A Tale on the Meaning of Compassion

One of the great discerning men tells a story about Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. He owned a gemstone set in a ring, so precious that a jeweler could not put a price on it. At night it seemed to hold within its heart a door to daylight, glowing bright as day. As fate would have it, a drought set in, and the full moons of people's faces wasted to thin crescents. When he saw the people had no peace and no food, he found no honor in living comfortably himself. When someone sees poison in the mouths of the people, how can sweet water pass down his own throat? He ordered the gem sold for silver, for pity had seized him for the stranger and the orphan. Within a week he gave the money away completely, handing it to the poor, the destitute, the needy. People fell to blaming him: 'You will never find such a jewel in your hand again.' I have heard that he spoke while a rain of tears ran down his cheeks like a burning candle. 'It is ugly for a king to wear jewels while the heart of a city is wounded by hardship.' 'A ring without a gem suits me well enough; a whole people's grieving heart does not.' Blessed is the one who chooses the ease of men and women over adorning himself. The virtuous have never taken joy for themselves at the price of others' sorrow. If the king sleeps soundly on his throne, I doubt the poor man can sleep in peace. But if the king stays awake late into the night, the people can sleep in comfort and ease. Thank God, this conduct and this straight path belong to Atabak Abu Bakr ibn Sa'd. No one sees any other trace of turmoil in Fars now, except the swaying figures of the beautiful. Five lines pleased my ear, sung last night at a gathering. 'My whole comfort in life came from last night, when that moon-faced beauty lay in my arms.' 'When I saw her, her head still drunk with sleep, I said: O cypress, before you the tall cypress bows low.' 'Wash your narcissus eyes of sweet sleep for a moment; laugh like a rosebush, sing like a nightingale.' 'Why do you sleep, O turmoil of the age? Come, bring the sweet ruby wine.' 'Half-awake, she looked up from sleep and said: You call me turmoil, then tell me not to sleep?' 'In the days of a sultan whose spirit shines so bright, no one sees turmoil awake again.'