English
A Tale on Deliberation and Patience in Statecraft
A man came up from the sea of Oman,
having crossed many plains and many seas.
He had seen Arab and Turk, Persian and Greek;
in his pure soul lived learning of every kind.
He had roamed the world and gathered knowledge,
traveled far and learned the art of good talk.
Strong of frame, like a sturdy tree,
yet stripped bare and left in hard want.
Two hundred patches stitched one over another
from rags, and he burned inside them all the while.
He came from the shore into a city
whose ruler was a great man of that region,
a nature that cared for a good name,
humbly laying his head at the feet of the poor.
The king's servants washed him,
his head and body, at the bathhouse, clean of the road's dust.
When he set his head on the king's threshold,
he pressed his hand to his chest in praise.
He entered the royal hall, saying:
'May your fortune be young and your good luck last.'
'I have not stopped anywhere in this land
where I saw a single heart hurt by harm.'
'I saw no one made heavy-headed by wine,
unless it was the tavern itself, lying in ruins.'
'For a king this one ornament is enough:
that he refuses to bring anyone pain.'
He spoke and scattered pearls from his hem,
with speech that made the king shake out his sleeve in praise.
The beauty of the man's words pleased him;
he called him near and treated him with honor.
He gave him gold and jewels to thank him for coming,
and asked about his lineage, birth, and homeland.
He told all that was asked about his past,
and in closeness he rose above the others.
The king debated within his own heart
whether to hand him the office of vizier.
'But let it be gradual, so the court
won't mock my judgment for its haste.'
'First I must test his intelligence,
and raise his rank to match his skill.'
Many times grief's cruelty burdens the heart
of one who does things untested.
When a judge writes his ruling after thought,
he won't be shamed before the learned men.
Take aim while the arrow's notch is still on the string,
not after you have already loosed it.
Someone as sound and discerning as Joseph
needs a full year to become dear and trusted.
Until much time has passed,
no one can be plumbed to his depths.
He uncovered his character in every way:
the man was wise and clean of faith.
He found him good in conduct and clear in reason,
weighing his words and knowing people's worth.
By judgment he saw him greater than the nobles,
and seated him above his own chief minister.
He applied such wisdom and knowledge
that none felt distress at his commands or bans.
He brought a whole kingdom under his pen
without bringing pain to a single living soul.
He silenced every fault-finder's tongue, for no one could catch him in a single wrong word.
The envious man who found not one grain of treachery in him writhed uselessly, like wheat parching in a pan.
The king's rule took light from his bright heart, and a fresh grief seized the old vizier.
He could find no crack in that wise man through which to hurl an insult.
The honest man and the schemer are like a basin and an ant: you cannot bore a hole through them by force.
The king had two servant boys, each with a face bright as the sun, forever standing ready at his side.
Two spotless figures, like houri and fairy, each pure as the sun and moon in their own way.
Two faces so alike you would say there was only one, showing its own twin in a mirror.
The sweet-spoken sage's words took hold in both those slender, cypress-tall youths.
When they saw how fine his character and manners were, they naturally became his well-wishers and friends.
In him too, human affection stirred, but not the base inclination of the shortsighted.
He knew no peace except when he could gaze upon their faces.
If you want your standing to stay lofty, sir, do not lose your heart to smooth-faced youths.
And even if there is no ill intent involved, beware, for it damages your dignity.
The vizier caught a hint of this and, with malice, carried the tale to the king.
He said: I do not know what to call this man or who he is; he will not live decently in this land.
Wanderers live carelessly, for they were not raised in the bosom of kingdom and fortune.
I have heard he has a secret with your servant boys, that he favors treachery and worships lust.
Such a shameless, corrupt fellow should not stay, for he brings disgrace into the king's palace.
Should I forget the king's bounty, that I would see corruption and stay silent?
One should not speak hastily on mere suspicion; I did not tell you until I was certain.
One of my trusted men kept watch and saw him hold the boy in his embrace.
I have said my piece; now the king can judge. As I have tested him, so test him yourself.
He described it in the ugliest terms, hoping no good day would ever come to the good man.
Once the schemer got hold of a small pretext, he set the hearts of the great men ablaze.
With a small spark you can start a fire, and then burn down even the ancient tree.
This news inflamed the king so much that he seethed and boiled over like a cauldron.
His anger reached for the poor man's blood, but calm held its hand out before him.
For killing one you have raised is no act of manhood, and returning cruelty for kindness is cold-heartedness.
Do not harm the one you have nurtured; when he is your own arrow, do not shoot at him with an arrow.
You should not have raised him on your favor if you meant to make him suffer unjustly.
Until his talents were proven to you, he should not have become your companion in the royal court.
Now, until his guilt is certain to you, do not wish him harm on an enemy's word.
The king kept this secret hidden in his heart, for he had listened to the counsel of the wise.
The heart, wise one, is the prison of a secret; once spoken, it cannot be chained again.
He quietly watched the man's conduct, and found a flaw in the shrewd man's judgment.
