Muntakhab al-tawarikh 16.3

16.3

Praise be to God the Lord of the worlds, and blessings upon the best of His created beings, Muhammad his family and companions all of them To proceed, it is said, in certain traditionary sayings, that two things tend to prolong life, and to cause rain to fall and trees to grow, one of these is to assist the oppressed—the other to repress the tyrannical An argument which they have advanced in support of this is that the prophet, may the peace and blessing of God be upon him, declared that the heavens are established by righteousness (equity) Equity is like the bird which, wherever it casts its shadow, secures an amplitude of treadeth, and the place where it builds its nest becomes the centre of chivalry, and rain falls from the heaven, while tyranny and oppression is as a bird which, wherever it flies, leads to famine and life and modesty are lost from among mankind.