ANECDOTE.

“I have heard that in a certain city lived a tailor, who had a shop hard by the city gate; and he had hung a pitcher on a nail, because it pleased his fancy to cast therein a pebble for every corpse which was borne forth from the city. And once a month he used to count these stones, to see how many had thus been borne forth, after which he would empty the pitcher and again hang it on the nail, and continue to cast stones into it until another month had elapsed. When some while had thus elapsed, it happened that the tailor died. And a certain man, who had not heard of the tailor's death, came to look for him, and, finding his shop closed, inquired of a neighbour where he was, since he was not there. ‘The tailor,’ replied the neighbour, ‘hath gone into the pitcher!’

“But do thou, O my son, be watchful: be not deceived by thy youth. In obedience or disobedience, wherever thou art, remember God, and seek forgiveness, and fear Death, lest thou fall suddenly into the pitcher! … Respect the aged, and address them not with mockery, lest their answer silence thee.

ANECDOTE.

“I have heard that an old man, whose back was bent double with the weight of a hundred years, was going along leaning on a staff, when a young man, wishing to mock him, said, ‘Aged sir, for how much didst thou buy this pretty bow [meaning his back], for I too would buy one for myself?’ ‘If thou livest,’ answered the old man, ‘and art patient, it will be given to thee for nothing!’ … Be more careful to observe a virtuous old age than a virtuous youth, for youths have hope of old age, but the aged have naught to hope for save death, and it is impossible for them to look for aught else. For when the corn is white, if it be not reaped, it will fall of itself, and so likewise fruit which is mature, if it be not gathered, will of itself drop from the tree, without its being shaken… They say in Arabic:—

Idhá tamma amrun daná naqṣuhu:
Tawaqqá' zawálan idhá qíla, “tamm!”

‘When aught is completed, its waning is nigh:
When they say, “'Tis completed!” then look for decline.’

“Know, then, that they will not let thee be when thy senses have declined from their use. When the doors of speech, sight, hearing, touch, and taste are all shut on thee, neither wilt thou be able to enjoy life, nor can thy life give enjoyment to others. Thou wilt become a trouble to all, therefore death is better than such a life. But when thou art old, avoid the extravagances of youth, for the nearer one comes to death, the further should he be from extrava­gance. Man's life is like the sun, and thou mayest regard the sun which is on the western horizon as already set; as I say:—

‘In Age's clutch Kay-Ká'ús helpless see:
Prepare to go, for years three-score and three
Press hard. Thy day to Vesper-time draws nigh,
And after Vespers Night comes suddenly.’

Therefore an old man should not be in intelligence and actions as are the young. But be thou ever compassionate towards the old, for age is a sickness cheered by no visits, and a disease which no physician can heal save Death alone; seeing that the old man can find no relief from the troubles of age till he dies. For whatever sickness befalleth man, if he dieth not, he hath each day some hope of improvement; save in the case of the sickness of age, since herein he waxeth ever older, and hath no hope of betterment. Thus I have read in some book that up to thirty-four years man waxeth daily in strength and robustness. After thirty-four years he remains the same, neither waxing nor waning, just as when the sun stands in the midst of heaven, it moveth slowly until it begins to sink. From forty to fifty years, every year he sees in himself some decrease which he did not notice the year before. From fifty to sixty years, every month he sees in himself some decrease which he did not notice in the previous month. From sixty to seventy years, every week he sees in himself some decrease which he did not notice in the previous week. From seventy to eighty years, every day he sees in himself some decrease which he did not see in himself the day before. And if he outlives eighty, every hour he is sensible of some pain or ache which he did not perceive the previous hour. The pleasure of life is until forty years of age: when thou hast ascended forty rungs of the ladder, thou shalt without doubt descend, and must needs come to that place whence thou didst set out. So he must needs be dissatisfied who is hourly afflicted with some pain or ache which had not befallen him in the previous hour. Therefore, O my son, and the Delight of mine Eyes, I have complained to thee at length of old age, because I have against it a grievous indictment; nor is this strange, for old age is an enemy, and of enemies do we make complaint.”

