Of the Persian Khusraus1 do you knowledge possess?
For all 'neath their sway, they did sorely oppress.
Their splendour and royalty suffered decay;
Their oppression of villagers vanished away.
Observe the mistake which the tyrant's hand sped :
The world lives and he, with his foul deeds, is dead.
Oh blessed is the king on the great Judgment Day,
Who within the throne's shade is permitted to stay!
To the tribe who appreciate goodness, the Lord
Gives a king who with justice and wisdom is stored.
When He wishes to change to a desert the land,
He delivers the State to the tyrant's harsh hand.
Pious men, full of cautiousness, therefore, suppose
That the anger of God, through the tyrant's hand shows.
From Him know that greatness and gratitude spring;
If ungrateful for favours, they'll quickly take wing.
In the glorious book, you yourself must have read,
That in thankfulness bounty continues to spread.
If you've tendered your thanks for your riches and state,
You'll get wealth and a kingdom that will not abate.
And should you be tyrannous during your reign,
A beggar's estate, after empire, you'll gain.
It becomes not a king, in soft slumber, to rest,
While the weak by the strong are unjustly oppressed.
On the people one grain of distress do not bring!
For they are the flock and the shepherd's the king.
When war and injustice through him they sustain,
He's a wolf, not a shepherd; of him they complain.
1 Khusrau, name of a Persian dynasty.
The king who, on subjects, Oppression's hand laid, Departed unhappy and malice displayed.
you wish not that men should behind you revile, Be good, so that none can declare you have guile!
(OF THE TWO ROYAL BROTHERS-ONE JUST, THE OTHER TYRANNICAL).
I have heard that in one of the states of the West,
Two brothers once lived who one father possessed,---
Army leading and proud and of elephant size,
Good-looking and learned, clever swordsmen likewise.
The father found both of them terrible boys;
Fond of galloping horses and war's angry noise.
Forthwith he divided the kingdom in twain—
Gave a half to each son, over which he might reign—
Lest one 'gainst the other should rise up to fight,
And seize, to do battle, the sabre of spite.
The father then summed up his years in his mind;
To the Giver of Life his sweet life he resigned.
The Fates, then, his tent-ropes of hope cut away,
And death bound securely the hands of his sway.
Two kings were appointed to rule in that State;
For the treasure and number of soldiers were great.
Each, according to what appeared best, in his view,
Made arrangements his own special course to pursue.
One justice, to win a good name for himself;
The other, oppression, to treasure up pelf.
One made a good nature the guide of his reign;
Gave gold and took care of the indigent swain ;
Built hostels, gave bread, and to soldiers was kind,
And for beggars, at night, a night refuge designed.
To perfect his army his treasure he spent―
Like holiday folks who on pleasure are bent.
To the sky rose, like thunder, the shouts of applause;
Like in Bū-Băkăr-Sáď's time, the town of Shiraz.
A wise prince was he, with a nature serene;
May the branch of his hope ever fruitful be seen!
Hear the story about the magnanimous lad :
His footsteps were happy, his nature was glad.
He promoted the comfort of high and of low;
Praised the Maker at dawn and at evening's red glow.
All over the country, Karūn,1 fearless, went;
For the monarch was just and the poor were content.
Not a harm at a heart, all the time he survived,
From a thorn, not to mention a rose-leaf, arrived.
By the aid of the Lord, hostile chiefs lost the day,
And the leaders submitted themselves to his sway.
The other desired to enrich throne and crown,
And by raising the taxes ground villagers down.
For the riches of merchants he avarice showed;
On the life of the helpless calamity strewed.
I mean not to say he wished ill to the poor;
But he treated himself like a foe, to be sure.
He, hoping for increase, nor gave nor ate food.
The sage is aware that his plans were not good;
For before he could gather that gold by foul play,
His army, from weakness, had dwindled away.
At the ears of the merchants the rumour arrives,
That abuse in the land of this worthless one thrives.
From that country all buying and selling they turned;
The fields became barren, the husbandmen burned.
1 Karūn or Kōrah, cousin of Moses, noted for his wealth. A name applied to misers.
From his friendship when Fortune averted her face,
His foes, of necessity, worked his disgrace.
The warring of Heav'n his uprootal soon planned,
And the hoof of the enemy's horse ploughed his land.
In whom seeks he faith, since the treaty he tore ?
From whom asks he tax, since the peasant's no more?
What good can that sinful one covet to share,
When, after him, curses resound through the air?
Since his fortune was bad, from the day he was born,
The advice of the worthy he treated with scorn.
And what said the good to that "virtuous" man-
"The fruit you can eat! for no wrong-doer can."
His thoughts were depraved and his plans came to nought, For in justice dwelt that, which in harshness he sought.
One was cutting the branches and trunk of a tree;
The lord of the garden his doings did see.
He said, "If the work of this person is vile,
Himself, and not me, he is hurting, the while."
Advice is salvation, if taken aright;
Overthrow not the weak with the shoulder of might!
For, to-morrow, to God as a king will be borne
The beggar, that now, you'd not value one corn.
Since you wish that you may on the morrow be great,
Do not sink your own foe to a humble estate !
For when this dominion shall pass from your grasp,
That beggar your skirt, out of malice, will clasp.
At oppressing the feeble, take care not to aim ;
For, should they prevail, you'll be covered with shame.
In the view of the noble of mind, it is base
At the hand of the fallen to suffer disgrace.
Enlightened and fortunate men of renown,
Have obtained by their wisdom the throne and the crown.
In the wake of the true, do not crookedly steer!
And if Truth you desire, unto Sádi give ear!
(ON THE HAPPY TIMES OF THE CONTENTED POOR).
Do not say that no rank is than empire more great;
For the Dervish's realm is the happiest state!
The man lightly burdened will swifter proceed;
This is truth, and the good to the saying give heed.
The grief of a loaf, the poor beggar sustains;
To a world, the distress of a monarch attains.
When food for the ev'ning the beggar has found,
As the king of Damascus, he'll slumber as sound.
Both sorrow and gladness to end are inclined,
And will vanish together at death, from the mind.
What matters it then, whom the multitude crowned ?
What matters it then, who the tax money found?
If a noble should soar over Saturn on high,
Or a destitute man in a dungeon should lie ;
When both are attacked by the Army of Fate,
Which is one which the other no mortal can state.
(ON THE TRANSITORINESS OF GREATNESS).
I have heard that a skull in the Tigris, one day,
Conversed with a servant of God, in this way :—
|