Part 4
Boast not of having no pride, because it is more invisible Than the mark of an ant's foot on a black rock in a dark night; Think it not easy to extirpate it from thy heart, For it is more easy to root up a mountain from the earth with a needle.
"I CANNOT BE FAR FROM THY DOOR"
Beloved! I cannot be far from Thy door, Cannot be satisfied with Paradise and with houris. My head is on Thy threshold by Love's command, not for wages. Whatever I may do, I cannot bear to be away from this door.
FRIENDSHIP
He is a friend, who although meeting with enmity From his friend, only becomes more attached to him. If he strikes him with a thousand stones of violence, The edifice of his love will only be made more firm by them.
SECOND GARDEN
"A SECRET"
O boy! A secret necessary to be concealed from a foe Thou wilt do well not to reveal it even to a friend. I have seen many who in course of capricious time Became foes from friends, and amity to enmity turned.
"THE INDISPENSABLE KNOWLEDGE"
Cultivate the knowledge which is indispensable to you, And seek not that which you can dispense with. From the moment you acquire the indispensable knowledge, You must not desire to act except in accordance therewith.
SILENCE
No one repented for keeping a secret under seal, But many for having revealed it. Remain silent, because to sit quietly with a collected mind Is better than speaking what will distract it.
OCCUPATION ENNOBLED BY A GREAT MAN
Alexander degraded one of his officials by removing him from a high and employing him in a low post. One day this man waited upon Alexander, who asked him what he thought of his occupation, and he replied: "May the life of my Lord be long! A man is not ennobled by a great occupation, but an occupation is ennobled by a great man. In every post honesty, justice and equity are needed." Alexander was pleased with this opinion, and re-installed him in his former office.
THIRD GARDEN
WISE MAXIMS
Every [wise], maxim by the mouth and teeth is a jewel: Happy is he who has made of his breast a casket of jewels; A sage is a treasury of the jewels of philosophy, Do not separate thyself from this treasure.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE MIGHTY
The favourites of Sultáns are like people climbing up a precipitous mountain, and falling off from it in consequence of the quakes of anger and the vicissitudes of time. There is no doubt that the fall of those who are higher up is more disastrous than the coming down of those who are in lower positions.
JUSTICE AND VIRTUE
A culprit having been brought before the Khalifa, he ordered the punishment due to the transgression to be administered. The prisoner said: "O Commander of the Faithful, to take vengeance for a crime is justice, but to pass it over is virtue; and the magnanimity of the Prince of the Faithful is more exalted, than that he should disregard what is higher, and descend to what is lower." The Khalifa, being pleased with his argument, condoned his transgression.
THE WOMAN WHO WAS ASHAMED TO LOOK AT A MAN WHOM GOD HAD FORSAKEN
A woman who belonged to the faction which had risen in arms against Hajaj, having been brought before him, he spoke to her, but she looked down, and fixing her eyes upon the ground, neither replied, nor glanced at him. One who was present said: "O woman, the Amir is speaking, and thou lookest away?" She replied: "I am ashamed before God the Most High, to look on a man, upon whom God the Most High does not look."
HOW ALEXANDER ACQUIRED HIS POWER
Alexander having been asked by what means he had attained such dominion, power, and glory at so youthful an age and during so short a reign, replied: "By conciliating foes till they turned away from the path of enmity, and by strengthening the alliances with friends till they became firm in the bonds of amity."
FOURTH GARDEN
"THE VALUE OF A MAN"
The price of a man consists not in silver and gold; The value of a man is his power and virtue. Many a slave has by acquiring virtue Attained much greater power than a gentleman, And many a gentleman has for want of virtue Become _inferior_[4] to his own slave.
LIBERALITY
It is on record that 'Abdullah Ibn Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him!) intended one day to travel, and approaching a date-grove where he had seen some persons, he alighted. The guardian of the trees happened to be a black slave, to whom two loaves of bread had just been sent from the house; and as a dog stood near him, he threw one of the loaves to it, which having been devoured by the animal, he gave away also the other, and the dog likewise consumed it. Then 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him!) asked what his daily allowance was. The slave replied: "What thou hast seen." "Then why hast thou not kept it for thyself?" "The dog is a stranger here; I thought he had come from a long distance and was hungry, wherefore I did not mean to leave him in that condition." "Then what wilt thou eat to-day?" "I shall fast." Then 'Abdullah said to himself: "Everybody is blaming me for my liberality, and this slave is more liberal than myself." Then he purchased both the slave and the date-grove, presenting him with the latter, and emancipating him.
"LEARN THOU BRAVERY!"
O brave man, learn thou bravery! From men of the world learn manliness. Preserve thy heart from the remorse of remorse-seekers; Preserve thy tongue from the blame of evil-speakers. Requite with good him who did thee evil, Because by that evil he injured his own prosperity. If thou makest beneficence thy rule The good thou doest will return only to thee.
SELF-SACRIFICE
One night a great mosque in Egypt, having caught fire, was burnt. The Musulmans suspected that Christians had committed the act, and in revenge put fire to their houses, which consumed them. The Sultán of Egypt had the persons captured who burnt these houses, and having assembled them in one spot, ordered notes to be distributed among them, on some of which a sentence of death to the bearer was written, on some to cut off his hands, and on some to whip him. These notes having been thrown to the culprits and been picked up by them, each of them underwent the punishment which had fallen to his lot. One, to whom the sentence of death had been awarded, said: "I do not fear to be killed, but I have a mother, of whom no one will take care except myself." Near him stood a man who was to be punished by whippings but they exchanged their notes, the latter saying: "I have no mother, let me be killed instead of him, and him be whipped instead of me," and this was done.
