According to most commentators, Sâsân, after whom this Assembly is named, was the eldest son of the king of part of Western Persia, who was disinherited by his father in favour of a daughter and her progeny, and fled in high dudgeon from his father’s court, to lead the life of a nomad shepherd amongst the Kurds. Thus he became the beau-idéal of beggars and vagrants, and the hero of popular tales, like the “king of the gipsies.” Others state that, under “the race of Sâsân,” the Persian kings of the last Dynasty are meant, many of whose descendants were, after the conquest of the country by the Arabs, reduced to the utmost poverty and excited popular com­miseration by their tragic downfall. Alluding to this prince of beggars or beggared princes, Abû Zayd urges his son to practise mendicancy as a fine art, which he himself had found preferable to all other recognised means to gain an enjoyable livelihood.

Al Ḥârith, son of Hammâm, related: The report reached me, that Abû Zayd, when he neared the (number of years indicated by the) clenched fist (ninety-three), and the fetter of old age robbed him of the power of rising, sent for his son, after having col­lected his thoughts, and said to him: “O my son, behold the time for departing from the threshold and for having my eyes anointed with the koḥl-pencil of demise has drawn nigh, and thou, praise be to Allah, art my heir apparent, and the leader of the flock of Sâsân after me, and for one like thee it needs no tapping with the staff, nor awakening him by the throw of pebbles, but he is called upon to exhort men’s minds, and made to be a furbisher of their thoughts. So I bequeath thee that which Seth bequeathed not to Nabat̤, nor Jacob to the tribes. Preserve then my bequest and eschew disobedience to me; pattern thyself after my likeness, and ponder well my saws, for if thou be guided by my counsel and take light from my morning, thy alighting-place will be rich in herbs and thy smoke (i.e., the smoke of thy fires of hospitality) will rise aloft, whereas, if thou be forgetful of my surah, and cast from thee my advice, the ashes of thy trivet will be few, and thy people and kin will make light of thee. O my son, I have tested the true states of things and experienced the vicissitudes of fortune, and have seen a man held worth his wealth, not his pedigree, and inquiry is made after his gain, not after his deserts. Now I have heard that the means of livelihood are ministry and commerce, and husbandry and handicraft. So I have plied these four to see which of them is the most fitting and profitable. But I have not proved living by them praiseworthy, nor found ease of life plentiful in them, for the opportunities of rulerships and the perquisites of administrations are like the en­tanglements of dreams and like the shadows vanishing with the darkness, and a sufficient anguish for thee is the bitterness of being weaned therefrom. And as for the goods of trade, they are subject to risks, and a butt to depredatory inroads, and how like they are to swift-winged birds. And as for the undertaking of farms and applying one’s self to tilling the ground, it is a source of demeanment and a drag impeding advancement, and rarely is its pursuer exempt from despisal or blest with tranquillity of mind. And lastly as for the crafts of artisans, they yield not more than the merest pittance, and sell not briskly at all times, and most of them are dependent on the prime of life. And I see naught easy to win, sweet to taste, and in its acquirement pure of nature, but the craft of which Sâsân has planted the roots and diversified the branches, whose light he has made to shine in the East and West, and whose beacon he has kindled to the sons of dust. So I engaged in its battles, sporting its badge, and chose its mark as my ornament, since it is the merchandise that never slacks, and the spring that never sinks, and the lamp to which all resort and by which the blind and the one-eyed obtain light. And those who exercise it are the most powerful of tribes, and the luckiest of folks, no touch of oppression overtakes them, no drawing of the sword harasses them, they fear not the sting of biting vermin, nor submit they to anyone either near or far, they are not in awe of him who lightens and thunders, nor care they for him who (in his fretful anger) rises and sits down again. Their assemblies are pleasant, their hearts at ease, their food is sped before them, and their times pass brightly. Wheresoever they alight, they pick up, and where they slip in, they strip off, they make no country their home and fear no king, and they differ not from the birds that are hungry in the morning and full at eventide.” Then his son said to him: “O my father, thou hast spoken true in what thou hast said, but thou hast stitched together, not ripped open. So explain to me how I may gather in a harvest, and from which end the shoulder is to be eaten.” Said he: “O my son, bestirring one’s self is the door to it, and alacrity its array, and sharpness of wit its lamp, and pertness its weapon; be thou more on the move than the Qut̤rub, and travel swifter than the locust, be brisker than the gazelle by moonlight, and more aggressive than the tiger-wolf, rub the fire-shaft of thy fortune by thy effort, and knock at the door of thy sustenance by thy activity, cross every mountain-pass and dive into every deep, forage over every pasture-ground and sink thy bucket into every fountain, weary not of begging, and be not loath of exertion, for it was written on the staff of our elder Sâsân: ‘He gets, who begs, he who roves, makes sure of his loaves.’ But beware of sloth, for it is a presage of calamities and the garb of the indigent, the key of poverty and the germ of affliction, the token of weakness and folly, and the habit of the helpless, the dependent. He gathers no honey who has chosen laziness, nor fills he his palm who deems ease a smooth bed. So step boldly forward, though it be against the lion, for daringness of the soul gives speech to the tongue and freedom of motion to the rein, and by it eminence is reached and affluence obtained, even as cowardice is the twin of sluggishness, and the cause of failure, and a hindrance to action, and a disappointment to hope. Therefore it is said in the proverb: ‘One who dares, fares well, he who fears, will fail.’ Sally then forth, my son, with the earliness of the raven, and the boldness of the lion, and the prudence of the chameleon, and the cunning of the wolf, and the greed of the pig, and the nimbleness of the gazelle, and the craftiness of the fox, and the patience of the camel, and the blandishments of the cat, and the diversity of colours of the humming-bird. Beguile by the gilding of thy tongue and deceive by the sorcery of thy eloquence; inquire after the state of a market before bringing thy goods to it, and coax the teat before milking; ask the travellers before visiting a pasture-ground, and make it smooth for thy side, before thou liest down; sharpen thy sight for taking omen from the flight of birds, and train thy perception for drawing inferences; for he who is right in reading characters will have the laugh for a long time, while the prey of him, who errs in his guess, will be tardy. Make, my son, thy burden light, and little thy dalliance, be averse to a repeated draught and content with a drizzle instead of a downpour, extol the value of the paltry and be thankful for a trifle, be not disheartened at a refusal, nor deem it far from possible that the rock should ooze, and despair not of the mercy of Allah, for none despaireth of Allah’s mercy but the faithless. And if thou have to choose between a mite ready at hand, and a pearl promised thee, incline to the ready, and prefer the day that is to the morrow that is to be; for delay leads to losses, and intentions are subject to change, and promises are prone to be postponed, and between them and their fulfilment lie mountains, ay, what mountains! Display then the patience of men of purpose, and the forbearance of the considerate, shun the harshness of one who exceeds bounds, and assume the habits of a cheerful disposition, keep tight the strings of thy purse, and blend lavishness with par­simony, hold not thy hand tied to thy neck, nor open it to its full extent. And when a country disagrees with thee, or a trouble has befallen thee therein, cut off thy hope from it and speed away from it thy camel, for the best of countries is that which betters thy state, and deem not departure burdensome nor hate removal, for the chiefs of our sect, and the elders of our tribe have agreed thereon, that motion is a blessing and the change of places like a promissory note, whereas they blame him who holds that peregrination is a bore and migration an infliction, and they say that it is an excuse of those who are contented with a paltry pittance and gratified with poor fruit and bad measure. But if thou have resolved on journeying abroad, and got ready for it thy staff and thy wallet, make choice of a helpful companion, ere thou settest out, for the neighbour before the house, and the fellow-traveller before wayfaring.

