heart at parting +with it. We should not fix our heart so on any thing or being as to find +any difficulty in removing it." + +I said: "What you have remarked corresponds precisely with what once +befell myself; for in my juvenile days I took a liking to a young man, +and so sincere was my attachment that the Cabah, or fane, of my eye was +his perfect beauty, and the profit of this life's traffic his +much-coveted society:--Perhaps the angels might in paradise, otherwise +no living form can on this earth display such a loveliness of person. By +friendship I swear that after his demise all loving intercourse is +forbidden; for no human emanation can stand a comparison with him. + +"All at once the foot of his existence stumbled at the grave of +annihilation; and the sigh of separation burst from the dwelling of his +family. For many days I sat a fixture at his tomb, and, of the many +dirges I composed upon his demise, this is one:--'On that day, when thy +foot was pierced with the thorn of death, would to God the hand of fate +had cloven my head with the sword of destruction, that my eyes might not +this day have witnessed the world without thee. Such am I, seated at the +head of thy dust, as the ashes are seated on my own:--whoever could not +take his rest and sleep till they first had spread a bed of roses and +narcissuses for him: the whirlwind of the sky has scattered the roses of +his cheek, and brambles and thorns are shooting from his grave.' + +"After my separation from him I came to a steady and firm +determination, that during my remaining life I would fold up the carpet +of enjoyment, and never re-enter the gay circle of society:--Were it not +for the dread of its waves, much would be the profits of a voyage at +sea; were it not for the vexation of the thorn, charming might be the +society of the rose. Yesterday I was walking stately as a peacock in the +garden of enjoyment; to-day I am writhing like a snake from the absence +of my mistress." + + +XVIII. + +To a certain king of Arabia they were relating the story of Laila and +Mujnun, and his insane state, saying: "Notwithstanding his knowledge and +wisdom, he has turned his face towards the desert, and abandoned himself +to distraction." The king ordered that they bring him into his presence; +and he reproved him, and spoke, saying: "What have you seen unworthy in +the noble nature of man that you should assume the manners of a brute, +and forsake the enjoyment of human society?" + +Mujnun wept and answered:--"_Many of my friends reproach me for my love +of her, namely Laila. Alas! that they could one day see her, that my +excuse might be manifest for me!_--Would to God that such as blame me +could behold thy face, O thou ravisher of hearts! that at the sight of +thee they might, from inadvertency, cut their own fingers instead of the +orange in their hands:--Then might the truth of the reality bear +testimony against the semblance of fiction, _what manner of person that +was for whose sake you were upbraiding me_." + +The king resolved within himself, on viewing in person the charms of +Laila, that he might be able to judge what her form could be which had +caused all this misery, and ordered her to be produced in his presence. +Having searched through the Arab tribes, they discovered and presented +her before the king in the courtyard of his seraglio. He viewed her +figure, and beheld a person of a tawny complexion and feeble frame of +body. She appeared to him in a contemptible light, inasmuch as the +lowest menial in his harem, or seraglio, surpassed her in beauty and +excelled her in elegance. Mujnun, in his sagacity, penetrated what was +passing in the royal mind, and said: "It would behoove you, O king, to +contemplate the charms of Laila through the wicket of a Mujnun's eye, +in order that the miracle of such a spectacle might be illustrated to +you. Thou canst have no fellow-feeling for my disorder; a companion to +suit me must have the self-same malady, that I may sit by him the +livelong day repeating my tale; for by rubbing two pieces of dry +fire-wood one upon another they will burn all the brighter:--_had that +grove of verdant reeds heard the murmurings of love which in detail of +my mistress's story have passed through my ear, it would somehow have +sympathised in my pain. Tell it, O my friends, to such as are ignorant +of love; would ye could be aware of what wrings me to the soul_:--the +anguish of a wound is not known to the hale and sound; we must detail +our aches only to a fellow-sufferer. It were idle to talk of a hornet to +him who has never during his life smarted from its sting. Till thy +condition may in some sort resemble mine, my state will seem to thee an +idle fable. Compare not my pain with that of another man; he holds salt +in his hand, but I hold it on a wounded limb." + + * * * * * + + +XX + +There was a handsome and well-disposed young man, who was embarked in a +vessel with a lovely damsel. I have read that, sailing on the mighty +deep, they fell together into a whirlpool. When the pilot came to offer +him assistance, saying: "God forbid that he should perish in that +distress," he was answering from the midst of that overwhelming vortex: +"Leave me, and take the hand of my beloved!" The whole world admired him +for this speech which, as he was expiring, he was heard to make. Learn +not the tale of love from that faithless wretch who can neglect his +beloved when exposed to danger. In this manner ended the lives of those +lovers. Listen to what has happened, that you may understand; for Sa'di +knows the ways and forms of courtship as well as the Tazi, or modern +Arabic, is understood at Bagdad. Devote your whole heart to the +heart-consoler you have chosen (namely, God), and let your eyes be shut +to the whole world beside. Were Laila and Mujnun to return into life, +they might read the history of love in this chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Of Imbecility and Old Age + + +I + +In the metropolitan mosque at Damascus I was engaged in a disputation +with some learned men, when a youth suddenly entered the door, and said: +"Does any of you understand the Persian language?" They directed him to +me, and I answered: "It is true." He continued: "An old man of a hundred +and fifty years of age is in the agonies of death, and is uttering +something in the Persian language, which we do not understand. If you +will have the goodness to go to him you may get rewarded; for he +possibly may be dictating his will." When I sat down by his bedside I +heard him reciting:--"I said, I will enjoy myself for a few moments. +Alas! that my soul took the path of departure. Alas! at the variegated +table of life I partook a few mouthfuls, and the fates said, enough!" + +I explained the signification of these lines in Arabic to the Syrians. +They were astonished that, at his advanced time of life, he should +express himself so solicitous about a worldly existence. I asked him: +"How do you now find yourself?" He replied: "What shall I say?--Hast +thou never witnessed what torture that man suffers from whose jaw they +are extracting a tooth? Fancy to thyself how excruciating is his pain +from whose precious body they are tearing an existence!" + +I said: "Banish all thoughts of death from your mind, and let not doubt +undermine your constitution; for the Greek philosophers have remarked +that although our temperaments are vigorous, that is no proof of a long +life; and that although our sickness is dangerous, that is no positive +sign of immediate dissolution. If you will give me leave, I will call in +a physician to prescribe some medicine that may cure you." He replied: +"Alas! alas! The landlord thinks of refreshing the paintings of his +hall, and the house is tottering to its foundation. The physician smites +the hands of despair when he sees the aged fallen in pieces like a +potsherd; the old man bemoans himself in the agony of death while the +old attendant nurse is anointing him with sandal-wood. When the +equipoise of the temperament is overset, neither amulets nor medicaments +can do any good." + + * * * * * + + +III + +In the territory of Diarbekr, or Mesopotamia, I was the guest of an old +man, who was very rich, and had a handsome son. One night he told a +story, saying: "During my whole life I never had any child but this boy. +And in this valley a certain tree is a place of pilgrimage, where people +go to supplicate their wants; and many was the night that I have +besought God at the foot of that tree before he would bestow upon me +this boy." I have heard that the son was also whispering his companions, +and saying: "How happy I should be if I could discover the site of that +tree, in order that I might pray for the death of my father." The +gentleman was rejoicing and saying: "What a sensible youth is my son!" +and the boy was complaining and crying: "What a tedious old dotard is my +father!" Many years are passing over thy head, during which thou didst +not visit thy father's tomb. What pious oblation didst thou make to the +manes of a parent that thou shouldst expect so much from thy son? + + +IV + +Urged one day by the pride of youthful vanity, I had made a forced +march, and in the evening found myself exhausted at the bottom of an +acclivity. A feeble old man, who had deliberately followed the pace of +the caravan, came up to me and said: "How come you to lie down here? Get +up, this is no fit place for rest." I replied: "How can I proceed, who +have not a foot to stand on?" He said: "Have you not heard what the +prudent have remarked? 