CONCERNING REPENTANCE  
O thou of whose life seventy years have passed, perhaps thou hast slept in negligence that thy days have been thrown to the winds. Worldly aims hast thou well pursued; no preparations hast thou made for the departure to that world to come.
 
On the Judgment Day, when the bazar of Paradise will be arrayed, rank will be assigned in accordance with one’s deeds.
 
If thou shouldst take a goodly stock of virtues, in proportion will be thy profit; if thou be bankrupt, thou wilt be ashamed.
 
If fifty years of thy life have passed, esteem as a precious boon the few that yet remain.
 
While still thou hast the power of speech, close not thy lips like the dead from the praise of God.
An Old Man’s Lament
 
One night, in the season of youth, several of us young men sat together; we sang like bulbuls and raised a tumult in the street by our mirth.
 
An old man sat silent, apart; like a filbert-nut,[111] his tongue was closed from speech. A youth approached him and said: “O old man! why sittest thou so mournfully in this corner? Come, raise thy head from the collar of grief and join us in our festivity.”
 
Thus did the old man reply: “When the morning breeze blows over the rose-garden, the young trees proudly wave their branches. It becomes not me to mingle in thy company, for the dawn of old age has spread over my cheeks. Thy turn it is to sit at this table of youth; I have washed my hands of youthful pleasures. Time has showered snow upon my crow-like wings; like the bulbul, I could not sport in the garden. Soon will the harvest of my life be reaped; for thee, the new green leaves are bursting. The bloom has faded from my garden; who makes a nosegay from withered flowers? I must weep, like a child, in shame for my sins, but cannot emulate his pleasures.”
 
Well has Luqman said: “It is better not to live at all than to live many years in sinfulness.” Better, too, may it be to close the shop in the morning than to sell the stock at a loss.
Advice and Warning
 
To-day, O youth, take the path of worship, for to-morrow comes old age. Leisure thou hast, and strength—strike the ball when the field is wide.[35]
 
[112]
 
I knew not the value of life’s day till now that I have lost it.
 
How can an old ass strive beneath its burden?—go thy way, for thou ridest a swift-paced horse.
 
A broken cup that is mended—what will its value be? Now that in carelessness the cup of life has fallen from thy hand, naught remains but to join the pieces.
 
Negligently hast thou let the pure water go; how canst thou now perform thy ablutions, except with sand?[36]
Sadi’s Rebuke from a Camel-driver
 
One night in the desert of Faid[37] my feet became fettered with sleep. A camel-driver awoke me, saying: “Arise; since thou heedest not the sound of the bell, perhaps thou desirest to be left behind! I, like thee, would sleep awhile, but the desert stretches ahead. How wilt thou reach the journey’s end if thou sleepest when the drum of departure beats?”
 
Happy are they who have prepared their baggage before the beat of the drum! The sleepers by the wayside raise not their heads and the caravan has passed out of sight.
 
He who was early awake surpassed all on the road; what availed it to awaken when the caravan had gone?
 
This is the time to sow the deeds of the harvest thou wouldst reap.
 
[113]
 
Go not bankrupt to the Resurrection, for it availeth not to sit in regret. By means of the stock that thou hast, O son, profit can be acquired; what profit accrueth to him who consumeth his stock himself?
 
Strive now, when the water reacheth not beyond thy waist; delay not until the flood has passed over thy head.
 
Heed the counsel of the wise to-day, for to-morrow will Nakir[38] question thee with sternness. Esteem as a privilege thy precious soul, for a cage without a bird has no value. Waste not thy time in sorrow and regret, for opportunity is precious and Time is a sword.
Story concerning Sorrow for the Dead
 
A certain man died and another rent his clothes in grief. Hearing his cries, a sage exclaimed: “If the dead man possessed the power he would tear his shroud by reason of thy wailing and would say: ‘Do not torment thyself on account of my affliction, since a day or two before thee I made ready for the journey. Perhaps thou hast forgotten thine own death, that my decease has made thee so distressed.’”
 
When he whose eyes are open to the truth scatters flowers over the dead, his heart burns not for the dead but for himself.
 
Why dost thou weep over the death of a child? He came pure, and he departed pure.
 
[114]
 
Tie now the feet of the bird of the soul; tarry not till it has borne the rope from thy hand.
 
Long hast thou sat in the place of another; soon will another sit in thy place.
 
Though thou be a hero or a swordsman, thou wilt carry away nothing but the shroud.
 
If the wild ass break its halter and wander into the desert its feet became ensnared in the sand. Thou, too, hast strength till thy feet go into the dust of the grave.
 
Since yesterday has gone and to-morrow has not come, take account of this one moment that now is.
 
In this garden of the world there is not a cypress that has grown which the wind of death has not uprooted.
Story of a Pious Man and a Gold Brick
 
A gold brick fell into the hands of a pious man and so turned his head that his enlightened mind became gloomy. He passed the whole night in anxious thought, reflecting: “This treasure will suffice me till the end of my life; no longer shall I have to bend my back before any one in begging. A house will I build, the foundation of which shall be of marble; the rafters of the ceiling shall be of aloe-wood. A special room will I have for my friends, and its door shall lead into a garden-house. Servants shall cook my food, and in ease will I nourish my soul. This coarse[115] woollen bed-cloth has ............