Arabian Wisdom Part 14

No man appreciates the worth of health until he is afflicted with disease.

If your dinner is light, your dreams will be pleasant.

So long as the head is free from trouble, the body will be sound.

YOUTH AND OLD AGE

An old man among his people is like a prophet sent from G.o.d.

To venerate old age is to revere G.o.d.

Youth is a kind of madness.

The wisest young men are they who follow the good example of the old, and the most foolish old men are they who follow the bad example of the young.

It is the duty of every one to be tender to the young and respectful to the old.

An old man should not give up his old habits, nor take to new ones.

An old man speaks of what he has seen, and a young man speaks of what he has heard.

Grey hairs are a sign of wisdom, and are beautified by reverence.

A h.o.a.ry head is a rich cream churned by long years.

Grey hairs are a message from the other world.

After old age there is nothing but infirmity or death.

An old man cries out, "O that youth would return for a day, that I might relate to it what the roll of years has done to me!"

The hair often becomes white, not from the succession of years, but from a succession of evils.

Life is a parting shadow and youth a departing guest.

When a young man says he is hungry, believe him; but when he says he is tired, do not believe him.

DEATH

All life ends in death.

When I see all paths leading men unto death, and no paths leading from death unto us--no traveller there ever returning--not one of ages past ever remaining--I see that I also shall a.s.suredly go where they have gone.

If death be surely inevitable, be not a fool and die a coward's death.

Death is a cup which every man must drink, and the grave a door which every man must enter.

If we are hastening to death, why all this impatience with the ills of life?

This life is a sleep, the life to come is a wakening; the intermediate step between them is death, and our life here is a disturbed dream.

He who dreads the causes of death, they will surely seize him--do what he will to evade them.

Death, so far as one can see, strikes at random, killing the man whom he hits, and leaving the man whom he misses to old age and decrepitude.

Death covers all faults.

APPENDIX

WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS?

"Righteousness is not that ye turn your faces [in prayer] to the east or west; but righteousness is to him who believeth in G.o.d and the Last Day, and Angels, and Revealed Books, and Prophets; who giveth cheerfully from his substance to kinsmen, orphans, the needy, the wayfarer, and to them that ask; who freeth the prisoner and the slave; who offereth prayers at their appointed times, and giveth the ordained alms; to them who fulfil the covenants to which they have bound themselves, and who are patient in times of distress, and pain, and struggle: these are they who are sincere [in religion], and who fear to do evil (_Koran_ 2, 172)."

This fine pa.s.sage from the Koran is considered by Moslem commentators as the most comprehensive statement of the duties of man: "Sound faith, a good social life, and right culture of the soul" (El-Beidaway).

_Instructions of Ali Ibn-abi Talib, the first Khalif to his son_--"My son, fear G.o.d both secretly and openly; speak the truth, whether you be calm or angry; be economical, whether you be poor or rich; be just to friend and foe; be resigned alike in times of adversity and prosperity.

My son, he who sees his own faults has no time to see the faults of others; he who is satisfied with the allotments of Providence does not regret the past; he who unsheaths the sword of aggression will be killed by it; he who digs a pit for his brother will fall into it; he who forgets his own sin makes much of the sin of another; he who takes to evil ways will be despised; he who commits excesses will be known to do them; he who a.s.sociates with the base will be subject to constant suspicion; he who remembers death will be content with little in this world; he who boasts of his sins before men, G.o.d will bring him to shame."

THE EXPERIENCES OF AN OLD MAN

"I have heard many sermons and had many counsels, but I have heard no preacher so effective as my grey hairs, and no counsellor so effectual as the voice of my own conscience. I have eaten the most choice food, and drunk the best kinds of wine, and enjoyed the love of the most beautiful women; but I found no pleasure so great as that of sound health. I have swallowed the bitterest food and drink, but I found nothing so bitter as poverty. I have worked at iron and carried heavy weights, but I found no burden so heavy as that of debt. I have sought wealth in all its forms, but found no riches so great as those of contentment."

EIGHT MEN WHO DESERVE TO BE SLAPPED ON THE FACE

He who despises a man of power; he who enters a house uninvited and unwelcomed; he who gives orders in a house not his own; he who takes a seat above his position; he who speaks to one who does not listen to him; he who intrudes on the conversation of others; he who seeks favours from the ungenerous; and he who expects love from his enemies.

FORBEARANCE

The following story is related by Arabian authors of Ma'an Ibn-Zaidah, who, from a humble origin, rose to be Governor of Irak. The story is probably not altogether historical, but it shows the high ideal of Arab moralists as regards forbearance and gentleness.

An Arab of the desert, who had heard much of the great gentleness of Ibn-Zaidah, came one day to try him. Entering abruptly into his presence he addressed him thus (in verse):

"Rememberest thou when thy bed-covering was a sheepskin and thy sandals made of camel-skin?"

_Ma'an_ answers (in prose): Yes, I remember, and I have not forgotten it.

_The Arab_. Praise be to G.o.d, who hath given thee a great rule, and taught thee how to sit on a throne!

_Ma'an_. Yes, praise to Him in every condition of life!