This Good Works Translation is made from the 1888 Arabic printed text of Kitab Bilawhar wa-Budhasaf fi al-mawa'iz wa-al-amthal al-hikmiyah. This passage gives Budhasaf's birth, the astrologers' prediction, King Janaysar's confinement of the child, Budhasaf's first encounter with age and suffering, and the wound by which he answers the claim that another can carry his sin.

Translation

And in those days, after the king had despaired of male children, a boy was born to him, such as people had never seen born before in beauty, loveliness, and radiance. The king's joy over his son reached such a degree that he nearly exceeded all bounds. He named him Budhasaf, and claimed that the idols to which he had been making vows were the ones that had bestowed this boy on him. So he divided most of what was in his treasuries among the houses of the idols and their attendants, and commanded the people to eat, drink, and play for a year.

Then the king gathered the scholars and astrologers to cast the horoscope of the boy's birth. The astrologers reported to him that they found this boy would reach an honor, excellent rank, and lofty station such as no king in all the land of India had ever reached. They all agreed on this, except for one man among them, advanced in age and learned in some of the secrets of the stars. He recognized the boy's description and said, "I do not think that this honor, station, and excellence that we have found the boy will reach is anything other than the honor of the hereafter. We reckon only that he will be an imam in religion and ascetic practice. This is excellence among the degrees of the hereafter."

When the king heard the astrologer's words, they fell into his heart in such a way that they nearly spoiled his joy in the boy, for the man who had told him this was one of the astrologers he trusted most in knowledge and truthfulness.

So King Janaysar ordered a city for the boy, and it was cleared for him. He chose for him trustworthy nurses, wet nurses, and servants, and commanded them not to mention among themselves death or life, the hereafter or religion, ascetic practice, passing away, or disappearance. They were to watch carefully: if any one of them developed a complaint or illness, they were to hurry him out of the city, so that the habit of mentioning the things by which those matters become visible would be cut off from their thoughts. When the boy reached the age at which he could understand speech, they were not to let fall before him any mention of anything feared to settle in his heart and become a summons to concern for religion and ascetic practice.

At that, the king's breast increased in rancor, rage, and enmity toward the renunciants. He feared that his son would fall into their affair if news of it reached him, and he killed the renunciants.

The king had a vizier who had sufficed him in his affairs and borne for him the burden of governing his realm. He did not betray him, lie to him, conceal anything from him, favor anyone against him, or show negligence in any of the king's affairs or work. In this he was ready with good deeds, upright among the people, and pleasing to them. The king's intimates envied him, plotted against him, and found his position burdensome.

One day the vizier went out hunting and came, in one of the ravines, upon a man thrown down at the foot of a tree. A severe disability had struck his legs, so that he could not move away. The vizier asked him about his affair, his story, and his condition. The man told him that a wild beast had attacked him. Then he said to the vizier, "Take me into your care, for I owe you a benefit."

The vizier said, "I will do that for you, even if I do not find that benefit with you. But tell me what benefit you promise me. Do you do some work, or know some remarkable thing?"

He said, "Yes. I am a man who mends speech with speech."

The vizier said, "How do you mend speech with speech?"

He said, "If there is a tear in it, I mend it; or if it has grown weak, I bind it firm, so that no corruption comes from its side."

The vizier did not see anything in what he said, but he ordered him carried to his house and provided for him what would set him right. The mender remained with the vizier for some time.

Then the king's intimates, who had been envying the vizier, gathered together. They devised against that vizier and contrived hidden schemes and affairs against him. Their opinion settled on sending one man from among them in to the king.

He said, "O king, do you know that this vizier covets your kingdom, so that he may overpower your posterity in it after you? He is always working toward that, winning people over to it, and laboring over it. If you wish to see the truth of this, test him: say that it has occurred to you to reject the world and withdraw from it, and that you are resolved to leave your kingdom and join the renunciants. Then you will see, from his joy at that and his following you, what will make you know his affair."

The group had recognized in that vizier a tenderness when the hereafter was mentioned, and when the world's passing away and its removal from its people were mentioned, and a love for the people of religion and the renunciants, and a closeness to them. When this was said to the king, it settled in his heart. He said, "I will not rush into this until I ask him what lies behind it."

When the vizier entered before the king, the king said to him, "You know my desire for the world ever since I became a man. I have considered what has passed from that, and I have found nothing substantial from it in my hand. So I have learned that what remains of it is like what has passed from it, and that it is about to pass away and the remainder will go, until nothing of it is left in my hand. Now I have resolved to do a righteous work for the matter of my hereafter, according to the strength that I had in the matter of the world. I have found no way to do that except to join the renunciants. That is what I wish: to join them and withdraw from this kingdom and its people."

The vizier was moved by that speech and said, "O king, what remains, even if it is precious, is worthy to be sought; and what perishes, even if it is present and freely offered, is worthy to be rejected. Excellent is the opinion you have seen. I hope that God will join for you the bliss of heaven together with the kingdom of earth."

This became grave to the king, grew great in him, and struck him in a terrible way. He added nothing to it, except that the vizier recognized the heaviness and dislike in the king's face, and the dislike toward his counsel. The king did not doubt that the group had told the truth.

So the vizier went back to his household and dwelling, gloomy, wretched, sad, and anxious. He did not know where the matter had come upon him from, nor what way there was to set right what the king had found objectionable in his affair. Because of this he stayed awake for most of his night and thought within himself. Then he remembered the man who had said that he mended speech. He sent for him.