There is, my son, a bequest for thee, such as none afore was bequeathed yet,

One bright and fraught with the essence of choice rules and maxims that guide aright.

I selected them as a counseller sincere and earnest in his advice,

So act according to what I teach, as a wise and well-conducted wight,

That admiringly all people say: ‘This in truth is yonder lion’s whelp.’”

Said he: “O my son, I have given thee my last behest and made it right complete. Now, if thou follow it, well done! but if thou trespass against it, out upon thee! And may Allah be my substitute with thee, and I trust thou wilt not belie what I think of thee.” Then his son said to him: “O my father, may thy throne be never brought low, nor thy bier uplifted. Thou hast indeed spoken true, and taught aright, and bestowed on me that which never yet father has bestowed on son, and if I be spared after thee, but may I never taste thy loss, I will forsooth mould my manners after thy manners, the excellent, and follow thy traces, the illustrious, so that it may be said how like is this night to yesterday, and the morning cloud to the cloud of even.” Thereupon Abû Zayd rejoiced at his answer and smiled, and said: “He who resembles his father, wrongs not” (i.e., his mother’s fair fame).

Said Al Ḥarith, son of Hammâm: It has come to my knowledge that when the sons of Sâsân heard these beautiful mandates, they prized them above the man­dates of Loḳman, and learnt them by heart, as the mother of the Koran is learnt, so that they reckon them to this time the best that they can teach their children, and more profitable to them than a gift of gold.