Anvār-i Suhaylī - The Anvār-i Suhaili (The Lights of Canopus)

Having said thus much of the ‘Anvár-i Suhailí’ itself, and of its Sanskṛit originals, it remains that some notice be taken of the Translations which have been made into other languages, and of which the Baron DE SACY has given a full account in the ‘Mémoire Historique’ prefixed to his edition of Calila et Dimna.’ This profound scholar is of opinion, that, after the physician Burzuyah had brought the works of which the ‘Anvár-i Suhailí’ is an expansion, into Persia (see p. 6 of this translation) during the reign of Núshírwán; they were immediately translated into Pahlaví, under the same reign, that is, circa A.D. 570. This version perished, no doubt, in the invasion of the Arabs. At least, no copy has yet been discovered.

was made by the person whose name it bears, under the second Khalíf of the ’Abbásís, Manṣúr, (see p. 7 of this translation) between the years 136—158 of the Hijrah. This ’Abdu’lláh bin Al-Mukaff’a (wrongly called by many, Al-Muḳann’a, as at p. 7 of this translation) was born in Persia, and was, until converted, by religion, a Fire-worshiper. His father, who was collector of taxes in ’Irák, under Hajjáj bin Yusúf, had been guilty of extortion, and was, therefore, put to the torture, and his hand remaining shrunken in consequence, he got the name of Al-Muḳaff’a, i.e., ‘he that has shriveled hands.’ He was put to death by the Governor of Baṣrah, in accordance with a secret order despatched to him by Manṣúr.

This was made towards the close of the eleventh century, by order of the Emperor Alexis Comnenes. It is chiefly remarkable for the substitution of Greek proper names for the Oriental ones. Thus, a king of the rats is called , and three rats, his counsellors, are termed , , and .

Nothing certain is known of the Translator. The version contains two additional Chapters, the Sixteenth and Seventeenth, the former of which, being the story of ‘the Two Swans and the Duck,’ was found by M. de Sacy in one Arabic MS.: the latter, or the story of ‘the Dove and the Fox,’ he was unable to discover in any Arabic version.

Omitting a Syriac version doubtfully mentioned by M. de Sacy, and of which nothing certain is known, we come next to

(See p. 7 of this translation). This poet, called also Ustád Abú’l Ḥasan, was born blind, and flourished at the court of Sulṭán Naṣr bin Aḥmad, the third prince of the Sámánides, who, it is said, presented him with 80,000 dirams for his metrical version, which, however, seems not to have survived to modern times.

This was executed (see p. 8 of this translation) by command of Bahrám Sháh, thirteenth sulṭán of the Ghaznivites, who died A.D. 1151. It is filled with Arabic quotations, and difficult and obsolete words; and its reputation has been entirely lost sight of in the blaze of the more elegant version executed by Ḥusain Vá’iz. As enough has already been said of the latter, we have only further to observe that it was made about the beginning of the 15th century, and proceed to notice

This was made by the celebrated Abú’l-Faẓl, vazír of the renowned Akbar. His intention was to simplify the translation of Ḥusain Vá’iz, and render it more intelligible. He further introduced two Chapters which Ḥusain Vá’iz had retrenched. Of these the one is the Preface or Introduction of the Arabic translator, ’Abdu’lláh bin Al-Muḳaff’a; and the other is the life of Burzuyah before his journey to India to procure the Fables. Abú’l Faẓl seems to have fallen into the error common to many others, of supposing that Buzurjmihr, the Grand Vazír of Núshírwán, and not Burzuyah, was the Pahlaví translator of the book. M. de Sacy has proved, however, that this is not the case.

Mr. Colebrooke says of this version, ‘The ‘’Iyár-i Dánish’ comprises sixteen chapters, ten of which, as Abú’l Faẓl states in his preface, were taken from the Hindí original, entitled ‘Kartak and Damnak,’ and six were added by Buzurjmihr; namely, the four last, containing stories recited by the Bráhman Bídpáí in answer to the questions of King Dábishlím; and the two first, consisting of a preface by Buzurjmihr, with an introduction by Burzuyah. Both these introductory chapters had been omitted by Husain Vá’iz, as foreign to the original work: but he substituted a different beginning, and made other additions, some of which are indicated by him, and the rest are pointed out by Abú’l Faẓl; who has, nevertheless, retained them as appendages not devoid of use, and therefore admissible in a composition intended solely to convey moral instruction. The whole of the dramatic part, including all the dialogue between Dábishlím, King of India, and Bídpáí, a Bráhman of Sarándíp, as well as the finding of Húshang’s legacy, appears to have been added by the translators, although the appellations of the king and of the philosopher, are stated to be of Indian origin. For Abú’l Fazl has inserted the story at the close of the second chapter; after expressly declaring, in one place, that the substance of the work begins with the third; and in another, that the two first were added by the author of the Pahlaví translation.’

This is a close Hindústání translation of the ‘’Iyár-i Dánish,’ and was made A.D. 1803, by Maulaví Ḥafizu’d-dín, for the use of the College of Fort William, at the suggestion of Dr. Gilchrist. It is written in good plain language, and is a very useful book for students. The editor was Captain Thomas Roebuck, a scholar of extraordinary industry and ability, to whom Urdú literature is much indebted. This translation obtained the highest pecuniary reward ever bestowed at the College.

This was made in the first half of the tenth century of the Hijrah, under the reign of the Emperor Sulaimán I., by ’Alí Chalabí bin Sálih, Professor at Adrianople, in the College founded by Murád II. It is a close translation of the ‘Anvár-i Suhailí,’ but when the Persian verses are obscure, they are often suppressed, and Turkish verses substituted.

There are some other Turkish versions, and amongst them a poetical one by Jamálí.

The Hebrew version was translated into Latin by John of Capua, towards the close of the fifteenth century, and published under the title of ‘Directorium Humanæ Vitæ, alias Parabole Antiquorum Sapientum;’ and from it several Italian, Spanish, and German translations were made. An Italian imitation of the ‘Directorium,’ ascribed to Doni, was translated into English, and printed in 1570. A Greek version (perhaps that of Sethus) from the Arabic, was edited in 1697, with a Latin interpretation, by Starkius. In French, a part of the Fables appeared in 1644, under the title of ‘Le Livre des Lumières (Anvár-i Suhailí) on la Conduite des Royes;’ the translator is named David Said, of Isfahán. The work was, however, little known in Europe, till Galland, the French translator of the ‘Arabian Nights’ Entertainments,’ undertook a version of the first four chapters from the Turkish of ’Alí Chalabí. The remaining ten chapters were afterwards supplied by Cardonne, Professor of the Persian Language at the Royal College of Paris, from the same original, as appears by the title ‘Contes et Fables Indiennes de Bidpai et de Lokman, traduites d’Ali Tchelebi ben Saleh, auteur Turc.’ The English work, ‘Instructive and Entertaining Fables of Pilpay, an ancient Indian Philosopher,’ of which a fifth edition was published in 1775, is said to have been taken from another French translation, which was made from the Persian and published in 1709.

It only remains that a few words be said of the present translation.^0-18 It is perhaps the only version of the whole of Ḥusain Vá’iz’s work which pretends to exact faithfulness. The Preface and the First book are much more literal than the remaining parts, and this greater scrupulousness at the beginning is intended for the benefit of students. No difficulty has been intentionally slurred over, and though it cannot be doubted that many mistakes will be found in so long a work, it is hoped that they will be indulgently viewed; and that the labor, at least, which has been expended upon the translation, more especially upon the Verses, which amount to between five and six thousand, will be appreciated. In fact a few words of approbation are the only encouragement that either the Translator or the Publisher can look for; as, so little suited are Oriental works in general to the European palate that, to use the words of Ḥusain Vá’iz (in a somewhat different sense), they would make

EDWARD B. EASTWICK.

