the son of King Jali’ad, said to Shimas the Wazir, “It behoveth the
Minister to bear himself towards the Monarch according to that which he
seeth of his condition, and not to presume upon the superiority of his
own judgment lest the King wax jealous of him.” Quoth Shimas, “How shall
the Wazir grace himself in the King’s sight?”—“By the performance of the
trust committed to him and of loyal counsel and sound judgment and the
execution of his commands.” (¿) “As for what thou sayest of the Wazir’s
duty to avoid the King’s anger and perform his wishes and apply himself
diligently to the doing of that wherewith he chargeth him, such duty is
always incumbent on him: but how, an the King’s whole pleasure be
tyranny and the practice of oppression and exorbitant extortion; and
what shall the Wazir do, if he be afflicted by intercourse with this
unjust lord? An he strive to turn him from his lust and his desire, he
cannot do this, and if he follow him in his lusts and flatter him with
false counsel, he assumeth the weight of responsibility herein and
becometh an enemy to the people. What sayst thou of this?”—“What thou
speakest, O Wazir, of his responsibility and sinfulness ariseth only in
the case of his abetting the King in his wrong-doing; but it behoveth
the Wazir, when the King taketh counsel with him of the like of this, to
show forth to him the way of justice and equity and warn him against
tyranny and oppression and expound to him the principles of righteously
governing the lieges; alluring him with the future reward that
pertaineth to this and restraining him with warning of the punishment he
otherwise will incur. If the King incline to him and hearken unto his
words, his end is gained, and if not, there is nothing for it but that
he depart from him after courteous fashion, because in parting for each
of them is ease.” (¿) “What are the duties of the King to his subjects
and what are the obligations of the lieges to their lord?”——“They shall
do whatso he ordereth them with pure intent and obey him in that which
pleaseth him and pleaseth Allah and the Apostle of Allah. And the lieges
can claim of the lord that he protect their possessions and guard their
women,[111] even as it is their duty to hearken unto him and obey him
and expend their lives freely in his defence and give him his lawful due
and praise him fairly for that which he bestoweth upon them of his
justice and bounty.” (¿) “Have his subjects any claim upon the King
other than that which thou hast said?”——“Yes: the rights of the subjects
from their Sovran are more binding than the liege lord’s claim upon his
lieges; for that the breach of his duty towards them is more harmful
than that of their duty towards him; because the ruin of the King and
the loss of his kingdom and fortune befal not save by the breach of his
devoir to his subjects: wherefore it behoveth him who is invested with
the kingship to be assiduous in furthering three things, to wit, the
fostering of the faith, the fostering of his subjects and the fostering
of government; for by the ensuing of these three things, his kingdom
shall endure.” (¿) “How doth it behove him to do for his subjects’
weal?”——“By giving them their due and maintaining their laws and
customs[112] and employing Olema and learned men to teach them and
justifying them, one of other, and sparing their blood and defending
their goods and lightening their loads and strengthening their hosts.”
(¿) “What is the Minister’s claim upon the Monarch?”——“None hath a more
imperative claim on the King than hath the Wazir, for three reasons:
firstly, because of that which shall befal him from his liege lord in
case of error in judgment, and because of the general advantage to King
and commons in case of sound judgment: secondly, that folk may know the
goodliness of the degree which the Wazir holdeth in the King’s esteem
and therefore look on him with eyes of veneration and respect and
submission[113]; and thirdly, that the Wazir, seeing this from King and
subjects, may ward off from them that which they hate and fulfil to them
that which they love.” (¿) “I have heard all thou hast said of the
attributes of King and Wazir and liege and approve thereof: but now tell
me what is incumbent in keeping the tongue from lying and folly and
slandering good names and excess in speech.”——“It behoveth a man to
speak naught but good and kindness and to talk not of that which
toucheth him not; to leave detraction nor carry talk he hath heard from
one man to his enemy, neither seek to harm his friend nor his foe with
his Sultan and reck not of any (neither of him from whom he hopeth for
good nor of him whom he feareth for mischief) save of Allah Almighty;
for He indeed is the only one who harmeth or profiteth. Let him not
impute default unto any nor talk ignorantly, lest he incur the weight
and the sin thereof before Allah and earn hate among men; for know thou
that speech is like an arrow which once shot none can avail to recall.
