Chapter I: Story: Satan Appears to a Man in a Dream

Some one saw in a dream the malevolent one ;In stature a cypress; in visage a sun.He viewed him. "Oh peer of the moon," he then cried,"With no news of your beauty are people supplied.They fancy you having a face that appals,And depict you as ugly, on bath-chamber walls."The Devil said, smiling, " My form is not so ;But the pencil is held in the hand of my foe.Their root out of Paradise fearless I threw ;In revenge, they now paint me most hideous to view.""Though I, in like manner, possess a good name,My foe out of malice refuses my claim.Since my dignity caused the vizier's overthrow,A league from his frauds it behoves me to go.But the wrath of the king does not terrify me;For bold is the speech that from baseness is free.Since my letters all issue correct from the pen,Why should I be grieved about fault-finding men?If an agent has honestly followed his trade,When checked by inspectors he is not afraid.When the chief of police goes his rounds, he is sadWhose weighing arrangements are found to be bad."At his speaking the king's equanimity fled;Snapping Sov'reignty's fingers in anger, he said :—"The culprit with cant and glib words that allure,From his guiltiness cannot expect to be pure.The same that I heard from your foe with surprise,At last, I have seen you perform with my eyes.For at Court in the circle of people around,Your gaze on these slaves, and none other, is found."The man of rare eloquence smiled and thus spoke :—"This is true : and the truth it is needless to cloak.There's a meaning in this, if attention you pay;Obeyed be your orders and strong be your sway !Don't you see that the pauper in indigent plight,With regret on the opulent fixes his sight?My vigour of youth has departed at last ;In sporting and playing my life has been passed.As I gaze on these two, no endurance have I;For the sources of beauty and grace in them lie.A similar rose-coloured face I did own ;Like the purest of crystal my body, once, shone.But now, it behoves me my shroud thread to spin ;For like cotton's my hair, and I'm spindle-like thin.Such night-tinted curls I at one time possessed,And my elegant coat fitted tight to my breast.Two strings of fine pearls in my mouth held a place;Like a wall made of bricks with a silvery base.And look at me now! While to speak I make bold,These have fall'n one by one, like a bridge become old.Why should I not look with regret on these two,Since the life I have wrecked they recall to my view?Those days that were dear have away from me flown,And the end of this day, too, has suddenly shown."When this pearl, full of meaning, the sage had pierced through—"Than this," said the king, "none can utter more true."The king on his Pillars of State fixed his eyes,Saying—" Ask not for language and meaning more wise !It is meet that a man on a charmer should gaze,Who knows of such proofs to account for his ways.By Wisdom, I swear ! if I had not been slow,I'd have punished him now, on the word of his foe."He who hurriedly seizes the sword in a pet,Bites the back of his hand with the teeth of regret.To the talk of the int'rested, do not give ear!If you take their advice, your repentance is near.The position and wealth of the man of good nameHe increased, and the slanderer suffered more shame.By attending to what his wise counsellor said,With goodness his name through his kingdom soon spread.Many years he with kindness and equity reigned;He died and his good reputation remained.Such monarchs who foster the Faith in their sway,By the arm of the Faith, Fortune's ball bear away.Of these in this age not a person I see;If one lives—only Bu-Bakar-Sad he can be :A prince, who is happy in nature and wise.May the branch of his hope ever fruitful arise!Oh king, you're the tree which doth Paradise grace !Whose shadow falls over a marvellous space !In my fortunate star, the desire I have fed,That the wing of the Simurgh might soar o'er my head.Said Wisdom—"The Simurgh none wealthy has made:If you wish to be prosp'rous, come under this shade!"Oh God, a most merciful look Thou hast shown,Since over the people this shade Thou hast thrown.For this state of prosperity, slave-like, I pray :—"Oh God ! never take this good shadow away !"It is just ere you kill to confine for a space ;For the head that is severed you cannot replace.The Lord of all wisdom and pomp and command,From the clamour of man shows not weakness of hand.To the arrogant head, of forbearance bereft,It is wrong that the crown of a king should be left.When you're warlike, I do not say, hold by your ownBut, when you are angry, let wisdom be shown !Whoever has wisdom can patience display—Not the wisdom that anger can hold in its sway.When the army drove Anger from ambush to light,Faith, Justice and Piety vanished from sight.Such a demon as this, I've not seen 'neath the sky,From whom such an army of angels should fly.