Before bidding farewell to the Persian writers of this period, mention must be made of one or two other prose works, which Other prose works of this period. are either not at present accessible to me, or, being accessible, must for lack of space be dis­missed with a very brief notice. Amongst these is the Nuzhat-náma-i-'Alá'í, an encyclopædia composed by Shahmardán b. Abi'l-Khayr towards the end of the eleventh century for 'Alá'u'd-Dawla Kháṣṣ-beg, Prince of Ṭabaris-tán, of which the contents are fully described by Pertsch at pp. 30-36 of the Gotha Persian Catalogue, and more briefly by Ethé in columns 906-908 of the Bodleian Persian Catalogue. The similar but earlier Dánish-náma-i-'Alá'í, composed by Avicenna, has been already mentioned (p. 115 supra). The Bayánu'l-Adyán, or account of different religions, written by Abu'l-Ma'álí Muḥammad 'Ubaydu'lláh in A.D. 1092, has been made known by Schefer in vol. i of his Chrestomathie persane, pp. 132-189 (pp. 132-171 of the text). A very important historical work, especially in what concerns Khurásán, is Kardízí's Zaynu'l-Akhbár, composed about the middle of the eleventh century of our era, of which the only known manuscript (and even this is defective) is described by Ethé in columns 9-11 of the Bodleian Persian Catalogue. Equally important is the rare and unpublished Kashfu'l-Maḥjúb (“Revelation of the Occult”), a work treating of the lives and doctrines of the Ṣúfís, and composed by 'Alí b. 'Uthmán al-Jullábí al-Hujwírí in the latter part of the eleventh century. In connection with this, mention should also be made of the Treatise (Risála) on Ṣufíism compiled in Arabic in A.D. 1046-47 by Abu'l-Qásim 'Abdu'l-Karím b. Hawázin al-Qushayrí (died A.D. 1072-73), a work containing fifty-four chapters, which has been printed twice at least at Buláq, and of which there exists in the British Museum a Persian translation (Or. 4,118) made at an unknown but certainly early epoch, this manuscript being dated A.D. 1205.

Three more writers of greater importance remain to be mentioned, though it is, unfortunately, impossible in this place Al-Máwardí. to accord them anything approaching adequate treatment. Of these, Abu'l-Ḥasan 'Alí al-Máwardí (died A.D. 1058) may be taken first, since he can be most briefly dismissed. Nine of his works (all of which are in Arabic) are enumerated by Brockelmann (Gesch. d. Arab. Litt., i, p. 386), but only two of these are so celebrated as to need mention here. The first is the Kitábu'l-Aḥkámi's-Sulṭániyya, or “Constitutiones politicæ” (printed at Bonn and Cairo), which “depicts the ideal of Muslim Public Law, as it certainly can never have really existed, or at least not in the author's time.” The second is the Adabu'd-Dunyá wa'd-Dín, an ethical work still widely studied in the higher schools of Turkey and Egypt.

The second of the three, though he has nothing to do with Persia, is too great a figure in the world of Muslim Abu'l-'Alá al-Ma'arrí. thought and literature to be passed over in silence. This is the blind * poet, sceptic and philosopher, Abu'l-'Ala al-Ma'arrí, so called from the little Syrian town of Ma'arratu'n-Nu'mán, where he was born, and in which he spent the greater part of his life. Náṣir-i-Khusraw visited him there during the three days which he spent in Ma'arra (January 12-15, A.D. 1047), and thus speaks of him in his Safar-náma (pp. 10-11 of Schefer's edition):—

“There dwelt a man called Abu'l-'Alá al-Ma'arrí, the chief man of the city, but blind. He was very wealthy, and had many servants and workmen; indeed all the town's folk were as servants to him. But he had adopted the ascetic life, wearing a coarse cloak, sitting in his house, and allowing himself half a maund of bread daily, beyond which he ate nothing. I heard that he kept open house, and that his agents and stewards managed the affairs of the town, save in matters involving a general principle, which they referred to him. He refuses his beneficence to none, but himself observes perpetual fast and nightly vigils, and occupies himself with no worldly busi­ness. And in poetry and literature he holds so high a rank that the greatest scholars of Syria, the Maghrib (i.e., the Moorish States and Spain) and 'Iráq admit that in this age no one hath been or is of like degree. He had composed a book entitled al-Fusúl wa'l-Gháyát, wherein he set forth, in eloquent and wondrous words, riddles and parables which men cannot understand, save a little here and there, even such as had studied it with him. And they found fault with him for writing this book, declaring that he had intended therein to travesty the Qur'án. * There are always at least some two hundred persons who have come from all parts of the world to study poetry and literature with him. I heard that he had composed more than a hundred thousand verses of poetry. A certain person asked him why, seeing that God had bestowed on him all this wealth and riches, he gave it all away to other people, and did not enjoy it him­self, to which he replied, ‘I can take possession of no more than what I eat.’ And when I arrived there (i.e., at Ma'arratu'n-Nu'mán) this man was still alive.”*