In Halab (Aleppo) there is a kind of white stone of which pots of all sorts are made. On one occasion it passed the Sultán's tongue that he wished he had some of this kind of stone in Isfahán, and he spoke about it again. One of the camp followers, hearing of the King's wish, after his Majesty had returned (to the capital), said to two merchants of Arabia that if they sent five hundred mans of that stone he would pay them double hire. Accordingly they agreed to carry the 500 mans of stone with their other commodities, each man having 500 mans weight of goods of his own. One of them had six camels and the other four. They divided the stones between them so that they had equal loads upon all their camels. When they reached Isfahán the camp follower came to me, and I took the stone to the King, who was much pleased, and ordered him to be invested with rich apparel, and gave a reward of one thousand dirhams to the merchants, which was to be divided among them by me. I gave six hundred dínárs to him who had six camels, and four hundred to the other. That ungrateful person (Hasan Sabáh) having heard of this, said that I had made a mistake in the division, and had apportioned the money unjustly; that the due of one was still left for the King to pay, and that I should have given eight hundred dínárs to the master of six camels, and two hundred to the other. These words were told the same day to the King, who called me; and when I went to him, that wretch was also standing there. The Sultán looked at me and smiled, and asked me what was the matter. He, then, throwing aside all disguise, said, “The King's money has been divided unjustly, and the due of one has not been given to him.” I and the courtiers asked him how? He observed, “The whole load of ten camels consists of three divisions each of five hundred mans, and ten multiplied by three makes thirty. Again, four, the number of one person's camels, into three, makes twelve; and six, the number of the other person's camels, into three, makes eighteen. Now if ten be subtracted from each product, eight, the remainder of the latter product, was due to him who had six camels; and two, the remainder of the other product, to him who had four: and therefore eight hundred dínárs should have been given to the former and two hundred to the latter.” In short, when, in spite of me and to puzzle the others, he had given this solution of the question, the King asked him if he could give a plainer statement so that he might understand. He said: “There were ten camels, and the whole load was 1500 mans; therefore each camel had a weight of 150 mans; hence, four camels of one person carried 600 mans; (i.e.,) five hundred mans of his own commodities and one hundred mans of the stone for the King. In the same manner, the six camels of the other person carried nine hundred mans, of which five hundred mans were of his own goods and four hundred mans of the Sultan's stone. Thus out of 1000 dínárs for five hundred mans weight of stone two hundred are due upon every hundred mans weight, and consequently eight hundred should be given to the one and two hundred to the other. This was the proper division according to a just calculation; but if it was only a reward without any regard being paid to the weight, then it was all right.”* When that ungrateful person had spoken all this, the Sultán sided with me, and passed the matter by as a jest. But I saw that it had a great effect upon the king's mind. He (Hasan Sabáh) had several times made these kind of complaints. His grand object was to examine and rectify the accounts of the receipts and disbursements of the revenue of the country. Indeed he got through a great amount of work in the short space of time I was on leave. He completed this great task in a very short time. But as all the nobles and government officers were aware of his excessive malevolence and jealousy, as well as of his acting contrary to the promises which we had made between us, he obtained praise from no one; and when he submitted the accounts, he suffered such disgrace that he had no courage left to stop at the court.* Had not this ungrateful person (whom may God protect!) been so disgraced, there was no remedy for me but that which he at last took.
My object in relating this is to show that one day's trouble of examining the records and accounts and reporting them is not considered equivalent to thirty years' official service, and hence you may judge of other concerns and troubles. May God guide and help! I have said all this to make you desist from seeking the office of wazír; and if it has made no effect upon you, it is necessary that I should mention in detail the rules and precepts which you must observe, and which will be of great advantage and use to you, if God pleases.
When the kingdom of Khwárizm fell into the possession of Sultán Mahmúd, he ordered the ministers of his court to appoint some qualified person to the management of it. They were for some days consulting with each other. The greatest noble of the court, Altúntásh, contrived to have the appointment conferred upon himself, but when the offer was made to him, he outwardly showed great reluctance in accepting it. Khwája Ahmad Hasan, who was not well disposed towards him, and was anxious to get him out of the way, used his best exertions to get the patent of the appointment drawn up and signed. But as Altúntásh was the greatest pillar of the state, every one thought that the King would not like to send him away from the court. However, as Khwárizm was a very great kingdom, the Sultán agreed to the appointment, and ordered him to proceed to his new government.
Altúntásh was a great friend of Imám Násiru-d-dín Girámí, who was one of the chiefs of Ghaznín. As he had no time to pay him a farewell visit, he despatched a man with a letter, in which, after expressing his anxiety to see him, he stated that he would not return again to Ghaznín, and expressed his hopes that the Imám, observing the obligations of friendship, would come over to Khwárizm. The Imám, who was desirous of seeing that country as well as Altúntásh, of whom he was an old and intimate friend, went to Khwárizm, where, on his arrival, Altúntásh showed him a thousand kinds of hospitality and favour.
My object in relating this story is to say, that one day the Imám observed that while Altúntásh was at court all the world came to his threshold to pay their respects; such a position in consideration of fame and honour, as well as pecuniary advantage, was an hundred times better than the governorship of Khwárizm. What made him prefer it to a rank in which he exercised influence over the whole kingdom? Altúntásh replied, “O Imám! I have not told this secret even to my dearest relations or sons, but I will not conceal the truth from you. I have resigned that power on account of Jamíla Kandahárí. For years I had the management of all the government affairs in my hands, and during that time she thwarted me in everything. For this reason there was darkness before my eyes, and I could use no remedy against the evil. Now I have sought retirement, and have procured release from all such troubles. If God please, I shall escape her machinations in this distant province.”
Now from what I have said, the disadvantages of the ladies of the royal household being against us may be learnt, but the advantages of their being in our favour are equally numerous, and no one's patronage is more efficacious than theirs, for by no one is so much influence and power exercised over the royal mind as by them, as the following story of Khwája Ahmad Hasan illustrates.