When the man entered before him, he said to him, "You mentioned something to me. Do you remember? You mentioned the mending of speech."

The man said, "Yes. Do you need anything of that?"

He said, "Yes. I will tell you. I accompanied this king before his kingship, and since he became king I never found him changed toward me in anything between me and him, not for a single hour, because he knew my counsel for him, my compassion toward him, and my preferring him over myself and all people. But when this day came, I found him changed toward me with a severe change. I do not reckon that I will ever have any good with him after this day, and I have become afraid of him."

The mender said, "Was there some cause or reason for that?"

The vizier said, "I know of nothing except that he called me today, took me aside, and said to me such and such, and I answered him such and such."

The mender said, "From here came the tear, and I will mend it. Do not grieve, O vizier, and let your soul be at ease. The king has thought that you did not dislike it when you advised him to withdraw from the kingdom and to leave you behind in it. That is because you made fair the matter about which he asked your counsel, his withdrawal from the kingdom, and you went along with him in it. This is a matter in which someone has worked against you, set snares for you, and schemed against you. But this is an easy matter.

"When morning comes, cast off your clothes and perfume. Put on the lowest and most recognizable garment you can find from the dress of the renunciants. Shave your head. Then rise and go to the king's gate. The people will be alarmed at that and will raise your affair to the king. The king will summon you and ask you what you have done to yourself. Say, 'This is what you called me to, O king. You have known from me that death is lighter to me than this. But when I saw you in it, O king, and saw that you desired it, I followed you in it. I would not leave off being with you in it wherever you were. When you counseled it for yourself, whoever advises his companion and the guardian of his blessing with an opinion does not hold himself back from it, especially one whose station with his companion is like my station with you. Rise, O king, for I am with you wherever you are. I know nothing to which you have called me except what is better than the thing we are in.'"

The next day the vizier did as the mender had commanded. What had been in the king's soul against him dissolved and went away, and the king knew that he was envied and lied against. So the king increased in trust toward him and in honor for him.

The king grew hostile toward the renunciants and was filled with anger against them. Their place in the hearts of the people angered him, as did the favor, good, wisdom, and knowledge for which they were remembered. So the king ordered them banished from all his lands and threatened them with death if they did not leave. The renunciants began fleeing and hiding.

Then one day the king went out hunting, and his sight fell on two persons from afar. He sent for them, and they were brought to him. They were two renunciants.

He said, "What is the matter with you two? Why did you not leave my lands?"

They said, "Your messengers found us while we were on the way out."

The king said, "Why did you delay that until today?"

They said, "We are weak people. We have no riding beasts and no provisions, and we can do nothing except walk at a measured pace."

The king said, "Whoever is afraid of death hurries in flight without provisions and without a riding beast."

They said, "We know that death is unavoidable, and we do not fear it. Rather, we look for the comfort of the eye in nothing among things except in it. As for the things of the world in which the eyes of worldly people take comfort, we have gone out from them, and we do not wish to return to them."

The king said to them, "How do you claim that you do not fear death, when my messengers found you on the road going out from our lands, and you had gone out? Is this not flight from death and fear of it?"

They said, "Flight is not the same as fear of death. Do not think that we feared you. We only disliked helping you against ourselves."

The king became angry at that and ordered the two of them to be burned with fire. He proclaimed among the people of his kingdom that whoever could be seized from among the renunciants should be burned. The chiefs of the idol-worshippers stripped themselves for the search after them, seized many human beings from among them, and burned them in the fires. From there came their burning of themselves and of their dead as a lasting custom in the land of India, because their followers claimed that they had attained success by that burning. So the volunteers among them volunteered to attain, as they claimed, the like of their excellence.

The religion of truth became scant in the land of Shulabit, except that there remained some of the believers who outwardly displayed something else and did no work by which they might be recognized. There were also a few renunciants who disliked leaving the lands and chose absence and concealment, so that they might be callers and guides for those whom they brought to the speech of truth.

The king's son grew with the best growth in the goodness of his intellect, his beauty, and the goodness of his discipline. Yet he was not taken up in any knowledge or discipline except what kings need, from which every mention of death, passing away, and annihilation was absent. The boy was given such memory, understanding, knowledge, and discipline that people marveled at it.

His father did not know whether to rejoice at what he saw of that, or to grieve because of what he feared for him: that this condition might call him to religion. The king commanded that his son and his companions be confined in the city, and he ordered them to prevent him from going out, from looking, and from listening to things and kinds of knowledge.

When the boy perceived that they were confining him in the city, and were preventing him from going out, looking, and listening, and were keeping watch over him, he became suspicious of this, but kept silence about it. He said within himself, "These people know better than I do what will set me right."

Then, when age and experience had increased him in reason, he looked into the condition he was in and said within himself, "I do not see that these people have any superiority over me, and I am not right to entrust my affair to them. Why should I not choose for myself an action according to my own judgment, then share with them in deliberation, and not refuse to share in their opinion if it is sound?"

The boy wanted to speak to his father when he came in before him and ask him about the cause of his confining him in the city. Then he said within himself, "This affair is only from his side and by his planning." Then he reflected and said, "If it is from his side, then he will not inform me of it. But I ought to seek knowledge of that from a place where I hope to grasp it: from someone below him, someone whom desire can incline and threat can shake."

