Worldly enjoyment, like the lightning's flash, is unenduring, and its sufferings, too, like the dark shadow of a cloud, have no continuance. One ought not, then, to become attached to the gain of its good things, nor to grieve at the hardship of its trials. COUPLET. What though it yield! its smiles no joy bestow : And its withdrawal is not worth our woe. The sum of the matter is, that to devote the heart to attachment to this cell of misery appears to be far removed from nobility of mind; and to erect an edifice in the channel of the torrent of annihilation seems inconsistent with perfect foresight. [Thus it is said] Pass over it and do not build it? this hired mansion and place, soon to be abandoned, HEMISTICH. Try not to build, but leave it to decay.' The other animals replied, 'O Farísah! bid us not abandon the enjoy ments of the world, for it is a world excellent for the purpose for which it was created, which was that we might reap advantage from it, and enjoy the fruition of its delights. And the recondite saying, 'And we provided good things for their sustenance,'1 is a proof of this assertion.' Farísah replied, "The real excellence of the world consists in its being the implement by which a wise man obtains a good name and enduring mention; and by the means of which he acquires provision for the journey to that place to which all must return; so that, in accordance with the saying, 'Honest wealth is a good thing,' riches become the cause of his happy end, not the means of his punishment and disgrace. And ye, if ye desire happiness in this world, give ear to these words; and, for the sake of pleasant food, the gratification of which does not extend beyond the gullet, do not think it permissible to destroy an animal, and be content with what ye can get without molesting or paining others, and do not exceed such a quantity as will suffice for the sustenance of the frame and the support of the body. Nor require of me to conform to you in that which is contrary to law and reason. For my mere association with you does not lead to harm, but my participation in blameable actions would be the cause of my being punished; and if ye mean to annoy me by these vexatious importunities, give me leave rather to abandon your society, and betake myself to the corner of retirement. HEMISTICH. I'll hie me to some quiet corner, and on mankind shut my door.' 1 Kur'an, Fl. x. 93; Mar. 91; Sale, p. 161, 1. 4: And we prepared for the children of Israel an established dwelling in the land of Canaan, and we provided good things for their sustenance and they differed not in point of religion, until knowledge had come unto them; verily thy Lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection, concerning that wherein they disagreed.' 2 Observe this sense of dast afráz: it is not given in the Dictionaries. When Farísah's companions saw that his foot was firmly planted on the carpet of abstinence and piety, they were convinced, and became ashamed of having spoken these words, and loosed the tongue of apology to excuse themselves. As for Farísah, he in a short time attained such eminence in piety and virtue that the recluses of that country were in the habit of imploring spiritual succor from his soul; and those who were hastening over the tract of religious improvement continually besought the aid of the favor of his directing glance. After a short interval the fame of his austerities and uprightness was diffused through the environs of that region, and the celebrity of his devotion and religious life penetrated the adjoining parts of that territory. Now, hard by the place where Farísah lived, there was a jungle, abounding in streams and springs of water, and trees of various kinds. In the midst of it was a meadow, such that the garden of Iram from envy of its freshness withdrew its face beneath the veil of concealment, and the invigorating influence of its cool northern breezes bestowed immortal life on the fainting heart. VERSE. Its rapture-giving plain did life renew, Its breeze, invigorating, banished care. Verdure upsprang such as one might compare To the soft down of tender stripling fair. And in that spot many wild animals and beasts of prey had collected, and by reason of the amplitude of the expanse and the delightfulness of the air various beasts and reptiles reposed there, and their king was a lion, terrible and dreadful, a monster, frightful and awe-inspiring. COUPLET. His roar was louder than the thunder crash, His eyes like lightning fire seemed forth to flash. The whole body of the inhabitants of that jungle were constrained to obey .him and passed their time under the protection of his majesty, and in the asylum of his awe. They called him Kámjúí,' and under this title his fame had spread through all parts of that country. One day, Kámjúí was conversing on divers subjects with his grandees, and had opened the road of various discourse. In the midst of the conversation the story of Farísah was introduced, and such were the encomiums of his perfect virtue and blameless life that from all quarters reached the ears of the monarch, that he wished with heart and soul for his society. COUPLET. They did to him a place, though yet his cheek beheld was not, 1 That is, 'seeking enjoyment.' In short, as the desire of Kámjúí to converse with Farísah passed all bounds, he sent some one to require his attendance; and Farísah, on his part, in obedience to the imperial command, presented himself in the world-sheltering court. The king having received him with the prescribed forms of respect, bestowed on him the honor of a seat in the high assembly, and tested his real condition in various points of devotion and spiritual knowledge. To be brief, he found that Farísah was a boundless sea in developing virtuous excellencies and high accomplishments, and saw that he was a gem-scattering treasure in the knowledge of the particulars of perfect truth. Again, he made trial of him in the matter of subtlety and in the transaction of important business, and in eloquence of speech and justness of deliberation; and found the coin of his condition of full value on the touchstone of acceptance. HEMISTICH. Gold that is pure, why should it dread the test? Kámjúí was pleased with his society, and cultivated an intimacy with him. After some days he called him to a private audience, and said, 'O Farísah! my realm is of wide