Let him also beware of disclosing his secret to one who shall discover
it, lest he fall into mischief by reason of its disclosure, after
confidence on its concealment; and let him be more careful to keep his
secret from his friend than from his foe; for the keeping a secret with
all folk is of the performance of faithful trust.” (¿) “Tell me how a
man should bear himself with his family and friends.”——“There is no rest
for a son of Adam save in righteous conduct: he should render to his
family that which they deserve and to his brethren whatso is their due.”
(¿) “What should one render to one’s kinsfolk?”——“To parents, submission
and soft speech and affability and honour and reverence. To brethren
good counsel and readiness to expend money for them and assistance in
their undertakings and joyance in their joy and grieving for their grief
and closing of the eyes toward the errors that they may commit; for,
when they experience this from a man, they requite him with the best of
counsel they can command and expend their lives in his defence;
wherefore, an thou know thy brother to be trusty, lavish upon him thy
love and help him in all his affairs.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Thirteenth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth, the
son and heir of King Jali’ad, when questioned by the Wazir upon the
subjects aforesaid, returned him satisfactory replies; when Shimas
resumed, “I see that brethren are of two kinds, brethren of trust and
brethren of society.[114] As for the first who be friends, there is due
to them that which thou hast set forth; but now tell me of the others
who be acquaintances.”——“As for brethren of society thou gettest of them
pleasance and goodly usance and fair speech and enjoyable company; so be
thou not sparing to them of thy delights, but be lavish to them thereof,
like as they are lavish to thee, and render to them that which they
render to thee of affable countenance and an open favour and sweet
speech; so shall thy life be pleasant and thy words be accepted of
them.” (¿) “Tell me now of the provision decreed by the Creator to all
creatures. Hath He allotted to men and beasts each his several provision
to the completion of his appointed life-term; and if this allotment be
thus, what maketh him who seeketh his livelihood to incur hardships and
travail in the quest of that which he knoweth must come to him, if it be
decreed to him, albeit he incur not the misery of endeavour; and which,
if it be not decreed to him, he shall not win, though he strive after it
with his uttermost striving? Shall he therefore stint endeavour and in
his Lord put trust and to his body and his soul give rest?”——“Indeed, we
see clearly that to each and every there is a provision distributed and
a term prescribed; but to all livelihood are a way and means, and he who
seeketh would get ease of his seeking by ceasing to seek; withal there
is no help but that he seek his fortune. The seeker is, however, in two
cases; either he gaineth his fortune or he faileth thereof. In the first
case, his pleasure consisteth in two conditions; first, in the having
gained his fortune, and secondly, in the laudable[115] issue of his
quest; and in the other case, his pleasure consisteth, first, in his
readiness to seek his daily bread, secondly, in his abstaining from
being a burthen to the folk, and thirdly, in his freedom from liability
to blame.” (¿) “What sayst thou of the means of seeking one’s
fortune?”——“A man shall hold lawful that which Allah (to whom belong
Might and Majesty) alloweth, and unlawful whatso He forbiddeth.”
Reaching this pass the discourse between them came to an end, and Shimas
and all the Olema present rose and prostrating themselves before the
young Prince, magnified and extolled him, whilst his father pressed him
to his bosom and seating him on the throne of kingship, said, “Praised
be Allah who hath blessed me with a son to be the coolth of mine eyes in
my lifetime!” Then said the King’s son to Shimas in presence of all the
Olema, “O sage that art versed in spiritual questions, albeit Allah have
vouchsafed to me but scanty knowledge, yet do I comprehend thine intent
in accepting from me what I proffered in answer concerning that whereof
thou hast asked me, whether I hit or missed the mark therein, and belike
thou forgavest my errors; but now I am minded to question thee anent a
thing, whereof my judgment faileth and whereto my capacity is
insufficient and which my tongue availeth not to set forth, for that it
is obscure to me, with the obscurity of clear water in a black vessel.