'Going on, and halting, is better than running +ahead and breaking down!' Ye who wish to reach the end of your journey, +hurry not on; practise my advice, and learn deliberation. The Arab horse +makes a few stretches at full speed, and is broken down; while the +camel, at its deliberate pace, travels on night and day, and gets to the +end of his journey." + + +V + +An active, merry, cheerful, and sweet-spoken youth was for a length of +time in the circle of my society, whose heart had never known sorrow, +nor his lip ceased from being on a smile. An age had passed, during +which we had not chanced to meet. When I next saw him he had taken to +himself a wife, and got a family; and the root of his enjoyment was torn +up, and the rose of his mirth blasted. I asked him: "How is this?" He +replied: "Since I became a father of children, I ceased to play the +child:--Now thou art old, relinquish childishness, and leave it to the +young to indulge in play and merriment. Expect not the sprightliness of +youth from the aged; for the stream that ran by can never return. Now +that the corn is ripe for the sickle, it rears not its head as when +green and shooting. The season of youth has slipt through my hands; +alas! when I think on those heart-exhilarating days! The lion has lost +the sturdy grasp of his paw: I must now put up, like a lynx, with a bit +of cheese. An old woman had stained her gray locks black. I said to her: +O, my antiquated dame! thy hair I admit thou canst turn dark by art, but +thou never canst make thy crooked back straight." + + +VI + +One day, in the perverseness of youth, I spoke with asperity to my +mother. Vexed at heart, she sat down in a corner, and with tears in her +eyes was saying: "You have perhaps forgot the days of infancy, that you +are speaking to me thus harshly.--How well did an old woman observe to +her own son, when she saw him powerful as a tiger, and formidable as an +elephant: 'Couldst thou call to mind those days of thy infancy when +helpless thou wouldst cling to this my bosom, thou wouldst not thus +assail me with savage fury, now thou art a lion-like hero, and I am a +poor old woman.'" + + +VII + +A rich miser had a son who was grievously sick. His well-wishers and +friends spoke to him, saying: "It were proper that you either read the +Koran throughout or offer an animal in sacrifice, in order that the Most +High God may restore him to health." After a short reflection within +himself he answered, "It is better to read the Koran, which is ready at +hand; and my herds are at a distance." A good and holy man heard this +and remarked: "He makes choice of the reading part because the Koran +slips glibly over the tongue, but his money is to be wrung from the soul +of him. Fie upon that readiness to bow the head in prayer; would that +the hand of charity could accompany it! In bestowing a dinar he will +stickle like an ass in the mire; but ask him to read the Al-hamdi, or +first chapter of the Koran, and he will recite it a hundred times." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Of the Impressions of Education + + +I + +A certain nobleman had a dunce of a son. He sent him to a learned man, +saying: "Verily you will give instruction to this youth, peradventure he +may become a rational being." He continued to give him lessons for some +time, but they made no impression upon him, when he sent a message to +the father, saying: "This son is not getting wise, and he has well-nigh +made me a fool!" Where the innate capacity is good, education may make +an impression upon it; but no furbisher knows how to give a polish to +iron which is of a bad temper. Wash a dog seven times in the ocean, and +so long as he is wet he is all the filthier. Were they to take the ass +of Jesus to Mecca, on his return from that pilgrimage he would still be +an ass. + + +II + +A philosopher was exhorting his children and saying: "O emanations of my +soul, acquire knowledge, as no reliance can be placed on worldly riches +and possessions, for once you leave home rank is of no use, and gold and +silver on a journey are exposed to the risk either of thieves plundering +them at once, or of the owner wasting them by degrees; but knowledge is +a perennial spring and ever-during fortune. Were a professional man to +lose his fortune, he need not feel regret, for his knowledge is of +itself a mine of wealth. Wherever he may sojourn the learned man will +meet respect, and be ushered into the upper seat, whilst the ignorant +man must put up with offal and suffer want:--If thou covet the paternal +heritage, acquire thy father's knowledge, for this thy father's wealth +thou may'st squander in ten days. After having been in authority, it is +hard to obey; after having been fondled with caresses, to put up with +men's violence:--There once occurred an insurrection in Syria, and +everybody forsook his former peaceful abode. The sons of peasants, who +were men of learning, came to be employed as the ministers of kings; and +the children of noblemen, of bankrupt understandings, went a begging +from village to village." + + +III + +A certain learned man was superintending the education of a king's son; +and he was chastising him without mercy, and reproving him with +asperity. The boy, out of all patience, complained to the king his +father, and laid bare before him his much-bruised body. The king was +much offended, and sending for the master, said: "You do not treat the +children of my meanest subject with the harshness and cruelty you do my +boy; what do you mean by this?" He replied: "To think before they speak, +and to deliberate before they act, are duties incumbent upon all +mankind, and more immediately upon kings; because whatever may drop from +their hands and tongue, the special deed or word will somehow become the +subject of public animadversion; whereas any act or remark of the +commonalty attracts not such notice:--Let a dervish, or poor man, commit +a hundred indiscretions, and his companions will not notice one out of +the hundred; and let a king but utter one foolish word, and it will be +echoed from kingdom to kingdom:--therefore in forming the morals of +young princes, more pains are to be taken than with the sons of the +vulgar. Whoever was not taught good manners in his boyhood, fortune will +forsake him when he becomes a man. Thou may'st bend the green bough as +thou likest; but let it once get dry, and it will require heat to +straighten it:--'_Verily thou may'st bend the tender branch, but it were +labor lost to attempt making straight a crooked billet_.'" + +The king greatly approved of this ingenious detail, and the wholesome +course of discipline of the learned doctor; and, bestowing upon him a +dress and largess, raised him one step in his rank as a nobleman! + + +IV + +In the west of Africa I saw a schoolmaster of a sour aspect and bitter +speech, crabbed, misanthropic, beggarly, and intemperate, insomuch that +the sight of him would derange the ecstasies of the orthodox; and his +manner of reading the Koran cast a gloom over the minds of the pious. A +number of handsome boys and lovely virgins were subject to his despotic +sway, who had neither the permission of a smile nor the option of a +word, for this moment he would smite the silver cheek of one of them +with his hand, and the next put the crystalline legs of another in the +stocks. In short their parents, I heard, were made aware of a part of +his disloyal violence, and beat and drove him from his charge. And they +made over his school to a peaceable creature, so pious, meek, simple, +and good-natured that he never spoke till forced to do so, nor would he +utter a word that could offend anybody. The children forgot that awe in +which they had held their first master, and remarking the angelic +disposition of their second master, they became one after another as +wicked as devils; and relying on his clemency, they would so neglect +their studies as to pass most part of their time at play, and break the +tablets of their unfinished tasks over each other's heads:--"When the +schoolmaster relaxes in his discipline, the children will stop to play +at marbles in the market-place." + +A fortnight after I passed by the gate of that mosque and saw the first +schoolmaster, with whom they had been obliged to make friends, and to +restore him to his place. I was in truth offended, and calling on God to +witness, asked, saying: "Why have they again made a devil the preceptor +of angels?" A facetious old gentleman, who had seen much of life, +listened to me and replied: "Have you not heard what they have said:--A +king sent his son to school, and hung a tablet of silver round his neck. +On the face of that tablet he had written in golden letters: 'The +severity of the master is more useful than the indulgence of the +father.'" + + * * * * * + + +VI + +A king gave his son into the charge of a preceptor, and said: "This is +your child, educate him as you would one of your own." For some years he +labored in teaching him, but to no good purpose; whilst the sons of the +preceptor excelled in eloquence and knowledge. The king blamed the +learned man, and remonstrated with him, saying: "You have violated your +trust, and infringed the terms of your engagement." He replied: "O king, +the education is the same, but their capacities are different!" Though +silver and gold are extracted from stones, yet it is not in every stone +that gold and silver are found. The Sohail, or star Canopus, is shedding +his rays all over the globe. In one place he produces common leather, in +another, or in Yamin, that called Adim, or perfumed. + + +VII + +I heard a certain learned senior observing to a disciple:--"If the sons +of Adam were as solicitous after Providence, or God, as they are after +their means of sustenance, their places in Paradise would surpass those +of the angels." God did not overlook thee in that state when thou wert a +senseless embryo in thy mother's womb. He bestowed upon thee a soul, +reason, temper, intellect, symmetry, speech, judgment, understanding, +and reflection. He accommodated thy hands with ten fingers, and +suspended two arms from thy shoulders. Canst thou now suppose, O +good-for-nothing wretch, that he will forget to provide thy daily bread? + + +VIII + +I observed an Arab who was informing his son:--"_O my child, God will +ask thee on the day of judgment: What hast thou done in this life? but +he will not inquire of thee: Whence didst thou derive thy origin?