extent, and the transactions of it are vast, and they brought to my royal hearing the tidings of thy piety and abstinence, and I HEMISTICH. Held the unseen more dear than if I saw. And now that I have seen thee, what I see exceeds what I heard; and hearing proves inferior to the sight. COUPLET. I heard earth's regions did not hold a second such as thou, I see thou dost a thousand-fold surpass that rumor now. I will now place confidence in thee, and entrust to thee the affairs of government and finance, so that thy rank being elevated by my patronage, thou wilt be admitted into the class of my special and intimate favorites, and wilt be distinguished through the blessings of my condescension and the happiness of my favor, from thy fellows and brethren, yea, even from all thy contemporaries, by the honor of my selection and the excellence of thy dignity. COUPLET. Who on my glorious threshold lays his head Will gain a throne ere yet a week be fled.' Farísah replied, 'It behoves kings that for state-affairs they should select proper helpers and becoming assistants; and, moreover, it is requisite for them not to force an employment upon any one against his consent. For when they by compulsion thrust office upon a person, who is unable to execute 1 1 Lit., 'hang it round its neck.' it rightly, and is incompetent to the proper discharge of its duties, the disastrous result thereof recoils upon the king, and the sin of the disobedience of the functionary comes back upon the ruler. Now the drift of this discourse is, that I am averse to affairs of state, and possess no knowledge nor experience in them. And thou art a king of great majesty and a monarch of high dignity; and in thy service are many wild. animals and beasts of prey, endued with strength and ability, and noted for their qualities of uprightness and honesty, and who are anxiously looking out for such employment. If thou wilt be pleased to bestow on them thy favor and regard, they will keep the royal mind at ease from all anxiety as to the management of affairs of importance, and will be pleased and benefited by the presents and offerings which they will obtain for undertaking office.' Kámjúí answered, 'What advantage hast thou from thus rejecting my offer? and what profit dost thou see in repelling my proposals? And for my part, I will assuredly not excuse thee, and with thy will or against it will hang the chain of undertaking this affair on the neck of thy care. HEMISTICH. Willing or not, thou dost belong to me.' Farísah said, "The business of the king should devolve on two kinds of men. Of these, one is the acute, uncompromising person, who with extreme energy and boldness, pursues his object; and having succeeded by craft and subtlety, does not become a butt for the arrow of opposition. The second, is a careless and weak-minded individual, who has become habituated to degradation, and who cares not for dishonor, and disregards the loss of reputation and character. Now such a person is not exposed to envy, nor does any one oppose or strive with him. And I am not of these two classes. I am not swayed by cupidity, so as to play the traitor; nor have I a low disposition so as to endure patiently the load of infamy. STANZA. By God! whose hand in all things we discern, Who made the wise self-guidance to retain. The king must abandon this idea, and excuse me from undertaking the burthen of this task; for it is now a long time since I have sewed up the eye of pert cupidity with the needle of contentment; and have consumed with the flashing fires of abstinence, the vain ware of avarice, which is subject to so many wants. And should the king contaminate me again with worldly matters, the same thing will befall me which befell the Flies who had settled in the vessel of honey.' The Lion asked, 'How was that?' 1 In one MS. 'aib is well supplied before na dárad. STORY II. Farísah said, 'They have related that one day a pure-minded fakír, whose step was firm in the path of spirituality, was passing along the bázár. A poor man,' a confectioner, who had a fellow-feeling for the indigent," requested the holy man that he would rest for a moment at his door. The spiritually gifted fakir, to gratify him, took his seat there; and the master sweetmeat-maker, by way of imploring a blessing, filled a cup with honey and set it before the darvesh. The Flies (according to their custom of rushing upon sweet things, and of not suffering themselves to be driven away, however much one may try to get rid of them, HEMISTICH. The shop of the confectioner, that is the place for flies,) all at once settled in swarms on the cup of honey. Some alighted on the side of the cup, and a few threw themselves into it. The confectioner seeing that the attacks of the Flies went beyond all bounds, flourished a fan for driving away insects; those that were at the side of the cup, easily took wing and went off; while the feet of those who had seated themselves within, having stuck in the honey, when they tried to fly, their wings became smeared with the honey, and they fell into the snare of destruction. The pious darvesh was greatly amused, and began to utter wild cries of delight. After the sea of the shekh's mind grew calm, and the waves of the ocean of ecstacy and rapture had abated, the confectioner said, 'O holy man! I have not withheld from thee material sweetmeats, and do thou not withhold from me that spiritual matter which was disclosed in thy recent transports. 3 HEMISTICH. Thy sweet lips open and pour sugar forth.' The shekh replied, "They represented to me in this cup of honey the vile world, and the greedy and covetous competitors for it, and a secret and inspired voice said to me, 'Know that this cup is the world, and this honey its dainties; and these flies those that pursue them. And those that sit on the side are the contented fakirs, who are satisfied with a small morsel from the table of the world; and the others, which are inside the cup, are 1 I would rather, with some MSS., omit the darvesh that precedes halwágar in the editions. 2 Lit., who had a share in the taste of poverty.' 3 There is an equivoque here on halwd, 'sweetmeat,' and halwa shudah, 'descending and being revealed,' which cannot be retained in English. For hall shudan is 'to descend,' and wá shudan is 'to be disclosed,' and the two compounds are here put together for the sake of the equivoque. |