Gulistan of Saadi
The Morals of Dervishes
Story 28
The life of a king was drawing to a close and he had no successor. He ordered in his last testament
that the next morning after his death the first person entering the gate of the city be presented with the
royal crown and be entrusted with the government of the realm. It so happened that the first person
who entered was a mendicant who had all his life subsisted on the morsels he collected and had sewn
patch after patch upon his clothes. The pillars of the state and grandees of the court executed the
injunction of the king and bestowed upon him the government and the treasures; whereon the dervish
reigned for a while until some amirs of the monarchy withdrew their necks from his obedience and
kings from every side began to rise for hostilities and to prepare their armies for war. At last his own
troops and subjects also rebelled and deprived him of a portion of his dominions. This event afflicted
the mind of the dervish until one of his old friends, who had been his companion when he was yet
himself a dervish, returned from a journey and, seeing him in such an exalted position, said: ‘Thanks
be to God the most high and glorious that thy rose has thus come forth from the thorn and thy thorn
was extracted from thy foot. Thy high luck has aided thee and prosperity with fortune has guided thee
till thou hast attained this position. Verily hardship is followed by comfort.’
A flower is sometimes blooming and sometimes withering.
A tree is at times nude and at times clothed.
He replied: ‘Brother, condole with me because there is no occasion for congratulation. When thou
sawest me last, I was distressed for bread and now a world of distress has overwhelmed me.’
If I have no wealth I grieve.
If I have some the love of it captivates me.
There is no greater calamity than worldly goods.
Both their possession and their want are griefs.
If thou wishest for power, covet nothing
Except contentment which is sufficient happiness.
If a rich man pours gold into thy lap
Care not a moment for thanking him.
Because often I heard great men say
The patience of a dervish is better than the gift of a rich man.
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Gulistan of Saadi | The Morals of Dervishes | Story 27
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