_" That +is, they (or God) will ask, saying: "What are your works?" But he will +not question you, saying: "Who is your father?" The covering of the +Caabah at Mecca, which the pilgrims kiss from devotion, is not prized +from its being the fabric of a silk-worm; for a while it associated with +a venerable friend, and became, in consequence, venerable like him. + + +IX + +They have related in the books of philosophers that scorpions are not +brought forth according to the common course of nature, as other animals +are, but that they eat their way through their mother's wombs, tear open +their bellies, and thus make themselves a passage into the world; and +that the fragments of skin which we find in scorpions' holes corroborate +this fact. On one occasion I was stating this strange event to a good +and great man, when he answered: "My heart is bearing testimony to the +truth of this remark; nor can it be otherwise, for as they have thus +behaved towards their parents in their youth, so they are approved and +beloved in their riper years." On his death-bed a father exhorted his +son, saying: "O generous youth, keep in mind this maxim: 'Whoever is +ungrateful to his own kindred cannot hope that fortune shall befriend +him.'" + + +X + +They asked a scorpion: "Why do you not make your appearance during the +winter?" It answered: "What is my character in the summer that I should +come abroad also in the winter?" + + * * * * * + + +XIII + +One year a dissension arose among the foot-travellers on a pilgrimage to +Mecca, and the author (Sa'di) was also a pedestrian among them. In +truth, we fell head and ears together, and accusation and recrimination +were bandied from all sides. I overheard a kajawah, or gentleman, riding +on one side of a camel-litter, observing to his adil, or opposite +companion: "How strange that the ivory piyadah, or pawns, on reaching +the top of the shatranj, or chess-board, become fazzin, or queens; that +is, they get rank, or become better than they were; and the piyadah, or +pawns, of the pilgrimage--that is, our foot-pilgrims--have crossed the +desert and become worse." Say from me to that haji, or pilgrim, the pest +of his fellow-pilgrims, that he lacerates the skin of mankind by his +contention. Thou art not a real pilgrim, but that meek camel is one who +is feeding on thorns and patient under its burden. + + +XIV + +A Hindu, or Indian, was teaching the art of playing off fireworks. A +philosopher observed to him: "This is an unfit sport for you, whose +dwelling is made of straw." Utter not a word till thou knowest that it +is the mirror of what is correct; and do not put a question where thou +knowest that the answer must be unfavorable. + + +XV + +A fellow had a complaint in his eyes, and went to a horse-doctor, +saying: "Prescribe something for me." The doctor of horses applied to +his eyes what he was in the habit of applying to the eyes of quadrupeds, +and the man got blind. They carried their complaint before the hakim, or +judge. He decreed: "This man has no redress, for had he not been an ass +he would not have applied to a horse or ass doctor!" The moral of this +apologue is, that whoever doth employ an inexperienced person on an +affair of importance, besides being brought to shame, he will incur from +the wise the imputation of a weak mind. A prudent man, with an +enlightened understanding, entrusts not affairs of consequence to one of +mean capacity. The plaiter of mats, notwithstanding he be a weaver, they +would not employ in a silk manufactory. + + +XVI + +A certain great Imaam had a worthy son, and he died. They asked him, +saying: "What shall we inscribe upon the urn at his tomb." He replied: +"Verses of the holy Koran are of such superior reverence and dignity +that they should not be written in places where time might efface, +mankind tread upon, or dogs defile them; yet, if an epitaph be +necessary, let these two couplets suffice:--I said: 'Alas! how grateful +it was proving to my heart, so long as the verdure of thy existence +might flourish in the garden.' He replied: 'O my friend, have patience +till the return of the spring, and thou may'st again see roses +blossoming on my bosom, or shooting from my dust.'" + + +XVII + +A holy man was passing by a wealthy personage's mansion, and saw him +with a slave tied up by the hands and feet, and giving him chastisement. +He said: "O my son! God Almighty has made a creature like yourself +subject to your command, and has given you a superiority over him. +Render thanksgiving to the Most High Judge, and deal not with him so +savagely; lest hereafter, on the day of judgment, he may prove the more +worthy of the two, and you be put to shame:--Be not so enraged with thy +bondsman; torture not his body, nor harrow up his heart. Thou mightest +buy him for ten dinars, but hadst not after all the power of creating +him:--To what length will this authority, pride, and insolence hurry +thee; there is a Master mightier than thou art. Yes, thou art a lord of +slaves and vassals, but do not forget thine own Lord Paramount--namely, +God!" There is a tradition of the prophet Mohammed, on whom be blessing, +announcing:--On the day of resurrection, that will be the most +mortifying event when the good slave will be taken up to heaven, and the +wicked master sent down to hell:--"Upon the bondsman, who is subservient +to thy command, wreak not thy rage and boundless displeasure. For it +must be disgraceful on the day of reckoning to find the slave at liberty +and the master in bondage." + + +XVIII + +One year I was on a journey with some Syrians from Balkh, and the road +was infested with robbers. One of our escort was a youth expert at +wielding his shield and brandishing his spear, mighty as an elephant, +and cased in armor, so strong that ten of the most powerful of us could +not string his bow, or the ablest wrestler on the face of the earth +throw him on his back. Yet, as you must know, he had been brought up in +luxury and reared in a shade, was inexperienced of the world, and had +never travelled. The thunder of the great war-drum had never rattled in +his ears, nor had the lightning of the trooper's scimitar ever flashed +across his eyes:--He had never fallen a captive into the hands of an +enemy, nor been overwhelmed amidst a shower of their arrows. + +It happened that this young man and I kept running on together; and any +venerable ruin that might come in our way he would overthrow with the +strength of his shoulder; and any huge tree that we might see he would +wrench from its root with his lion-seizing wrist, and boastfully +cry:--"Where is the elephant, that he may behold the shoulder and arm of +warriors? Where the lion, that he may feel the wrist and grip of +heroes?" + +Such was our situation when two Hindus darted from behind a rock and +prepared to cut us off, one of them holding a bludgeon in his hand, and +the other having a mallet under his arm. I called to the young man, "Why +do you stop?--Display whatever strength and courage thou hast, for the +foe came on his own feet up to his grave":--I perceived that the youth's +bow and arrows had dropped from his hands, and that a tremor had fallen +upon his limbs:--It is not he that can split a hair with a coat-of-mail +cleaving arrow that is able to withstand an assault from the +formidable:--No alternative was left us but that of surrendering our +arms, accoutrements, and clothes, and escaping with our lives. On an +affair of importance employ a man experienced in business who can bring +the fierce lion within the noose of his halter; though the youth be +strong of arm and has the body of an elephant, in his encounter with a +foe every limb will quake with fear. A man of experience is best +qualified to explore a field of battle, as one of the learned is to +expound a point of law. + + +XIX + +I saw a rich man's son seated by his father's tomb, and in a disputation +with that of a dervish holding forth and saying: "My father's mausoleum +is built of granite, the epitaph inscribed with letters of gold, the +pavement and lining marble, and tessellated with slabs of turquoise; and +what is there left of your father's tomb but two or three bricks +cemented together with a few handfuls of mortar?" The poor man's son +heard this, and answered: "I pray you peace! for before your father can +stir himself under this heavy load of stone mine shall have risen up to +heaven!" And there is a tradition of the prophet, that _death to the +poor is a state of rest_. That ass proceeds all the lighter on his +journey on whom they load the lightest burden:--the poor dervish, who +suffers under a load of indigence, will in like sort enter the gates of +death with an easy burden; but with him who luxuriates in peace, plenty, +and affluence, it must be a real hardship to die amidst all these +comforts. At all events consider the prisoner, who is released from his +thraldom, as better off than the prince who is just fallen a captive. + + * * * * * + + +XXI + +I saw a certain person in the garb of dervishes, but not with their +meekness, seated in a company, and full of his abuse. Having opened the +volume of reproach, and begun to calumniate the rich, his discourse had +reached this place, stating: "The hand of the poor man's ability is tied +up, and the foot of the rich man's inclination crippled:--Men of +liberality have no command of money, nor have the opulent and +worldly-minded a spirit of liberality." + +Owing, as I am, my support to the bounty of the great, I considered this +animadversion as unmerited, and replied: "O my friend! the rich are the +treasury of the indigent, the granary of the hermit, the fane of the +pilgrim, resting-place of the traveller, and the carriers of heavy +burdens for the relief of their fellow-creatures. They put forth their +hand to eat when their servants and dependants are ready to partake with +them; and the bounteous fragments of their tables they distribute among +widows and the aged, their neighbors and kindred:--The rich have their +consecrated foundations, charitable endowments and rites of hospitality; +their alms, oblations, manumissions, peace-offerings, and sacrifices. +How shalt thou rise to this pomp of fortune who canst perform only these +two genuflexions, and them after manifold difficulties?