سندبادنامه 311.23

311.23

وتوائب زمان کساد وفساد نذیرذ . پاذشاه بر همه جهان ، کی عیال جلال ، وموالی عوالی سیاست اوست ، طریق انصاف وانتصاف سپرذ؛ آنکاه نتیجهآ اقبال ، وزبدهآ جلال پاذشاهی را تحریض ناقص عقلی هدف 3 تیر تلف گردانذ در شریعت کرم ، وسنت دیانت ، موافق وملایم عقل ننمایذ ، ومفتی عقل قلم بر ساض این فتوی ننهذ؛ وآوازهآ این سیاست چون از دروازهٔ‌ دار الملک ، بواسطهٔ‌ اخبار صادر ووارد بسمع ملوک اقالیم رسذ ، طباع واسماع ملوک وسلاطین از مخالصت وموافقت این دولت متنفر گردذ ؛ وچشم اطماع فسده ، در ساحت ملک ودولت باز شوذ ، ودست تعرض خصمان دولت دراز گردذ ؛ وعقلای جهان ، وعلمای گیهان، کی ناظر امور جمهورند ، تقدیم این سیاست را هفوت محض ، وزلت صرف شمرید؛ ووزرا وندمای اورا برکا کت عقل وسخافت رآی منسوب گردانند . وبر رأی جهان آرای عدل فرمای شاه ، کی آفتاب درپیش او 2 چون سایهآ دیوار ، بر رخسار روز گار (000) ، مقرر است کی ملوک وامرارا هیچ عیبی زیادت از التفات نموذن قول زنان نست ؛ وکلمات ایشانرا کی مهیج فترت ، وباعث زلت است ، در وهم وخیال ودر ذهن وفکرت ، حای داذن از عقل وخرذ دورست ؛ وهرکه ر مهر زنان وموافقت ایشان اعتماد بمایذ ، در عواقب آن در ورطهٔ‌ غرامت وبدامت

and the calamities of time it suffers neither stagnation nor ruin. The king has traversed the path of equity and justice over the whole world,
which constitutes the dependents of his majesty and the subjects of the heights of his punishment;
that then the offspring of royal good fortune and the cream of majesty should, by the instigation of one deficient in intellect, be made the target of the arrow
of destruction does not appear conformable and suitable to intellect in the Sharīʿa of generosity and the custom of religion,
and the mufti of intellect will not set his pen upon the clean sheet of this legal opinion; and when the report of this punishment,
by means of the news arriving and departing, reaches from the gates of the capital to the hearing of the kings
of the realms, the natures and hearing of kings and sultans will turn in revulsion from sincerity and agreement with this dynasty;
and the eye of greed of the corrupt will open upon the expanse of the kingdom and the realm,
and the hand of interference of the enemies of the state will be stretched forth; and the wise of the world and the learned of the earth,
who watch over the affairs of the public, will consider the execution of this punishment pure error and unmitigated
blunder, and will attribute his viziers and courtiers to weakness of intellect and foolishness of judgment.
And to the world-adorning, justice-decreeing judgment of the shah—before which the sun is
like the shadow of a wall upon the face of time […]—it is firmly established that for kings and amirs
there is no greater fault than paying regard to the words of women; and giving their speech—
which incites upheaval and causes slips—a place in fancy and imagination, and in mind
and thought, is far from intellect and reason. And whoever relies upon the affection of women
and their compliance will, in the end, be trapped in the abyss of loss and regret,