have said that the most fatuous of creatures is he that plunges into a thing unfitted to his nature and unsuited to his degree; and this affair has, in point of fact, exactly the same character as thy leaving the baker's business and embarking in agriculture, and in the end the clue of both things having escaped from thy hand, thou hast been left in the grief of exile and the calamity of friendlessnes. COUPLET. I said, I would my life surrender, that I might that meeting gain, I gave my life, but in the end I could that meeting not obtain.' The Guest would not meet the advice of the Devotee with acceptance, and in a short time forgot the language of his fathers, and failed to learn Hebrew. HEMISTICH. That from him slipped, and this he failed to grasp.' This is the story of one who quits his own profession and undertakes a thing which does not suit him, and this chapter is closely connected with the caution and prudence requisite in kings. Thus every ruler who wishes to sway with a vigorous hand his kingdom, and to whom the tranquillity of his subjects, and the promotion of his friends, and the extermination of his enemies, are desirable objects, will think it right to give the minutest attention and consideration to these matters. Such a king will not suffer a worthless and naturally incompetent person to contest precedence with those of a noble and pure nature. For many low people fancy themselves rival competitors of the experienced cavaliers of the field of honor, and in the exercising ground of competition' consider their own lagging carrion as equal in the race with the lightning-paced Burák of the others' spirit, while in point of fact, if they traveled by relays, they would not so much as come up with the dust that their more noble competitors raise. COUPLET. How the bright goblet of Jamshid shall earthen cups to rival try? Though decked in pearls 2 and rubies it their worthless boasts may still defy. Wherefore the observation of this precedence in the rules of administration is of the highest importance, and if, which God forbid! the difference of ranks disappear from among the rulers of men, and the lowest sit in the same scale with the mediocre, and these latter put themselves on an equality with the noblest; the awe of royalty is impaired, and interruption and disturbance appear in the royal administration of affairs. On this account former kings used to take care that men of low nature and origin should acquire learning and the art of writing, and know questions in accounts and 1 I am doubtful of this meaning of kafáf. 2 One MS., for bidurr ú l'al, reads bidaur-i l'al, 'in the circulation of the wine.' numeration, because that should this custom come to prevail, that men of business should enter the circle of the great, while great men would be unable to transact the operations of men of business, the ill effects thereof would of course be all-pervading and widely spread. Thus the means of support of high and low would be absolutely interrupted, and in consequence of these circumstancies retardation would take place in affairs, and in the course of time the effect thereof would be apparent. Wherefore it behoves a sensible man to think it incumbent to preserve the sections of the admonitions of the wise, and the advice of the sage, in order that having reaped the advantage of their beneficial influence, the fruits of experience may be made available for his career in life, and his transactions may remain preserved and safe from the imputation of faultiness, and the brand of neglect. VERSE. Him in the world thou mayest call truly wise, CHAPTER XII. OF THE EXCELLENCE OF MILDNESS, AND CALMNESS, AND TRANQUILLITY, AND COMPOSURE, ESPECIALLY IN KINGS. INTRODUCTION. Again the august king of kings turned to the illustrious sage, and in a style sweetly eloquent, COUPLET. Said, eulogizing him, 'O matchless sage! Ne'er was thy equal witnessed by this age. Thou hast narrated the story of one who having turned from the profession and language of his forefathers, betook himself to a thing unsuited to his condition and unconformable to his habits; and for whom, after that the object of his desire had been hid from the eye of his intention, return to his original business became impossible. HEMISTICH. He yields up this, and that eludes his hands. Now relate what are the most admirable qualities in kings, and which are most closely connected with the welfare of the State, and the continuance of fortune, and stability of affairs, and the conciliation of hearts? And I have seen in the Twelfth Precept that it behoves monarchs to make mildness the ornament of their career, and patience the principal of their dealings. Yet I am in doubt whether mildness be a preferable quality for kings, or generosity or valor? Do thou, with thy sagacity which solves difficulties, undo the knot of the string of this problem, and with thy judgment, which points out the right, elucidate in the best possible way the mystery of this question?' VERSE. When the sage teacher heard this question, he The door of wisdom's treasury set wide, Know that the most praiseworthy characteristic and approved quality, whence both the person of kings will inspire awe and be most respected, and whence, too, as well soldiers as other subjects, will be made