--Whether it +respect their moral dignity or religious duty, the rich are at ease +within themselves; for their property is sanctified by giving tithes, +and their apparel hallowed by cleanliness, their reputations +unblemished, and minds content. The intelligent are aware that the zeal +of devotion is warmed by good fare, and the sincerity of piety rendered +more serene in a nicety of vesture; for it is evident what ardor there +can be in a hungry stomach; what generosity in squalid penury; what +ability of travelling with a bare foot; and what alacrity at bestowing +from an empty hand:--Uneasy must be the night-slumbers of him whose +provision for to-morrow is not forthcoming: the ant is laying by a store +in summer that she may enjoy an abundance in winter. It is clear that +indigence and tranquillity can never go together, nor have fruition and +want the same aspect: the one had composed himself for prayer, and the +other sat anxious, and thinking on his supper; how then could this ever +come in competition with that? The lord of plenty has his mind fixed on +God; when a man's fortune is bankrupt, so is his heart:--accordingly, +the devotion of the rich is more acceptable at the temple of God, +because their thoughts are present and collected, and their minds not +absent and distracted; for they have laid up the conveniences of good +living, and digested at their leisure their scriptural quotations (for +prayer). The Arabs say: '_God preserve us from overwhelming poverty; and +from the company of him whom he loves not, namely, the infidel_':--And +there is a tradition of the prophet--that '_poverty has a gloomy aspect +in this world and in the next_!'" + +My antagonist said: "Have you not heard what the blessed prophet has +declared?--'_poverty is my glory!_'" I replied: "Be silent, for the +allusion of the Lord of both worlds applies to such as are heroes in the +field of resignation, and the devoted victims of their fate, and not to +those who put on the garb of piety, that they may entitle themselves to +the bread of charity. O noisy drum! thou art nothing but an empty sound; +unprovided with the means, what canst thou effect on the last day of +account? If thou art a man of spirit, turn thy face away from begging +charity from thy fellow-creature; and keep not repeating thy rosary of a +thousand beads. Being without divine knowledge, a dervish, or poor man, +rests not till his poverty settles into infidelity; for _he that is poor +is well-nigh being an infidel_:--nor is it practicable, unless through +the agency of wealth, to clothe the naked, and to liberate the prisoner +from jail: how then can such mendicants as we are aspire to their +dignity; or what comparison is there between the arm of the lofty and +the hand of the abject? Do you not perceive that the glorious and great +God announces, in the holy book of the Koran, xxviii, the enjoyments of +the blessed in Paradise?--that '_to this community, namely, the orthodox +Mussulmans, a provision is allotted_';--in order that you may +understand that such as are solely occupied in looking after their daily +subsistence are excluded from this portion of the blessed; and that the +property of present enjoyment is sanctioned under the seal of +Providence:--to the thirsty it will seem in their dreams as if the face +of the earth were wholly a fountain. You may everywhere observe that, +instigated by his appetites, a person who has suffered hardship and +tasted bitterness will engage in dangerous enterprises; and, indifferent +to the consequences, and unawed by future punishments, he will not +discriminate between what is lawful and what is forbid:--Should a clod +of earth be thrown at the head of a dog, he would jump up in joy, and +take it for a bone; or were two people carrying a corpse on a bier, a +greedy man would fancy it a tray of victuals. Whereas the worldly +opulent are regarded with the benevolent eye of Providence, and in their +enjoyments of what is lawful are preserved from things illegal. Having +thus detailed my arguments and adduced my proofs, I rely on your justice +for an equitable decree; whether you ever saw a felon with his arms +pinioned; a bankrupt immured in a jail; the veil of innocency rent, or +the arm mutilated for theft, unless in consequence of poverty: for +lion-like heroes, instigated by want, have been caught undermining +walls, and breaking into houses, and have got themselves suspended by +the heels. It is, moreover, possible that a poor man, urged to it by an +inordinate appetite, may feel desirous of gratifying his lust; and he +may fall the victim of some accursed sin. And of the manifold means of +mental tranquillity and corporeal enjoyment which are the special lots +of the opulent, one is that every night they can command a fresh +mistress, and every day possess a new charmer, such as must excite the +envy of the glorious dawn, and stick the foot of the stately cypress in +the mire of shame:--'She had dipped her hands in the blood of her +lovers, and tinged the tips of her fingers with jujubes':--so that it +were impossible, with such lovely objects before their eyes, for them to +desire what is forbidden or to wish to commit sin:--Why should such a +heart as the houris, or nymphs of Paradise, have captivated and +plundered, show any way partial to the idols of Yaghma (a city in +Turkestan famous for its beauties)?--_He who has in both his hands such +dates as he can relish, will not think of throwing stones at the bunches +of dates on their trees_. In common, such as are in indigent +circumstances will contaminate the skirt of innocency with sin; and such +as are suffering from hunger will steal bread:--When a ravenous dog has +found a piece of meat, he asks not, saying: Is this the flesh of the +prophet Salah's camel or Antichrist's ass? Many are the chaste who, +because of their poverty, have fallen into the sink of wickedness, and +given their fair reputations to the blast of infamy:--The virtue of +temperance remains not with a state of being famished; and bankrupt +circumstances will snatch the rein from the hand of abstemiousness." + +The moment I had finished this speech, the dervish, my antagonist, let +the rein of forbearance drop from the hand of moderation; unsheathed the +sabre of his tongue; set the steed of eloquence at full speed over the +plain of arrogance; and, galloping up to me, said: "You have so +exaggerated in their praise, and amplified with such extravagance, that +we might fancy them an antidote to the poison of poverty and a key to +the store-house of Providence; yet they are a proud, self-conceited, +fastidious, and overbearing set, insatiate after wealth and property, +and ambitious of rank and dignity; who exchange not a word but to +express insolence, or deign a look but to show contempt. Men of science +they call beggars, and the indigent they reproach for their wretched +raggedness. Proud of the property they possess, and vain of the rank +they claim, they take the upper hand of all, and deem themselves +everybody's superior. Nor do they ever condescend to return any person's +salutation, unmindful of the maxim of the wise: That whoever is inferior +to others in humility, and is their superior in opulence, though in +appearance he be rich, yet in reality he is a beggar:--If a worthless +fellow, because of his wealth, treats a learned man with insolence, +reckon him an ass, although he be the ambergris ox." + +I replied: "Do not calumniate the rich, for they are the lords of +munificence." He said: "You mistake them, for they are the slaves of +dinars and dirams, or their gold and silver coins. For example, what +profits it though they be the clouds of the spring, if they may not send +us rain; or the fountain of the sun, and shine upon no one; or though +they be mounted on the steed of capability, and advance not towards +anybody? They will not move a step for the sake of God, nor bestow their +charity without laying you under obligation and thanks. They hoard +their money with solicitude, watch it while they live with sordid +meanness, and leave it behind them with deadening regret, verifying the +saying of the wise: 'That the money of the miser is coming out of the +earth when he is himself going into it:'--One man hoards a treasure with +pain and tribulation, another comes and spends it without tribulation or +pain." + +I replied: "You could have ascertained the parsimony of the wealthy only +through the medium of your own beggary; otherwise to him who lays +covetousness aside the generous man and miser seem all one. The +touchstone can prove which is pure gold, and the beggar can say which is +the niggard." He said: "I speak of them from experience; for they +station dependants by their doors, and plant surly porters at their +gates, to deny admittance to the worthy, and to lay violent hands upon +the collars of the elect, and say: 'There is nobody at home'; and verily +they tell what is true:--When the master has not reason or judgment, +understanding or discernment, the porter reported right of him, saying: +'There is nobody in the house.'" + +I replied: "They are excusable, inasmuch as they are worried out of +their lives by importunate memorialists, and jaded to their hearts by +indigent solicitors; and it might be reasonably doubted whether it would +satisfy the eye of the covetous if the sands of the desert could be +turned into pearls:--The eye of the greedy is not to be filled with +worldly riches, any more than a well can be replenished from the dew of +night. And had Hatim Tayi, who dwelt in the desert, come to live in a +city, he would have been overwhelmed with the importunities of +mendicants, and they would have torn the clothes from his back:--Look +not towards me, lest thou should draw the eyes of others, for at the +mendicant's hand no good can be expected." + +He said: "I pity their condition." I replied: "Not so; but you envy them +their property." We were thus warm in argument, and both of us close +engaged. Whatever chess pawn he might advance I would set one in +opposition to it; and whenever he put my king in check, I would relieve +him with my queen; till he had exhausted all the coin in the purse of +his resolution, and expended all the arrows of the quiver of his +argument. "Take heed and retreat not from the orator's attack, for +nothing is left him but metaphor and hyperbole. Wield thy polemics and +law citations, for the wordy rhetorician made a show of arms over his +gate, but has not a soldier within his fort":--At length, having no +syllogism left, I made him crouch in mental submission. He stretched +forth the arm of violence, and began with vain abuse. As is the case +with the ignorant, when beaten by their antagonist in fair argument, +they shake the chain of rancor; like Azor, the idol-maker, when he could +no longer contend with his son Abraham in words he fell upon him with +blows, as God has said in the Koran--"_If thou wilt not yield this +point, I will overwhelm thee with stones_:"--He gave me abuse, and I +retorted upon him with asperity; he tore my collar, and I plucked his +beard:--He had fallen upon me and I upon him, and a crowd had gathered +round us enjoying the sport. A whole world gnawed the finger of +astonishment when it heard and understood what had taken place between +us. + +In short, we referred our dispute to the cazi, and agreed to abide by +his equitable decree: That the judge of the Mussulmans, or faithful, +might bring about a peace, and discriminate for us between the poor and +rich. After having noted our physiognomies, and listened to our +statements, the cazi rested his chin on the breast of deliberation; and, +after due consideration, raised it, and said: "Be it known to you, who +were lavish in your praise of the rich, and spoke disparagingly of the +poor, that there is no rose without its thorn; intoxication from wine is +followed by a qualm; hidden treasure has its guardian dragon; where the +imperial pearl is found, there swims the man-devouring shark; the honey +of worldly enjoyment has the sting of death in its rear; and between us +and the felicity of Paradise stands a frightful demon, namely, Satan. So +long as the charmer slew not her admirer, what could the rival's malice +avail him? The rose and thorn, the treasure and dragon, joy and sorrow, +all mingle into one.--Do you not observe that in the garden there are +the sweet-scented willows and the withered trunks; so among the classes +of the rich some are grateful and some thankless; and among the orders +of the poor some are resigned and some impatient:--Were every drop of +dew to turn into a pearl, in the market pearls would be as common as +shells. Near by the throne of a great and glorious Judge are the rich +meek in spirit, and the poor rich in resolution. And the chief of the +opulent is he who sympathizes with the sorrows of the indigent; and the +most virtuous of the indigent is he who covets not the society of the +opulent:--_God is all-sufficient for him who trusts in God_." + +Then the cazi turned the face of animadversion from me towards the +dervish, and said: "O you who have charged the rich with being active in +sin, and intoxicated with things forbidden, verily there is such a tribe +as you have described them, illiberal in their bigotry, and stingy of +God's bounty; who are collecting and hoarding money, but will neither +use nor bestow it. If, for example, there was a drought, or if the whole +earth was deluged with a flood, confident of their own abundance, they +would not inquire after the poor man's distress, and, fearless of the +divine wrath, exclaim:--If, in his want of everything, another person be +annihilated, I have plenty; and what does a goose care for a deluge? +_Such as are lolling in their litters, and indulging in the easy pace of +a female camel, feel not for the foot-traveller perishing amidst +overwhelming sands:_--The mean-spirited, when they could escape with +their own rugs, would cry: 'What care we should the whole world die.' + +"Such as you have stated them, there is a tribe of rich men; but there +is another class, who, having spread the table of abundance, and made a +public declaration of their munificence, and smoothed the brow of their +humility, are solicitous of a reputation and forgiveness, and desirous +of enjoying this world and the next; like unto the servants of his +Majesty the sovereign of the universe, just, confirmed, victorious, lord +paramount and conqueror of nations, defender of the stronghold of +Islamism, successor of Solomon, most equitable of contemporary kings. +Mozuffar-ud-din Atabak-Abubakr-Saad, may God give him a long life, and +grant victory to his standards!--A father could never show such +benevolence to his son as thy liberal hand has bestowed upon the race of +Adam. The Deity was desirous of conferring a kindness upon man, and in +his special mercy made thee sovereign of the world." + +Now that the cazi had carried his harangue to this extreme, and had +galloped the steed of metaphor beyond our expectation, we of necessity +acquiesced in the absolute decree of being satisfied, and apologized for +what had passed between us; and after altercation we returned into the +path of reconciliation, laid the heads of reparation at each other's +feet, mutually kissed and embraced, and, letting mischief fall asleep, +and war lull itself into peace, concluded the whole in these two +verses:--"O poor man! complain not of the revolutions of fortune, for +gloomy might be thy lot wert thou to die in such sentiments. And now, O +rich man! that thy hand and heart administer to thy pleasures, spend and +give away, that thou may'st enjoy this world and the next." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Of the Duties of Society + + +I + +Riches are intended for the comfort of life, and not life for the +purpose of hoarding riches. I asked a wise man, saying: "Who is the +fortunate man, and who is the unfortunate?" He said: "That man was +fortunate who spent and gave away, and that man unfortunate who died and +left behind:--Pray not for that good-for-nothing man who did nothing, +for he passed his life in hoarding riches, and did not spend them." + + +II + +The prophet Moses, on whom be peace, _admonished Carum, saying: "Be +bounteous in like manner as God has been bounteous to thee_":--but he +listened not, and you have heard the end of him. Whoever did not an act +of charity with his silver and gold, sacrificed his future prospects on +his hoard of gold and silver. If desirous that thou shouldst benefit by +the wealth of this world, be generous with thy fellow-creature, as God +has been generous with thee. + +The Arabs say:--"_Show thy generosity, but make it not obligatory, that +the benefit of it may redound to thee_":--that is, bestow and make +presents, but do not exact an obligation that the profit of that act may +be returned to you. Wherever the tree of generosity strikes root it +sends forth its boughs, and they shoot above the skies. If thou +cherishest a hope of enjoying its fruit, by gratitude I entreat of thee +not to lay a saw upon its trunk. Render thanks to God, that thou wert +found worthy of his divine grace, that he has not excluded thee from the +riches of his bounty. Esteem it no obligation that thou art serving the +king, but show thy gratitude to him, namely God, who has placed thee in +this service. + + +III + +Two persons labored to a vain, and studied to an unprofitable end: he +who hoarded wealth and did not spend it, and he who acquired science and +did not practise it:--However much thou art read in theory, if thou hast +no practice thou art ignorant. He is neither a sage philosopher nor an +acute divine, but a beast of burden with a load of books. How can that +brainless head know or comprehend whether he carries on his back a +library or bundle of fagots? + + +IV + +Learning is intended to fortify religious practice, and not to gratify +worldly traffic:--Whoever prostituted his temperance, piety, and +science, gathered his harvest into a heap and set fire to it. + + +V + +An intemperate man of learning is like a blind link-boy:--_He shows the +road to others, but sees it not himself_:--whoever ventured his life on +an unproductive hazard gained nothing by the risk, and lost his own +stake. + + +VI + +A kingdom is embellished by the wise, and religion rendered illustrious +by the pious. Kings stand more in need of the company of the intelligent +than the intelligent do of the society of kings:--If, O king! thou wilt +listen to my advice, in all thy archives thou canst not find a wiser +maxim than this: entrust thy concerns only to the learned, +notwithstanding business is not a learned man's concern. + + +VII + +Three things have no durability without their concomitants: property +without trade, knowledge without debate, or a sovereignty without +government. + + +VIII + +To compassionate the wicked is to tyrannize over the good; and to pardon +the oppressor is to deal harshly with the oppressed:--When thou +patronizest and succorest the base-born man, he looks to be made the +partner of thy fortune. + + +IX + +No reliance can be placed on the friendship of kings, nor vain hope put +in the melodious voice of boys; for that passes away like a vision, and +this vanishes like a dream:--Bestow not thy affections upon a mistress +who has a thousand lovers; or, if thou bestowest them upon her, be +prepared for a separation. + + +X + +Reveal not every secret you have to a friend, for how can you tell but +that friend may hereafter become an enemy? And bring not all the +mischief you are able to do upon an enemy, for he may one day become +your friend. And any private affair that you wish to keep secret, do not +divulge to anybody; for, though such a person has your confidence, none +can be so true to your secret as yourself:--Silence is safer than to +communicate the thought of thy mind to anybody, and to warn him, saying: +Do not divulge it, O silly man! confine the water at the dam-head, for +once it has a vent thou canst not stop it. Thou shouldst not utter a +word in secret which thou wouldst not have spoken in the face of the +public. + + +XI + +A reduced foe, who offers his submission and courts your amity, can only +have in view to become a strong enemy, as they have said: "You cannot +trust the sincerity of friends, then what are you to expect from the +cajoling of foes?" Whoever despises a weak enemy resembles him who +neglects a spark of fire:--To-day that thou canst quench it, put it +out; for let fire rise into a flame, and it may consume a whole world. +Now that thou canst transfix him with thy arrow, permit not thy +antagonist to string his bow. + + +XIII + +Whoever is making a league with their enemies has it in his mind