Haileybury, September 28th, 1854.

With reference to Note 4, page 546, on re-perusing the lines to which they refer, I see that the literal translation will be, ‘From the veritable to the imitator there are [great] differences: the former is like David and the latter is rust.’ David is said to have been an armourer, as is mentioned in the Ḳur’án; See Sale, p. 248, l. 20. The sense here given to ṣadá is unusual.

The Note at page 600 is wrongly placed, and refers to the word ‘raised,’ in line 2 of page 601.

THE Lord, the Absolutely Wise¹ [May his wisdom be glorified!] the glad tributes of whose praise and adoration flow on and circulate upon the tongues of all created beings, both high and low, according to the saying, ‘And there is nothing which does not celebrate his praise;’^1a and the benefits of the tables of whose infinite favours, in accordance with the enduring rule, ‘And He bestowed on each thing creation, and then guidance,’^1b pervade and extend through the collective parts of all creatures both in heaven and earth:

in His Word ancient and venerable, and in His Book deserving of precedence and reverence, addressed^1c the Lord—the Asylum of prophecy, the Sulṭán of the throne, ‘I have with God,’^1d the knower of mysteries, according to the words, ‘And He taught thee that thou didst not know,’^1e the lucidly eloquent, as it is said, ‘I am the most eloquent of Arabs and Persians,’^1f

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,² and the protection of those who seek the objects of advantage^2a—in the manner following: and pointed out to that Teacher of wisdom (of whom it is said, ‘One mighty in power taught him’)^2b 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.’^2c 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!^2d invite my servants to the right way discreetly, and direct my adorers with kind admonitions from the gulf^2e 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.’^2f

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^2g violence having got the mastery over their natures, have fed without prohibition or repulse in the pasture-ground, ‘Leave them that they may eat and enjoy themselves,’³ 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;

and [it is said] ‘He who has received wisdom, verily he has received a great good.’^3a

The ‘gracious exhortation’ spoken of in the enjoined invitation is declared to be a discourse^3c of such a nature that the hearer is made aware^3d 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 Ḳur’án, and the advice [contained in] the sacred book,^3e 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.’

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^3g; as he (The blessing and peace of God be upon him!), indicated in this, ‘I have received the All-comprehensive Words^3h:’ 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 best nation that hath been raised up unto mankind’⁴), 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^4a; 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.

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 mole^4b 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.^4c

And of the many treatises,^4d 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^4e 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 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,’⁵ 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.’

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:

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,^5c and in repelling and opposing the enemies of the realm, it might prove of service to rulers; and Dábishlím made this book the polestar^5d of his wishes and the pillar of his designs, and with the key of the perusal of this [volume] he always opened^5e 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 cell, and like a ruby of Badakhshán, shewed not its face from the recess of the mine save after a thousand toils;⁶ 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^6a after the odours of history and tradition to be scented with ambergris.

Till in the time of Kasra Núshírwán^6c 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,

felt the greatest eagerness and most unspeakable desire to peruse this book. The physician Burzuyah,^6d who was chief of his class in Párs,^6e at the request of Núshírwán proceeded to Hindústán, and was there during a long period; and, by a variety of artifices and devices, having secured⁷ the book, got possession of it, and, having translated the Indian words into the Pahlaví^7a dialect, which was the language at that time spoken by the Sulṭáns of Írán,^7b submitted it to Núshírwán, and, being so fortunate as to have [his gift] accepted, was honoured with [the monarch’s] approbation. [Hereupon] His Highness the Sháh’s estimation of the book ascended the ladders of perfection; and the actions of Núshírwán, as might be traced in his development of justice, and in his beneficence, and his conquest of countries, and his [method of] soothing the hearts of his subjects, were based on the perusal of the book: and, after Núshírwán, the Persian kings also honoured it, and kept it out of sight with excessive care, until the time when the second Khaliph of the ’Abbásís, Abú J’afar Manṣúr-bin-Muḥammad-bin-’Alí-bin-’Abdu’ lláh-bin ’Abbás^7c (May God approve of them!) heard news of that book, and displayed the greatest eagerness^7d to obtain it, and, by some clever devices, having got possession of the Pahlaví copy, commanded Imám Abú’l-Ḥasan ’Abdu’lláh-bin-Muḳann’a,^7e who was the chief of the learned men of that age, so that he translated the whole of it from the Pahlaví into Arabic, and he (the Khaliph) kept it continually under perusal, and based his imperial ordinances and his regulations as regards justice and clemency, on those counsels and precepts. Next, Abú’l-Ḥasan Naṣr bin Aḥmad Sámání^7f commanded one of the learned men of the age, so that he translated the work from the Arabic language into Persian, and the poet Rúdakí,^7g by direction of the Sulṭán, arranged it in order of verse; and, again, Abú’l-Muzaffar Bahrám Sháh-bin-Sulṭán Masa’úd,^7h one of the descendants of Sulṭán Maḥmúd-i Ghází of Ghazní, who is celebrated by the sage Sanáí,⁷ⁱ issued a command, so that the most eloquent of eloquent men and the most powerful of rhetoricians, Abú’l Ma’álí Naṣru’lláh-bin-Muḥammad-bin-Al-Ḥamíd (God rest his soul, and grant him increasing triumph in the mansions of Paradise!) translated it from the copy of Ibn-i Muḳann’a, and this book, which has now become celebrated by [the name of] Kalílah and Damnah, is the translation of the aforesaid learned man^7j; and, in truth, its style in elegance resembles the sweetness of life; and in freshness it is like many-hued coral; and its fascinating words are like the love-allurements of honey-lipped mistresses, whose charms provoke dissension; and its life-increasing meanings may be compared to the ringlets of tender youths, who delight the heart.

To the blackness of its letters, which may be termed the collyrium of the jewels^7l of meaning, a place might be given on the white page of the tablet of the visual organ; and to the whiteness of its paper, which may be called the dawn of the morning of joyousness, a location might be assigned on the dark pupil of the world-viewing eye.

And, although those who sit on the throne of the court of style are unanimous in praise of the magnificence of the words, and in applauding the eloquence of its compounds,

nevertheless, through the introduction of strange words and by overstraining the language with the beauties of Arabic expressions and hyperbole in metaphors and similes of various kinds, and exaggeration and prolixity in words and obscurity of expression, the mind of the hearer is kept back from enjoyment of the meaning of the book, and from apprehending the pith of the subject; and the disposition of the reader also is unable to perform the task of connecting the beginnings of the story with the terminations, and of adjusting the commencements of the discourse with the conclusions; and this circumstance will undoubtedly be a cause of disrelish and a source of ennui both to the reader and the hearer, especially in this age, so characterized by fastidiousness, in which the minds of its children have become nice to such a degree that they expect⁹ to perceive the meaning without its being decked out on the richly ornamented bridal-bed, as it were, of language; how much more when in some of the words they may require to employ a minute comparison of the dictionary, and to examine glossaries^9a with care. Hence, too, it all but came to pass that a book of such preciousness [as this is] was almost neglected and abandoned, and that the people of the world were deprived of its advantages and excluded from them. On this account, at the present time, His Highness the seal of sovereignty, whose luminously gifted nature comprehends all perfections, and whose sublimely characterized qua-lities have risen from the dawning-place of excellence and spirituality, the magnanimous Lord, who, notwithstanding his proximity to His Majesty the Sulṭán of the age and the Kháḳán^9b of the time, the spreader of the carpet of security and peace, the Diffuser of the marks of goodness and beneficence, the Sun of the zenith of the Khaláfats and empire, the Jupiter of the zodiac of dominion and principality,

(May God perpetuate his kingdom and his power!) yea, notwithstanding the being looked on with favour by the glances of that high personage, endowed as they are with the properties of the philosopher’s stone, [still] he has shaken free his magnanimous skirt from the dust of worldly pageants (‘But the present life is only a deceitful provision’)^9d and has not permitted the page of his pure heart to be inscribed with

and has kept in full view, [as a guide] to his own affairs, this saying of happy tendency—

and regards the promoting of the wishes of the oppressed and the disappointed, and the furthering of the affairs of the bereft, as the means of acquiring provision for the final state; nor has suffered himself to be stigmatized with neglecting the meaning of this excellent memento,

And he is the great Amír, the place where all excellencies and high qualities^10a centre through the sublimity of his spirit, the favoured with the gifts of the sole King, the Orderer of the state and of religion, the Amír Shekh Aḥmad, celebrated by the title Suhailí,^10b (may God bestow on him, as an especial distinction, the peace of Salmán amd the perfection of Kumail,)^10c who, without compliment, is the star Canopus, shining from the right hand of Yaman, and a sun, diffusing radiance from the dawning-place of affection and fidelity.