Wherefore I would have thee expound it to me so no iota thereof may
remain doubtful to the like of me, to whom its obscurity may present
itself in the future, even as it hath presented itself to me in the
past; since Allah, even as He hath made life to be in lymph[116] and
strength in food and the cure of the sick in the skill of the leach, so
hath He appointed the healing of the fool to be in the learning of the
wise. Give ear, therefore, to my speech.” Replied the Wazir, “O luminous
of intelligence and master of casuistical questions, thou whose
excellence all the Olema attest, by reason of the goodliness of thy
discretion of things and thy distribution[117] thereof and the justness
of thine answers to the questions I have asked thee, thou knowest that
thou canst enquire of me naught but thou art better able than I to form
a just judgment thereon and expound it truly: for that Allah hath
vouchsafed unto thee such wisdom as He hath bestowed on none other of
men. But inform me of what thou wouldst question me.” Quoth the Prince,
“Tell me from what did the Creator (magnified be His all-might!) create
the world, albeit there was before it naught and there is naught seen in
this world but it is created from something; and the Divine Creator
(extolled and exalted be He!) is able to create things from
nothing,[118] yet hath His will decreed, for all the perfection of His
power and grandeur, that He shall create naught but from something.” The
Wazir replied, “As for those, who fashion vessels of potter’s clay,[119]
and other handicraftsmen, who cannot originate one thing save from
another thing, they are themselves only created entities: but, as for
the Creator, who hath wrought the world after this wondrous fashion, an
thou wouldst know His power (extolled and exalted be He!) of calling
things into existence, extend thy thought and consider the various kinds
of created things, and thou wilt find signs and instances, proving the
perfection of His puissance and that He is able to create the ens from
the non-ens: nay, He called things into being, after absolute
non-existence, for the elements which be the matter of created things
were sheer nothingness. I will expound this to thee, so thou mayst be in
no scepticism thereof, and the marvel-signs of the alternation of Night
and Day shall make this clear to thee. When the light goeth and the
night cometh, the day is hidden from us and we know not the place where
it abideth; and when the night passeth away with its darkness and its
terror, the day cometh and we know not the abiding-place of the
night.[120] In like manner, when the sun riseth upon us, we know not
where it hath laid up its light, and when it setteth, we ignore the
abiding-place of its setting: and the examples of this among the works
of the Creator (magnified be His name and glorified be His might;)
abound in what confoundeth the thought of the keenest-witted of human
beings.” Rejoined the Prince, “O sage, thou hast set before me of the
power of the Creator what is incapable of denial; but tell me how He
called His creatures into existence.” Answered Shimas, “He created them
by the sole power of His one Word,[121] which existed before time, and
wherewith he created all things.” Quoth the Prince, “Then Allah (be His
name magnified and His might glorified!) only willed the existence of
created things, before they came into being?” Replied Shimas, “And of
His will, He created them with His one Word and but for His speech and
that one Word, the creation had not come into existence.”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fourteenth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that after the
King’s son had asked his sire’s Wazir the casuistical questions
aforesaid, and had received a sufficient answer, Shimas said to him, “O
dear my son,[122] there is no man can tell thee other but this I have
said, except he twist the words handed down to us of the Holy Law and
turn the truths thereof from their evident meaning. And such a
perversion is their saying that the Word hath inherent and positive
power and I take refuge with Allah from such a misbelief! Nay, the
meaning of our saying that Allah (to whom belong Might and Majesty)
created the world with His Word is that He (exalted be His name!) is One
in His essence and His attributes and not that His Word hath independent
power. On the contrary, power is one of the attributes of Allah, even as
speech and other attributes of perfection are attributes of Allah
