The Repentance of the Prince of Ganja

In Ganja there was a prince, far from your likeness, corrupt and violent. He staggered into the mosque, singing and drunk, wine in his head and a goblet in his hand. In the prayer niche a pious man was praying, with a winning tongue and a pure heart. A few people were gathered around his words: if you can't be the teacher, at least be a listener. When that stubborn man began his disgraceful ways, the hearts of those good people were ruined inside. When the ruler himself denies what is right, who would dare speak of ordering the good? Garlic overpowers the scent of roses; the sound of the harp is drowned out by the drum. If you have the power to forbid wrong, you shouldn't sit idle like the crippled. And if you lack the hand of power, then speak, so that character may be cleansed by counsel. When neither hand nor tongue has any room, true men show their manhood through inner resolve. Someone came before the wise recluse and wept, pressing his head to the ground and moaning. 'At least pray against this filthy, drunken rogue, for we have neither tongue nor hand to act.' One burning breath from an aware heart is stronger than seventy swords and axes. The worldly wise man raised his hands. What did he say? 'O Lord of the high and the low, this young man is having a fine time in life; God, keep his time forever pleasant.' Someone said to him, 'O model of righteousness, why did you wish good on this evil man? When you wish good for such a treacherous one, are you not wishing ill upon the people of the city?' The sharp-witted seer replied, 'When you don't grasp the heart of a saying, don't fume.' 'I did not disturb the gathering with idle chatter; from the just Creator I asked for his repentance, so that whenever he turns away from his ugly ways, he may reach an eternal joy in paradise. This pleasure lasts only five short days; give it up, and endless joys await him.' The words that the eloquent man spoke, someone from that crowd reported to the prince. Tears gathered in his eyes like clouds from the emotion, and a flood of regret poured down his face. His heart burned in the fire of longing; shame nailed his gaze to the top of his own feet. He sent someone to the good and holy man, knocking at the door of repentance: 'Come to my rescue. Take the trouble to come, so I may lay down my head and set aside the head of ignorance and dishonesty.' The guards lined up in two rows at the gate, and the eloquent man came into the royal hall. He saw sugar and jujube, candles and wine: a house full of blessings but people ruined. One had lost himself entirely, one was half drunk, one recited poems with a flask in hand. From one side the musician raised his uproar, from another the cupbearer's cry of 'Drink!' The companions were wrecked by the ruby-red wine, the lead harpist asleep, curled up like a harp. Among the proud drinking-mates, no one there had eyes open except the narcissus. The tambourine and harp, tuned together, drew a plaintive low wail from their midst. He gave the order, and they smashed everything to pieces; that pure revelry turned into bitter dregs. They broke the harp and snapped its strings, and drove the singer out from his song. In the tavern they struck stones against the jars, sat the wine-gourd down and cut its neck. Tulip-red wine ran from the overturned jug just as blood runs from a slaughtered goose. The wine vat was nine months pregnant with liquor; in that upheaval it quickly miscarried its daughter. They slit the wineskin from belly to navel, while the cup, with bloody eyes, wept over it. He ordered them to tear up the stones of the courtyard and lay them anew, because the ruby-colored stain of the wine would not wash away from the face of the marble. No wonder the drain was wrecked, for it swallowed so much wine that day. After this, anyone who took up a lute got slapped on the neck by the people, like a tambourine. And if any wanton one hoisted a harp on his shoulder, they twisted his ears like a lute's tuning pegs. The youth, once drunk with arrogance and pride, now sat in the corner of worship like an old sage. His father had warned him many times, sternly: 'Walk the worthy path and speak clean words.' He had endured his father's harshness, prison, and chains, yet none of it helped him as much as this advice. If the gentle preacher had spoken to him harshly, saying, 'Cast youth and folly out of your head,' his delusion and pride would have driven him to leave the poor man not alive. A roaring lion does not drop its shield in battle, nor does the leopard fear the sharpest blade. With gentleness you can turn an enemy into a friend; be harsh with a friend, and he becomes your enemy. No one has shown a face as hard as an anvil without taking the hammer of correction on his head. Do not speak roughly to a ruler; when you see him grow harsh, ease off. Get along kindly with everyone you meet, whether they are beneath you or high above. For this neck, out of delicacy, lifts itself to good words, while that proud head draws back. With sweet speech you can win the game; the hot-tempered always carry away bitterness. Learn sweet speech from Saadi, and tell the sour-faced to die in his bitterness.