With a view to the universal diffusion of what is advantageous to mankind, and the multiplying what is beneficial to high and low, he condescended to favour me with an intimation of his high will that this humble individual, devoid of ability, and this insignificant person of small capital, Ḥusain-bin ’Alí-u’l-Wá’iz, known by the name of Káshifí (May God most High strengthen him with His hidden favours),^10d should be bold enough to clothe the said book in a new dress, and bestow fresh adornment on the beauty of its tales of esoteric meaning, which were veiled and concealed by the curtain of obscure words and the wimple of difficult expressions, by presenting them on the stages of lucid style and the upper chambers of becoming metaphors, after a fashion that the eye of every examiner, without a glance of penetration or penetration of vision, may enjoy a share of the loveliness of those beauties of the ornamented bridal-chamber of narrative, and the heart of every wise person, without the trouble of imagining or the imagining trouble,¹¹ may obtain the fruition of union with those delicately reared ones of the closet of the mind.

And as there was no evading obedience to that peerless mandate, and the maxim ‘Wisdom is from Yaman,’ shewed itself from the dawning-place of the light of Canopus,

After prayer for the blessing of God, and asking leave, I entered on this undertaking; and, whatever has flowed from the tongue^11b of my pen and the pen of my tongue from the invisible world,—that has been written down: and [the reader] must know that the basis of the book Kalílah and Damnah is on practical wisdom,^11c and by practical wisdom is meant knowledge of the actions of the will and the practices natural to the human race, in a manner that may be conducive to the ordering of the affairs of the world to which we must return, and the present world of men, and may tend to arriving at perfection in those things at which men aim. And this kind of wisdom is first of all divided into two kinds, the one, that which may be referred to each person individually; the second, that which relates to a body of men viewed in association. The former of these, which is referable to each person individually, and in which the society of another is not supposable, they call ‘refinement of morals;’ and the other, which has reference to a collective body, admits of a second two-fold division,—the one, partnership in abode and habitation, which they call domestic economy; and the other community in city and country, and, moreover, in clime and realm, which is named civic economy; and the said book comprehends the three kinds that have just been mentioned, and various advantages connected with the latter sorts, and that which has reference to ‘refinement of morals,’ is not treated of, save incidentally. Wherefore, although the means existed of adducing somewhat as to the excellencies of morals, we were loth to allow of a complete change in the arrangement of the book, and hence avoiding the hindrance of an increase to its chapters, we adhered to the same plan that had been adopted by the sage of Hind, and having dropped the first two chapters, in which no extraordinary advantage was discoverable, and which did not enter into the original design of the book, we wrote the other fourteen in a clear and easy style, and included in the composition the tales in the way of dialogue between the King and the Bráhman, after the manner mentioned in the beginning: and before introducing the opening chapters, we thought it necessary to commence with a story, which may serve as a source of the narrative; and further, since the style adopted in the said book is to employ as a medium obscurity of expression, so, if in the composition of the said work the reins of narration have turned from the usual road in which authors write, and from the mode of composition of ordinary writers to the path of descent, the excuse will be plain.

It is further to be noted that in the midst of the tales I have but briefly availed myself of the various sorts of Arabic expressions, by introducing certain verses from the Ḳur’án and sayings of the Prophet necessary to be mentioned, and traditions and well-known proverbs; and have not clogged the work by employing Arabic verses, but have adorned the page of the narrative with the jewels of Persian poetry, which is inlaid like blended gems and gold.

Moreover, in the place where the different chapters are written, wherever the introduction of a story or the recital of a maxim seemed pertinent, in accord-ance with the observation,

I shall proceed with the steps of boldness on the road of self-discretion, and this poor person, though he sees that in attempting this work he is a mark for the shafts of censure, nevertheless submits with¹³ the tongue of humility in the audience-hall of apology, and on the standing-ground of respectful representation, to the orators arrayed with eloquence, and the eloquent invested with^13a oratory, this apophthegm, ‘He that is commanded is excused’; and in reply to the threatening sentence, ‘Whoever composes, makes himself a butt,’ he offers this rejoinder deserving of acceptance, ‘He who composes produces something new.’^13b

May God graciously guide us to that which He loves, and be pleased with and seal up our states and our hopes and our fates happily and fairly; and this book, which is entitled the ‘Anvár-i Suhailí,’ has fourteen chapters after the manner that is herewith particularly detailed:

After the list of the chapters the story commences, which will form the source of the narrative: and success is from the One God.

THE jewellers of the street of the bázár of meanings, and the money-changers of the mint of eloquence, and the portrait-painters of the marvels of narration, and the statuaries of the wonders of romance, have adorned the frontispiece of the volumes of history after this manner; and have decked and embellished the title-page of the scrolls of nocturnal conversations in this wise: to wit, that—In former times, in the remote limits of the empire of China, there was a king, the fame of whose wealth and successful fortune had passed through all quarters and directions of the world, and the tale of whose magnificence and regal dignity was manifest like the sun at noonday. Celebrated princes had drawn the ring of obedience to him through the ear of their soul, and kings of exalted rank had for him put on the shoulders of their hearts the saddle-cloth of allegiance,¹⁵

On the border of the carpet of his daily-increasing fortune, world-subduing nobles and right-counselling Vazírs always belted on the cincture of obedience to the waist of their soul: and at the foot of his throne, stable as the firmament, venerable sages and men wise in counsel, sate ever in the chair of loyalty. His treasury was stored with jewels of various kinds, and coins of divers sorts; and his army, numerous and renowed, exceeded the limits of calculation and reckoning. His valour was combined with generosity, and his dominion was joined with due repression of crime.

And they called that king Humáyún Fál,¹⁶ since by his comprehensive justice the state of his subjects was fortunate, and by his perfeet benignity, the condition of the indigent and poor was linked and conjunct with freedom from care and with tranquillity. If the officer of justice does not exert himself in controuling the condition of the subject, the thief of wickedness with the aid of oppression will bring ruin on the fortunes of high and low; and if the ray of the candle of equity does not illumine the dark hovel of the distressed, the shades of oppression will cast a gloom, like the heart of the tyrannical, over all regions and quarters of the state,

And this King had a Vazír, a cherisher of his subjects and a diffuser of mercies, whose world-adorning intellect was wont to be the light of the dormitory of the state; and whose right-aiming purpose would, by a single deliberation, solve a thousand difficult knots. The weighty anchor of his benignity secured the ship of the ocean of sedition in that troublous whirlpool; and the rough blast of his chastisement tore up, root and branch, the skirt-detaining boughs of the thorn-thickets of injustice.

