The Beginning

What matters is character, wisdom, and good judgment, not horses, playing fields, mallets, and balls. You share your very house with the enemy that is your own ego, so why are you locked in battle with strangers? Those who pulled the reins of their desire back from what is forbidden surpassed even Rostam and Sam in true manhood. Discipline yourself like a child, with a switch; don't smash other people's heads with a heavy club. Your being is a city full of good and evil; you are its king, and wise reason is your minister. Contentment and restraint are the free, honorable citizens; lust and craving are the thieves and pickpockets. When a king shows favor to the wicked, how can the wise ever find any peace? Lust, greed, spite, and envy run in you like blood in the veins, like life in the body. Desire and craving lose the strength to fight the moment they see the sharp grip of reason. A ruler who never disciplines his enemy will lose his own command to that enemy's hand. I won't say much more on this subject, for a single word is enough, if someone puts it to use.