(exalted be His dignity and extolled be His empery!); wherefore He may
not be conceived without His Word, nor may His Word be conceived without
Him; for, with His Word, Allah (extolled be His praise!) created all His
creatures, and without His Word, the Lord created naught. Indeed, He
created all things but by His Word of Truth, and by Truth are we
created.” Quote the Prince, “I comprehend that which thou hast said on
the subject of the Creator and from thee I accept this with
understanding; but I hear thee say that He created the world by His Word
of Truth. Now Truth is the opposite of Falsehood; whence then arose
Falsehood with its opposition unto Truth, and how cometh it to be
possible that it should be confounded therewith and become doubtful to
human beings, so that they need to distinguish between the twain? And
doth the Creator (to whom belong Might and Majesty) love Falsehood or
hate it? An thou say He loveth Truth and by it created all things and
abhorreth Falsehood, how came the False, which the Creator hateth, to
invade the True which He loveth?” Quoth Shimas, “Verily Allah the Most
High created man all Truth[123], loving His name and obeying His word,
and on this wise man had no need of repentance till Falsehood invaded
the Truth whereby he was created by means of the capability[124] which
Allah had placed in him, being the will and the inclination called lust
of lucre.[125] When the False invaded the True on this wise, right
became confounded with wrong, by reason of the will of man and his
capability and greed of gain, which is the voluntary side of him
together with the weakness of human nature: wherefore Allah created
penitence for man, to turn away from him Untruth and stablish him in
Truth; and He created for him also punishment, if he should abide in the
obscurity of Falsehood.” Quoth the Prince, “Tell me how came Untruth to
invade Truth, so as to be confounded therewith and how became man liable
to punishment and so stood in need of repentance.” Replied Shimas, “When
Allah created man with Truth, He made him loving to Himself and there
was for him neither repentance nor punishment; but he abode thus till
Allah put in him the soul, which is of the perfection of humanity,
albeit naturally inclined to lust which is inherent therein. From this
sprang the growth of Untruth and its confusion with Truth, wherewith man
was created and with the love whereof his nature had been made; and when
man came to this pass, he declined from the Truth with disobedience and
whoso declineth from the Truth falleth into Falsehood.” Said the Prince,
“Then Falsehood invaded Truth only by reason of disobedience and
transgression?” Shimas replied, “Yes: and it is thus because Allah
loveth mankind, and of the abundance of His love to man He created him
having need of Himself, that is to say, of the very Truth: but
oftentimes man lapseth from this by cause of the inclination of the soul
to lusts and turneth to frowardness, wherefore he falleth into Falsehood
by the act of disobeying his Lord and thus deserveth punishment; and by
putting away from himself Falsehood with repentance and by the returning
to the love of the Truth, he meriteth future reward.” Quoth the Prince,
“Tell me the origin of sin, whilst all mankind trace their being to
Adam, and how cometh it that he, being created of Allah with truth, drew
disobedience on himself; then was his disobedience coupled with
repentance, after the soul had been set in him, that his issue might be
reward or retribution? Indeed, we see some men constant in sinfulness,
inclining to that which He loveth not and transgressing in this the
original intent and purpose of their creation, which is the love of the
Truth, and drawing on themselves the wrath of their Lord, whilst we see
others constant in seeking the satisfaction of their Creator and obeying
Him and meriting mercy and future recompense. What causeth this
difference prevailing between them?” Replied Shimas, “The origin of
disobedience descending upon mankind is attributable to Iblis, who was
the noblest of all that Allah (magnified be His name!) created of
angels[126] and men and Jinn, and the love of the Truth was inherent in
him, for he knew naught but this; but whenas he saw himself unique in
such dignity, there entered into him pride and conceit, vainglory and
arrogance which revolted from loyalty and obedience to the commandment
of His Creator; wherefore Allah made him inferior to all creatures and
cast him out from love, making his abiding-place to be in disobedience.
