English
The Book of Counsel for Kings (Sections 1-75)
In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Praise be to God, sufficient for all creatures, the One. Praise be to God for His blessings, and I ask for more of His generosity. I bear witness that there is no god but Him, described by His eternity, and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, who folded up the heavens with His power.
Now, after praising the Lord of the world and remembering the best of Adam's children (peace be upon him), let us begin counseling those who hold power. One dear friend asked for a short treatise on this theme, close to understanding and free of pretension. I wrote back to him: know that for the kings of the world, the counsel of the Lord of the worlds is enough, for He says: 'When you judge among people, judge with justice,' and 'God commands justice and kindness.' As far as I am able, I will explain a few words on the meaning of justice and kindness, and success comes from God.
1. Kings who are compassionate toward the poor are the true guardians of their own realm, for justice, kindness, and fairness bring the people security and prosperity; the kingdom flourishes, the treasuries fill, worldly bounty is gained and the reward of the next world attained. But if oppression is chosen, the opposite follows.
The tyrant died and left behind an ugly custom;
the just man died and left a good name as his legacy.
2. It is a king's way to beg at God's door by night and rule by day. Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, when night fell, would put on a dervish's cloak and say: O Lord, the kingdom is Yours and I am Your servant; You gave it, and You grant power and victory.
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, on waking, would give thanks and pray: O Lord, grant me the grace of justice; keep me from the people's harm and them from mine; grant me bread, but never let me earn it by wounding a heart or drawing the curse of the oppressed.
3. The holder of power must reflect on how kingdoms pass from people to people, so he sets no store by the world's five days of respite. A caliph asked Bahlul for counsel; he said: nothing goes from this world to the next but reward and punishment; now the choice is yours.
4. Let him honor the scholars of the faith and rule by their advice, so the state obeys the sacred law, not the law the state.
5. Let him count building mosques, lodges, bridges, cisterns, and roadside wells among the vital affairs of the kingdom.
6. Let him care for those devoted to God, for the aspiration of the pious protects the reign of kings; the wise say a kingdom endures through caring for the helpless.
7. A discerning king reflects on each person's worth and comforts each accordingly, providing for the deserving without the humiliation of asking, for the noble in spirit only wish, and the wisher should find.
If a man has a share of skill,
let his skill speak for him, not the man himself.
8. Let him provide for old servants too weak to serve, for a dawn prayer is better than service at the court.
9. Let him not erase the good works of former kings, so his own may likewise endure.
10. A king's companions should be wise, pleasant, chaste, nobly born, of good name and conduct, worldly and experienced.
11. Fit to be a minister is one who cares more for the king's faith than his wealth, and forbids injustice to the people.
12. Let him always aid the frail elderly, widows, orphans, the needy, and strangers, for whoever lends no hand is unfit to lead.
13. Kings are fathers to orphans, and must care for them better than their own fathers would. A guardian once returned a child's gold to a ruler, saying: take it from the child if you dare, and answer to him on Judgment Day. The ruler wept, sent the gold back, and provided for the child until he came of age.
14. Let him give little support to the corrupt, for a companion of the bad shares in sin.
15. Let him keep his hand open, except when income falls short, for both miserliness and extravagance are blameworthy: take a middle path.
16. Good-heartedness has its place, but not so much that people grow bold; enduring the wrongs of the unjust is not generosity but weak judgment.
17. Generosity is praiseworthy, but not until resources weaken; guarding wealth is prudent, but not until the army suffers want.
18. Anger serves a king, but not to the point of repulsion; wit is permissible, but not to the point of seeming foolish.
19. Piety is fitting, but not until life turns bitter; joy is necessary, but not until worship and the people's needs are drowned.
20. Let him keep the times of prayer, and speak fittingly before scholars and the righteous.
21. Let him study the histories of earlier kings, to follow their good conduct and to see the turns of fortune, so he is not made vain by rank and beauty.
22. Let him not make musicians, gamblers, entertainers, poets, and tricksters his constant companions, for they blacken the heart, except now and then to dispel weariness.
Shibli entered a king's court and found him at chess with his minister. He said: well done; you were seated to uphold what is right, and here you play games?
23. Ruling is a mighty task; one must stay alert and always in his heart converse with God, so that from his hand, tongue, pen, and step comes only good.
24. Let him not entrust great tasks to the untried, for that brings regret.
25. Let him not make the suspect and impious his intimates, for their nature rubs off on him.
26. Let him accept no charge of treachery unless sure of the witness, and punish no one until he has reached the truth.
27. Let him not spare thieves and murderers because of friends' intercession.
28. Thieves are of two kinds: those with bow and arrow in the country, and those with cheating scales in the market; both must be suppressed.
29. Nushirvan the Just was seen in a dream in a joyful place; asked how he reached it, he said: I showed no mercy to criminals and harmed no innocent.
30. Let him not act on every thought; first think, then consult, then when his judgment shows the right course, begin in God's name and trusting Him.