And forasmuch as the affairs of the empire derived perfect lustre from his auspicious counsels, they call him Khujistah Ráí;^16a and Humáyún Fál embarked in no undertaking without his advice, nor commenced any matter, small or great, without consulting him, nor belted the waist of war in the plain of battle without his permission, nor took his seat on the throne of mirth and enjoyment in the palace of festivity without a signal from him: and assuredly it behoves illustrious monarchs and fortunate princes, according to the injunction, ‘And consult them in your business,’^16b not to enter upon state deliberations without the aid of the counsels of sagacious and eminent men; and to direct the administration of their affairs and their mandates, according to the advice of consummate ministers and intelligent counsellors; so that, according to the purport [of the saying] ‘A people consults not without God’s guiding them to the most perfect matter,’ whatever proceeds from them is consistent with what is most advisable, and comprehends the security of the world and the welfare of the children of Adam.

It happened that one day Humáyún Fál went forth to the chase. Khujistah Ráí, like fortune, waited on the stirrup of Humáyún, and¹⁷ the spacious extent of the hunting-ground was a cause of envy to the sky above, on account of the auspicious footsteps of the King; and the celestial eagle, in the expectation of becoming the prey of the royal falcon, turned towards the centre of the earth. The hunting animals, having broken their bonds and having sprung forth from their fetters and confinement, put themselves in motion in pursuit of game. The hunting pard, covered with its leopard skin, became eyes all over its body, to gaze the better on the beauty of the dark-eyed antelopes;^17a and the dog, with its lion-like claws, in the desire of capturing the hare, learned a thousand kinds of vulpine artifices. The high-soaring hawk, like a far-flying arrow from the thumb-stall of the archer, set his face towards the zenith: and the food-providing^17b falcon with the wound of its blood-spilling talons, tore out the arteries from the throat of the quarry.

And when the King had finished the sport of the chase, and had emptied the desert of beasts and the air of birds, his retinue obtained leave to depart, and the King and his Vazír bent their steps towards the capital; but during that time their caftans^17c of steel were rendered soft as wax by the heat of the sun; and from the warmth of the horse-armour, which boasted an equality with a flame of fire, the swift-paced courser was burnt up on the spot,

Humáyún Fál, said to Khujistah Ráí, ‘In such a heated atmosphere it is not wise to bestir ourselves, nor is it possible to escape the heat by taking shelter in the shade of a pavilion. From the ardent warmth, the terrestrial globe is heated like a smith’s forge; and the earth’s centre, like the expanse of æther, has become a quarry of fire. How dost thou advise—that for a time we should rest in the shade, and when the ’Anḳá¹⁸ of the sun inclines to its nest in the west, we too may alight at our victorious abode?’ Khujistah Ráí unloosed the tongue of praise and said,

To thy subjects, who take refuge under the shadow of the phœnix, as under a king’s banner, there is no apprehension from the flame of the sun’s world-consuming torch,

Nevertheless, it appears to be essentially beneficial that the sublimely-gifted person of the King, the shadow of God, in the shade of whose fortune the people are at rest, should take refuge from the heat of the atmosphere, whence results a variety of annoyances and aches;

And I behold in the vicinity a mountain lofty as the magnanimity of the brave, and exalted as the rank of the pious. A short time ago, I went there: from head to foot it was clothed in a green mantle, and a thousand fountains of sweet water bubbled up from its pure breast. Its odoriferous herbs and flowers shone like the stars of heaven, and its fountain-like rivulets glittered like the brooks of the garden of Paradise. The advisable course is this, that the reins of intention should be turned in that direction, that for a short time we may be gladdened like verdure beneath the willow-shade; and for a moment may be refreshed and contented like the jasmine at the water’s edge, and at the boundary of the parterre,

Humáyún Fál, agreeably to the advice of Khujistah Ráí, turned his face in that direction and in a short time, having passed over the distance, made with the dust of the hoof of his cream-coloured steed, magnificent as that of Rustam,¹⁹ the skirt of the mountain, like the sleeve of those possessed of prosperous fortune, a kissing-place for the happy. He beheld a mountain which raised its lofty summit beyond the highest part of the sky and which brought the top of its green sword^19a near the gilded shield of the sun, or rather it was like a Shekh, who, according to the description, ‘And [we made] the mountains as stakes’^19b has brought the foot of constancy under the robe of dignity, while from his eyes the stream of tears flowing on has reached his skirt. The king having ascended the mountain,^19c and having girt his clothes around his waist as a cloud [girdles a hill], made a circuit round it on every side. On a sudden, an expanse appeared, in extent like the plain of hope; and a space was presented to his eyes, like the expansion of anticipation in excessive amplitude. In its verdure it resembled the flower-garden of heaven, and in its waters and air it equaled the verdant meads of Paradise; and in its area, the violet sprang up in vicinity to the rose, like the captivating tresses of the beautiful, and young hyacinths, with self-springing tulips, grew up delightful like the civet-diffusing ringlets of the sugar-lipped fair. The willow of Tabaristán was arrayed in its vermilion satin vest,^19d and the straight cypress had robed itself with its silken pistachio-coloured head-dress. The tongue of the perfume-loaded zephyr disclosed to the four quarters of the world the secrets of the sweet plants of the garden, and, from the discourse of the Nightingale, the story of the Rose’s hue and fragrance reached the ears of the dwellers in the Mansions on High.

And in the midst of that verdant plain was a lake, whose water, like that of life, strengthened the soul, and was like Salsabíl in Paradise, of exquisite delicacy and purity.

The Vazír commanded that they should adorn the margin of the lake with a throne for the king; and Humáyún Fál seated himself on the cushion of ease. The attendants of his auspicious retinue disposed themselves to rest under the shade of trees on the bank of a rivulet, and regarding their Eden-like halting-place, after that fiery atmosphere, as a rare blessing, repeated with the tongue of ecstasy this couplet,

The King and the Vazír dismounted from their horses and elephants in a corner of the plain, and without playing [chess] through check to the queen on their vain imaginations, averted the countenance of their lofty spirits from the worthless trifles of this world, and bending their meditations on the wonders of God’s creation, and the marvels of His infinite productions, performed the recital of the praise of that King Most High, the artist of whose fixed decree, with the pen of omnipotence, has engraven such beautiful pictures on the surface of the mountain’s stony tablet; and the magic of whose power brings forth from the heart of the rock all these variegated plants. At one time they repeated a couplet from the Gulistán,^20b

At another they contemplated this picture from the Nigáristán,^20c

Now from the linked writing, which the omnipotent pen has inscribed on the page of the waters, they read these words, ‘And we cause springs to gush forth in the same;’²¹ and from the green tablet of the grass, which was coloured by the pen of Creative power, they perused the verse, ‘And we make therein gardens.’^21a Meanwhile, the sight of Humáyún Fál fell on a tree, stripped of its clothing from the shedding of its leaves, as one which had experienced [the effects of] autumn, and which from age was without vegetation or growth, like helpless old men. The hatchet of the peasant, Time, had continued to cut off and mutilate its limbs, and the saw of the carpenter, Fortune, had sharpened its greedy teeth in making shreds of its weft and warp.^21b

The centre of the tree, like the heart of careless darveshes, had become hollow, and a swarm of bees had taken refuge in that fortress, to store up provision for their support. When the King heard the buzzing of the bees, he inquired of his sage Vazír, ‘What is the cause of the assembly of these light-winged insects^21c in this tree, and at whose command do these busy creatures resort to the heights and slopes of this meadow?

