This is the story of the advantages of reliance on God, and of resignation; and of the results of destiny and fate. And no wise man can dispense with knowing thus much, that if he delivers the reins of choice to the hand of destiny he will obtain all good things, and no event of importance will take place contrary to his wish; and the fact is,

And how well is it said in the beginning of this ode,

When the Bráhman had finished this discourse, and by the recital of this story had fully concluded the explanation of the precepts of Húshang, King Dábishlím performed the usual respectful salutation, and said, ‘By the auspicious influence of the spirit of the sublime sage the veil of concealment has fallen from the face of my wish, and the desire I felt has been attained by the blessing of the society of my exalted teacher.

I now respectfully request that the Sage of luminous mind would accept an offering from me, and not reject the tribute which, through pure affection, I have brought.’ The Bráhman replied, ‘O King! I have contentedly with­drawn from the world’s mansion to a corner and a morsel, and have washed the skirt of my heart from the pollution of worldly superfluities. It is impossible that I should ever again be stained with the filthiness of its appurtenances.

And if the king wishes to do me a service, and to put the chain of obligation round my neck, my wish is that he would draw on the string of compilation these words, blended with wisdom; and regard them as the guide of the way to salvation, and the leader in the path of perfection, and by this means, always keeping me in his gracious mind, not withhold from me the blessing of his prayers. For in accordance with the saying, ‘The prayer of the just man is not rejected,’ the request of the prayer of just kings is marked with the honor of acceptance.’ The king assented to this, and having bid farewell to the Bráhman, returned to his own capital, and arranged on the string of compilation the jewels of wisdom which he had secured, and used always to refer to those admonitions in the occurrence of events; and in great emer­gencies, used to seek aid from their counsels.

When Khujistah Ráí had recounted from beginning to end this heart-enchanting story and incomparable tale, Humáyún Fál began, like a freshly-irrigated rose, to bloom on the bed of delight; and the young tree of his condition raised its head in the parterre of good-fortune. He made the vazír hopeful of his imperial bounties, and enlightened the eye of his heart with the acquisition of his wishes, and said,

By the full recital of this delightful story thou hast bestowed sweetness on the palate of my soul, and by the exposition of these words of wise con­clusion, thou hast sown in the ground of my heart the seed of perpetual happiness. And henceforward, nought save these perfect admonitions shall be the guide of my government, and I will regard nought as the rule of the fabric of my practice but these salutary counsels. And these words have made a wonderful impression on my heart, and this is entirely owing to thy abundant sincere affection and truth; for although words may be essentially good; yet, by reason of the polluted nature of the speaker, they may yield no wholesome result; and advice, though springing from the purest wisdom, oftentimes, from the wickedness of the rehearser, produces no impression.

The vazír extolled the king, and said, ‘That which has passed the wisdom-impressed tongue of the king is essentially true and purely whole­some; for the words of the fraudulent and the hypocritical have but a false lustre, and expire in a short time, like a fire made of wormwood. But the language of truth and purity, like the streaks of morning light, increase in brightness every instant; and, like the torch of the sun, appear more brilliant every hour.

Again Humáyún Fál addressed the vazír with flattering encouragement, and raised the flag of his good-fortune to the pinnacle of high heaven; and the vazír, beholding the tokens of the amiable qualities of the king, and the light of his praiseworthy virtues; arrayed the substructure of praise and bene­diction in the following manner,

With these words the conversation closed, and Humáyún Fál, too, in the same way as Dábishlím, impressed on the pages of his own actions the graces of these tales, and fulfilled all the requirements of justice in building up the edifices of good administration, and left, as a memorial on the leaves of time, a good name and fair renown.

These are the few words which, on the call of the moment, the tongue of the pen has aided in inscribing, and which, in the manner that the nature of the subject* required, have been written down by the reed of exposition. And my hope in the virtuous excellencies of the most eminent of mankind, and in the good qualities of the lofty noble,* is, that he will conceal with the skirt of indulgence the unweighed expressions and unsatisfactory style of this his humble servant; and that, by way of cherishing the insignificant, and condescending to the poor,

will survey it with the eye of favor.