e king saw it written in a book, that if any one is so
oppressed with grief and care as not to be relieved by [any human]
contrivance, he ought to commit [his sorrows] to Providence, visit
the tombs of the dead, and pray for the blessing of God on them, [71]
through the mediation of the Prophet; and conceiving himself nothing,
keep his heart free from the thoughtlessness of mankind; weep as a
warning to others, and behold [with awe] the power of God, saying,
"Anterior to me, what mighty possessors of kingdoms and wealth have
been born on earth! but the sky, involving them all in its revolving
circle, has mixed them with the dust." It is a bye-word, that, "on
beholding the moving handmill, _Kabira_, [72] weeping, exclaimed,
'Alas! nothing has yet survived the pressure of the two millstones.'"

"Now, if you look [for those heroes], not one vestige of them
remains, except a heap of dust. All of them, leaving their riches
and possessions, their homes and offsprings, their friends and
dependants, their horses and elephants, are lying alone! All these
[worldly advantages] have been of no use to them; moreover, no one by
this time, knows even their names, or who they were; and their state
within the grave cannot be discovered; (for worms, insects, ants, and
snakes have eaten them up;) or [who knows] what has happened to them,
or how they have settled their accounts with God? After meditating on
these words in his mind, he should look on the whole of this world
as a perfect farce; then the flower of his heart will ever bloom,
and it will not wither in any circumstance." When the king read this
admonition in the book, he recollected the advice of _Khiradmand_
the _Wazir_, and found that they coincided. He became anxious in his
mind to put this in execution; "but to mount on horseback, [said his
majesty to himself,] and take a retinue with me, and go like a king,
is not becoming; it is better to change my dress, and go at night
and alone to visit the graves of the dead, or some godly recluse,
and keep awake all night; perhaps by the mediation of these holy men,
the desires of this world and salvation in the next, may be obtained."

Having formed this resolution, the king one night put on coarse and
soiled clothes, and taking some money with him, he stole silently out
of the fort, and bent his way over the plain; proceeding onwards,
he arrived at a cemetery, and was repeating his prayers with a
sincere heart. At that time, a fier