1

On him be the blessings and benedictions of God, and on his offspring, and on his immediate companions, and on his followers, and on those who trace up to him!-with reference to the guidance of those who study the subjects of discipleship, and the protection of those who seek the objects of advantage -in the manner following: and pointed out to that Teacher of wisdom (of whom it is said, 'One mighty in power taught him')3 the path of instruction for the candidates of the school of manners, and the way of information and the method of improving the understanding of the students of the college of industry and research, after this fashion, 'Invite to the path of thy Lord with discretion and with gracious exhortations.' The meaning of these words of happy tendency is as follows:-O Summoner of mankind to the tables of the benefits of wise counsel and salvation, and O Guide of men to the paths of welfare of the present existence and of the world to which all return! 5 invite my servants to the right way discreetly, and direct my adorers with kind admonitions from the gulf of sensual desire to the garden of God's favour; since it is not possible to discipline the headstrong appetites save by the lash of wisdom, nor can the sensual temperaments be brought to reason but by salutary admonition; according as it has been said, 'Hadst thou been severe of heart, they would have been scattered.”

VERSE.

Each horse-tamer, who would vanquish the unbroken, fiery steed,

Must the young colt first with kindness, and with gentle measures lead :

Fury will but stir the courser to more headlong heat; and so,

From the rider's want of spirit, steeds will dull and sluggish grow.

Just as the taming of horses new to the bridle is, without observing the niceties of gentle management, impracticable; so, to reduce to submission the passions of the many-who, in consequence of brutish and ferine violence having got the mastery over their natures, have fed without prohibition or

1 Observe here a good specimen of the verbiage so admired by the Persians.

2 The verb, khiṭáb farmúdah properly comes here, but I have been obliged to take it several lines earlier to connect the sense better.

3 This is a quotation from the Kur'an, ch. liii. 15; Sale, p. 387, 1. 15: 'By the star when it setteth, your companion Muhammad erreth not, nor is he led astray: neither doth he speak of his own will. It is no other than a revelation, which hath been revealed unto him. One mighty in power, endued with understanding, taught it him; and he appeared in the highest part of the horizon.'

4 Kur'an, Flügel, ch. xvi. 126; Mar., 125, Sale, p. 208, last line of text: 'Invite men unto the way of thy Lord by wisdom and mild exhortation; and dispute with them in the most condescending manner; for thy Lord well knoweth him who strayeth from his path, and he well knoweth those who are rightly directed.'

5 Here seven words are used in translating ma'ád.

6 At page 4, 1. 3, in the edition of 1851, háwiyah-i should be read for hádiyah-i.

7 Kur'an, Fl., ch. iii. 153; Mar., 160; Sale, p. 30, 1. 14: And as to the mercy granted uuto the disobedient from God, thou, O Muhammad! hast been mild towards them, but if thou hadst been severe and hard-hearted they had surely separated themselves from about thee.'

8 Saba'i signifies 'belonging to a savage beast,' opposed to bahimi, ' of any animal.'

repulse in the pasture-ground, Leave them that they may eat and enjoy themselves," and who have not experienced the bridle of the check from forbidden things, and the lash of the commandment [to do] what is right-will, without the application of preliminary prudent measures, be in like manner impossible;

COUPLET.

Wisdom can solve things difficult, and bring To the expectant heart each wished-for thing. and [it is said] He who has received wisdom, verily he has received a great good.”2

COUPLET.

Seek wisdom, study greatness, that men aye May note thy morrow happier than to-day.3 The 'gracious exhortation' spoken of in the enjoined invitation is declared to be a discourse of such a nature that the hearer is made aware that it is purely wholesome counsel and essentially benign and clement, and they say that 'gracious exhortation' is speech of such a comprehensive description that each one of those who hear may derive benefit from it, in proportion to the degree of his capacity and aptitude. Such is the exhortation of the Kur'án, and the advice [contained in] the sacred book, which comprehends both exoteric and esoteric kinds [of knowledge], and contains all mysteries religious and mundane, and from the words and meaning of which every one, whether reader or hearer, according to his degree, reaps advantage, and 'to it the speaker alludes.'

COUPLET.

The young spring of its loveliness makes soul and spirit fresh; 7

Its scent delights the pious, and its hue enchants the flesh.

And this kind of speech has been poured out and sent down on not even one of the greatest prophets, except our Prophet (May blessing and peace be upon him!); nay, it is the distinctive privilege of His Holiness, the seal of prophecy; as he (The blessing and peace of God be upon him!), indicated in this, 'I have received the All-comprehensive Words: and, inasmuch as sincerity of obedience is a cause of inheriting special intimacy with God, and productive of the verification of relationship to Him, assuredly the minds of a select number of His great people (who are characterised by the mark, Ye are the

1 Kur'án, Fl., ch. xv. 3; Mar., 4; Sale, p. 194, 1. 13: The time may come when the unbelievers shall wish that they had been Muslims. Suffer them to eat and enjoy themselves in this world; and let hope entertain them. but they shall hereafter know their folly.