For suddenly the man glanced at a servant, an angel-faced one, and smiled beneath his lips.
Two people whose hearts and minds are one keep telling their story even while silent.
Once your eyes grow bold in gazing, you never get your fill, like a man with dropsy at the Tigris.
The king's suspicion proved true, and out of frustration he was about to turn on him in anger.
But with fine judgment and full wisdom, he said to him gently: my good man,
I had thought you wise; I trusted you with the secrets of the realm.
I believed you clever and sharp; I did not know you were reckless and unworthy.
Such a high station is no place for you; the fault is mine, not your error.
For if I raise someone base, of course he will think betrayal fit within my own household.
The learned man lifted his head and spoke to the discerning king:
Since my hem is clean of any crime, I have no fear of a malicious enemy's slander.
This thought never crossed my mind; I don't know who accused me of what I never did.
The king said: what I said to you, let your rivals repeat it to your face.
The old vizier told me this about you; now say and do whatever you know is right.
Smiling, the man laid a finger on his lips: nothing that comes from him could surprise me.
How could an envious man who sees me in his place ever speak of me except with ill?
The moment the king set me above him, I already counted him my enemy.
When the king grants me precedence over him, don't you know he becomes my enemy behind my back?
He will not take me as a friend till the day of judgment, since he sees his own disgrace in my honor.
On this I will tell you a true story, if you will first lend your servant your ear.
I don't recall where I read it in some book: a man saw Satan in a dream,
tall as a cypress, beautiful as a houri, light streaming from his face like the sun.
He stepped forward and said: how strange, is this really you? No angel could be this lovely.
You, with a face as fair as the moon, why are you known throughout the world for ugliness?
Why does your portrait in the king's palace look so grim, ugly, and ruined?
The wretched, ill-fated man heard this and cried out in bitter grief.
He said: My good sir, this is not my true likeness; the brush was in the hand of my enemy.
In the same way my name is good, but the malicious never speak well of anyone.
The minister whose plots have washed away my standing, one must flee his cunning by miles.
Yet I do not fear the king's anger; the innocent man is bold when he speaks.
It is the one whose scale weights are short who dreads the arrival of the inspector.
When my letters come out true from the pen, why should I fear those who nitpick words?
The king was struck by how well he spoke, and raised his commanding hand.
He said: A guilty man is not cleared of his crime by flattery and glib talk.
It is not that I only heard about you from your rival; have I not seen it with my own eyes?
Of all the crowd in this court, your gaze rests on no one but these young men.
The eloquent man smiled and said: This is true, and the truth should not be hidden.
There is a point in this, if you will hear it, may your rule endure and your fortune stay strong.
Do you not see how the poor man with nothing looks longingly at the rich?
My youth and vigor are gone; my life passed in idle amusement and play.
I cannot help gazing at these young men, for they hold the wealth of beauty and grace.
I too once had a rose-colored face and a body as flawless as crystal.
Now my shroud must be spun; my hair is like cotton and my body the spindle.
I too once had jet-black curls, and my coat clung tight over a delicate frame.
Two rows of pearl-white teeth stood in my mouth, like a wall built of silver bricks.
Now look at me when I speak: they have fallen out one by one, like old ruined stones.
Why should I not look at these youths with longing, when they remind me of the life I wasted?
Those precious days are gone from me, and this day too will suddenly reach its end.
When the wise man had pierced this pearl of meaning, the king said: No one could say it better than this.
The king looked at the pillars of his court and said: Ask for no finer words or meaning than these.
Only he may gaze at the beautiful who can give such a reason for gazing.
Had I not acted with reason and restraint, I would have wronged him on his rival's word.
To reach hastily for the sword in anger is to end up biting the back of your hand in regret.
Do not listen to one who has a grudge, for if you act on it, you will be sorry.
He raised the honest man's rank, honor, and wealth, and punished the slanderer.
Through the wisdom and counsel of his learned minister, his name spread with goodness across his kingdom.
For years he ruled with justice and generosity; he passed on, and his good name remained.
Such kings, the ones who nurture faith, win the prize of good fortune by the strength of their faith.
I see no one like them in this age, and if there is one, it is Abu Bakr Sa'd, no other.
You are a tree of paradise, my king, casting a shade that stretches a full year's journey wide.
It was the hope of my lucky star that the wing of the phoenix would spread over my head.
Reason said: the phoenix grants no fortune; if you want good luck, come into this shade instead.
My God, you have looked with mercy, for you have spread this shade over the people.
Like a servant I pray for this reign: my God, keep this shade lasting.
It is wise to restrain before you strike, for you cannot rejoin the head of the slain.
The master of command, judgment, and majesty is not worn down by the clamor of the crowd.
A head full of pride but empty of patience has no right to the crown of kingship.
I do not say, stand firm when you wage war; I say, when anger rises, keep your reason in place.
Whoever has reason shows restraint, not the kind of reason that anger overpowers.
When anger charges from ambush like an army, neither fairness, nor piety, nor faith remains.
I have never seen a demon like this under the sky, one from whom so many kingdoms flee.