He should not talk much, for it is a sign of levity in feeling and weakness in judgment, and tends to lower him in point of consideration and position. We are told that his eminence the Sanctified used to observe the strictest medium in his language; so much so, that in the most protracted interviews, you might have counted the words he uttered. Abuzarj Mihr used to say, “When you see a per­son talking much without occasion, be sure he is out of his senses.”*

Let him not give vent to expressions till he has determined in his own mind what he is going to say. It is a saying with the wise, Think often before you speak. Neither let him repeat his words without occasion; but if such occasion arise, let no discrepance be observable in the repetition.

When any one is relating a story, however well known to the listener, the latter is not to intimate his acquaintance with it till the narrative is con­cluded. A question put to others he must not him­self reply to; if put to a body of which he is a member, let him not prevent the others; and if another is engaged in answering what himself could answer better, let him keep silence till the other’s statement is completed, and then give his own; but in such sort as not to annoy the former speaker. Let him not commence his reply till the querist’s sentence is concluded. Conversations and discus­sions which do not concern him, although held in his presence, he is not to interfere in; and if people conceal what they are saying, he must not attempt furtively to overhear.

To his elders he should speak with judgment; pitching his voice at a medium between high and low. Should any abstruse topic present itself, he should give it perspicuity by comparison. Prolixity he should never aim at, when not absolutely required; on the contrary, let it be his endeavour to compress all he has to say.* Neither should he employ unusual terms or far-fetched figures. He should beware of obscenity and bad language; or if he must needs refer to an indecent subject, let him be content with allusion by metaphor. Of all things, let him keep clear of a taste for indelicacy, which tends to lower his breeding, degrade his respect­ability, and bring him into general disagreement and dislike. Let his language upon every occasion cor­respond with the exigency of his position; and, if accompanied by gesticulation of the hand or eye or eyebrow, let it be only of that graceful sort which his situation calls for. Let him never, for right or for wrong, engage in disputes with others of the company; least of all with the elders* or the triflers of it: and when embarked in such dispute, let him be rigidly observant of the rules of candour. Let him not deal in profound observation beyond the intellect of those he is addressing, but adapt his dis­course to the judgment of his hearers. Thus even his reverence the refuge of revelation has declared — “We of the prophetic order are enjoined to address men in the measure of their understandings:” and Eesa (blessed be he!) said, “Use not wisdom with the unwise to their annoyance.”* In all his con­versation let him adhere to the ways of courtesy. Never let him mimic any one’s gestures, actions, or words,* nor give utterance to the language of menace.

When addressing a great person, let him begin with something ominous of good, as the permanence of his fortune, felicity, and so forth.*

From all back-biting, carping, slander, and false­hood, whether heard or spoken, let him hold it essential to keep clear; nay, even from any part­nership with those addicted to such practices. Let him listen more than he speaks. It was the answer of a wise man to those who asked him why he did so, “Because,” said he, “God has given me two ears and only one tongue;” which was as much as to say, “Hear twice as much as you speak.”*

He should not hurry as he walks, for that is a sign of levity; neither should he be unreasonably tardy, for that is a token of dulness.* Let him neither stalk like the overbearing, nor agitate him­self in the way of women and eunuchs; but con­stantly observe the middle course. Let him avoid going often backwards and forwards, for that betokens bewilderment; and holding his head down­wards, for that indicates a mind overcome by sorrow and anxiety. In riding, no less, the same medium is to be observed.

When he sits, let him not extend his feet, nor put one upon another.* He must never kneel except in deference to his king, his preceptor,* and his father, or other such person. Let him not rest his head on his knee or his hand, for that is a mark of dejection and indolence. Neither let him hold his neck awry, nor indulge in foolish tricks, such as playing with his fingers or other joints. Let him avoid twisting round or stretching himself. In spitting and blowing his nose, let him be careful that no one sees or hears him;* that he blow it not towards the kiblah, nor upon his hand, his skirt, or sleeve-lappet.

When he enters an assembly, let him sit neither lower nor higher than his proper station. If he be himself the head of the party, he can sit as he likes, for his place must be the highest, where-ever it may be. If he has inadvertently taken a wrong place, let him exchange it for his own as soon as he discovers his mistake: should his own be occupied, he must return without disturbing others or annoying himself.

In the presence of his male or female domestics, let him never bare any thing but his hands and face: the parts from his knee to his navel let him never expose at all; neither in public nor private, except on occasions of necessity for ablution and the like.*

He must not sleep in the presence of other per­sons, or lie on his back, particularly as the habit of snoring is thereby encouraged. Should sleep over­power him in the midst of a party, let him get up, if possible, or else dispel the drowsiness by relating some story, entering on some debate, and the like. But if he is with a set of persons who sleep them­selves, let him either bear them company or leave them.

The upshot of the whole is this: Let him so behave as not to incommode or disgust others; and should any of these observances appear troublesome, let him reflect, that to be formed to their contraries would be still more odious and still more unpleasant than any pains which their acquirement may cost him.

First of all, he should wash his hands, mouth, and nose.* Before beginning, he should say In the name of God, and after ending he must say Glory to God.* He is not to be in a hurry to begin, unless he is the master of the feast;* he must not dirty his hands, or clothes, or the table-linen; he must not eat with more than three fingers,* nor open his mouth wide, nor take large mouthfuls, nor swallow them hastily, nor yet keep them too long unswal­lowed. He must not suck his fingers in the course of eating; but after he has eaten, he may, or rather ought, as there is scripture warrant for it.

Let him not look from dish to dish, nor smell the food, nor pick and choose it. If there should be one dish better than the rest, let him not be greedy on his own account, but let him offer it to others. He must not spill the grease upon his fingers, or so as to wet his bread and salt. He must not eye his comrades in the midst of his mouthfuls. Let him eat from what is next him, unless of fruit, which it is allowable to eat from every quarter.* What he has once put into his mouth (such as bones, &c.) he must not replace upon his bread, nor on the table-cloth: if a bone has found its way there, let him remove it unseen. Let him beware of revolting gestures, and of letting any thing drop from his mouth into the cup. Let him so behave, that if any one should wish to eat the relics of his repast, there may be nothing to revolt him.

Where he is a guest, he must stay his hand sooner than the master of the feast; and whenever the rest discontinue eating, he must act in concert with them,* except he be in his own house, or some other where he constitutes part of the family. Where he is himself the host, he must not continue eating when the rest have stayed their hands, so that something may be left for any one who chances to fancy it.

If he has occasion to drink in the course of his meal, let him do it softly, that no noise in his throat or mouth may be audible to others. He must not pick his teeth in the view of the company, nor swallow what his tongue may extract from between them; and so of what may be extracted by the tooth-pick, let him throw it aside so as to dis­gust no one. When the time comes for washing his hands, let him be exceedingly careful in cleaning his nails and fingers. Similar must be his particu­larity in washing his lips, mouth, and nostrils. He must not void his rheum into the basin: even the water in which his mouth has been rinsed, let him cover with his hand as he throws it away. Neither must he take the turn from others in washing his hands; saving when he is master of the entertain­ment, and then he should be the first to wash.*