A se'nnight passed. That king of ardent heart
Convoked the wise and shelved the world's affairs
Because he wished to hear the words of sages—
Those that were worthy to be called to court,
And were approved by knowledge to the Sháh.
They came, the wise in utterance, both young
And elders of experience. With the doctors
Of ardent soul fared youthful Búzurjmihr,
The exalted one. These doctors sage and shrewd
Sat near the lofty throne and turned their looks
On Búzurjmihr because at him the face
Of Núshírwán grew bright. One of the wisest
Then questioned him concerning fate and fortune:—
“What is their character and who ordained them?”
He answered: “One aspireth, being young.
He toileth night and day, and yet his path
Is dark and narrow and his conduit low,
While some mere dolt will sleep on fortune's throne,
And rose-trees scatter roses over him.
Such is the character of fate and fortune,
No toil avoideth their apportionment;
The World-lord, the All-wise, our Fosterer,
Hath fashioned thus the star of destiny.”
Another said: “What man attaineth greatness?
To whom is high estate the most becoming?”
He said: “The man that hath the better know-ledge
Of what is good and putteth it in practice.”
Another said: “What is there best in us?
Who from the world is worthiest of good?*

He answered: “Gentleness, munificence,
With magnanimity and courteousness.
The humble man who boweth down his neck;
His hand will give, expecting no return;
He toileth and by toil would win the world,
And keepeth step with fellow way-farers.”
“What is the special virtue of the sage,”
Another said, “in moments of dispute?”

He answered: “To discern when he is wrong,
And modify his methods and his views.”
Another one inquired: “How should one act
To make existence more endurable?”
He thus made answer: “Whensoe'er the heart
Is fraught with wisdom there is gladness too.
Then will the man both give and take aright,
And shut the door of fraud and knavery,
Will pardon faults whene'er he hath the power,
And not be hasty or irascible.”
Another asked of him: “Among the folk
Who is best able to command himself?”
He said: “The man that is not led by passion
Away from nobleness and native worth,
And likewise he that can command his weakness,
Aware that evils follow on excess.”
Another said: “Is there aught anywhere
More excellent than bounty and good nature?
Who bringeth speedily his crop to fruit,
And furnisheth two springtides in a year?”
“One,” thus he made reply, “that all unasked
Doth deck his soul with generosity,
But one that hath the praise of the receiver
Regard him not as giving but as trading.”
One said: “What are the adornments of a man,
And which is noblest?”

Búzurjmihr replied:—

“He that is bounteous toward a worthy object;
He towereth like a cypress in a garden,
And never withereth, but one unworthy,
Though he be set in musk, will savour not;
No flower will grow upon that arid thorn.
To question of the dumb or of the deaf,
Though thou art justified, is profitless.”
“Within this Wayside Inn,” another said,
“The sage is not exempt from pain and trouble.
How shall we act that we may win fair fame,
And so begin that nobly we may end?”
He answered: “Keep from sin; treat all the world
As though it were thyself; what thou mislikest
Inflict not on another—friend or foe.”
Another said: “Which sayest thou of the twain
Is better—labour moderate or great?”
He answered thus: “From wisdom's standpoint
thought
Alone is worthy. If thou needest fruit
Toil in proportion to the work in hand.”
“If we must weep o'er those that are to blame,”
Another asked, “who can deserve our praise?”
He answered thus: “Whoever hath the most
Of hope and fear and awe of holy God.”
Another said: “O thou illustrious
In wisdom and whose head out-toppeth heaven!
What is the goodliest destiny for me
From this exalted and unstable sky?”

That man of eloquence made answer: “His
Who is secure and is exempt from need;
Him fortune treateth with benevolence
So long as he is just in all his ways.”
“What is the knowledge,” asked another one,
“Whereby I may be happy in the world?”
He answered thus: “That of the patient man,
Who holdeth in contempt the impudent,
And his whose brain is not perturbed by wrath,
And who, though wroth, will wink at others' faults.”
Another asked: “What man is he, O sage!
That winneth the approval of the wise?”
Said Búzurjmihr: “The man whom wisdom
feedeth,
Who mourneth not the lost but giveth up
His darling to the dust without regret,
Pain, or dismay, rejecteth empty hopes
Like willow's fruit, is always glad and gay,
And careless of the processes of time.”
Another said: “What are the faults of kings
Whereby the hearts of righteous men are saddened?”
He answered: “Wise men say that there are four:
The first is terror of the foe in fight;
The second being niggardly in giving;
The third rejecting wise advice in war;
The fourth is hastiness of temperament,
And sleeping not upon their purposes.”
Another one inquired: “What man is faultless,
And what is there to blame in noble men?”
“We call one upright,” thus said Búzurjmihr,
“When wisdom beareth witness to his words,
While those that seek by cunning and injustice
To shine are blamed for falsehood and deceit.
Between them is the man of violence,
Abusive, with his head fulfilled with strife,
And who, though meek and humble with the king,
Yet madly persecuteth holy men.”
Another said: “What kind of character
Will profit him that seeketh not mishap?”
“The speaker of the truth is true in all
His deeds,” he answered, “governeth his tongue,
Is modest, and soft-voiced amidst of clamour.
Best is the sage who holdeth it unmeet
To banish wisdom for the sake of passion.”
Another sage inquired: “Who is the man
That can without mishap transact affairs,
Tend his own life, and profit kith and kin?”
He thus made answer: “He that from the first
Hath known and sought the door of holy God—
The Source of thy thanksgivings and thy Refuge,
The Lord of day and night, of sun and moon.
Moreover heartily he must obey
The Sháh's behests in public and in private,
Tend his own person dearly and shut fast
Thereon the door of travail and of greed,
Must care for his own kindred, feed the poor,
And give his children teachers, for the world
Must not be trusted to the ignorant,
And when a son is docile to command
'Tis for the father to make much of him.”
“What is the place an upright son should hold,”
Another asked him, “in his sire's esteem?”
He thus made answer: “In his father's eyes
A glorious son is dear as life itself:
The father's name abideth after death
Because the son will say: ‘My father taught me.’”
Another asked: “What dost thou see in riches
To grace the heart?”

He made reply: “The man

Of wealth is honoured though the wealth is vile;
But there is much that is bound up therewith,
Take heed that thou misprize not these my words,
For, first, whate'er thou hast a mind unto
Will by its nature show if thine be good;
And, next, for thee to have and not employ
Is to treat stones and royal gems as one.”
“Among the kings with fame and lofty crown,”
Another said, “whom callest thou the best?”
“That king,” he made reply, “with whom the good
Dwell safely while the bad quake at his voice:
The earth reposeth underneath his throne.”
Another said: “What maketh a man rich,
And who in this world is distressed and poor?”
He thus replied: “The man that is content
With what the Master of high heaven bestoweth,
While for the man whom fortune favoureth not
There is not any evil worse than greed.”
The famous men were full of wonderment
At him and lauded him with one consent.