Among his attendants there was a man who was the gentlest of them in kindness, the most compassionate toward him, and tender with him. The boy was comfortable with him, so he hoped to obtain the good from him. The boy's name was Budhasaf, son of King Janaysar. Budhasaf increased in gentleness toward his attendant and in familiarity with him, until he became dearer to the attendant than the attendant's own family, his child, and himself.

Then Budhasaf chose a private moment with the attendant during one of the nights. He softened him with gentle speech, told him that he was his child, and took hold of him with as much gentle speech as he could, so that he might draw out from him what he sought. He told him that he was his father and the nearest of people to him, and he took hold of him with promise and threat.

Then he said to him, "This kingdom is coming to me, and in it you will be one of two men: either the greatest of people in station with me, or the worst of them in condition."

The attendant said to him, "What do I have to fear from you, when the affair is in your kingdom?"

The boy said, "That you conceal from me today a matter I am asking you about, so that I bear a grudge against you for tomorrow. On that day I will take vengeance on you as severely as I can."

The attendant recognized truthfulness in him, placed hope in him, and trusted him for loyalty. So he disclosed the report to him and cast before him what the astrologers had said to his father about him, and what his father had disliked from that.

The boy thanked him for that and bowed his head until his father entered before him. Then he said, "O father, even though I did not see you as a boy and a youth, I have seen myself and the change in my condition. I remember what I remember of it, and through what I remember of that I know what I do not remember. I know that you were not in this likeness, nor in this condition in which you have ever been, and that you will not remain upon it forever.

"If you wished to hide from me change, loss, and the world's passing away from its people, that is not hidden from me. And if you confined me from going out and came between me and the people so that my soul would not long for something other than what I am in, then by confining me you have left me in a preoccupation from which I do not break free. My soul is attached to the thing you have come between me and, until I have no concern or need for anything else, and until my heart is not at rest in anything I am in. I do not profit from it, and I am not familiar with it.

"So let me go, and tell me what you dislike and fear from that, so that I may avoid it and prefer agreement with you and your pleasure over everything else."

When King Janaysar heard this from his son Budhasaf, he knew that he had learned what the king had hated for him to learn, and that imprisoning him and hemming him in only increased his enticement and passion for the thing the king was guarding against. So he said to him, "My son, by hemming you in I only meant to turn harm away from you, so that you would hear only what agreed with you and see only what delighted you. But if your desire is for something else, then the thing dearest to me is what you desire, what you are familiar with, what you are pleased with, and what agrees with your pleasure and your desire."

Then he ordered his companions to ride with him. He rode, and they rode with him in the finest appearance and in the best procession and adornment they could manage. The king commanded that every evil sight be removed from his road, that entertainments and musical instruments be prepared for him, that the road be spread with all kinds of flowers, and that beautiful singing girls look out over him, together with whatever fine appearance and furnishings they took for that purpose. They did this.

After that ride, Budhasaf began to ride often, and the burden grew heavy on the people as they kept up what the king had commanded them in this matter. One day Budhasaf passed along a road that they had overlooked, upon two beggars. One was swollen: his flesh had changed, his skin had yellowed, his moisture was gone, and his appearance had become rough. The other was blind, led by a guide. When Budhasaf saw that, his skin shuddered at it, and he asked about it. They said, "This swelling is what comes from an inward sickness, and this blindness is an infirmity that strikes the sight."

Budhasaf said, "Does this strike more than one person among the people?"

They said, "Yes."

He said, "Is anyone among the people secure from being struck by this?"

They said, "No."

Budhasaf said, "If this strikes someone in his eyes, can his sight be restored to him?"

They said, "No."

Then he turned away sorrowful, heavy, weeping, and despising his own kingdom and his father's kingdom. He remained in that state for days. Then he rode again one day, and on his route he came upon an old man whom age had bent. His hair was white, his color had darkened, his skin had contracted, his step had shortened, and his limbs had slackened. Budhasaf wondered and asked about him. They said, "This is old age."

Budhasaf said, "At what age does a man reach what I am seeing?"

They said, "At one hundred years, or about that."

He said, "And what is beyond that?"

They said, "Death."

Then Budhasaf turned toward his own soul, reviewing it and saying, "If a man is left to himself and to the span he desires, then in a few days he will surely come to this, and he will surely reach what I am seeing. Then after it he waits for nothing except death. This death is other than what the ignorant think of it, and this matter is other than what our souls occupy themselves with, and other than what we are in."

Then he said, "The day is twelve hours, the month thirty days, the year twelve months, and the utmost life is one hundred years. How swift is the hour within the day, the day within the month, the month within the year, and the year within life."

This was his word: he repeated it, returned to it, and said it again. Then he stayed awake all that night. He had an intelligent heart, so that he could not forget anything, nor overlook it. Grief and anxious care nearly turned his soul away from the world and its desires. Yet along with that he managed his father, speaking in his presence and saying what he saw would agree with him and please him.

He would turn his hearing toward every speaker, hoping to find in it some flaw, or to hear something that would point him to something other than the religion he was in. Then one day he was alone with his caretaker, the one who had revealed to him what had been kept secret, and he said to him, "Do you know anyone among the people whose way is different from our way and whose condition is different from this condition of ours?"