to do +his friends an ill turn:--"O wise man! wash thy hands of that friend who +is in confederacy with thy foes." + + +XIV + +When irresolute in the despatch of business, incline to that side which +is the least offensive:--Answer not with harshness a mild-spoken man, +nor force him into war who knocks at the gate of peace. + + +XV + +So long as money can answer, it were wrong in any business to put the +life in danger:--as the Arabs say:--"_let the sword decide after +stratagem has failed_":--When the hand is balked in every crafty +endeavor, it is lawful to lay it upon the hilt of the sabre. + + +XVI + +Show no mercy to a subdued foe, for if he recover himself he will show +you no mercy:--When thou seest thy antagonist in a reduced state, curl +not thy whiskers at him in contempt, for in every bone there is marrow, +and within every jacket there is a man. + + +XVII + +Whoever puts a wicked man to death delivers mankind from his mischief, +and the wretch himself from God's vengeance:--Beneficence is +praiseworthy; yet thou shouldst not administer a balsam to the wound of +the wicked. Knew he not who took compassion on a snake, that it is the +pest of the sons of Adam. + + +XVIII + +It is wrong to follow the advice of an adversary; nevertheless it is +right to hear it, that you may do the contrary; and this is the essence +of good policy:--Sedulously shun whatever thy foe may recommend, +otherwise thou may'st wring the hands of repentance on thy knees. Should +he show thee to the right a path straight as an arrow, turn aside from +that, and take the path to the left. + + * * * * * + + +XX + +Two orders of mankind are the enemies of church and state: the king +without clemency, and the holy man without learning:--Let not that +prince have rule over the state who is not himself obedient to the will +of God. + + +XXI + +It behooves a king so to regulate his anger towards his enemies as not +to alarm the confidence of his friends; for the fire of passion falls +first on the angry man; afterwards its sparks will dart forth towards +the foe, and him they may reach, or they may not. It ill becomes the +children of Adam, formed of dust, to harbor in their head such pride, +arrogance, and passion. I cannot fancy all this thy warmth and obstinacy +to be created from earth, but from fire. I went to a holy man in the +land of Bailcan, and said: "Cleanse me of ignorance by thy instruction?" +He replied: "O fakir, or theologician! go and bear things patiently like +the earth; or whatever thou hast read let it all be buried under the +earth." + + +XXII + +An evil-disposed man is a captive in the hands of an enemy (namely, +himself); for wherever he may go he cannot escape from the grasp of that +enemy's vengeance:--Let a wicked man ascend up to heaven, that he may +escape from the grasp of calamity; even thither would the hand of his +own evil heart follow him with misfortune. + + +XXIII + +When you see discord raging among the troops of your enemy, be on your +side quiet; but if you see them united, think of your own dispersed +state:--When thou beholdest war among thy foes, go and enjoy peace with +thy friends; but if thou findest them of one soul and mind, string thy +bow, and range stones around thy battlements. + + * * * * * + + +XXVI + +Keep to yourself any intelligence that may prove unpleasant, till some +person else has disclosed it:--Bring, O nightingale! the glad tidings of +the spring, and leave to the owl to be the harbinger of evil. + + * * * * * + + +XXVIII + +Whoever is counselling a self-sufficient man stands himself in need of a +counsellor. + + +XXIX + +Swallow not the wheedling of a rival, nor pay for the sycophancy of a +parasite; for that has laid the snare of treachery, and this whetted the +palate of gluttony. The fool is puffed up with his own praise, like a +dead body, which on being stretched upon a bier shows a momentary +corpulency:--Take heed and listen not to the sycophant's blandishments, +who expects in return some small compensation; for shouldst thou any day +disappoint his object he would in like style sum up two hundred of thy +defects. + + +XXX + +Till some person may show its defects, the speech of the orator will +fail of correctness:--Be not vain of the eloquence of thy discourse +because it has the fool's good opinion, and thine own approbation. + + +XXXI + +Every person thinks his own intellect perfect, and his own child +handsome:--A Mussulman and a Jew were warm in argument to such a degree +that I smiled at their subject. The Mussulman said in wrath: "If this +deed of conveyance be not authentic may I, O God, die a Jew!" The Jew +replied: "On the Pentateuch I swear, if what I say be false, I am a +Mussulman like you!" Were intellect to be annihilated from the face of +the earth, nobody could be brought to say: "I am ignorant." + + +XXXII + +Ten people will partake of the same joint of meat, and two dogs will +snarl over a whole carcase. The greedy man is incontinent with a whole +world set before him; the temperate man is content with his crust of +bread:--A loaf of brown bread may fill an empty stomach, but the produce +of the whole globe cannot satisfy a greedy eye:--My father, when the sun +of his life was going down, gave me this sage advice, and it set for +good, saying: "Lust is a fire; refrain from indulging it, and do not +involve thyself in the flames of hell. Since thou hast not the strength +of burning in those flames (as a punishment in the next world), pour in +this world the water of continence upon this fire--namely, lust." + + +XXXIII + +Whoever does not do good, when he has the means of doing it, will suffer +hardship when he has not the means:--None is more unlucky than the +misanthrope, for on the day of adversity he has not a single friend. + + +XXXIV + +Life stands on the verge of a single breath; and this world is an +existence between two nonentities. Such as truck their deen, or +religious practice, for worldly pelf are asses. They sold Joseph, and +what got they by their bargain?--"_Did I not covenant with you, O ye +sons of Adam, that you should not serve Satan; for verily he is your +avowed enemy_":--By the advice of a foe you broke your faith with a +friend; behold from whom you separated, and with whom you united +yourselves. + + * * * * * + + +XXXVI + +Whatever is produced in haste goes hastily to waste:--I have heard that, +after a process of forty years, they convert the clay of the East into a +China porcelain cup. At Bagdad they can make an hundred cups in a day, +and thou may'st of course conceive their respective value. A chicken +walks forth from its shell, and goes in quest of its food; the young of +man possesses not that instinct of prudence and discrimination. That +which was at once something comes to nothing; and this surpasses all +creatures in dignity and wisdom. A piece of crystal or glass is found +everywhere, and held of no value; a ruby is obtained with difficulty, +and therefore inestimable. + + +XXXVII + +Patience accomplishes its object, while hurry speeds to its ruin:--With +my own eyes I saw in the desert that the deliberate man outstripped him +that had hurried on. The wing-footed steed is broken down in his speed, +whilst the camel-driver jogs on with his beast to the end of his +journey. + + +XXXVIII + +Nothing is so good for an ignorant man as silence, and if he knew this +he would no longer be ignorant:--When unadorned with the grace of +eloquence it is wise to keep watch over the tongue in the mouth. The +tongue, by abuse, renders a man contemptible; levity in a nut is a sign +of its being empty. A fool was undertaking the instruction of an ass, +and had devoted his whole time to this occupation. A wise man said to +him: "What art thou endeavoring to do? In this vain attempt dread the +reproof of the censorious! A brute can never learn speech from thee; do +thou learn silence from him." That man who reflects not before he speaks +will only make all the more improper answer. Either like a man arrange +thy speech with judgment, or like a brute sit silent. + + +XXXIX + +Whoever shall argue with one more learned than himself that others may +take him for a wise man, only confirms them in his being a fool:--"When +a person superior to what thou art engages thee in conversation do not +contradict him, though thou may'st know better." + + +XL + +He can see no good who will associate with the wicked:--Were an angel +from heaven to associate with a demon, he would learn his brutality, +perfidy, and hypocrisy. Virtue thou never canst learn of the vicious; it +is not the wolf's occupation to mend skins, but to tear them. + + +XLI + +Expose not the secret failings of mankind, otherwise you must verily +bring scandal upon them and distrust upon yourself. + + +XLII + +Whoever acquires knowledge and does not practise it resembles him who +ploughs his land and leaves it unsown. + + * * * * * + + +XLVI + +It is not every man that has a handsome physical exterior that has a +good moral character; for the faculty of business or virtue resides in +the heart and not in the skin. Thou canst in one day ascertain the +intellectual faculties of a man, and what proficiency he has made in his +degrees of knowledge; but be not secure of his mind, nor foolishly sure, +for it may take years to detect the innate baseness of the heart. + + +XLVII + +Whoever contends with the great sheds his own blood:--Thou contemplatest +thyself as a mighty great man; and they have truly remarked that the +squinter sees double. Thou who canst in play butt with a ram must soon +find thyself with a broken pate. + + +XLVIII + +To grapple with a lion, or to box against a naked scimitar, are not the +acts of the prudent:--Brave not the furious with war and opposition +before their arms of strength cross thy hands of submission. + + +XLIX + +A weak man who tries his courage against the strong leagues with the foe +to his own destruction:--Nurtured in a shade, what strength can he have +that he should engage with the warlike in battle; impotent of arm, he +was falling the victim of folly when he set his wrist in opposition to a +wrist of iron. + + +L + +Whoever will not listen to admonition harbors the fancy of hearing +reprehension:--When advice