سندبادنامه 160.11

160.11

Since the traces of divine favor and grace have made the attributes of the king’s noble person the index of the virtues and character
of the people of the world, and the preface to the virtues and deeds of humankind, his luminous mind reads the hidden decrees
of destiny from the tablet of predestination, and his noble intellect sees and knows the concealments of fate that come from the concealment of non-existence
into the bounds of existence. And as is commensurate with the king’s sufficient judgment, ample intellect, perfection of
prudence, and abundance of valor, it does not appear fitting and agreeable, at the nonsensical talk of one deficient in intellect
and the falsifications of one deficient in fidelity, to proceed to such a terrible punishment, whose reparation in the bounds of human
possibility is unattainable. When the sun of certainty is unveiled from behind the veil of doubt and the mask of suspicion,
if such an opinion has already been executed and such an order given earlier,
regret and remorse will hardly be the hand of success or the leg of prosperity, nor will sorrow and anguish be beneficial
or salutary, and intellect reads these lines:”