Khujistah Ráí spake as follows, ‘O fortunate Prince! they are a tribe doing much good and but little injury; and by reason of the cleanliness and neatness which is inherent in their natures, they have received the honour of God’s inspiration, as set forth by the admirable saying, ‘Thy Lord spake by inspiration unto the bee;’^21d and have bound the belt of obedience round the waist of their soul by the communication of the favour of the royal command, ‘Provide thee houses in the mountains.’²² They have a king, Y’asúb,^22a in bulk larger than they; and their nation have placed their heads on the line of obedience to his majesty and dignity, and he is seated on the square throne of wax which has been prepared for him, and has appointed to their several offices his vazír and chamberlain, and porter and guard, and spy and deputy. The ingenuity of his attendants is such, that each one prepares hexagonal chambers of wax, of such a fashion that there is no inequality in their partitions, and the most perfect geometricians would be unable to compass the like without compasses and a rule and other instruments. And when the house approaches completion, by the king’s command, they come forth from that abode, and a noble bee, in the language they possess, acquaints^22b them with the condition of office; that they are not to exchange their cleanliness for grossness,^22c nor to pollute the train of their purity with the contamination of uncleanness. In fulfilment of their promise, they sit not but on the branch of the fragrant rose and the pure blossom, in order that what they eat from those delicate leaves may, in a short time, become concreted in their inside into the form of a fresh and sweet-tasted viscous humour, and a juice may be extracted from it such that the description, ‘Wherein is a medicine for men,’^22d may rightly apply to its quality; and when they return home, the warders try them by smelling whether they have kept to their troth, that is, whether they have avoided that which does not possess the requisite purity; after which, permission is given them to re-enter their hexagonal chambers and constructed apartments; and if (which God forbid!) they have transgressed the purport of this couplet,

and there be found on them an odour which may be a cause of disgust and loathing, they immediately sever them in two; and if the warders, inclining to negligence, give them a passage, and the king should scent the unsavoury odour, he, having inquired into the state of the case, will conduct the unlucky bee to the place of punishment, and first give orders for the execution of the warders, and after that, put to death the disrespectful bee, that no other of their race should commit a similar ill-action: and in case that a stranger from another hive should wish to enter their dwelling, the warders forbid him, and should he not desist, they slay him: and it is recorded that Jamshíd, Emperor of the world, borrowed from them the regulations respecting warders and guards, and the appointment of chamberlains and doorkeepers, and the arrangement of thrones and regal cushions; and in course of time these customs were perfected.’

When Humáyún Fál heard these words, his noble mind felt an inclination to examine their institutions. He arose and went to the foot of the tree, and for a time amused himself with watching their court and palace, and their manner of coming and going, and the rules of their waiting and attendance. He beheld a multitude with their waists girded in obedience to the divine command, and like Sulaimán seated in the air,²³ having selected a pure diet and a clean dwelling, none of them interfering^23a with the other, and none of them suffering molestation or annoyance at the hands of his own species.

He said, ‘O Khujistah Ráí! wondrous is it that in spite of the taint of fierceness which is implanted in their nature, they are not intent upon injuring one another; and that although they possess a sting, they furnish nought but delicious honey; and notwithstanding the awe which attends their forms, they show nought but gentleness and softness. And among men we behold the reverse of this, a number of whom oppress their fellows, and aim at overthrowing the existence of those who resemble themselves.

The Vazír said ‘These animals that you see are created with one sole disposition, and men are made of different temperaments; and inasmuch as in their composition, soul and body, and gross and fine, and light and darkness have been blent together; and the coin of material and angelic nature, and sublime and low feelings have been poured into their mould; a difference of temper and a peculiar bent is produced. According to the saying, ‘And assuredly all men knew their respective drinking-place,’^23b a share in angelic intelligence has been given to them,²⁴ and moreover, a portion of Satanic temper sent down upon them, so that every one should place the hand of compliance on the skirt of reason, and by the step of exaltation should be promoted to the rank of, ‘And now have we honoured the children of Adam.’^24a And all who place the head of obedience on the writing of the mandate of their sensual feelings, from excess of debasement^24b will remain on the descending grade of ‘Nay! they are most in error as to the way,’ and it has well been said.

Aud the majority of mankind, by reason of their following the sensual inclinations which seek to enslave them, manifest censurable qualities, as greediness and avarice, and envy and rancour, and cruelty and pride, and hypocrisy and conceit, and slander and calumny, and false accusation and such like.

The King said, ‘According to thy statement, and the manner in which thou hast detailed the condition of the sensual, the most salutary course for mankind is that each should draw the foot of retirement under the robe of freedom from the world, and having closed on himself the gate of the society of others, should employ himself in self-purification; that salvation should arise from the cruel whirlpool of error, which is the source of blameable qualities.

I have heard that ease is to be found in solitude, and liberty in retirement, and I have been convinced to-day that the society of the majority of persons is more hurtful than the poison of the viper, and association with them more full of difficulties than the peril of yielding up one’s life; and with reference to the circumstance that many sages have passed long intervals in the corner of a cave, or the bottom of a pit, their views were directed to this,

Moreover, perfect pure-hearted darveshes voluntarily subject themselves to solitude, and devote themselves to the concerns of others,

Khujistah Ráí said, ‘What has passed from the divinely-inspired tongue of his majesty the King, the asylum of the world, is the essence of truth and the perfection of right reasoning, since society is the cause of disquiet to the mind, and retirement the source of inward and outward contentment; according as they have said,

Nevertheless, several of the great leaders of the Faith, and chiefs of the true belief, have preferred, on the ground of advantage, the state of companionship and association to that of solitude; and have said the society of a good companion is better than the being alone, but that when an amiable friend is not to be had, solitude is better than society.

And in fact, society is the means of obtaining excellencies and advantages, and the bond of union between the great and the eminent.

And from the purport of the tradition, ‘There is no monachism in Islám,’^25a it is understood that the advantages of society are superior to the utilities of solitude; and how can it be possible for man to set up for retirement, and not engage in soeiety with those of his species, since the power of the triumphant omnipotence of God has imposed on mankind the obstacle of mutual necessity, and made them mutually necessary to each other, by reason of which they have become social in disposition; that is to say, requiring to congregate, which is called civic life: and the meaning of this word, civic life, is the giving friendly aid and assistance to those of the same race reciprocally, because neither the life of an individual nor the existence of the human species is possible, save by aiding one another: as if, for example, an individual should have to arrange for his food and raiment and abode, he must first possess himself of the tools of a carpenter and smith, since without these preparations, instruments for the culture of the fields and for harvest, and whatever is dependent thereon, cannot be procured; and during this interval life could not be supported, and after preparing these tools if he should spend all his time in one avocation, he would be unable to engage in and perform others, how much less could he succeed when he would have to occupy himself with the whole circle of employments. Hence the necessity for a body of persons mutually aiding one another, and for appointing each over a distinct business²⁶ to the extent that may be sufficient for his support; and further to give whatever may be beyond this to another, and that in proportion to their own work they should make exchanges so as to remunerate themselves, so that all transactions may be reduced to order by reason of this assembling; and from these premises it is seen that men stand in need of one another’s assistance, and assistance without assembling together is impossible, wherefore for the body of mankind to abide in solitude, belongs to the class of impossibilities, and in fact the proverb, ‘Assembling with others is a gift from God,’ refers to this.

The King said, ‘What the Vazír has spoken is the essence of wisdom, and the choicest philosophy, but it occurs to me that consequent upon the necessity of mankind for assembling together, the diversity of their temperaments will assuredly lead to disputes; because some will be stronger than others, inasmuch as their bulk and strength will be greater; and a few others will be superior to the rest in wealth and rank, and greediness and appetite will prevail over others. In those who excel the rest in strength and wealth, the desire of conquest and tyranny will spring up, and undoubtedly it will sway them to such an extent, that they will draw most men into the bonds of obedience to them, and the greedy man will feel the lust of getting into his grasp other men’s gains; and these matters will lead to dissension and will finally result in mischief.