GALLANTRY AND HUMOUR
An Arab of the desert welcomed the arrival of an Arab chief in a Qasída recited by him, which terminated in the following [Arabic] distich:
Stretch out thy hand to me, the palm whereof Distributes largesses, and its back is kissed.
Accordingly the generous man held out his hand to be kissed by the Arab, whereon he said by way of a joke: "The hairs upon thy lips have scratched my hand." The Arab replied: "What injury can the bristles of a porcupine inflict upon the paw of a formidable lion?" This sally pleased the liberal man, who said: "I like this better than the Qasída," and ordered him to be rewarded for it with 1,000 and for the sally 3,000 _dirhams_.
FIFTH GARDEN
A LOVERS' DIALOGUE
_Maiden:_ By God, who openly and secretly Is worshipped by men and fairies, I swear that of all whom I see in the world No one is dearer to me than thou.
_Youth:_
O thou who sawest me, and residest in my heart, Soul and body, all now belong to thee. If my heart inclines to thee it is no wonder; It must be a stone, not a heart, which turns not to thee!
'The girl said that now her only wish in the world was that they should put their hands round each other's waists, and eat sugar from the lips of each other. The youth replied: "My desire is the same, but what can I do? As God the Most High says: 'The intimate friends on that day shall be enemies unto one another, except the pious,' which means that on the day of resurrection friendship of friends will become enmity, except the friendship of the abstemious, which will increase the attachment. I do not wish that on the morn of resurrection the edifice of our love be impaired, and our friendship be turned into enmity." After saying these words, he departed, reciting the following:
O heart, abandon this love of two days, Because a love of two days profits not; Choose a love wherewith on the day of reckoning Thou mayest abide in the eternal abode.
A KIND FRIEND
O heart, when a time of sorrow overtakes thee There will be no sorrow if thou hast a kind friend; For a day of trouble a friend is required, Because in times of comfort, friends are not scarce.
A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN
A beautiful woman had many admirers, whose attentions were so assiduous that the very street in which she lived became thronged by her visitors, but when her attractions disappeared and she had become ugly, her lovers abandoned her. Then I said to one of them: "She is the same friend as before, with the same eyes, brows, lips, but perhaps her stature is more tall and her body more stout. It is faithless and treacherous on thy part to neglect her." He replied: "Alas for what thou sayest! That which ravished the heart, and enthralled the senses, was the spirit which resided in her form, in the gracefulness of her limbs, the smoothness of her skin, and in the pleasantness of her voice, but as that spirit has departed from the figure, how can I love a dead body, or fondle a withered rose?"
SIXTH GARDEN
JOCULARITY
If a contented man jokes, blame him not, It is a trade licit by the laws of reason and religion; The heart is a mirror, and vexation the rust on it: That rust is best polished away by jocularity.
A WEAVER AND A LEARNED PROFESSOR
A weaver, who had left something in trust with a learned man, desired again to have it back some time afterwards, and going to ask for it, he saw the man sitting in front of his house on the professional couch, with a number of his disciples in front of him. He said: "Mullana, I am in need of my deposit." He replied: "Wait an hour till I finish my lecture." The weaver accordingly took a seat, and, as the lecture proceeded, he observed that the Mullana often shook his head; and thinking that the imparting of the lesson consisted in this, he said: "O professor, arise and let me take thy place till thy return, and wag my head till thou hast brought out my deposit, because I am in haste."
A WORD TO THE WISE
If the gentleman fails to use the hair clipper Daily upon the hirsute countenance, But few days will elapse when his face Will, on account of the hair, pretend to be his head.
THE EXPLICIT BEGGAR
A mendicant begged at the door of a house, whereon the landlord apologised, saying that the people had gone out, and the beggar rejoined: "I want a morsel of bread, and net the people of the house."
PHANTOM RELATIONS
A man was visited by a stranger who began complaining, and said: "Is it possible that thou knowest me not, and dost not consider my claims upon thee?" The man was amazed, and replied: "I know nothing of what thou sayest." He continued: "My father desired to wed thy mother, and if he had married her we would be brothers." The man rejoined: "By Allah! This relationship will be the occasion for my becoming thy heir, and thou mine!"
AN OLD HAG WHO DESIRED ONLY PLEASURE
A man said his prayers and then began his supplications, desiring to enter Paradise and to be delivered from the fire of Hell. An old woman, who happened to be in his rear, and heard him, said: "O Lord, cause me to share in whatever he supplicates for." The man, who had listened, then said: "O Lord, hang me on a gibbet, and cause me to die of scourging." The hag continued: "O Lord, pardon me and preserve me from what he asked for." The man then turned to her and said: "What a wonderfully-unpleasant partner this is! She desires to share with me in all that gives rest and pleasure, but refuses to be my partner in distress and misery."
PLAGIARISM
A poet brought to a critic a composition, every distich of which he had plagiarised from a different collection of poems, and every rhetorical figure from another author. The critic said: "For a wonder thou hast brought a line of camels, but if the string were untied, every one of the herd would rush away in another direction."
THE AFFLICTED POET
A poet paid a visit to a doctor, and said: "Something has become knotted in my heart which makes me uncomfortable; it makes also my limbs wither, and causes the hairs on my body to stand on end." The physician, who was a shrewd man, asked: "Very likely thou has not yet recited to any one thy latest verses." The poet replied: "Just so." The doctor continued: "Then recite them." He complied, was requested to repeat them, and again to rehearse them for the third time. After he had done so, the doctor said: "Now arise, for thou art saved. This poetry had become knotted in thy heart, and the dryness of it took effect upon the outside; but, as thou hast relieved thy heart, thou art cured."
[Footnote 1: There is a clever play on the author's name, which also means a _goblet_.]
[Footnote 2: The seventh degree of the Súfís.]
[Footnote 3: The fifth degree of the Súfís.]
[Footnote 4: In the Persian, _without a shield_.]