gains not an admission into the ear, if I +give thee reproof, hear it in silence. + + +LI + +The idle cannot endure the industrious any more than the curs of the +market-place, who, on meeting dogs employed for sporting, will snarl at +and prevent them passing. + + +LII + +A mean wretch that cannot vie with another in virtue will assail him +with malignity:--The narrow-minded envier will somehow manage to revile +thee, who in thy presence might have the tongue of his utterance struck +dumb. + + * * * * * + + +LV + +To hold counsel with women is bad, and to deal generously +with prodigals a fault:--Showing mercy upon the sharp-fanged +pard must prove an injustice to the harmless sheep. + + +LVI + +Whoever has his foe at his mercy, and does not kill him, is his own +enemy:--With a stone in his hand, and the snake's head convenient, a +wise man hesitates not in crushing it. + +Certain people have seen this maxim in an opposite point of view, +saying: "It were wiser to delay the execution of captives, inasmuch as +the option is left so that you can slay, or you can release them; but if +you shall have heedlessly put them to death, the policy is defunct, for +the opportunity of repairing it is lost":--There is no great difficulty +to separate the soul from the body, but it is not so easy to restore +life to the dead: prudence dictates patience in giving the arrow flight, +for let it quit the bow and it never can be recalled. + + +LVII + +A learned man who has got into an argument with the ignorant can have no +hopes of supporting his own dignity; and if an ignoramus by his +loquacity gets the upper hand it should not surprise us, for he is a +stone and can bruise a gem:--No wonder if his spirit flag; the +nightingale is cooped up in the same cage with the crow:--If the man of +sense is coarsely treated by the vulgar, let it not excite our wrath and +indignation; if a piece of worthless stone can bruise a cup of gold, its +worth is not increased, nor that of the gold diminished. + + * * * * * + + +LX + +Genius without education is the subject of our regret, and education +without genius is labor lost. Although embers have a lofty origin (fire +being of a noble nature), yet, as having no intrinsic worth, they fall +upon a level with common dust; on the other hand, sugar does not derive +its value from the cane, but from its own innate quality:--Inasmuch as +the disposition of Canaan was bad, his descent from the prophet Noah +stood him in no stead. Pride thyself on what virtue thou hast, and not +on thy parentage; the rose springs from a thorn-bush, and Abraham from +Azor (neither his father's name, or fire). + + +LXI + +That is musk which discloses itself by its smell, and not what the +perfumers impose upon us:--If a man be expert in any art he needs not +tell it, for his own skill will show it. + + +LXII + +A wise man is, like a vase in a druggist's shop, silent, but full of +virtues; and the ignorant man resembles the drum of the warrior, being +full of noise, and an empty babbler:--The sincerely devout have remarked +that a learned man beset by the illiterate is like one of the lovely in +a circle of the blind, or the holy Koran in the dwelling of the infidel. + + +LXIII + +A friend whom they take an age to conciliate, it were wrong all at once +to alienate:--In a series of years a stone changes into a ruby; take +heed, and destroy it not at once by dashing it against another stone. + + +LXIV + +Reason is in like manner enthralled by passion, as an uxorious man is in +the hands of an artful woman. Thou may'st shut the door of joy upon that +dwelling where thou hearest resounding the scolding voice of a woman. + + +LXV + +Intellect, without firmness, is craft and chicanery; and firmness, +without intellect, perverseness and obstinacy:--First, prudence, good +sense, and discrimination, and then dominion; for the dominion and good +fortune of the ignorant are the armor of rebellion against God. + + +LXVI + +The sinner who spends and gives away is better than the devotee who begs +and lays by. + + +LXVII + +Whoever foregoes carnal indulgence in order to get the good opinion of +mankind, has forsaken a lawful passion and involved himself in what is +forbidden:--What, wretched creature! can that hermit see in his own +tarnished mirror, or heart, who retires to a cell, but not for the sake +of God? + + +LXIX + +A wise man should not through clemency overlook the insolence of the +vulgar, otherwise both sustain a loss, for their respect for him is +lessened and their own brutality confirmed:--When thou addressest the +low with urbanity and kindness, it only adds to their pride and +arrogance. + + * * * * * + + +LXXIV + +In a season of drought and scarcity ask not the distressed dervish, +saying: "How are you?" Unless on the condition that you apply a balm to +his wound, and supply him with the means of subsistence:--The ass which +thou seest stuck in the slough with his rider, compassionate from thy +heart, otherwise do not go near him. Now that thou went and asked him +how he fell, like a sturdy fellow bind up thy loins, and take his ass by +the tail. + + +LXXV + +Two things are repugnant to reason: to expend more than what Providence +has allotted for us, and to die before our ordained time:--Whether +offered up in gratitude, or uttered in complaint, destiny cannot be +altered by a thousand sighs and lamentations. The angel who presides +over the store-house of the winds feels no compunction, though he +extinguish the old woman's lamp. + + +LXXVI + +O you that are going in quest of food, sit down, that you may have to +eat. And, O you that death is in quest of, go not on, for you cannot +carry life along with you:--In search of thy daily bread, whether thou +exertest thyself, or whether thou dost not, the God of Majesty and Glory +will equally provide it. Wert thou to walk into the mouth of a tiger or +lion, he could not devour thee, unless by the ordinance of thy destiny. + + +LXXVII + +Whatever was not designed, the hand cannot reach; and whatever was +ordained, it can attain in any situation:--Thou hast heard that +Alexander got as far as chaos; but after all this toil he drank not the +water of immortality. + + +LXXVIII + +The fisherman, unless it be his lot, catches no fish in the Tigris; and +the fish, unless it be its fate, does not die on the dry land:--The +wretched miser is prowling all over the world, he in quest of pelf, and +death in quest of him. + + * * * * * + + +LXXXI + +The envious man is niggard of the gifts of Providence, and an enemy of +the innocent:--I met a dry-brained fellow of this sort, tricked forth in +the robe of a dignified person. I said: "O sir! if thou art unfortunate +in having this disposition, in what have the fortunate been to +blame?--Take heed, and wish not misfortune to the misanthrope, for his +own ill-conditioned lot is calamity sufficient. What need is there of +showing ill-will to him, who has such an enemy close at his heels." + + +LXXXII + +A scholar without diligence is a lover without money; a traveller +without knowledge is a bird without wings; a theorist without practice +is a tree without fruit; and a devotee without learning is a house +without an entrance. + + +LXXXIII + +The object of sending the Koran down from heaven was that mankind might +make it a manual of morals, and not that they should recite it by +sections. + + +LXXXIV + +The sincere publican has proceeded on foot; the slothful Pharisee is +mounted and gone asleep. + + +LXXXV + +The sinner who humbles himself in prayer is more acceptable than the +devotee who is puffed up with pride:--The courteous and kind-hearted +soldier of fortune is better than the misanthropic and learned divine. + + +LXXXVI + +A learned man without works is a bee without honey:--Tell that harsh and +ungenerous hornet: As thou yieldest no honey, wound not with thy sting. + + * * * * * + + +LXXXIX + +Though a dress presented by the sovereign be honorable, yet is our own +tattered garment preferable; and though the viands at a great man's +table be delicate, yet is our own homely fare more sweet:--A salad and +vinegar, the produce of our own industry, are sweeter than the lamb and +bread sauce at the table of our village chief. + + +XC + +It is contrary to sound judgment, and repugnant to the maxims of the +prudent, to take a medicine on conjecture, or to follow a road but in +the track of the caravan. + + +XCI + +They asked Imaam Mursheed Mohammed-bin-Mohammed Ghazali, on whom be +God's mercy, how he had reached such a pitch of knowledge. He replied: +"Whatever I was ignorant of myself, I felt no shame in asking of +others":--Thy prospect of health conforms with reason, when thy pulse is +in charge of a skilled physician. Ask whatever thou knowest not; for the +condescension of inquiring is a guide on thy road in the excellence of +learning. + + +XCII + +Anything you foresee that you may somehow come to know, be not hasty in +questioning, lest your consequence and respectability may suffer:--When +Lucman perceived that in the hands of David iron was miraculously +moulded like wax, he asked him not, How didst thou do it? for he was +aware that he should know it, through his own wisdom, without asking. + + +XCIII + +It is one of the laws of good breeding that you should forego an +engagement, or accommodate yourself to the master of the +entertainment:--If thou knowest that the inclination is reciprocal, +accommodate thy story to the temper of the hearer. Any discreet man that +was in Mujnun's company would entertain him only with encomiums on +Laila. + + * * * * * + + +XCVI + +Whoever interrupts the conversation of others to make a display of his +fund of knowledge makes notorious his own stock of ignorance. +Philosophers have said:--A prudent man will not obtrude his answer till +he has the question stated to him in form. Notwithstanding the +proposition may have its right demonstration, the cavil of the +fastidious will construe it wrong. + + * * * * * + + +XCVIII + +To tell a falsehood is like the cut of a sabre; for though the wound may +heal, the scar of it will remain. In like manner as the brothers of the +blessed Joseph, who, being notorious for a lie, had no credit afterwards +when they spoke the truth:--God on high has said--Jacob is supposed to +speak--(Koran xii. Sale ii. 35):--"_Nay, but rather ye have contrived +this to gratify your own passion; yet it behooves me to be +patient_":--If a man who is in the habit of speaking truth lets a +mistake escape him, we can overlook it; but if he be notorious for +uttering falsehoods, and tell a truth, thou wilt call it a lie. + + +XCIX + +The noblest of creatures is man, and the vilest of animals is no doubt a +dog; yet, in the concurring opinion of the wise, a dog, thankful for his +food, is more worthy than a human being who is void of gratitude:--A dog +will never forget the crumb thou gavest him, though thou may'st +afterwards throw a hundred stones at his head; but foster with thy +kindness a low man for an age, and on the smallest provocation he will +be up against thee in arms. + + * * * * * + + +CI + +It is written in the Injeel, or Gospel, stating: "O son of man, if I +bestow riches upon you, you will be more intent upon your property than +upon me, and if I leave you in poverty you will sit down dejected; how +then can you feel a relish to praise, or a zeal to worship +me?"