The caretaker said, "There were people called ascetics. They rejected the world and sought the kingdom of heaven and the bliss of the hereafter. They had speech and knowledge; I do not know what it was, except that the people became hostile to them, hated them, abandoned them, and shot at them from one bow. They took them with enmity and hatred. The king hated them, banished them from his land and kingdom, and burned them with fire. So today we do not know of any of them in our land."

When Budhasaf heard this, he was distressed. His anxious care and sorrow lengthened, and he was like a man seeking his lost thing, which he cannot do without. His report spread through the horizons, and he became known for his beauty, perfection, intellect, understanding, ascetic detachment from the world, and the world's lowliness in his eyes.

When his father saw the worry and sorrow that had entered him, his seeking of knowledge and wisdom, and his delight in every report in which the hereafter was mentioned, he ordered him brought in among the women. He commanded them to make every effort to tempt him with the sweetness of women's speech, and to come with pearls, rubies, emeralds, garments of brocade and heavy silk, and royal clothing, placing them before him, joking with him, and playing with him until they could tempt him. All this was gathered for him, but he did not look at it or at them.

Then the king summoned the priests and astrologers and asked them about his condition and affair. Some of them said, "O king, this boy will not attach himself to anything of the world until he sheds blood."

So the king called for a sheep and a knife. He went in among his women and brought the boy with him to the boy's mother. The two of them said to him, "We want you to slaughter this sheep for us, our son."

The boy said to them, "Where are your servants? They can spare you this trouble. What calls you to what I see?"

They said, "Our gods have blessed us and honored us through you, and so we want to eat what you slaughter."

Budhasaf said, "Spare me from this, for I am tender-hearted, I recoil from it, and I would sin."

They said, "There is no sin upon you in this. We will carry its sin away from you, and you will be free of its burden."

When they pressed him, the boy said, "Since you have guaranteed to me that you will spare me its burden, I will do that for your pleasure." He drew back his sleeve, took the edges of his robes and put them into his belt, laid the sheep down, and said to his father, "Hold its head," and to his mother, "Hold its legs."

He took the knife in his right hand, put his left hand beneath the sheep's neck on the ground, and then struck with the knife as though he meant to strike the sheep with his left hand. The knife passed into his palm, and he fell unconscious. His father cried out, and his mother struck her face. The boy came to himself, and they pulled the knife from his hand.

The boy said, "O father, I am worn out. Relieve me from the pain and distress I am in."

His father said to him, "My son, be patient. You will recover soon, and the pain you feel will leave you."

The boy said, "Call the physicians for me so that they may heal me at once."

His father said, "I cannot do that."

He said, "O father, then carry away from me some of the pain that I feel."

He said, "I find no way to do that."

Then the boy laughed.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was made from the Arabic text of Kitab Bilawhar wa-Budhasaf fi al-mawa'iz wa-al-amthal al-hikmiyah, al-Matba' al-Safdari, 1888. The English body is newly written from the Arabic source.

Source Colophon

Primary source witness: Google Books volume vYacAQAACAAJ, Kitab Bilawhar wa-Budhasaf fi al-mawa'iz wa-al-amthal al-hikmiyah, al-Matba' al-Safdari, 1888, original from Harvard.

Translated passage: the birth of Budhasaf, the king's attempt to confine him, the speech-mender episode, the persecution of the renunciants, Budhasaf's first sights of sickness, blindness, and old age, and his self-wounding answer to the sheep-slaughter test, printed Arabic pages 17-36.

Public source: https://books.google.com/books?id=vYacAQAACAAJ

Source Text

Arabic Text

وولد للملك في تلك الأيام بعد إياسه
من الذكور غلام لم ير الناس مثله مولودا قط حسنا
وجمالا وضياء فبلغ السرور من الملك بابنه مبلغا كاد أن
يسرف على نفسه وسماه بوداسف وزعم أن الأوثان
التي كان ينذر لها النذور هي التي وهبت له ذلك الغلام
فقسم عامة ما كان في بيوت أمواله على بيوت الأوثان
وسدنتها وأمر الناس بالأكل والشرب واللعب سنة ثم
إن الملك جمع العلماء والمنجمين لتقويم ميلاد الغلام فرفع
إليه المنجمون أنهم يجدون هذا الغلام يبلغ من الشرف
وارتفاع الدرجة الفاضلة والمنزلة الرفيعة ما لم يبلغه
ملك قط في جميع أرض الهند واتفقوا على ذلك جميعا غير أن
رجلا منهم كبير السن وكان عالما ببعض أسرار النجوم
عرف صفة الغلام وقال ما أظن هذا الشرف المنزلة
والفضل الذي وجدنا هذا الغلام يبلغه إلا شرف الآخرة
ولا نحسبه إلا سيكون إماما في الدين والنسك هذه
فضيلة في درجات الآخرة فلما سمع الملك قول المنجم
وقع

