سندبادنامه 377
English (machine translation) 377
- Language
- English
377.1
"Eat the greens from wherever they are brought to you pleasantly, and do not ask about the greengrocer's plot!"
I have told this fable so that it may be clarified and established in the most radiant judgment and most noble, exalted mind
that in complicated matters and difficult concerns one must take great precaution at the outset of affairs,
and give thought to the outcomes and consequences, so that the sun of certainty [may rise] from
the veil of doubt may be removed, and the face of the purpose may appear like the world-illuminating day; and
since the words and deeds of women are neither reliable nor trustworthy in the eyes of any wise person; and their wiles
are more than can be counted; and God the Exalted, despite His majesty and greatness,
has called the guile of women great, as He said: 'Truly your guile is great'
(12:28), and has commanded avoidance and caution against it; and the Commander of the Faithful ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb,
may God be pleased with him, who was the founder of religion and the second of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, says:
377.11
'Seek refuge in God from the evil of women, and be on guard against the best of them!' He says: Seek refuge
377.12
[...]
377.13
in God the Exalted from the bad women, and beware of their good ones, because
when their lustful glance inclines toward something, they abandon religion and the world;
they seize their purpose and desired object, and pay no heed to the interests of religion and the state;
they look to immediate pleasure and do not reflect on deferred punishment; crookedness is kneaded into their nature,
and falsehood and hypocrisy, and deceit and discord, are mixed with their clay;
and if the king permits, I shall recount a story from the compilation of their deceit and wiles, and the composition
of their stratagems and treachery. The shah commanded: Speak!
377.20
18. The Story of the Son's Wife with the Father-in-Law and the Lover
The bright-minded, problem-solving minister said: May the life of the king of the face of
377.22
the earth, the Chosroes of China and Machin, under the shelter of sound counsel and the lights of clear intellect,
the steed of gratification in the saddle, and the expanse of the earth beneath the signet-ring, throughout all months and years,
with God the Exalted as helper and supporter, be long! Thus have reliable transmitters and trustworthy authorities related,
that in the territory of Kābul, in the environs of Āmul, there was a peasant, pious
377.26
[...]
377.27
18. The Story of the Son's Wife with the Father-in-Law and the Lover
and upright, chaste and prosperous. He spent the white of day earning a livelihood, and kept the black
of night alive in the pursuit of obedience. He was a farmer, and from tillage and cultivation
he ate his bread. And he had a wife who was fox-like in promises, lion-hunting in coquetry; her face
like the day of the righteous, and her tress like the night of sinners; and she had a lover
of cypress-like stature, graceful gait, and handsome face. One day the peasant was absent from home;
the lover circumambulated around the precinct of her house like pilgrims, and sought refuge at the Kaʿba of union with her,
so that he might kiss the Black Stone and offer reverence to the Sacred Mosque. The beloved
was standing on the roof of the house; when her eyes fell on the lover, she shook her head, rubbed her hand
on her neck, ear, and breast, and came down from the roof. The man did not understand those gestures;
in bewilderment and reflection he came home, and to an old hag on whose head the dust of the mill of time's vicissitudes
had settled, and the hand of fate the juggler had washed her cheeks with saffron water,
he explained this matter, and sought approval and instruction from her opinion.
377.40
The old hag said: She meant this: 'Send to me a mature girl whose breasts and chest have developed!'
The man sent such a girl to her, and on her tongue
he gave a message and sent greetings:
377.43
[...]
Linked texts (1)
- سندبادنامه — Ẓahīrī Samarqandī, Persian