[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Islamic world](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl) › [Persian](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa) › [Story books adapted from India](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa) › [سندبادنامه](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt) › 394 # سندبادنامه 394 English (machine translation) 394 - **Language:** English ### [394.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.1) Upon hearing these words, the king was grieved and pained, and said to himself: ### [394.2](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.2) "The great have said: 'Kingship is barren, and there are no ties of kinship between kings and anyone.' If it were the trait of a king to grant pardon and indulgence to child and kin, to favorites and relatives, for vile offenses and atrocious deeds, 'kingship is barren' would not have been said of him, and 'there are no ties of kinship between kings' would be superfluous; and the import of these maxims and the substance of these indications is that sovereignty cannot tolerate corruption, and rule cannot brook mercy and pity; lineage and womb do not avert or prevent punishment, and kinship and relation do not become an obstacle to justice or a veil over equity. If the king were to look upon every one of the ministers of state and kingdom with the eye of clemency and affection, and neglect the welfare of realm and state, the kingdom would suffer disorder and ruin, and the envious and malevolent would raise their heads from the frontiers of the realms, and stretch forth hands of encroachment, aggression, and oppression; and that negligence would provoke disorder, and disorder would become the cause of the decline and transfer of realm and state." These whispers, misgivings, imaginations, and apprehensions so overcame him that he commanded that his son be subjected to punishment, and that it be made the date-entry in the chronicle of justice and equity. The sixth vizier, who possessed the stability of the four pillars across the expanse of the kingdom and the influence of the lord of the stars upon the heaven of the realm, when he heard this news that the shah had ordered the execution of his son, ### [394.17](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.17) \[...\] ### [394.18](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.18) The Coming of the Sixth Vizier before the Shah immediately sent a courier to the executioner and commanded: "Halt the punishment of the prince until I go before the shah, and speak on the wisdom of pausing and desisting from hasty punishment, and demonstrate the praise of refraining from haste therein!" ### [394.22](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.22) The Coming of the Sixth Vizier before the Shah The sixth resourceful vizier, renowned for his discernment, possessing sound judgment, and knowledgeable in statecraft, went to the king, and after discharging the rituals of greeting and setting forth the requirements of service, he said: “From the realm-conquering, luminous judgment that is the source of the heavenly bodies’ effusion and the recourse for the beneficial effects of the celestial spheres, and unites within itself the acumen of Iyās, the shrewdness of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, the cunning of al-Nuʿmān, and the mind of Luqmān, and is the solver of difficult occurrences and the unknotter of calamitous knots, I find it astonishing that in an event so clear and an occurrence so simple it should fall into error, and that the vain words of a lying, deficient intellect should be able to veil its world-adorning sun of judgment; such that he hastens toward a punishment so momentous without a clear proof or the manifestation of certainty, and permits himself to plunge into so tremendous an event; and that in the measure of intellect and standard of reason, a child for whom no replacement or substitute is possible, ### [394.34](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.34) \[...\] ### [394.35](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.35) 20. The Tale of the Ascetic, the Peri, and Consulting with His Wife he should weigh in the balance against someone for whom the entire world is a substitute, and prefer debased lead over pure gold—is far from the king’s perfection of intellect and penetrating insight, and close to the slackness of reflection and the idleness of thought. If this grievous affair and enormous misfortune is carried out, and comes to the ears of the sultans of the age, they will impute weak judgment and folly to him, and from all quarters and corners of the world rivals and corrupters will raise their heads, agree and align with one another, cast a covetous eye upon the kingdom and realm, stretch forth a hand of aggression, and endeavor to overturn the loftiest buildings of state and destroy and eradicate the foundations of kingship and community. At that point neither sorrow nor groaning, nor regret nor remorse will prove efficacious, fruitful, beneficial, or profitable; and upon the king will fall what befell that ignorant ascetic and foolish worshipper from seeking counsel of his wife and consulting her.” ### [394.46](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.46) The shah asked: “How was that? Speak!” ### [394.47](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.47) 20. The Tale of the Ascetic, the Peri, and Consulting with His Wife The vizier said: “May the shah's life ever endure in accordance with the wish of his well-wishers! It has been related that in the district of Kashmir there was an ascetic; he spent his days in devotion and kept his nights alive with obedience; he lived in the garb of religious devotion and piety, and walked in the robe of restraint and chastity. One of the most famous of the peris, a chief of the genies, had formed an association of friendship, an accord in assembly, ### [394.52](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.52) \[...\] ### [394.53](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.53) 20. The Tale of the Ascetic, the Peri, and Consulting with His Wife and a bonded affection with him, and passed his time in the delightful company of seeing his dear person. Whenever an adversity or calamity befell the ascetic, or an incident or illness descended, the genie, to the utmost of his capacity and the limit of his power, would lend him help and assistance, and deemed showing benevolence and compassion incumbent upon himself. In sum, the ascetic derived great strength and full support from harmony and association with him, and possessed ample wealth and confidence by virtue of his position. One day, the ascetic had finished his worship upon his cushion of obedience and retreat of devotion, and had rested his back against the prayer niche, when the genie entered, sat down before the ascetic on the knees of reverence, and said: ‘O compassionate friend and sympathetic companion! An important matter has befallen me, and a difficult journey toward Iraq has arisen before me; one cannot know under what conditions affairs will unfold, or how long the stay will last. I have come to take my leave and ask permission from you. \[As a gift, names\] that answer prayers, the key of goods, and the opener of the gates of good deeds, I have brought as an offering, so that if an urgent matter arises or a difficulty appears, by these names you may avert and remove it:’ ### [394.68](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394.68) \[...\] ## Linked texts (1) - [سندبادنامه](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama.394.1) — Ẓahīrī Samarqandī, Persian --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.394) · Pramāṇa