He is the vicegerent of His Majesty. The troops and people of the province are under his orders and their welfare depends upon his just administration. He must seek the will of God in all that he undertakes and be constant in praise and supplication. He must never lay aside the consideration of the people's prosperity nor suffer his zeal to sleep. He must not be prompt to vain converse or asperity of manner. Vigilance and the due distinction of ranks must be his care, especially towards subordinates near his person and officials at a distance. What is the duty of dependents must not be committed to his sons, and what these can perform he should not execute himself. In all transactions he should confide in one wiser than himself and if he can find none such, he should confer with a few chosen individuals and weigh carefully their deliberations.

It haps at times, the hoary sage
May fail at need in counsel right,
And unskilled hands of tender age
A chance shaft wing within the white.*

He should not admit many men to his secret councils, for the prudent, zealous, warm, disinterested adviser is rare, lest one of them should pro­voke dissension, and opportunities for timely action escape. He should regard his office of command as that of a guardian, and exercise caution, and making a knowledge of the disposition of men a rule of government, live as it behoves his office. Levity and anger he should keep under the restraint of reason. He should reclaim the rebellious by a just insight into the conduct of affairs and by good counsel, failing which, he should be swift to punish by reprimands, threats, imprisonment, stripes or amputa­tion of limb, but he must use the utmost deliberation before severing the bond of the principle of life. He should not pollute his tongue with abuse which is the manner of noisy vagabonds of the market place. He should refrain from the use of oaths in speech for this is imputing falsehood to himself by implication and distrust in the person he addresses. In judicial investigations, he should not be satisfied with witnesses and oaths, but pursue them by manifold inquiries, by the study of physiognomy and the exercise of foresight, nor, laying the burden of it on others, live absolved from solicitude.

Beware lest justice to that judge belong,
Whose own ill-deed hath wrought the suppliant's wrong.

Let him not inflict the distress of expectation upon supplicants for justice. He should shut his eyes against faults and accept excuses, and adopt such a course of conduct as will not disparage his good breeding and dignity. He should not interfere with any man's creed. A wise man, in worldly affairs that are transient, seeks not his own loss, why then should he knowingly abandon the spiritual life that is eternal, for if it be true, dis­turbance is criminal and if otherwise it is the malady of ignorance and is deserving of kind treatment. Each division of the kingdom, he should entrust to zealous upright men and provide for the safety of the roads by the establishment of trusty guards and from time to time receive reports of them. He should select for purposes of secret intelligence honest, provident, truthful and unavaricious men, and if such needful individuals are not to be obtained, in every affair he should associate several who are unknown to each other and inspecting their several reports thus ascertain the truth. His expenditure should be less than his income, and from his trea­sury he should supply the needy, especially those who loose not their tongues in solicitation. He should never be negligent of the supplies and accoutre­ments of the troops. He should not refrain from the practice of horse­manship, and should use the bow and the matchlock and command this exercise to his men. In attaching individuals to his own person and in the increase of confidence, he should employ a cautious circumspection. Many are the evil dispositioned and licentious of nature who profess sin­cerity and sell themselves at a high price. He should turn his attention to the increase of agriculture and the flourishing condition of the land and earn the gratitude of the people by the faithful discharge of his obligations and account the befriending of the agriculturists as an excellent service to the Almighty. He should retain impartial collectors of revenue and from time to time obtain information regarding their actions. Let him store for himself a goodly reward in the making of reservoirs, wells, watercourses, gardens, serais and other pious foundations, and set about the repairing if what has fallen into ruin. He should not be given to retirement nor be unsettled in mind which is the manner of recluses, nor make a practice of associating with the common people nor be ever surrounded by a crowd which is the fashion of blind worshippers of outward appearances.

Court not the world nor to it wholly die;
Walk wisely: neither phœnix be nor fly.

Let him hold in honour the chosen servants of God, and entreat the assistance of spiritually-minded anchorites and of mendicants of tangled hair and naked of foot. The imploring blessings from the sun and the solar lamp, he should not consider as its deification or a worshipping of fire.* Let him accustom himself to night vigils and partake of sleep and food in moderation. He should pass the dawn and the evening in medita­tion and pray at noon and at midnight. When he is at leisure from worldly affairs and introspection of conscience, he should study works of philosophy and act according to their precepts. If this does not satisfy his mind, he should peruse the spiritual admonitions of the Masnawi* and regardless of the letter imbibe its spirit. He should entertain his mind with the instructive stories of Kalíla and Damna, and thus gaining a knowledge of the vicissitudes of life, regard the experience of the ancients as his own. Let him apply himself to the cultivation of true knowledge and put aside childish tales. Let him associate with a discreet and trusty friend and give him permission to look carefully into his daily conduct in order that he may privately represent whatever, in the balance of his dis­cretion, appears blameworthy and if at any time his penetration should be at fault he should not be thereat displeased for men have ever been back­ward in uttering a displeasing truth especially in a season of anger when reason slumbers and the spirit is aflame. Courtiers, for the most part, seek pretexts of evasion and lend a false colouring to error, and if perchance one of them should be really concerned, he will hold his peace for fear, for he is indeed difficult to find who would prefer another's benefit to his own injury. Let him not be roused to anger by the representations of detractors, but rest in the path of circumspection, for men of evil nature, dissemblers in speech, palm off their tales with the semblance of truth and representing themselves as disinterested, labour to injure others. He should not consider himself as fixed of residence but hold himself ever ready for a summons to the presence. Let him not be malevolent, but prefer courtesy and gentleness. He should not subvert ancient families but let an illustrious ancestry redeem unworthy successors. Let him see that the younger among his followers when they meet, use the greeting “God is great,”* and the elder reply ‘Glorious is His Majesty.” Let him not take as food a sheep or a goat of under one year aud he should abstain from flesh for a month after the anniversary of his birthday. He shall not eat of anything that he has himself killed. He should restríct him­self in sensual gratification and approach not a pregnant woman. The food which is bestowed in memory of the deceased, he should prepare each year on his birthday and regale the needy.

With heavenly treasures store thy grave—provide*
While yet in life—none may when he hath died.

When the sun advances from one sign of the zodiac to another, let him offer up a thanksgiving and discharge cannon and musketry to arouse the slumberers in forgetfulness. At the first beams of the world-illumining sun and at midnight which is the turning point of its re-ascension, let him sound the kettle-drum and enforce vigilance.