“It is recorded in the histories of the Mongols that when Baghdád was conquered by Húlágú Khán he ordered the remnant of the in­habitants who had escaped the sword to be brought before him. He then enquired into the circumstances of each class, and, when he was acquainted with them, he said: ‘Artisans are indispensable,’ and gave them permission to go about their business. To the merchants he commanded that some capital should be given, so that they might trade for him. From the Jews he was content to take a poll-tax, declaring them to be an oppressed people; while the effeminates he consigned to his gynœcia. He then set apart the judges, shaykhs, Ṣúfís, Ḥájjís, preachers, persons of note, beggars, religious mendicants, wrestlers, poets and story-tellers, saying, ‘These are superfluous creatures who waste God's blessings,’ and ordered all of them to be drowned in the Tigris, thus purifying the face of earth from their vile existence. As a natural consequence sovereignty continued in his family for nearly ninety years, during which time their Empire daily increased; until, when poor Abú Sa'íd conceived in his mind a sentimental passion for Justice, and branded himself with the stigma of this quality, his Empire shortly came to an end, and the House of Húlágú Khán and all his en-deavours were brought to naught through the aspirations of Abú Sa'íd…

“Blessings rest on those great and well-directed persons who guided mankind out of the dark delusion of Justice into the light of right guidance!”

The “Book of the Beard” (Rísh-náma) is a fantastic The “Book of the Beard” dialogue between 'Ubayd-i-Zákání and the beard considered as the destroyer of youthful beauty.

The “Hundred Counsels” (Sad Pand) was composed in 750/1350, and, as its name implies, comprises a hundred The “Hundred Counsels” aphorisms, some serious, such as: “O dear friends, make the most of life”; “Do not defer until to-morrow the pleasure of to-day”; “Profit by the present, for life will not return a second time”; and some ironical and ribald, such as: “So far as you are able, refrain from speaking the truth, so that you may not be a bore to other people, and that they may not be vexed with you without due cause”; “Do not believe the words of pious and learned men, lest you go astray and fall into Hell”; “Do not take lodgings in a street where there is a minaret, so that you may be safe from the annoyance of cacophonous mu'adhdhins”; “Despise not ribaldry, nor regard satirists with the eye of scorn.”

The “Definitions” (Ta'rífát), or “Ten Sections” (Dah

'Ubayd-i­Zákání's “Definitions” Faṣl) is, like the “Hundred Counsels” just mentioned, a tract of only a few pages. A few specimens from it will suffice to show its character.

“The World. That place wherein no creature can enjoy peace.
The Wise Man. He who does not concern himself with the world
and its inhabitants.
The Perfect Man. He who is not affected by grief or gladness.
Thought. That which wearies men to no purpose.
The Man of Learning. He who has not sense enough to earn his
own livelihood.
The Ignorant Man. Fortune's favourite.