One of our gentlemen called to the pilot, saying, "Save those two
drowning men and I will give you a hundred dinars." The pilot went and
rescued one of them, but the other perished. I observed, "That man's
time was come, therefore you were tardy in assisting him, and alert in
saving this other." The pilot smiled, and replied, "What you say is the
essence of inevitable necessity; yet was my zeal more hearty in rescuing
this one, because on an occasion when I was tired in the desert he set
me on a camel; whereas, when a boy, I had received a horsewhipping from
that other."--_God Almighty was all justice and equity: whoever labored
unto good experienced good in himself; and he who toiled unto evil
experienced evil_.--So long as thou art able grate nobody's heart, for
in this path there must be thorns. Expedite the concerns of the poor and
needy; for thy own concerns may need to be expedited.

* * * * *


XXXVII

A person announced to Nushirowan the Just, saying, "I have heard that
God, glorious and great, has removed from this world a certain man who
was your enemy." He said, "Have you had any intelligence that he has
overlooked me? In the death of a rival I have no room for exultation,
since my life also is not to last forever."


XXXVIII

At the court of Kisra, or Nushirowan, a cabinet council was debating
some state affair. Abu-zarchamahr, who sat as president, was silent.