or God, who has no equal hurls one man from a
throne of sovereignty, and another he preserves in a fish's
belly:--Happy proceeds his time who is enraptured with thy praise,
though, like Jonah, he even may pass it in the belly of a fish!

CIII

Were the Almighty to unsheath the sword of his wrath, prophets and
patriarchs would draw in their heads; and were he to deign a glimpse of
his benevolence, it would reach the wicked along with the good:--Were he
on the day of judgment to call us to a strict account, even the prophets
would have no room for excuse. Say, withdraw the veil from the face of
thy compassion, that sinners may entertain hopes of pardon.

CIV

Whoever is not to be brought into the path of righteousness by the
punishments of this life shall be overtaken with the punishments of that
to come:--"_Verily, I will cause them to taste the lesser punishment
over and above the greater punishment":_--(Koran xxxii. Sale ii. 258.)
Princes, in chastising, admonish, and then confine; when they admonish,
and thou listenest not, they throw thee into prison.

CV

Men of auspicious fortune would rather take warning from the precepts
and examples of their predecessors than that the rising generation
should take warning from their acts:--The bird will not approach the
grain that is spread about, where it sees another bird a captive in the
snare. Take warning by the mischance of others, that others may not take
warning by thine.

CVI

How can he help himself who was born deaf, if he cannot hear; and what
can he do whose thread of fortune is dragging him on that he may not
proceed:--The dark night of such as are beloved of God is serene and
light as the bright day; but this good fortune results not from thine
own strength of arm, till God in his mercy deign to bestow it. To whom
shall I complain of thee? for there is no judge else, nor is any arm
mightier than thine. Him whom thou directest none can lead astray, and
him whom thou bewilderest none can direct upon his way.

CVII

The beggar whose end is good is better off than the king whose end is
evil:--That sorrow which is the harbinger of joy is preferable to the
joy which is followed by sorrow.

CVIII

The sky enriches the earth with rain, and the earth gives it dust in
return. As the Arabs say: "_What the vessels have, that they give_."--If
my moral character strike thee as improper, do not renounce thine own
good character.

CIX

The Most