Note 14 — THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM. (ARABIC.)

“Three things” (says Sa’di in the Gulistan) “lack permanency, Wealth without trading, Learning without disputation, Government without justice.” (chap. viii. max. 8). The Bakhtiyár-námeh adds that “Government is a tree whose root is legal punishment (Siyásat); its root-end is justice; its bough, mercy; its flower, wisdom; its leaf, liberality; and its fruit, kindness and benevolence. The foliage of every tree whose root waxeth dry (lacketh sap) taketh a yellow tint and beareth no fruit.”