وقع في قلبه موقعا كاد أن ينغصه سروره بالغلام و
كان الرجل الذي حدثه بذلك من أوثق المنجمين عنده
علما وصدقا فأمر جنيسر الملك للغلام بمدينة فأخليت
له وتخير له من الثقات من الحضان والظؤرة والخدم
وتقدم إليهم أن لا يذكروا فيما بينهم موتا ولا حيوة ولا
آخرة ولا دينا ولا نسكا ولا فناء ولا زوالا وأن ينظروا
من عرض له منهم شكوى أو علة أن يعجلوا إخراجه من المدينة
حتى ينقطع عن أوهامهم عادة ذكر الأشياء التي تظهر منها
فإذا بلغ الغلام أن يفهم الكلام لم يسقطوا له بذكر شيء
مما يتخوف أن يستقر في قلبه فيكون داعيا إلى الاهتمام
بالدين والنسك وازداد صدر الملك عند ذلك وغرا
وحنقا وعداوة على النساك وخاف على ابنه الوقوع بأمرهم
إن انتهى إليه ذلك وقتل النساك وكان للملك وزير
قد كفاه أمره وحمل عنه مؤنة سياسة سلطانه وكان
لا يخونه ولا يكذبه ولا يكتمه شيئا ولا يؤثر عليه أحدا

ولا يتوانى في شيء من أمره وعمله وكان في ذلك طلقا
بالمعروف عفيفا في الناس مرضيا فيهم وكان أحباء
الملك يحسدونه ويبغون عليه ويستثقلون مكانه
فخرج الوزير ذات يوم متصيدا فأتى في شعب من
الشعاب على رجل ملقى في أصل شجرة قد أصابته زمانة
شديدة في رجليه لا يستطيع براحا فسأله الوزير
عن شأنه وخبره وحاله فأخبره أن السبع قد أصابه
ثم قال للوزير اضمني إليك فإن لك واجبا عندي
منفعة قال الوزير إني لفاعل لك وإن لم أجد ذلك
عندك ولكن أخبرني ما المنفعة التي تعدني هل تعمل
عملا أو تحسن شيئا معجبا قال نعم أنا رجل أرتق الكلام
بالكلام قال الوزير وكيف ترتق الكلام بالكلام قال
إذا كان فيه فتق رتقته أو وهي فأوثقته حتى لا يأتي
من قبله فساد فلم ير الوزير ذلك من قوله شيئا و
أمر بحمله إلى منزله وأجرى عليه ما يصلحه فمكث
الراتق

الراتق عند الوزير زمانا ثم إن أحباء الملك الذين
كانوا يحسدون الوزير اجتمعوا فتخيلوا لذلك الوزير
وضربوا له الدواخيل والأمور فاجتمع رأيهم على أن
دسوا إلى الملك رجلا منهم فقال أيها الملك هل علمت أن
هذا الوزير يطمع في ملكك أن يغلب عليه عقبك من بعدك
فهو دائب يعمل في ذلك ويصانع الناس عليه ويعانيه
فإن أردت أن ترى تحقيق ذلك فاختبره أنه قد بدا لك
أن ترفض الدنيا وتتخلى منها وأنك عازم على ترك
ملكك وتلحق بالنساك فإنك سترى من فرحه بذلك
ومتابعته إياك ما تعرف به أمره وكان القوم قد عرفوا
من ذلك الوزير رقة عند ذكر الآخرة وفناء الدنيا
وزوالها عن أهلها ومحبة لأهل الدين والنساك و
مقاربته لهم فلما قيل للملك ذلك وقر في قلبه قال
لا أنا هجمت من على هذا إلا أسأله عما وراءه فلما دخل
الوزير على الملك قال له الملك إنك قد عرفت حرصي

على الدنيا مذ كنت رجلا وإني قد تدبرت ما مضى من
ذلك فلم أجد في يدي منه طائلا فعلمت أن الذي
بقي من ذلك مثل الذي مضى منه وأنه يوشك أن
ينقضي يذهب الباقي حتى لا يبقى في يدي منه
شيء وقد عزمت الآن على أن أعمل في أمر آخرتي عملا
صالحا على قدر ما كان من قوة علي في أمر الدنيا ولم
أجد لذلك وجها إلا أن ألحق بالنساك وهو الذي
أريد أن ألحق لهم وأنخلي عن هذا الملك وأهله فرق
الوزير عند ذلك القول وقال يا أيها الملك إن
الباقي وإن كان عزيزا لأهل أن يطلب وإن
الفاني وإن كان موجودا مبذولا لأهل أن يرفض
فنعم الرأي الذي رأيت وأنا أرجو أن يجمع الله لك
مع ملك الأرض نعيم السماء فكبر ذلك على الملك
وعظم به ووقع منه موقعا فظيعا ولم يزد عليه
شيئا غير أن الوزير قد عرف الثقل في وجه الملك
والكراهية

والكراهية لمشورته ولم يشك الملك أن القوم
صدقوا فانصرف الوزير إلى أهله ومنزله مغموما كئيبا
حزينا مهتما لا يدري من أين أتي وما حيلة صلاح
ما استنكر من أمر الملك فسهر لذلك عامة ليله و
تفكر في نفسه ثم ذكر الرجل الذي قال إنه يرتق الكلام
فأرسل إليه فلما دخل عليه قال له إنك ذكرت لي ذكرا
هل تذكر ذكرت لي رتق الكلام قال الرجل نعم فهل
احتجت إلى شيء من ذلك قال نعم أخبرك إني صحبت
هذا الملك قبل ملكه ومذ كان ملكا لم أنكره في شيء
فيما بيني وبينه ساعة قط لما كان يعرف من نصحي له
وشفقتي عليه وإيثاري إياه على نفسي وجميع الناس
حتى إذا كان هذا اليوم أنكرته إنكارا شديدا لا أحسب
عنده خيرا بعد هذا اليوم أبدا وقد أشفقت منه قال
الراتق هل كان لذلك سبب أو علة قال الوزير
ما علمت إلا أنه دعاني هذا اليوم فاستخلى بي وقال لي