So when he knew that Allah (glorified be His name!) loved not
disobedience and saw Adam and the case wherein he was of truth and love
and obedience to his Creator, envy entered into him and he devised some
device to pervert Adam from the truth, that he might be a partaker with
himself in Falsehood; and by this, Adam incurred chastisement for his
inclining to disobedience, which his foe made fair to him, and his
subjection to his lusts, whenas he transgressed the charge of his Lord,
by reason of the appearance of Falsehood. When the Creator (magnified be
the praises of Him and hallowed be the names of Him!) saw the weakness
of man and the swiftness of his inclining to his enemy and leaving the
truth, He appointed to him, of His mercy, repentance, that therewith he
might arise from the slough[127] of inclination to disobedience and
taking the arms and armour of repentance, overcome therewith his foe
Iblis and his hosts and return to the Truth, wherein he was created.
When Iblis saw that Allah (magnified be His praise!) had appointed him a
protracted term,[128] he hastened to wage war upon man and to beset him
with wiles, to the intent that he might oust him from the favour of his
Lord and make him a partaker with himself in the wrath which he and his
hosts had incurred; wherefore Allah (extolled be His praises!) appointed
unto man the capability of penitence and commanded him to apply himself
to the Truth and persevere therein; and forbade him from disobedience
and frowardness and revealed to him that he had on the earth an enemy
warring against him and relaxing not from him night nor day. Thus hath
man a right to future reward, if he adhere to the Truth, in the love of
which his nature was created; but he becometh liable to punishment, if
the flesh master him and incline him to lusts.”——And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the young
Prince had questioned Shimas touching disputed points of olden time and
had been duly answered, he presently said, “Now tell me by what power is
the creature able to transgress against his Creator, seeing that His
omnipotence is without bounds, even as thou hast set forth, and that
naught can overcome Him or depart from His will? Deemest thou not that
He is able to turn His creatures from this disobedience and compel them
eternally to hold the Truth?” Answered Shimas, “In very sooth Almighty
Allah (honoured be His name!) is just and equitable and loving-kind to
the people of His affection.[129] He created His creatures with justice
and equity and of the inspiration of His justice and the overflowing of
His mercy, He gave them kingship over themselves, that they should do
whatever they might design. He showeth them the way of righteousness and
bestoweth on them the power and ability of doing what they will of good:
and if they do the opposite thereof, they fall into destruction and
disobedience.” (¿) “If the Creator, as thou sayest, have granted to
mankind power and ability[130] and they by reason thereof are empowered
to do whatso they will, why then doth He not come between them and that
which they desire of wrong and turn them to the right?”—“This is of the
greatness of His mercy and the goodliness of His wisdom; for, even as
aforetime he showed wrath to Iblis and had no mercy on him, even so he
showed Adam mercy, by means[131] of repentance, and accepted of him,
after He had been wroth with him.” (¿) “He is indeed mere Truth, for He
it is who requiteth every one according to his works, and there is no
Creator save Allah who hath power over all things. But tell me, hath He
created that which He loveth and that which He loveth not or only that
which He loveth?”—“He created all things, but favoureth only that which
he loveth.” (¿) “What reckest thou of two things, one whereof is
pleasing to God and earneth future reward for him who practiseth it and
the other offendeth Allah and entaileth lawful punishment upon the
doer?”—“Expound to me these two things and make me to apprehend them,
that I may speak concerning them.” “They are good and evil, the two
things inherent in the body and in the soul.”—“O wise youth, I see that
thou knowest good and evil to be of the works which the soul and the
body combine to do. Good is named good, because it is in favour with
God, and evil is termed ill, for that in it is His ill-will. Indeed, it
behoveth thee to know Allah and to please Him by the practice of good,
for that He hath bidden us to this and forbidden us to do evil.” (¿) “I
see these two things, to wit, good and evil, to be wrought only by the
five senses familiarly known in the body of man, which be the
sensorium[132] whence proceed speech, hearing, sight, smell and touch.