to feel content, is mildness and good-nature. And from the verse, 'If thou hadst been severe 26 and hard-hearted, they had surely separated themselves from about thee,'' and from the words, tending to virtue, of the Sultán of the throne of prophecy and the felicitous lord of the empire of glory (On him be the choicest benedictions of those who pray!) it is to be understood that happiness in this world and what we hope for in the next are the consequents of mildness and good-nature. Thus it is said, Of the happiness of man is excellence of disposition, and the meek man is all but becoming a prophet.' And as to these three qualities, of which the king is enamoured, it is better that he should know to which to give the preference. All three are requisite, but valor is not always required, and in a whole life there may be but once a necessity for its display. But generosity and mildness are always wanted; wherefore these too are better than valor. Again, the advantages of generosity are restricted to a certain class; and it is only a particular body of individuals who can share in the benefits of the royal bounty. On the other hand, small and great stand in need of mildness, and the blessings of good temper extend to high and low, the civilian and the soldier. Wherefore it follows, as a matter of course, that mildness is superior to the other virtue. VERSE. He is, in truth, the best of human race, Who aye maintains a mild and kindly mood. The temper's sweetness is his fount of good. And a sage has said, 'Were there between me and all mankind but a single hair, and all of them unanimously tried to break it, it would be impossible that it should break; because if they left it slack I would tighten it, and if they pulled it tight I would slacken it. In other words, the perfection of my mildness and scope of my forgiving nature are of such extent that I can live at peace with all mankind, and can put up with the vulgar and the learned, the innocent and the criminal. COUPLET. While he pursues his selfish ends, his cords around me rest; If he will not obey my will, I'll follow his behest.' And be it known, that gravity and composure are a more graceful ornament of kings, and meekness and endurance a better decoration for the rulers of the world [than generosity or courage], because the commands of princes are absolute as to the life and goods and landed property of mankind, and their directions to do or not to do a thing prevail without restriction over the 1 Kur'an, Fl. iii. 153, Mar. 160; Sale, p. 50, 1. 14: And as to the mercy granted unto 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.' See also p. 2 of this translation, note 7, where this verse is quoted, and where by a misprint the page of Sale is given as 30 for 50. 2 Lit., as he said.' lowest and the highest, and the mean and the great. Wherefore, if their dispositions are not adorned with mildness and conscientiousness, it is possible that by a single harsh act they may estrange the minds of a whole nation, and by a rash and precipitate deed chafe and displease the whole world, and thus many lives and possessions will fall into the place of destruction and alienation. QUATRAIN. Each order given by a reigning king, Should after long reflection be expressed; From a command he paused not to digest. And if a king wash from the face of the age the dust of want with the water of generosity, or consume with the fire of valor the harvest of the life of the hostile; yet, if he have no share of the stock of mildness, he will, by a single act of tyranny, make turbid the fountain of bountifulness, and by one violent deed raise up a thousand mortal enemies. While, on the other hand, if he fall short in the matter of generosity, and be slack in the field of courage, he may still conciliate his people and his armies by courtesy and blandness, and by his mildness and amiability, and by these qualities bind men to loyalty and chain them to his service; VERSE. 'Tis best thy face be smiling as the rose, That through all parts thy name spread fragrantly. Who gild the world with their humanity. And together with mildness, a king must have a share, also, of dignified composure, for mildness without firmness is not devoid of fault. Thus if one endure many annoyances; and manifest, in the most extreme degree, the quality of patience, if it conclude in precipitancy and terminate in rash and inconsiderate action, all those instances of long-suffering will be wasted, and he will be unsuccessful. COUPLET. Be thou in the path of patience ever stable as a rock, He who shows the most composure will be freest, too, from shock. It behoves a king, too, at the time of showing mildness, not to suffer himself to be swayed by his inclinations; and at the time of anger not to allow himself to listen to the tempter; for rage is a torch of the devil's fire, and a branch, the fruit of which is chagrin and repentance. Mildness is one of the qualities of the prophets; and rage a canine passion and one of the temptations of the evil one. It is agreed, too, among men of profound wisdom and those possessed of true piety, that until a person has got the mastery over anger, he cannot reach the rank of the just. It is also written in the remarkable sayings of the wise, that they made representation |