كذا وكذا فرجعت إليه كذا وكذا قال الراتق من ها هنا
كان الفتق وأنا أرتقه فلا تحزن أيها الوزير وطب
نفسا إن الملك قد ظن أنك لم تكره فيما أشرت عليه
أن يتخلى عن الملك وتخلف أنت فيه ذلك لأنك زينت
ما استشارك من تخليته عن الملك وتابعته عليه هذا
أمر قد سعي به عليك ونصب لك فيه الحبائل واحتيل
عليك فيه وهذا أمر سهل فإذا أصبحت فاطرح عنك
ثيابك وطيبك والبس أوضع ما تجد من زي النساك
وأشهره واحلق رأسك ثم انهض حتى تأتي إلى باب الملك
فإن الناس سيرتاعون لذلك ويرفعون أمرك إلى
الملك وإن الملك داعيك وسائلك عما صنعت بنفسك
فقل هو ما دعوتني إليه أيها الملك أما إنك قد عرفت
مني أن الموت هو أخف علي من هذا ولكن لما رأيتك
فيه أيها الملك وقد هويت ذلك تابعتك على أني لم
أكن لأدع أن أكون معك فيه حيث كنت إذا أشرت

به عليك فإنه من أشار على صاحبه وولي نعمته برأي لم
يرغب بنفسه عنه لا سيما من كان من صاحبه كمثل منزلتي
معك فانهض أيها الملك فإني معك حيث كنت وإني
لا أعلم ما دعوتني إليه إلا خيرا مما نحن فيه ففعل الوزير كما
أمر الراتق من الغد فتحلل وزال ما كان في نفس الملك
عليه وعلم الملك أنه محسود عنه مكذوب عليه فازداد
به ثقة وعليه كرامة ووجد الملك على النساك عداوة وامتلأ عليهم
حنقا وغاظه موقعهم من قلوب الناس وما يذكرون به
من الفضل والخير والحكمة والعلم فأمر الملك بنفيهم من جميع
بلاده وأوعدهم بالقتل إن لم يخرجوا فأخذ النساك في الهرب
والاستخفاء ثم إن الملك خرج ذات يوم متصيدا فوقع
بصره على شخصين من بعيد فأرسل إليهما فأتي بهما فإذا هما
ناسكان فقال ما بالكما لم تخرجا من بلادي قالا
قد ألفتنا رسلك ونحن على خروج قال الملك لم أخرتما
ذلك إلى اليوم قالا نحن قوم ضعفاء ليست لنا دواب ولا

زاد ولا نستطيع إلا التقصد في المشي قال الملك إن
من فرق من الموت يسرع الهرب بغير زاد ولا دابة فإنا قد
علمنا أنه لا بد من الموت وأنا لا نفرقه بل لا ننظر قرة عين
في شيء من الأشياء إلا فيه فأما ما تقر به أعين أهل
الدنيا من متاع الدنيا فقد خرجنا منه وليس نريد أن
نعود إليه قال لهما الملك وكيف زعمتما أنكما لا تفرقان
من الموت وقد ألفتكما رسلي على سبيل خروج من
بلادنا وقد خرجتما أفليس هذا هو الهرب من الموت
والفرق منه قالا إن الهرب ليس بالفرق من الموت فلا
تظنن أنا فرقناك ولكنا كرهنا أن نعينك على أنفسنا
فأسف الملك عند ذلك وأمر بهما أن يحرقا بالنار و
نادى في أهل مملكته بإحراق من قدر عليه من النساك
فتجرد رؤوس عبدة الأوثان في طلبهم فأخذوا منهم
بشرا كثيرا فأحرقهم بالنيران ومن هناك كان إحراقهم
أنفسهم وموتاهم سنة باقية بأرض الهند لما زعم
أتباعهم

أتباعهم أنهم أصابوا من الفوز بذلك الحريق فتطوع
المتطوعون منهم لينالوا بما زعموا مثل فضلهم وقل دين
الحق في أرض شولابط إلا أنه بقي أناس من المصدقين
الذين يظهرون غيره ولا يعملون عملا يعرفون به وناس
قليل من النساك كرهوا الخروج من البلاد واختاروا الغيبة
والاستخفاء ليكونوا دعاة وهداة لمن وصلوا إلى كلام الحق
وبلغ ابن الملك أحسن نبات في حسن عقله و
جماله وحسن أدبه غير أنه لم يؤخذ بشيء من العلم
والأدب إلا بما يحتاج إليه الملوك مما ليس فيه ذكر موت
ولا زوال ولا فناء وأوتي الغلام من الحفظ والفهم والعلم
والأدب أمرا كان عند الناس عجبا فجعل أبوه لا يدري
أيفرح بما يرى من ذلك أم يحزن لما يتخوف عليه أن يدعو
ذلك الحال إلى الدين وتقدم الملك بحصر ابنه وأصحابه
في المدينة وأمرهم أن يمنعوه من الخروج والنظر والاستماع
إلى الأشياء والعلوم ولما فطن الغلام بحصرهم إياه

