CONCERNING RESIGNATION
Happiness comes from the favour of God, not from the might of the
powerful.
If the heavens bestow not fortune, by no valour can it be obtained.
The ant suffers not by reason of its weakness; the tiger eats not by
virtue of its strength.
Since the hand reaches not to the skies, accept as inevitable the fortune
that it brings.
If thy life is destined to be long, no snake nor sword will harm thee;
when the fated day of death arrives, the antidote will kill thee no less
than the poison.
STORY OF A SOLDIER OF ISFAHAN
In Isfahan I had a friend who was warlike, spirited, and shrewd. His
hands and dagger were for ever stained with blood. The hearts of his
enemies were consumed by fear of him; even the tigers stood in awe of
him. In battle he was like a sparrow among locusts; in combat, sparrows
and men were alike to him. Had he made an attack upon Faridun, he would
not have given the latter time to draw his sword. Neither in bravery nor
magnanimity had he an equal.
This warrior formed a liking for my company; but as I was not destined to
remain in Isfahan, Fate transferred me from Iraq to Syria, in which holy
land my staying was agreeable. After some time the desire for my home
attracted me, so I returned to Iraq.
One night, the memory of the sepoy passed through my mind; the salt of
his friendship opened the wounds of my gratitude, for I had eaten salt
from his hand. To meet him, I went to Isfahan, and inquired as to where
he lived.
I chanced upon him. He who had been a youth had become old; his form,
once erect as an arrow, had become as a bow. Like a hoary mountain, his
head was covered with snowy hair; Time had conquered him and twisted the
wrist of his bravery. The pride of his strength had gone; the head of
weakness was upon his knees.
“O tiger-seizer!” I exclaimed, “what has made thee decrepit like an old
fox?”
He laughed and said: “Since the day of the battle of Tartary, I have
expelled the thoughts of fighting from my head. Then did I see the earth
arrayed with spears like a forest of reeds. I raised like smoke the dust
of conflict; but when Fortune does not favour, of what avail is fury? I
am one who, in combat, could take with a spear a ring from the palm of
the hand; but, as my star did not befriend me, they encircled me as with
a ring. I seized the opportunity of flight, for only a fool strives with
Fate. How could my helmet and cuirass aid me when my bright star favoured
me not? When the key of victory is not in the hand, no one can break open
the door of conquest with his arms.
“The enemy were a pack of leopards, and as strong as elephants. The
heads of the heroes were encased in iron, as were also the hoofs of the
horses. We urged on our Arab steeds like a cloud, and when the two armies
encountered each other thou wouldst have said they had struck the sky
down to the earth. From the raining of arrows, that descended like hail,
the storm of death arose in every corner. Not one of our troops came out
of the battle but his cuirass was soaked with blood. Not that our swords
were blunt—it was the vengeance of stars of ill fortune. Overpowered, we
surrendered, like a fish which, though protected by scales, is caught by
the hook in the bait. Since Fortune averted her face, useless was our
shield against the arrows of Fate.”
STORY OF THE DOCTOR AND THE VILLAGER
One night a villager could not sleep owing to a pain in his side. A
doctor said: “This pain is caused by his having eaten the leaves of the
vine. I shall be astonished if he lasts through the night, for the arrows
of a Tartar in his breast were better for him than the eating of such
indigestible food.”
That night the doctor died; forty years have since passed, and the
villager yet lives.
STORY OF THE VILLAGER AND HIS ASS
The ass of a villager died, so he set the head upon a vine in his garden
in order that it might ward off the Evil Eye.
A sage old man passed by and laughingly remarked: “Dost think, O friend,
this will effect thy purpose? In life, the ass could not protect itself
from blows; so, in weakness, did it die.”
What knows the physician of the condition of the sick, when, helpless, he
himself will die through illness?
STORY ILLUSTRATING LUCK
A poor man dropped a dinar in the road. He searched much, but at last,
despairing, abandoned the attempt.
Some one came along and found the coin by chance.
Good and ill fortune are predestined. Our daily portion depends not upon
our strength and efforts, for those who are strongest and strive the most
stand often in the direst need.
STORY OF ONE WHO BLAMED HIS DESTINY
There was once a rich and prosperous man named Bakhtyār. The wife of one
of his neighbours, who was in the other extreme of poverty, upbraided
her husband one night when he went to her empty-handed, saying: “No one
is so poor and unfortunate as thee. Take a lesson from thy neighbours,
who are well-to-do. Why art thou not fortunate, like them?”
The man replied: “I am incapable of aught; quarrel not with Fate. I have
not been endowed with the power to make myself a Bakhtyār.”[25]
STORY OF A DARWESH AND HIS WIFE
A darwesh remarked to his wife, who was of ill-favoured countenance:
“Since Fate has made thee ugly, do not encrust thy face with cosmetic.”
Who can attain good fortune by force? Who, with collyrium, can make the
blind to see?
Not one among the philosophers of Greece or Rome could produce honey from
the thorn.
Wild beasts cannot become men; education is wasted upon them.
A mirror can be freed from stain, but it cannot be made from a stone.
Roses do not blossom on the branches of the willow; hot baths never yet
made an Ethiop white.
Since one cannot escape the arrows of Fate, resignation is the only
shield.
STORY OF A VULTURE AND A KITE
A vulture said to a kite: “No one can see so far as I.”
“Possibly,” replied the kite; “but what canst thou see across the desert?”
Gazing down, the vulture exclaimed: “Yonder do I see a grain of wheat.”
Thereupon, they flew to the ground. When the vulture settled upon the
wheat he became caught in a trap. He had not known that, through his
eating the grain, Fate would ensnare him by the neck.
Not every oyster contains a pearl; not every archer hits the target.
“Of what use,” the kite inquired, “was it to see the grain when thou
couldst not discern the trap of thine enemy?”
“Caution,” said the captive vulture, “availeth not with Destiny.”
When the decrees of past eternity are brought to action, the keenest eyes
are rendered blind by Fate.
In the ocean, where no shore-line appears, the swimmer strives in vain.
STORY OF A CAMEL
A young camel said to its mother: “After thou hast made a journey, rest
awhile.”
“If the bridle were in my hands,” was the reply, “no one would ever see
me in the string of camels with a load upon my back.”
Fate is the helmsman of the ship of life, no matter though the owner rend
his clothes.
O Sadi! look not for aid from any man. God is the giver, and He alone. If
thou worship Him, the door of His mercy sufficeth thee; if He drive thee
away, no one will ease thee. If He make thee to wear a crown, raise thy
head; if not, bow thy head in despair.
DISCOURSE CONCERNING HYPOCRISY
Who knows that thou art not pledged to God even though thou standest in
prayer without ablution?
That prayer is the key to hell which thou performest only before the eyes
of men.
If the high-road of thy life lead to aught but God, thy prayer-mat will
be thrown into the fire.
He whose heart is good and makes no outward show of piety is better than
one of outward sanctity whose heart is false.
A night-prowling robber is better than a sinner in the tunic of a saint.
Expect not wages from Omar, O son, when thou workest in the house of Zaid.
If in private I am bad and mean, of what avail is it to pose before the
world with honour? How much will the bag of hypocrisy weigh in the Scales
of Justice?
The outside of the hypocrite’s coat is neater than the lining, for the
one is seen and the other is hidden.