2 Kur'an, ch. ii. 270; Sale, p. 30, 1. 28: He giveth wisdom unto whom he pleaseth; and he unto whom wisdom is given, hath received much good; but none will consider except the wise of heart.'

3 The Bombay lithographed ed. reads bih-gardad for the bih-nigarand of the ed. of 1851. 4 Sukhaní-rá gúyand for sukhan ast kih gúyand.

5 Lit., 'It does not remain concealed from the hearer.'

6 Furkán, a name given to the Ķur'án as discriminating right from wrong, truth from falsehood.

7 For tázah the lithographed edition reads zindah.

8 This is a title of Muḥammad.

• Jawám'iu-l-kalim, a name for the Kur'an.

best nation that hath been raised up unto mankind'), have become the recipients of the lights of the most resplendent rays of that universality [of knowledge] the borrowing of which may be [affirmed to be] from the niche of the high prophetical office of that holy person'; and hence they consider that to be perfect discourse, in the survey of the beauty of the meaning of which, the eye of the superficial observers derives benefit from the words, and is irradiated by the expressions; while the nostril of the esoteric examiners is perfumed by the sweet odours of the truths and niceties which are discoverable under its external sense; so that each individual, in proportion to his capacity, has derived a share from its table of unlimited advantages.

HEMISTICH.

No seeker passes from it uncontent.

And, from the tenor of these premises, it is understood that the more the face of each word is adorned with the soft down and mole3 of knowledge, and the more the cheek of each advice is embellished with the cosmetic of universal wisdom, so much the more is the heart of true lovers inclined to survey its adornments.*

5

COUPLET.

The more each one is lovely 'mid the fair, The more the gaze of all is centred there. And of the many treatises, the foundations of whose composition are [laid] on the questions of philosophy; and of the multitude of books, the rules of whose arrangement are so grounded, and which comprise the auspicious things of advice; the book of Kalílah and Damnah is one which the philosophers of Hind have composed in a peculiar style, and the methods of whose comprehensive knowledge the Bráhmans, who are adorned with the bright rays of learning, have arranged in a special manner, and have combined with one another philosophy and merriment and mirth; and, having disposed the form of the narrative in tales, on account of the bias of most dispositions to them, have recounted the stories and fables by the tongues of wild beasts and animals and birds, and in the body of them have interwoven a variety of wise rules and salutary counsels, so that the sage may peruse them with a view to profit, and the ignorant person may read them for recreation and the [amusement of the] romance, and that the lecturing on them may be easy to the

1 Kur'an, ch. iii. 110; Sale, p. 45, 1. 18: 'Ye are the best nation that hath been raised up unto mankind; ye command that which is just and ye forbid that which is unjust, and ye

believe in God.'

2 That is, Muḥammad.

3 This is a constant image with Persian poets. The mole on the face is as prized as it was in England some eighty years ago, when it was represented by a black patch.

▲ Julwahái, pl. of julwat, 'the adorning of a bride.'

5 The lithographed edition reads az jumlah-i kutub for az jumlah-i rasáil, and the former where the latter occurs in the edition of 1851.

The Persian Dictionary of Professor Johnson gives Dimnah, but I have always heard the word called Damnah, and, from the fact of its being written Damnak in Maráthí, Gujráthí, and other languages, I am inclined to think the latter pronunciation correct.

teacher and the recollection of them to the student: and, in point of fact, that enlightened book is an orchard, the branches of the hidden meanings of which are made bright with the flowers 'And therein shall they enjoy whatever their souls shall desire, and whatever their eyes shall delight in,'' and the environs of the rose-garden of which are aromatised and perfumed with the gentle breezes of [the verse] What eye hath not seen nor ear heard.'

DISTICHS.

Each maxim there a blossom is more bright

More dazzling-than the insect lamp of night.2
Its words youth's gracefulness and freshness shew,
With meanings fraught which like life's waters flow.

And the gushing over of that fountain of truths and sage meanings is to this degree, that, from the beginning of the display [of creation] to this time, it has in every age conferred benefit on the students of the assembly of discipleship and the apt scholars of the convention of felicity, and the garment of the following beautiful verses is a graceful and becoming robe of honour on the lofty stature of this book:

VERSE.

Its form is fringe like to the robe of joy3 and happiness,

Its sense the gem that decks the ring of fortune and success :
While from its verses' tinted cheek love's wiles and witchcrafts beam,

Its diction's labyrinthine curls like musky ringlets seem.

