第72章

Asked Ali，'What more？' And Majd al-Din answered，'O my son，take counsel of those who are older than thou and hasten not to do thy heart's desire.Have compassion on those who are below thee，so shall those who are above thee have compassion on thee； and oppress none，lest Allah empower one who shall oppress thee.How well saith the poet，'Add other wit to thy wit，counsel craving，* For man's true course hides not from minds of two Man is a mirror which but shows his face，* And by two mirrors he his back shall view.'

And as saith another，[259]

'Act on sure grounds，nor hurry fast，To gain the purpose that thou hast And be thou kindly to all men So kindly thou'lt be called again；

For not a deed the hand can try，Save 'neath the hand of God on high，Nor tyrant harsh work tyranny，Uncrushed by tyrant harsh as he.'

And as saith yet another，[260]

'Tyrannize not，if thou hast the power to do so； for the tyrannical-is in danger of revenges.

Thine eye will sleep while the oppressed，wakeful，will call down curses on thee，and God's eye sleepeth not.'

Beware of wine-bibbing，for drink is the root of all evil： it doeth away the reason and bringeth to contempt whoso useth it；

and how well saith the poet，'By Allah，wine shall not disturb me，while my soul*Join body，nor while speech the words of me explain：

No day will I be thralled to wine-skin cooled by breeze[261] *

Nor choose a friend save those who are of cups unfair.'

This，then，is my charge to thee； bear it before thine eyes，and Allah stand to thee in my stead.' Then he swooned away and kept silent awhile； and，when he came to himself，he besought pardon of Allah and pronounced the profession of the Faith，and was admitted to the mercy of the Almighty.So his son wept and lamented for him and presently made proper preparation for his burial； great and small walked in his funeral-procession and Koran readers recited Holy Writ about his bier； nor did Ali Shar omit aught of what was due to the dead.Then they prayed over him and committed him to the dust and wrote these two couplets upon his tomb，'Thou west create of dust and cam'st to life，* And learned'st in eloquence to place thy trust；

Anon，to dust returning，thou becamest*A corpse，as though ne'er taken from the dust.'

Now his son Ali Shar grieved for him with sore grief and mourned him with the ceremonies usual among men of note； nor did he cease to weep the loss of his father till his mother died also，not long afterwards，when he did with her as he had done with his sire.Then he sat in the shop，selling and buying and consorting with none of Almighty Allah's creatures，in accordance with his father's injunction.This wise he continued to do for a year，at the end of which time there came in to him by craft certain whoreson fellows and consorted with him，till he turned after their example to lewdness and swerved from the way of righteousness，drinking wine in flowing bowls and frequenting fair women night and day； for he said to himself，'Of a truth my father amassed this wealth for me，and if I spend it not，to whom shall I leave it？ By Allah，I will not do save as saith the poet，'An through the whole of life*Thou gett'st and gain'st for self；Say，when shalt thou enjoy*Thy gains and gotten pelf？'

And Ali Shar ceased not to waste his wealth all whiles of the day and all watches of the night，till he had made away with the whole of his riches and abode in pauper case and troubled at heart.So he sold his shop and lands and so forth，and after this he sold the clothes off his body，leaving himself but one suit；

and，as drunkenness quitted him and thoughtfulness came to him，he fell into grief and sore care.One day，when he had sat from day-break to mid-afternoon without breaking his fast，he said in his mind，'I will go round to those on whom I spent my monies：

perchance one of them will feed me this day.' So he went the round of them all； but，as often as he knocked at any one's door of them，the man denied himself and hid from him，till his stomach ached with hunger.Then he betook himself to the bazar of the merchants，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Tenth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Ali Shar feeling his stomach ache with hunger，betook himself to the merchants' bazar where he found a crowd of people assembled in ring，and said to himself，'I wonder what causeth these folk to crowd together thus？ By Allah，I will not budge hence till I see what is within yonder ring！' So he made his way into the ring and found therein a damsel exposed for sale who was five feet tall，[262] beautifully proportioned，rosy of cheek and high of breast； and who surpassed all the people of her time in beauty and loveliness and elegance and grace； even as saith one，describing her，'As she willed she was made，and in such a way that when*She was cast in Nature's mould neither short nor long was she：

Beauty woke to fall in love with the beauties of her form，*Where combine with all her coyness her pride and pudency：

The full moon is her face[263]and the branchlet is her shape，* And the musk-pod is her scent--what like her can there be？

'Tis as though she were moulded from water of the pearl，* And in every lovely limblet another moon we see！'