XXXIX

When he reduced the kingdom of Misr, or Egypt, to obedience, Harun-al-Rashid said, “In contempt of that impious rebel (Pharaoh), who, in his pride of the sovereignty of Egypt, boasted a divinity, I will bestow its government only on the vilest of my slaves.”  He had a negro bondsman, called Khosayib, preciously stupid, and him he appointed to rule over Egypt.  They tell us that his judgment and understanding were such, that when a body of farmers complained to him, saying, “We had planted some cotton shrubs on the banks of the Nile, and the rains came unseasonably, and swept them all away;”—­he replied, “You ought to sow wool, that it might not be swept away!” A good and holy man heard this, and said:  “Were our fortune to be increased in proportion to our knowledge, none could be scantier than the share of the fool; but fortune will bestow such wealth upon the ignorant as shall astonish a hundred of the learned.  Power and fortune depend not on knowledge, they are obtained only through the aid of heaven; for it has often happened in this world that the illiterate are honored, and the wise held in scorn.  The fool in his idleness found a treasure under a ruin; the chemist, or projector, fell the victim of disappointment and chagrin.”

CHAPTER II

Of the Morals of Dervishes

I

A person of distinction asked a parsa, or devout and holy man, saying, “What do you offer in justification of a certain abid, another species of Mohammedan monk, whose character others have been so ready to question?” He replied:  “In his outward behavior I see nothing to blame, and with the secrets of his heart I claim no acquaintance.—­Whomsoever thou seest in a parsa’s habit, consider him a parsa, or holy, and esteem him as a good man; and if thou knowest not what is passing in his mind, what business has the mohtasib, or censor, with the inside of the house?”

II

I saw a dervish who, having laid his head at the fane of the Cabah of Mecca, was complaining and saying, “O gracious, O merciful God! thou knowest what can proceed from the sinful and ignorant that may be worthy of thy acceptance!—­I brought my excuse of imperfect performance, for I have no claim on the score of obedience.  The wicked repent them of their sins; such as know God confess a deficiency of worship.”

Abids, or the pious, seek a reward of their devotion, merchants a profit on their traffic.  I, a devoted servant, have brought hope, not obedience, and have come as a beggar, and not for lucre!—­Do unto me what is worthy of thyself; but deal not with me as I myself have deserved.—­Whether thou wilt slay me or pardon my offence, my head and face are prostrate at thy threshold.  Thy servant has no will of his own; whatever thou commandest, that he will perform.  At the door of the Cabah I saw a petitioner, who was praying and weeping bitterly.  I ask not, saying, “Approve of my obedience, but draw the pen of forgiveness across my sins.”