And that sage of luminous mind, the Bráhman Bídpáí, composed this book in the Hindí tongue, in the name of the world-adorning Hindú sovereign Dábishlím, who was the ruler of several countries of Hindústán; and, perhaps, in the commencement of the exordium some portion is on this account inserted by the pen of narration, and the said sage has founded his discourse on exhortations, in order that in the government of their subjects, and in the expansion of the carpet of justice, and in clemency, and in educating and maintaining the fathers of the state, and in repelling and opposing the enemies of the realm, it might prove of service to rulers; and Dábishlím made this book the polcstar' of his wishes and the pillar of his designs, and with the key of the perusal of this [volume] he always opened the doors of the solution of difficulties and unveiled knotty points, and in his time this precious jewel was hid from the sight of every one, like a peerless gem in the cabinet of its

1 Kur'an, ch. xliv.; Sale, p. 364, 1. 20: Enter ye into paradise, ye and your wives, with great joy. Dishes of gold shall be carried round unto them, and cups without handles and therein shall they enjoy whatever their souls shall desire, and whatever their eyes shall delight in.'

The firefly is called the shab chirágh, 'night-lamp,' but the same word may also mean 'a carbuncle,' or 'a glow-worm.'

This is a good specimen of absurd and strained metaphor-The form of the book is like the fringe of the robe of happiness.'

That is, The nobles.

Lit., Made the opening.

Lit., The point to which the face is turned in prayer.

cell, and like a ruby of Badakhshán, shewed not its face from the recess
of the mine save after a thousand toils;1 and after him each one of his
descendants and kinsmen who succeeded him on the imperial throne trod the
same path and exerted himself to conceal it; and, notwithstanding all this
excessive caution, the fragrant breath of the excellencies of this book had
filled the regions of the world with odour, like the borders of a rose-garden;
and the musk-scattering bag of its virtues caused the nostrils of the diligent
inquirers after the odours of history and tradition to be scented with
ambergris.

VERSE.

Like musk is moral worth; from sight concealed,
So the sun's face3 is ne'er obscured with clay,

'Tis by its odour to the sense revealed.
But still its rays diffuse a brighter day.

Till in the time of Kasra Núshírwán' this intelligence became universally
diffused that 'Among the treasures of the kings of Hindústán there is a book
which they have compiled from the speech of animals and brutes and birds
and reptiles and savage beasts; and all that befits a king in the matter of
government and vigilance, and is useful for princes in the observance of king-
craft, is exhibited in the folds of its leaves, and men regard it as the stock of
all advice and the medium of all advantage.' Núshírwán (by the rain of
whose beneficence the trees of the river of justice were rendered verdant, and
by the drops of the showers of whose favour the freshness of the rose-garden
of equity was augmented,

His justice added to the world fresh grace,

COUPLET.

And swept oppression dust-like from its face),
felt the greatest eagerness and most unspeakable desire to peruse this book.
The physician Burzuyah,' who was chief of his class in Párs," at the request
of Núshírwán proceeded to Hindústán, and was there during a long period;

1 Lit., A thousand blood of the liver.

2 The lithographed edition reads mustanshikán, 'snuffers-up,' which seems better as
preserving the metaphor.

3 The lithographed edition reads chashmah-i for chihrah-i, which I think preferable; since
'a fountain' may be said to be muddied, but a face can hardly be so.

་

4 Núshirwan (nushin, 'sweet,' rawán, 'life' or 'soul'), the son of Kubád, surnamed
al-'adil, the Just,' and called by the Arabs Kasra, and by the Persians Khusrau (our Chosrocs),
was the twentieth King of the fourth dynasty of Persia, viz., that
of the Sassanides or
Khusravians. He was cotemporary with Justin and Justinian-from the first of whom he
took Edessa, Antioch, and Apamea, in Syria; and, from the second, Raca and Dara, in
Mesopotamia, and Halab or Aleppo in Syria. He defeated the Khákán or ruler of Turkestán,
and conquered Afghanistan and other Eastern provinces as far as the Indus. His own son,
Nushízád, who, on account of professing Christianity, had been imprisoned by him, raised
the standard of revolt against him, but was defeated and slain. Masrúk, King of Ethiopia,
who had invaded Arabia, was overcome by him, and driven back to his own country.
Finally, after a glorious reign of 48 years, he died, and was succeeded by his son Hurmuzd.
Muhammad was born in the reign of Núshirwan, A.D. 578. [See D'Herbelot, s.v.]

D'Herbelot gives no information respecting this worthy besides what is here furnished,
except that some attribute the translation to Buzurg Mihr, the celebrated Vazir of Núshírwán,
and preceptor of his son Hurmuzd. Sec D'Herbelot, vol. 1. p. 217.

6 Párs, called by the Arabs, who have no p in their language, Fárs, is said to have been
the name of a son of Shem, by whom Persia was colonized.