The Vazír said, ‘O king of kings, Asylum of wisdom! a plan has been ascertained for the removal of the dissension, which causing every one to be content with his own rightful share, retrenches the hand of his aggression from grasping the rights of others; and this plan they call ‘coercion,’ and the pivot of this is the rule of justice, the meaning of which is, the due regard of the mean, that is, the centre of the circle of excellence, which in accordance with the saying, ‘The best things are means,’ comprehends the fact that extremes are worthless, as has been said,

The king said, ‘Whence can one know those means through the recognition of which the face of affairs assumes the appearance of a just equality?’ The Vazír said, ‘He who causes these things to appear is a perfect and completely excellent person, aided by God, who was sent by the divine Majesty to men, and sages call him Námús-i Akbar^27b and the wise in the faith term him ‘messenger and prophet,’ and assuredly his commands and prohibitions will be in unison with what is advisable for men in this world and that to which we return; and when that prophet (May the blessing and peace of God be upon him!) who is the Giver of the canons of law, bends his steps towards the other world, there is no alternative but to employ the coercion^27c of the ruler for preserving obedience to the laws of religion fixed by him. Since the majority of mankind are neglectful of their own interests, and the rule^27d of inclination and sense has the mastery over them, wherefore of necessity the existence of a powerful ruler is imperative, in order that—preserving the regulations of command and prohibition of the prophet, by which is meant law—he may cause the politico-economic regulations to be preserved, so that as well the most excellent sect may be exalted with the diadem of fortune, and also the robe of the state may be adorned with the embroidery of the exaltation of religion, for State and Church are twins,

And to the same effect they have said,

Humáyún Fál said, ‘What ought to be the condition of this powerful ruler, the existence of whom among the people after the Prophet (The blessing and peace of God be with him!)²⁸ is requisite, and what ought to be his qualities in governing the affairs of the State and of the Faith?’ Khujistah Ráí said, ‘This ruler should be wise in the rules of judicial coercion and in the niceties of equity, for if he be not such, the State is on the road to decay, and its fortunes on the eve of departure,

And next it is necessary for him to understand the management of the Pillars of the State, and what body ought to be strengthened, and whom he ought to select to sit in counsel with, and what class he ought to bring down, and whose converse he ought to shun; since of the attendants of the imperial court there are but a few who specially bind the girdle of fidelity to the king around the waist of sincere attachment, and who exert themselves for the earthly renown and heavenly recompense of the monarch: nay the generality of them choose the path of service with a view to obtain their own advantage, or to repel disagreeables from themselves.

And since their principal business is based on covetousness, it is probable that they will entertain malice against a person whose favours they cannot requite, and that they will be envious of that other class, who may derive advantages from attending on the king superior to their own allowances; and when rancour and envy have arisen in them, they will set on foot a variety of stratagems and state things which have not really occurred: and if the king be destitute of the covering of vigilance, and should listen to the discourse of interested persons with the hearing of acceptance, and should not condescend to inquire into and investigate the circumstances, a variety of injuries and mischiefs will arise therefrom, and divers evils will result.

But when a vigilant and prudent monarch undertakes investigation of affairs, and himself inquires into all matters collective and particular, he discriminates the brightness of truth from the shadows of falsehood, and both in this world the foundations of his empire remain free from disturbance, and in the world to come he attains the happiness of salvation and the exaltation of Paradise.

And every wise king who, basing his acts on wisdom, makes the advice of sages his rule of conduct, his state will be prosperous and his people happy and joyful, like the great king of Hind, Dábishlím, who based the foundation of his empire on the rules delivered to him by the Bráhman Bídpáí, and having diligently inquired of him what would be advantageous for kings, in consequence reigned for a long time successfully: and after he migrated from this fleeting habitation to the pavilion of eternity, his good name and glorious tradition continues to this day on the page of time.

When Humáyún Fál heard mention of Dábishlím and Bídpáí, he became smiling and glad in the garden of joyousness, and on the plain of cheerfulness, like a fresh bud which in the morning-time unfolds its tender lip smilingly at the movement of the morning zephyr, and he said, ‘O Khujistah Ráí! now for a long time the desire to hear the story of this King and Bráhman has been fixed in my inmost heart, and the idea of their discourses and interviews has occupied a place in the cabinet of my mind.

Yet however much I have discharged the duties of search, and inquired of every one as to their narrative, I have obtained no portion²⁹ of this story nor has a letter of the record of their histories become known to me.

And I had always opened the ear of attention, considering from whose tongue their names would be heard by me, and ever kept the eye of expectancy on the high road of anticipation, pondering on the place whence the beauty of this matter would appear.

And now that I have learned that the Vazír is informed of their history I pay due thanks to God and say,

I hope that with all possible speed thou wilt favour me with the words of the King and the Bráhman, since in telling this history, to thee results the advantage of discharging the obligation due for my bounties, and to me by reason of hearing these admonitions a variety of advantages will be gained for my subjects; and a narration—by the means of the recital of which, a debt of gratitude is discharged, and by the blessing of the hearing of which, advantage accrues to a whole people, high and low,—must be exceedingly auspicious.

The clear-minded and wise-counselling Vazír unloosed the tongue of explanation, and in the delivery of his discourse fully discharged all that was due to eloquence, and said,—

I have heard from the sugar-ravishing parrots of eloquence, and the melli-fluous nightingales of the flower-garden of genius, that in one of the chief cities of Hind, which is the mole on the face of the empire, there was a king of wakeful fortune and prosperous days, and a monarch^30a world-adorning, subject-cherishing, tyrant-consuming. The royal throne derived lustre from his illimitable justice, and the imperial tribunal gained ornament from the beauty of his commands and prohibitions. The stain of oppression and injustice was erased from earth’s page, and the countenance of justice was shewn to all worlds in the mirror of his beneficence.

And they called this monarch King Dábishlím, and the meaning of this word in their language is, ‘Great King.’ From the excess of his greatness, he cast not the loop of the noose of his lofty spirit save on the niched battlement of the citadel of heaven; and by reason of his independence,³¹ he looked not save on the sublimest actions and the most exalted matters. Ten thousand^31a furious elephants were among his forces, and the number of his soldiers, skilled and valiant in war, would not enter into the area of computation. He possessed full treasuries and flourishing dominions.

And notwithstanding all this magnificence, he was wont to weigh the affairs of his subjects, and to investigate himself every dispute between those who sought justice.

When he had strengthened his own dominion by a strict administration of justice, and had cleared the extent of his empire from aspirants, he was wont, with untroubled mind, to adorn the banquet of pleasure, and to gather the wish of his heart from fortune in its various degrees of happiness; and in his assembly councillors clothed in wisdom, and sages robed in excellence, were wont to be present, and adorned the assembly by elegant expressions and praise of noble qualities. One day he had taken his seat on the cushion of pleasure, and had set forth a royal banquet.

After the gratification of listening to the strains of mellifluously chaunting minstrels, he shewed an inclination to hear a tale of wisdom improving the intellect; and after the spectacle of the cheeks of moon-faced Venus-fronted beauties, he evinced a desire for gazing on the bridal-display of words of beneficial tendency; and having made inquiries of philosophers and counsellors of excellent qualities and admirable endowments, he bestowed on the ear of his sense, the adornment of the jewels of their discourses, which resembled royal pearls.

Then each one of them celebrated some glorious quality and some laudable attribute, until the steed of discourse reached in its career the plain of generosity and beneficence. All the sages were unanimous as to this, that generosity is the most noble of qualities, and the most perfect of attributes, and therefore they have related it as a tradition from the First Teacher,³² that the best quality of those which are ascribed to God Most High, is beneficence, because His beneficence permeates through all creatures, and His bounty reaches all created things, and the Lord of the great Prophecy (May the blessings of God be upon him!) said that generosity is a plant which springs up in Paradise, and which grows on the borders of the stream Kausar;^32a for, Generosity is a tree in Paradise.^32b

After the king had understood this question, his natural spirit of generosity bestirred itself, and he commanded so that they opened the door of a vast treasure, and proclaimed a distribution to high and low; and they made both strangers and citizens content with a full portion, and by general largesse raised both high and low to an independence of fortune above their brethren.