في المدينة ومنعهم إياه من الخروج والنظر والاستماع
وتحفظهم عليه ارتاب بذلك وسكت عليه وقال في نفسه هؤلاء
أعلم بما يصلحني مني حتى إذا زادته السن والتجربة عقلا نظر
فيما به وقال في نفسه ما أرى لهؤلاء علي فضلا وما أنا بحقيق
أن أقلدهم أمري ولم لا أتخير لنفسي عملا برأيي ثم
أشاركهم في التدبير ولا أدع المشاركة لهم في رأيهم
إن كان صوابا وأراد الغلام أن يكلم أباه إذا دخل عليه
ويسأله عن سبب حصره إياه في المدينة ثم قال في نفسه
ما هذا الأمر إلا من قبله وتدبيره ثم تفكر فقال إن
كان من قبله فإنه لا يطلعني عليه ولكني حقيق
أن ألتمس علم ذلك من حيث أرجو إدراكه ممن هو دونه
ممن تستميله الرغبة ويستفز عند الوعيد كان في
حضانه رجل هو ألطفهم برا وأشفقهم عليه رفيق به
وكان الغلام إليه مستأنسا فطمع في إصابة الخير من
عنده

عنده وكان اسم الغلام بوداسف ابن جنيسر الملك
فازداد بوداسف لحاضنه ملاطفة وإليه استيناسا
حتى كان أحب إلى الحاضن من أهله وولده ونفسه ثم
إن بوداسف تخير خلوة الحاضن في بعض الليالي فرقق
باللين من الكلام وأخبره أنه ولده وأخذه باللين ما
يقدر عليه من الكلام ليستدرج منه الذي يطلب و
أخبره أنه والده وأولى الناس به وأخذه بالترغيب
والترهيب ثم قال له إن هذا الملك صائر إلي وأنت كائن
فيه أحد رجلين إما أعظم الناس عندي منزلة وإما
أسوأهم حالا قال له الحاضن ومن أين أتخوف عليك والحال
في ملكك قال الغلام من أن تكتمني اليوم أمرا أنا سائلك
عنه فأحقد ذلك عليك لغد فأنتقم منك ذلك اليوم
أشد ما أقدر عليه فعرف الحاضن منه الصدق وطمع
فيه ووثق منه بالوفاء فأفشى إليه الخبر وألقى إليه
ما قال المنجمون لأبيه في بابه والذي كره أبوه من ذلك

فشكر الغلام له ذلك وأطرق حتى دخل عليه أبوه
فقال يا أبت إني وإن كنت لم أرك صبيا وناشيا فقد
رأيت نفسي واختلاف حالي وأذكر منه ما أذكر وأعرف
بما أذكر من ذلك ما لا أذكر وأعلم أنك لم تكن على هذا
المثال ولا على هذه الحالة التي ما كنت قط ولا أنت
كائن عليها إلى الأبد وإن كنت أردت أن تخفي علي
التغير والنقص وزوال الدنيا عن أهلها فما ذلك علي
بخاف وإن كنت حبستني عن الخروج وحلت بيني
وبين الناس لئلا تتوق نفسي إلى غير ما أنا عليه
لقد تركتني بحصرك إياي في شغل لا أنفك عنه وإن
نفسي لمعلقة بما تحول بيني وبينه حتى صار لي في غيره
من هم ولا أرب حتى لا يطمئن قلبي إلى شيء مما أنا فيه
ولا أنتفع به ولا آلفه فخل عني وأعلمني
بما تكره من ذلك وتحذره حتى أجتنبه وأوثر
موافقتك ورضاك على ما سواهما فلما سمع ذلك جنيسر الملك من ابنه
بوداسف

بوداسف عرف أنه قد علم ما كان يكره أن يعلمه وأن
حبسه وحصره إياه لا يزيده إلا إغراء وولوعا بما
يحاذر منه فقال له يا بني ما أردت بحصري إياك إلا أن
أنحي عنك الأذى ولا تسمع إلا ما يوافقك ولا تبصر إلا
ما يسرك وأما إذا كان هواك في غير ذلك فآثر الأشياء
عندي ما هويت وألفت ورضيت ووافق رضاك و
هواك ثم إنه أمر أصحابه أن يركبوا معه فركب وركبوا
معه في أحسن هيئة وأحسن ما يجدون من المسير
والزي وأمر الملك أن ينحوا عن طريقه كل منظر سوء
وأن يعدوا له الملاهي والمعازف وتفرش له الطريق
بأنواع الزهر ويشرف عليه بالقينات الحسان ومما
يأخذون لذلك من جميل الهيئة والأثاث ففعلوا
ذلك وجعل بوداسف بعد ركبته تلك يكثر
الركوب واشتدت المؤنة على الناس في تعاهد ما
كان الملك أمرهم من ذلك فمر بوداسف ذات يوم

في طريق قد غفلوا عنه على رجلين من السؤال أحدهما
مورم قد تبدل لحمه واصفر جلده وذهب ماؤه وخشن
منظره والآخر أعمى يقوده قائد فلما رأى بوداسف
ذلك اقشعر منه جلده وسأل عنه فقالوا هذا
الورم الذي يكون من سقم باطن وهذا العمى زمانة
تصيب البصر قال بوداسف وإن هذا ليصيب غير
واحد من الناس قالوا نعم قال فهل أحد من الناس
أمن من أن يصيبه هذا قالوا لا قال بوداسف فهل
أحد من يصيبه هذا في عينيه ليستطاع رد بصره
إليه قالوا لا فانصرف محزونا ثقيلا باكيا مستخفا
بملكه وملك أبيه فظل بذلك أياما ثم ركب أيضا ذات
يوم فأتى في مسيره على شيخ كبير قد حناه الكبر ابيض
شعره واسود لونه وتقبض جلده وقصر خطوه
واسترخت أعضاؤه فتعجب وسأل عنه فقالوا
هذا الهرم فقال بوداسف وفي كم يبلغ الرجل
ما أرى