31. Let him expect counsel from the worldly-wise elder, and fighting from the ignorant youth.
32. Let him give justice to the wronged, for a ruler who does not put down thieves is robbing the caravan himself.
33. A king's pleasures become lawful only when he drives evil from the people, as a shepherd drives the wolf from the flock; if he can and will not, his wage is forbidden.
Dhu al-Nun told a king of an oppressive governor. The king said he would punish him one day. Dhu al-Nun replied: yes, after he has stripped the people, you will take it back into your treasury; what good is that to the poor? Ashamed, the king stopped the harm at once.
The wolf's head should be cut off at the very first,
not after it has torn apart people like sheep.
34. Punishing the corrupt is praiseworthy only when the ruler himself abstains from vice. One king smashed drinkers' wine-jars, then that evening ordered wine made from his own garden's grapes; a wise man said: you who told others not to do wrong, do not do it yourself.
35. It ill befits a king to be angry without cause; even when rightly angered, let him not exceed the measure of retribution.
36. Take the path of kindness with friend and enemy, for it deepens love and lessens malice.
37. The treasury should always be full, and spending without cause forbidden, for enemies lie in ambush and calamities are on the way.
38. Let him never feel safe from treachery, lest the envious seize their chance.
39. He should know the names and lineage of all his attendants, so no enemy, spy, or assassin slips in.
40. He should set secret observers on each notable of the court, so no misconduct stays hidden.
41. Every few months let him have the prison investigated, freeing the innocent and pardoning small offenses.
42. With debtors, solvent or insolvent, let him be patient; if both parties are destitute and the treasury full, let the debt be paid, for the realm is truly guarded by the prayers of the poor.
43. Let him inquire after those struck by raids, shipwreck, and loss, for this is a great duty.
44. With a tenant whose income has fallen short, let him show leniency and grant a more profitable enterprise.
45. Let him treat the skilled well, so skill and refinement spread and the kingdom gains beauty.
46. A servant who has failed yet borne his punishment should be given work again, for restoring the fallen is no less a reward than freeing prisoners.
47. Let him employ those who have known hardship, for out of fear of poverty they strive with all their soul.
48. Let him treat soldiers well and win their hearts, for enemies are united in enmity, so friends must not be divided.
49. A soldier who flees the battle must be killed, for the king's bread is the price of his life.
50. Let him not give office to an abuser of the people, for they will not curse him alone.
51. Let an heir honor his father's friends and companions and not neglect them.
52. Kings hold power through the people; when they wound the people, they are enemies of their own realm.
53. Kings are the head, the people the body; it is a foolish head that tears its own body with its teeth.
54. What he wishes kept secret he should not tell even his intimates, for friends have their own friends, and so it goes.
55. Let him not tell friends everything, for friendship does not last forever.
56. Let him not turn away from the poor's needs, but speak kindly and listen willingly.
57. He must endure the burdens of those he commands and grant each one's need, for a harsh, sour-faced ruler is unfit to lead.
The lord of command, judgment, and majesty
is not worn down by the clamor of the crowd.
A man brought a grievance to Hajjaj, who ignored him. Laughing, the man said: this one is prouder than God, for God spoke to Moses, yet you will not speak to His creatures. Hajjaj heard, and gave him justice.
58. The slanderer of an innocent should be handed to his accuser, so others take warning.
59. Let him rotate his clerks from office to office, so any wrongdoing does not stay hidden.
60. Let him repay gifts and offerings promptly with like in return, and not delay beyond measure.
61. Before strangers a king may sit in majesty, but among intimates an open, sociable face is better.
62. Let him partner in a task two people not fond of each other, so they do not collude in treachery.
When wolves are content to harm one another,
the sheep can rest at ease among them.
63. A wise king does not wound the people, so that when an outside enemy strikes, he is safe from the enemy within.
64. Let him order his frontier guards not to abuse foreigners, so the kingdom is safe on both sides.
65. When he banishes a servant for a hideous offense, let him not forget his old right of long service.
66. A hundred faults in a servant may be pardoned out of respect for his honored forefathers.
67. When one raised in his favor sheds blood and must die, let him not leave the man's family destitute.
68. Let him not withhold livelihood from the children of soldiers killed fighting the enemy.
69. Let him show gentleness to stranger and townsman, high and low, for it costs his rank nothing and makes him beloved.
70. When he wishes to pardon a fault, let him show a sign of favor; the great will plead for mercy, and upon repentance and a pledge of good conduct, let him pardon.
71. When he imprisons men of power, let him treat them with honor and provide the means of comfort, for fortune is two days, one for me and one for you.
72. A king's good judgment is not to lock horns with the strong nor oppress the weak, for wrestling the stronger is unwise, and twisting the weak's arm unchivalrous.
73. To wound the hearts of friends is to fulfill the wishes of enemies.
74. Outright injustice is to overlook the crimes of the privileged while beheading the common folk.
75. A just ruler is like a firm wall: the moment it starts to lean, know it is heading for ruin.