Now I would have thee tell me whether these five senses were created
altogether for good or for evil.”—“Apprehend, O man, the exposition of
that whereof thou askest and it is a manifest proof; so lay it up in
thine innermost thought and take it to thy heart. And this it is that
the Creator (extolled and exalted be He!) created man with Truth and
impressed him with the love thereof and there proceedeth from it no
created thing save by the puissance of the Most High, whose trace is in
every phenomenon. He[133] (extol we Him and exalt we Him!) is not apt
but to the ordering of justice and equity and beneficence, and He
created man for the love of Him and set in him a soul, wherein the
inclination to lusts was innate and assigned him capability and ableness
and appointed the Five Senses aforesaid to be to him a means of winning
Heaven or Hell.” (¿) “How so?”—“In that He created the Tongue for
speech, the Hands for action, the Feet for walking and the Eyes for
seeing and the Ears for hearing, and upon each bestowed especial power
and incited them to exercise and motion, bidding each of them do naught
save that which pleaseth Him. Now what pleaseth Him in Speech is
truthfulness and abstaining from its opposite, which is falsehood; and
what pleaseth Him in Sight is turning it unto that which He loveth and
leaving the contrary, which is turning it unto that which He hateth,
such as looking unto lusts: and what pleaseth Him in Hearing is
hearkening to naught but the True, such as admonition and that which is
in Allah’s writ and leaving the contrary, which is listening to that
which incurreth the anger of Allah; and what pleaseth Him in the Hands
is not hoarding up that which He entrusteth to them, but expending it in
such way as shall please Him and leaving the contrary, which is avarice
or spending in sinfulness that which He hath committed to them; and what
pleaseth Him in the Feet is that they be constant in the pursuit of
good, such as the quest of instruction, and leave its contrary, which is
the walking in other than the way of Allah. Now respecting the rest of
the lusts which man practiseth, they proceed from the body by command of
the soul. But the lusts which proceed from the body are of two kinds,
the lust of reproduction and the lust of the belly. As for the former,
that which pleaseth Allah thereof is that it be not other than
lawful[134] and He is displeased with it if contrary to His law. As for
the lust of the belly, eating and drinking, what pleaseth Allah thereof
is that each take naught save that which the Almighty hath appointed him
be it little or mickle, and praise the Lord and thank Him: and what
angereth Him thereof is that a man take that which is not his by right.
All precepts other than these are false, and thou knowest that Allah
created every thing and delighteth only in Good and commandeth each
member of the body to do that which He hath made on it incumbent, for
that He is the All-wise, the All-knowing.” (¿) “Was it foreknown unto
Allah Almighty (exalted be His power!) that Adam, by eating of the tree
from which He forbade him and whence befel what befel, would leave
obedience for disobedience?”—“Yes, O sage youth. This was foreknown unto
Allah Almighty ere He created Adam; and the proof and manifestation
attached thereto is the warning He gave him against eating of the tree
and His informing him that, if he ate of the fruit he would be
disobedient. And this was in the way of justice and equity, lest Adam
should have an argument wherewith he might excuse himself against his
Lord. When, therefore, he fell into error and calamity and when disgrace
waxed sore upon him and reproach, this passed to his posterity after
him; wherefore Allah sent Prophets and Apostles and gave to them Books
and they taught us the divine commandments and expounded to us what was
therein of admonitions and precepts and made clear to us and manifest
the way of righteousness and explained to us what it behoved us to do
and what to leave undone. Now we are endowed with Freewill and he who
acteth within these lawful limits winneth his wish and prospereth, while
whoso transgresseth these legal bounds and doeth other than that which
these precepts enjoin, resisteth the Lord and is ruined in both Abodes.
This then is the road of Good and Evil. Thou knowest that Allah over all
things is Omnipotent and created not lusts for us but of His pleasure
and volunty and He bade us use them in the way of lawfulness, so they
might be to us a good; but, when we use them in the way of sinfulness
they are to us an evil. Therefore what of righteous we compass is from
Allah Almighty, and what of wrongous from ourselves[135] His creatures,
not from the Creator, exalted be He herefor with highmost
exaltation!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixteenth Night,