All the day, like the radiant sun, he was employed in showering down gold, and like fresh fortune, in gratifying the desires of others, until the time when the golden-pinioned Símurgh^32d of the sun turned to its nest in the west, and the black-visaged raven of the night,^32e spread the wings of darkness over the regions of the world.

The king placed the head of leisure on the pillow of repose, and the hands of sleep overspread the vestibule of the area of the brain. Then the limner of fancy depicted to him a serene-visaged old man, on whose countenance the traces of wise counsel were visible, and on whose front the marks of superhuman power were discernible, who advanced and saluted the king, and said: ‘To-day thou hast expended a treasure in the way of God, and hast offered up a vast sum to obtain the favour of the divine Majesty. In the morning, place the foot of intention in the stirrup of success, and betake thyself towards the east of the capital; for a treasure worthy of kings, and a supply of money gratuitously given, is delivered to thee; and by the finding of such a stone thou wilt place the foot of glorious superiority above the stars,³³ and wilt raise the head of haughtiness beyond the pinnacle^33a of the highest heavens.’ When the king heard these good tidings, he awoke from sleep; and gladdened by the thought of the treasure, and the joyful intelligence of the sage old man, performed the duties of ablution, and stood up to fulfil the prescribed devotions of his faith, until the time when the treasurer of omnipotent power opened the door of the horizon, and the gold-sprinkling hand of the sun drew under the garment of its rays the jewels of the stars from the cabinet of the sky.

The king commanded so that they adorned a swift wind-paced courser with a saddle of gold and a gem-studded bridle, and having mounted with fortunate omens and auspicious destiny, he turned his face towards the east.

And when he had passed beyond the limits of habitation into the expanse of the desert, he cast his glance on every side, and sought traces of his object. In the midst of this his eyes fell on a mountain, lofty as the magnanimity of the beneficent lords of piety, and fixed as the fortunes of equitable kings. At the foot of the mountain a dark cavern appeared, and a man of serene heart was seated at its door, liberated, like the Companion in the cave,^33c from the trouble of rivals.

When the sight of the king fell on that holy sage, his heart became inclined to his society, and his desire bent towards his company. The old man having read the wish of the king from the illuminated page of his mind, unloosed the tongue of humble address,

O king! although the sorrowful³⁴ hovel of the wretched, in comparison with the gilded palace, may appear contemptible, and the store of the cell of the distressed in juxta-position to the gem-adorned dwelling of the great, is of no account; nevertheless,

for kings to survey with a look of pity the condition of faḳírs, and to honour hermits with their address and visits, and to regard this as the complement of the perfection of good manners and of high qualities.

Dábishlím conducted the speech of the Darvesh to the place of acceptance, and dismounted from his steed: and having with his auspicious words opened an acquaintance with him,^34a asked the aid of his spirit.

And after the king showed an intention to depart, the Darvesh unloosed the tongue of apology.

Nevertheless, in simple unstudied guise^34b I would offer to the king a thing of worth which I possess, and which descended to me as a patrimony, and that is the account of a treasure, the purport of which is, that in a corner of this cave is a vast treasure, wherein are coins and jewels of inestimable value; and I, since I have obtained possession of the treasure of contentment—for ‘Contentment is a treasure without decay’^34c—busied not myself in searching for any other, and for my interest in this life also made it my capital; since in the bázár of reliance on God, there is no coin more current than it.

I hope that the Khusrau,³⁵ conqueror of kingdoms, will cast the glance of attention upon it, and command his servants to engage in search for it; and having caused it to be conveyed to the public treasury, expend it fittingly;—It is not far off.’ Dábishlím, on hearing this speech, communicated to the Darvesh the incident of the night, and informed the Companion of the cave of the circumstances of this adventure. The Darvesh said, ‘Although this trifle is insignificant with reference to the lofty spirit of the king, still, since it has been consigned to you from the invisible world, you must bestow on it the honour of acceptance.

The king commanded, so that all engaged in excavating the cave in every part and in all directions; and in a short space of time, having recovered the clue to the treasure, they brought the heaps into the presence of Humáyún.

The king commanded, so that they removed the locks from the chests and caskets, and he gazed upon precious gems and wondrous rarities. In the midst of all, he saw a box adorned with jewels and with bands tightly fastened round it on all sides and in all directions, and locked with a padlock of Turkish workmanship, made of steel inlaid with gold. The firmness of that lock was such, that the tooth of no key could unloose its wards, nor the skill of any solver of difficulties find the way to the solution of its knot. However much they searched, no trace of its key nor hint of the means of opening it appeared. The king felt an intense wish to open that lock, and an unbounded curiosity to examine its contents. He said to himself, ‘It would seem that they have deposited in this box a rarity more precious than gems of price; otherwise, what can be the cause of all this careful security?’ He then gave orders, so that skilful nimble-handed smiths prepared to break open the lock; and when the lid of the chest had been opened, a casket was taken out of it studded with gems like the zodiac, and within that casket was deposited a small box, like the orb of the moon in exceeding brightness. The king commanded, so that they brought the small box before him. He opened its lid with his royal hand, and beheld a piece of white silk, on which were written some words in the Syriac character. He marvelled as to what this might be: some said it was the name of the owner of the treasure, and others argued that it might be a talisman which had been written for the security of the treasure; and as the words of the Pillars of the State on the subject waxed long, Dábishlím said that until this should be read, the doubt would not be removed, and that as no one of those present was acquainted with the rules of the character, they should hasten in search of some one by whom the object might be effected. At last they heard of a sage who had perfect skill in decyphering and writing strange characters, and by the imperial command they in a short time brought him to the foot of the sublime throne. Dábishlím after shewing him due respect, said, ‘O sage! the cause of troubling you is this, that you should explain in clear language the purport of this writing, and unfold truly and exactly, the circumstances of these lines.

The sage took the writing, and brought the words letter by letter under the survey of inquiry. After a long reflection, he said, ‘This writing contains a variety of beneficial things, and this, and no other, is, in very truth, the written treasure. The purport is, in brief, that—‘I, King Húshang,³⁶ have deposited treasure for a great king and a mighty monarch, whom they call Dábishlím, and by means of divine revelation I have learned that this treasure will fall to his lot; and I have placed this testament amongst the gold and jewels, in order that when he removes this treasure and reads this will, he may be on his guard, since to be infatuated with gold and silver is not the part of wise men, because these are but borrowed stuff which every day may be handled by a new person and will prove faithful to none.

But this testament is a manual of practice, which cannot be put aside by kings; wherefore that prudent monarch will find fortune his friend, who acts in accordance with these precepts, believing that every prince that exists, who does not choose to rely on these fourteen rules that I set forth, will find the foundation of his fortunes disturbed, and the basis of his empire insecure.

The first precept is, that with reference to any one of his attendants to whom the king may give exaltation in his immediate presence, he should not honour with acceptance the words of another, with a view to his overthrowal; for whoever is admitted to intimacy with a king, a number of persons will assuredly feel envy of him, and when they see the foundations of the king’s favour firm with respect to him, by clever stratagems they will strive to ruin and subvert him, and pretending loyalty and good advice, will speak cunning and deceitful words, until the king’s mind may become changed towards him, and in this state of affairs their desire may be accomplished.

Precept the second, to wit:—Let the prince not admit the sycophant and calumniator into his assembly, for they are mischievous and contentious and their end is very disastrous; moreover, when the king observes this quality in any one, let him, with all speed, quench the fire of his calumny with the scymitar of punishment, that the smoke of it may not darken the world’s surface.

Precept the third, to wit:—He should observe to all his nobles and Pillars of his state, the way of cordiality and kindness; for all affairs are set in movement by the alliance of unanimous friends, and by the aid of comrades of one accord.

Precept the fourth, to wit:—Through the kind bearing of an enemy and his flattery, let him not be elated; and although he fawn and humble himself, let him not turn from caution to confidence, since true friendship will in no wise spring from an enemy.