--(Proverbs xxx. 7, 8, 9.) In the day of plenty thou art proud and +negligent; in the time of want, full of sorrow and dejected; since in +prosperity and adversity such is thy condition, it were difficult to +state when thou wouldst voluntarily do thy duty. + + +CII + +The pleasure of Him, or God, who has no equal hurls one man from a +throne of sovereignty, and another he preserves in a fish's +belly:--Happy proceeds his time who is enraptured with thy praise, +though, like Jonah, he even may pass it in the belly of a fish! + + +CIII + +Were the Almighty to unsheath the sword of his wrath, prophets and +patriarchs would draw in their heads; and were he to deign a glimpse of +his benevolence, it would reach the wicked along with the good:--Were he +on the day of judgment to call us to a strict account, even the prophets +would have no room for excuse. Say, withdraw the veil from the face of +thy compassion, that sinners may entertain hopes of pardon. + + +CIV + +Whoever is not to be brought into the path of righteousness by the +punishments of this life shall be overtaken with the punishments of that +to come:--"_Verily, I will cause them to taste the lesser punishment +over and above the greater punishment":_--(Koran xxxii. Sale ii. 258.) +Princes, in chastising, admonish, and then confine; when they admonish, +and thou listenest not, they throw thee into prison. + + +CV + +Men of auspicious fortune would rather take warning from the precepts +and examples of their predecessors than that the rising generation +should take warning from their acts:--The bird will not approach the +grain that is spread about, where it sees another bird a captive in the +snare. Take warning by the mischance of others, that others may not take +warning by thine. + + +CVI + +How can he help himself who was born deaf, if he cannot hear; and what +can he do whose thread of fortune is dragging him on that he may not +proceed:--The dark night of such as are beloved of God is serene and +light as the bright day; but this good fortune results not from thine +own strength of arm, till God in his mercy deign to bestow it. To whom +shall I complain of thee? for there is no judge else, nor is any arm +mightier than thine. Him whom thou directest none can lead astray, and +him whom thou bewilderest none can direct upon his way. + + +CVII + +The beggar whose end is good is better off than the king whose end is +evil:--That sorrow which is the harbinger of joy is preferable to the +joy which is followed by sorrow. + + +CVIII + +The sky enriches the earth with rain, and the earth gives it dust in +return. As the Arabs say: "_What the vessels have, that they give_."--If +my moral character strike thee as improper, do not renounce thine own +good character. + + +CIX + +The Most High God discerns and hides what is improper; my neighbor sees +not, and is loud in his clamor:--God preserve us! if man knew what is +hidden, none could be safe from the animadversion of his neighbor. + + +CX + +Gold is got from the mine by digging into the earth; and from the grasp +of the miser by taking away his life:--Misers spend not, but watch with +solicitude: expectation, they say, is preferable to waste. Next day +observe to the joy of their enemies, the gold remains, and they are dead +without the enjoyment of that hope. + + +CXI + +Such as deal hard with the weak will suffer from the extortion of the +strong:--It is not every arm in which there is strength that can wrench +the hand of a weak man. Bring not affliction upon the hearts of the +feeble, lest thou may'st fall under the lash of the strong. + + +CXII + +A wise man, where he meets opposition, labors to get through it, and +where he finds quiet he drops his anchor, for there safety is on one +side, and here enjoyment in the middle of it. + + +CXIII + +The gamester wants three sixes, but he throws only three aces:--The +pasture meadow is a thousand times richer than the common, but the horse +has not his tether at command. + + +CXIV + +The dervish in his prayer is saying: "O God, have compassion on the +wicked, for to the good thou hast been abundantly kind, inasmuch as thou +hast made them virtuous." + + +CXV + +Jemshid was the first person who put an edging round his garment, and a +ring upon his finger. They asked him: "Why did you bestow all the +decoration and ornament on the left hand, whilst the right is the +superior?" He answered: "Sufficient for the right is the ornament of +being right." Feridun commanded the gilders of China that they would +inscribe upon the front of his palace: "Strive, O wise man, to make the +wicked good, for the good are of themselves great and fortunate." + + +CXVI + +They said to a great and holy man: "Notwithstanding the superiority that +the right hand commands, who do they wear the ring on the left hand?" He +replied: "Are you not aware that the best are most neglected! He who +casts our horoscope, provision, and fortune, bestows upon us either good +luck or wisdom." + + +CXVII + +It is proper for him to offer counsel to kings who dreads not to lose +his head, nor looks for a reward:--Whether thou strewest heaps of gold +at his feet, or brandishest an Indian sword over the Unitarian's head, +to hope or fear he is alike indifferent; and in this the divine unity +alone he is resolved and firm. + + +CXVIII + +It belongs to the king to displace extortioners, to the superintendent +of the police to guard against murderers, and to the cazi to decide in +quarrels and disputes. No two complainants ever referred to the cazi +content to abide by justice:--When thou knowest that in right the claim +is just, better pay with a grace than by distress and force. If a man is +refractory in discharging his revenue, the collector must necessarily +coerce him to pay it. + + +CXIX + +Every man's teeth are blunted by acids excepting the cazi's, and they +require sweets:--That cazi, or judge, that can accept of five cucumbers +as a bribe, will confirm thee in a right to ten fields of melons. + + * * * * * + + +CXXI + +They asked a wise man, saying: "Of the many celebrated trees which the +Most High God has created lofty and umbrageous, they call none azad, or +free, excepting the cypress, which bears no fruit; what mystery is there +in this?" He replied: "Each has its appropriate produce and appointed +season, during the continuance of which it is fresh and blooming, and +during their absence dry and withered; to neither of which states is the +cypress exposed, being always flourishing; and of this nature are the +azads, or religious independents. Fix not thy heart on what is +transitory; for the Dijlah, or Tigris, will continue to flow through +Bagdad after the race of Khalifs is extinct. If thy hand has plenty, be +liberal as the date-tree; but if it affords nothing to give away, be an +azad, or free man, like the cypress." + + +CXXII + +Two orders of mankind died, and carried with them regret: such as had +and did not spend, and such as knew and did not practise:--None can see +that wretched mortal a miser who will not endeavor to point out his +faults; but were the generous man to have a hundred defects, his +liberality would cover all his blemishes. + + + + +THE CONCLUSION OF THE BOOK + + +The book of the "Gulistan, or Flower-Garden," was completed through the +assistance and grace of God. Throughout the whole of this work I have +not followed the custom of writers by inserting verses of poetry +borrowed from former authors:--"It is more decorous to wear our own +patched and old cloak than to ask in loan another man's garment." + +Most of Sa'di's sayings have a dash of hilarity and an odor of gayety +about them, in consequence of which short-sighted critics extend the +tongue of animadversion, saying: It is not the occupation of sensible +men to solicit marrow from a shrivelled brain, or to digest the smoke of +a profitless lamp. Nevertheless it cannot be concealed from the +enlightened judgment of the holy and good, to whom these discourses are +specially addressed, that the pearls of salutary admonition are threaded +on the cord of an elegance of language, and the bitter potion of +instruction sweetened with the honey of facetiousness, that the taste of +the reader may not take disgust, and himself be debarred from the +pleasure of approving of them: "On our part we offered some good advice, +and spent an age in bringing it to perfection. If that should not meet +the ear of anybody's good-will, prophets deliver their messages, or warn +mankind; and that is enough." + +"_O thou who perusest this book, ask the mercy of God on the author of +it: his forgiveness on the transcriber. Petition for whatever charitable +gift thou mayst require for thyself, and implore pardon on the owner_." +May I crave thy prayer on the English translator? _The book is finished +through the favor of the Lord God Paramount and the bestower of all +good_! + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERSIAN LITERATURE, VOLUME 2, +COMPRISING THE SHAH NAMEH, THE RUBAIYAT, THE DIVAN, AND THE GULISTAN
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