A. D. G. Serial. TITLES OF THE ANECDOTES.
        Part. II, Chapter V = XXX: On the Excellence of Magnanimity.
f18a f116a f186b 1280 Introduction. The Caliph Hárún evinces signs of greatness at the early age of five, and holds a model-court of the Caliph over which be presides.
 
A. D. G. Serial. TITLES OF THE ANECDOTES.
f18b f116b f187a 1281 Ya‘qúb b. Layth’s high ambitions: his desire to become famous or die in the attempt. (Data for his early occupation).
1282 Alexander’s ambition for world-conquest, and Aristotle’s advice.
1283 Ya‘qúb b. Layth weds his luck to sword and conquest. (Anec. repeated).
*
Breaks off.
1284 Báyazíd of Bisṭám reverently refrains from asking God to pardon the sins of the past and the coming generations; and Abú Naṣr Tustarí’s (?) observation on the saint’s loftiness.
  f187b 1285 A comparison of the aspirations of a slave with those of his own son by Málik b. Misma‘.
  f117a 1286 The Sultan Maḥmúd’s lofty aims on the eve of the invasion of Rayy, and his summary rejection of the pacific policy of his Wazir, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ‘Abdu’ṣ-Ṣamad.
  1287 A singular instance of the marvellous change in the Caliph ‘Umar II’s mode of life after he took office: once velvet was too coarse for his wear, but later sack-cloth appeared to him too soft.
  1288 The Caliph al-Ma’mún’s royal send-off and banquet in honour of Ṭáhir, the Ambidexter, and his army on the occasion of his campaign against ‘Alí b. ‘Ísá b. Máhán. (Anec. repeated).
  f117b 1289 Sabuktigín’s lofty advice to Mahmúd, to build the imperishable garden of magnanimity. Niẓámí ‘Arúdhí-i-Samarqandí’s famous lines cited. (Anec. repeated).
  f188a 1290 A royal hawk stoops down and pays the penalty which he deserved.
  1291 The story of Nu‘mán b. ‘Abdu’llah concerning the magnanimity of Fadhl b. Yaḥyá the Barmecide; Ṣáliḥ b. Jaríma (Khuzayma) al-Anṣárí, sceptical about the truth of the story, is wonder-struck at the way in which Fadhl squandered his wealth before him. (The Akhbár-i-Barámika as the source).
  f118a 1292 The Caliph al-Mahdí’s aspirations about his succession to the Caliphate, when conveyed to the Caliph al-Manṣúr, are highly appreciated.
  1293 The sublime ideal of the Caliph Hárún in appointing Ṭúlún, the humblest of his subjects, to the governorship of Egypt, once the country of the haughty Pharaohs.
  f118b f188b 1294 The king of Byzantium tests the generosity of Ḥátim of Ṭayy and finds it incomparable: his request for 100 camels with red hair and black eyes is readily granted.
  1295 ‘Umára b. Ḥamza famous for his high-mindedness: two instances of the same:
        a) In the presence of the Caliph al-Manṣúr he renounces his claim to a piece of contested property.
        b) His absolute refusal of a gift of 3.000 dinárs.
  f119a 1296 The high aims and the adventurous spirit of Abú Muslim in his early days.
        The chapter ends with an encomium on the Wazir.