Precept the fifth, to wit:—When the jewel of his wish has come into his grasp, let him not incline to sloth in preserving it, nor ruin it by neglect, since another expedient may be impracticable, and however much he may repent, regret will be unavailing.

Precept the sixth, to wit:—Let him not shew levity and precipitation in business, but let him affect circumspection and deliberation; for the harm of too much haste is great, and the advantage of patience and steadiness is immense.

Precept the seventh, to wit:—Let him on no account suffer the reins of deliberation to slip from his hand. If a body of enemies attack him in confederation, and he sees an advantage in this, viz., in endeavouring to win over one of them, supposing that escape from the rest is likely to ensue from such a course, let him at once take steps to effect this object, and in accordance with ‘War is wile,’ let him hew down the basis of their intrigues with the axe of stratagem, since the wise have said,

Precept the eighth, to wit:—Let him beware of the rancorous and envious, and not be deceived by their flattering words; since when the plant of envy has been rooted in the ground of the breast, no fruit from it can be expected but mischief and injury.

Precept the ninth, to wit:—Let him make clemency his under and outer garment, and not for a slight fault bring his attendants into the place of exposure to invective and rebuke, for the great have always washed out, with the water of forgiveness and clemency, the stain of misdeeds from the records of the actions of the lowly, and have absolvingly covered their disrespect and boldness with the skirt of indulgence.

And when some of his attendants have acted criminally and disloyally, and have been holpen by the forgiveness of the king, let him again irrigate them with the water of his favours, that they may not wander bewildered and distressed in the wilderness of dejection.

Precept the tenth, to wit:—Let him not employ himself in injuring any one, that in the way of retribution, according to ‘And the retaliation of evil ought to be an evil proportionate thereto,’³⁹ evil may not result to him, but let him shower down on the heads of men the rain of kind deeds, that in the garden of ‘If ye do well, ye will do well to your own souls’^39a the flowers of his wish may bear fruit.

Precept the eleventh, to wit:—Let him not indulge an inclination for a thing which is not in accordance with his condition nor suited to his state, for many a person, having left his own business, has attempted something which did not befit him, and having failed in effecting his purpose, has been deprived of his own employment also.

Precept the twelfth, to wit:—Let him adorn his position with the ornaments of mildness and constancy, for the heart of the mild is lovely and the profound saying, ‘The meek man is all but a prophet,’ is a true tradition.

Precept the thirteenth, to wit:—Having acquired faithful and trustworthy servants, let him avoid sycophants and perfidious men; for when the sweepers of the court of empire are endued with the quality of fidelity, both the secrets of the state remained concealed, and men live in safety from any wrong on their part; and if, which God forfend! the face of their condition be blackened with the mole of perfidy, and their words be dignified with confidence by the king, it may chance that they may cast the innocent into the place of destruction, and that bad results may ensue thereupon, both for time and eternity.

Precept the fourteenth, to wit:—He must not permit the dust of dejection from ill-fortune and the vicissitudes of life, to settle on the garment of his spirit, because the wise man is ever involved in the bonds of calamity, while the careless man passes his life in delights and ease.

And let him know assuredly, that without the display of Eternal grace, and the bounty which is exposed to no decay, the shaft of happiness cannot strike the target of his wish, and no excellence nor skill, however great, can accomplish anything without the aid of the Divine decree and omnipotent power.

And to each of these fourteen precepts which have been mentioned, there is a certain tale attached, and a story which can be relied upon; and if the king desire to obtain information regarding the detail of these stories and tales, he must direct his steps to that mountain in Sarándíp,^40a which was the alighting-place of the Father of Mankind, for his difficulty will be there solved, and all his wish will present itself to him in that garden of desires, ‘And God is the aider to the acquirement of the wish and of wished-for objects.’” When the sage had offered to the royal ear this genuine statement, and had presented to the loftiness of the King’s spirit, this casket of jewels, in which were enclosed the pearls of spiritual meaning; Dábishlím honourably saluted him, and with the utmost reverence, kissed the scroll and placed it, as an amulet, on his princely arm, and said, ‘The treasure of which they told me, is a treasure of secrets, not a purse of dirhams and dínárs.⁴¹ It is a store of wisdom, not of gems and pearls. Praise be to God! I have such an amount of worldly goods that I have no need of this superfluity, and through loftiness of spirit, I regard this small finding as unfound. It is fitting that in gratitude for this book of advice, which alone may be looked upon as a real treasure, they should distribute this hoard, by way of alms, among the deserving, that the offering of this good action may accrue to the victorious spirit of King Húshang; and we too, in accordance with the saying, ‘He who points to a good action is like him that does it,’ may share in the blessing of the reward.’ The ministers of his majesty the King, by the royal direction, bestowed the whole of that hoard of coins and gems, in the way of the divine approval, on the deserving.

And when he had discharged this duty, the king turned towards the capital, and adorned the cushion of empire with the imperial dignity, and passed the livelong night in pondering on a journey to Sarándíp, that his desire might be accomplished and his wish attained, and that having acquired perfect knowledge of the several precepts, he might make them the prop of his government and the pillar of his empire and rule. The next day, when the bright sun like a pomegranate-coloured ruby, showed its face from the corner of the mountain of Sarándíp, and the diamond-hued heaven showered down sparks of brightest ruby on the earth,

Dábishlím commanded, so that they made present at the foot of the high throne, two persons from among the confidential servants of his majesty, who for sincerity of counsel were referred to as advisers, and for excellence of advice and aid in explanation^41c were the pivot [of the royal affairs], and after distinguishing them by the imperial favour, the King disclosed to them the circumstances of his midnight meditation, and said, ‘The desire of journeying to Sarándíp has fixed itself in my mind, and the purpose of proceeding and setting forward in that direction has snatched the reins of choice from the grasp of power. What do you think advisable in this matter, and how do you regard the expediency of this step? And for a long time I have unloosed the knot of my difficulties with the finger of your counsel, and have based on your opinion of happy tendency, the foundation of the affairs of my government and my fortunes. To day, also, bring to the place of representation whatever may be the scope of your prudent thoughts, and that which your penetrating judgment approves, in order that I also may try it in its various bearings, and make that plan, which obtains the writing of unanimity, the principle⁴² of action.’

The vazírs said, ‘It is not fitting to answer this question impromptu; and in the purposes of kings and their affairs, due deliberation is required, since an unconsidered word is like gold unweighed.

We will deliberate on this matter to-day and to-night, and will apply the coin of each cogitation to the touchstone of trial, and that which among our thoughts turns out to be full weight, we will to-morrow have the honour to represent.’ Dábishlím consented to this. The next day at early dawn they presented themselves before his Majesty the King, and each having stationed himself in the place that belonged to him, they opened the ear of sense to hearken to the command of the King, and after permission to speak, the superior vazír, having come forward and knelt respectfully, performed the due blessings and eulogies, and said as follows,

It has thus entered the mind of thy slave, that although but little advantage is to be calculated upon from this journey, nevertheless, much labour must be undergone, and being entirely excluded from pleasure and ease, and repose and delight, the heart must be placed on toil and abstinence; and it is not concealed from the luminous and world-conquering mind of the King, that according to ‘The spark of travel is^42a a fragment of hell,’ journeying is a breast-consuming flame and a heart-rending arrow, and according to the saying, ‘Expatriation is the greatest of calamities,’ the leaving one’s country is a liver-piercing dart; men of experience have come to the conclusion that they should not step beyond the corner of their house, and the drops of tears are therefore trampled on because they could not repose in the nook of their own dwelling.

It behoves a wise man not to exchange ease for toil, nor to give, from the palm of his hand, the ready-money of enjoyment for the goods of contingency; nor, from choice, select the misery of travel in preference to the dignity of repose,⁴³ that that may not befal him which befel that Pigeon.’ The King asked, How was that?