ما أرى قالوا في مائة سنة أو نحو ذلك قال فما
وراء ذلك قالوا الموت قال فأقبل بوداسف على نفسه
يراجعها ويقول لئن خلي بين الرجل وما يريده من
المدة ليصيرن إلى هذا عن قليل من الأيام وليبلغن
ما أرى ثم لا ينتظر بعده إلا الموت إن هذا الموت لغير
ما يظن به الجهال وإن هذا الأمر لغير ما يشتغل به
أنفسنا ولغير ما نحن فيه ثم قال اليوم اثنا عشر
ساعة والشهر ثلاثون يوما والسنة اثنا عشر شهرا
وأقصى العمر مائة سنة ما أسرع الساعة في اليوم
واليوم في الشهر والشهر في السنة والسنة في العمر
وهي كلمته يعيدها ويرددها ويكررها ثم سهر ليلته
كلها وكان له قلب ذكي حتى لا يستطيع أن ينسى شيئا
ولا يتغافل عنه فكاد الحزن والاهتمام أن يصرف نفسه
عن الدنيا وشهواتها وكان مع ذلك يداري أباه
فينطق عنده ويتكلم بما يرى أنه يوافقه ويعجبه

ويصغي بسمعه نحو كل متكلم طمعا في أن يصيبها فيه خللا
أو يسمع شيئا يدل له على غير ما فيه من الدين ثم خلا
يوما بحاضنه الذي كان أفشى إليه ما أسر فقال
له هل تعرف من الناس أحدا سنته غير سنتنا وشأنه
غير شأننا هذا قال الحاضن قد كان قوم يدعون
النساك ويرفضون الدنيا ويطلبون ملكوت السماء
ونعيم الآخرة لهم كلام وعلم لا أدري ما هو غير أن
الناس عادوهم وأبغضوهم وهجروهم ورموهم عن قوس
واحدة وأخذوهم بالعداوة والبغضاء وكرههم الملك
ونفاهم عن بلاده ومملكته فحرقهم بالنيران فلا نعلم
ببلادنا منهم اليوم أحدا فاغتم بوداسف لما سمع
ذلك وطال اهتمامه وحزنه وكان كالرجل الملتمس
ضالته التي لا بد له منها وشاع خبره في الآفاق وشهر
بجماله وكماله وعقله وفهمه وزهادته في الدنيا و
هوانها عليه فلما رأى أبوه ما داخله من الهم والحزن

والتماسه العلم والحكمة واستلذاذه كل حديث يذكر فيه
ذكر الآخرة أمر بإدخاله على النساء وأمرهن أن يجتهدن و
يفتنه بحلاوة كلام النسوان وبأن يأتين باللؤلؤ والياقوت
والزبرجد ومن ثياب الديباج والاستبرق ومن لباس
الملوك فيضعنها بين يديه ويمازحنه ويلاعبنه حتى
يفتنه فجمع له ذلك ولم ينظر إليه ولا إليهن فدعى
الملك الكهنة والمنجمين فسألهم عن حاله وأمره فقال
بعضهم أيها الملك إن هذا الغلام لن يتعلق بشيء من الدنيا
حتى يريق دما فدعى الملك بشاة وسكين ودخل على
نسائه وأدخل الغلام معه عند والدة الغلام فقالا
له نحب أن تذبح لنا هذه الشاة يا ولدنا فقال لهما
الغلام أين عنكما الخدم يكفونكما هذه المؤنة وما الذي
يدعوكم إلى ما أرى قالا قد أنعمت علينا آلهتنا و
أكرمتنا بك فنحن نحب أن تأكل ذبيحتك قال بوداسف
اعفياني من هذا فإني أرق وأجزع منه وآثم قالا إنه

ليس عليك في هذا إثم نحن نحمل عنك إثمه وأنت بريء
من وزره فلما ألحا عليه قال الغلام أما إذ ضمنتما لي
أنكما تكفياني وزره فسأفعل ذلك لرضاكما فخلف كمه
وأخذ أطراف أقبيته فأدخلها في منطقته وأضجع الشاة
وقال لأبيه امسك رأسها وقال لوالدته امسكي
قوائمها وأخذ السكين بيمينه ووضع شماله تحت عنق
الشاة في الأرض ثم ضرب بالسكين كأنه يريد الشاة
بشماله فنفذ السكين في كفه وخر مغشيا عليه صاح
أبوه وصكت أمه وجهها فأفاق الغلام فنزعوا السكين
من يده وقال الغلام يا أبت إني مجهود فروح عني
ما أنا فيه من الألم والكرب قال له أبوه يا بني اصبر
فإنك تبرأ عن قريب ويذهب عنك ما تجد من الوجع
قال الغلام ادع لي الأطباء ليشفوني من ساعتهم قال
أبوه لا أقدر عليه قال يا أبت فاحمل عني بعض ما أجده
من الوجع قال لا أجد إلى ذلك سبيلا قال فضحك
الغلام