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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
The Collected Works of Saadi Page 21