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 Bilawhar's parables of the three companions and the city that enthrones a stranger for one year.
Translation
Budasaf said, "The parable is wondrous, and the comparison is true. Give me another parable for the world and its people, who are deluded in it by what does not benefit and neglect what would bring benefit back to them."
Bilawhar said, "They claim that a man had three companions. As for one of them, he preferred his wish over himself, made his labor for him by night and day, and rode through terrors and dangers because of him. He did not slacken from him or busy himself away from spending himself and his wealth for him.
"As for the second, he was below the rank of the first, yet with that he was beloved to him, dear in his eyes, and near to him. He honored him, treated him gently, served him, spent for him, and did not neglect him. He had given him his labor and had reached the utmost of his pleasure in showing him kindness and honor, until it was as though he was his beloved. There was nothing dearer to him than he was, and there was nothing toward which he was gentler than toward him.
"As for the third, he was estranged from him, burdensome to him, and neglected by him. He received only a little of his work, affection, and wealth, almost nothing. He hardly attended to him except from time to time.
"Then, when the calamity came down upon the man, in which he had need of his companions, intimates, and comrades, and the king's messengers came to take him away to the king, he turned in alarm to his first companion. He said to him, 'You know my preference for you, my spending myself for you, and my riding through terrors because of you. This is the day of my need for you. What do I have with you?'
"He said to him, 'I am not a companion to you. I have companions who occupy me away from you, and they have more claim on me than you do. But perhaps I will furnish you with clothes by which you will not benefit.'
"Then he turned in alarm to his second companion, in love and gentleness, and said to him, 'What do I have with you? For I have never ceased to exert myself in your need, and this is the day of my need for you.'
"He said to him, 'The matter of my own self occupies me away from you and from your matter. So act for your own affair, and know that what was between me and you has been cut off. My road is other than your road. Yet perhaps I will escort you a few steps, then turn back.'
"Then he turned to his third companion, whom he had not turned toward in the days of his prosperity. He said to him, 'I am ashamed before you because of the length of my estrangement from you, but need has forced me to you. What do I have with you?'
"He said to him, 'With me you have care over you, attachment to you, and little neglect of you. I am your companion apart from the companions, the one who will not surrender you, fail you, or betray you. So let the small amount you deposited with me not alarm you or grieve you. I have preserved it for you with me and made it abundant for you. Then I was not content with that until I traded with it for you and won many profits for you. Today I have for you, from your wealth, many times what you placed with me. I hope that in this there will be the king's satisfaction and relief for you. So go; I am with you.'
"The man said, 'I do not know over which of two things I am more full of regret and remorse: over what I neglected with the companion of truth, or over what I strove for with the companion of evil.'
"Bilawhar said, 'As for the first companion, it is wealth. The second companion is family and child. The third is deeds.'
"Budasaf said, 'This is the truth. Give me another parable for the world and the one deluded by it.'
"Bilawhar said, 'They claim that the people of a city used to bring a foreign man, ignorant of their affairs, and make him king over them. They would place their affairs in his hands, and because of his ignorance of them and of that custom of theirs, he would have no doubt that his kingship over them was lasting. But they did not leave the king over them except for one year; then they replaced him. The one who was made king over them, because of his ignorance of them, had no doubt that his kingship over them was lasting.
"'When one year had been fulfilled for him, while he was in the delight of what he was in, they drove him out from among them and from their city, naked, stripped, and plundered. He fell into hardship, affliction, and strain. He had not told himself that they would bring him out from kingship, so what had passed of his kingship became calamity, grief, and hardship for him.
"'Then the people of that city took, as they used to take, a discerning man who had reason, modesty, and wisdom, knowing the world and its affairs. They made him king over them. When the man saw his estrangement among them, his soul did not settle with them. He sought to find among them a man experienced in their affairs, so that he could ask him about the conditions of that city and its people. He did not cease seeking that until he found a man. He asked him, and the man disclosed to him the secret of the people and the import of their matter, warned him, and advised him to look to the wealth in his hands and secure from it whatever he could, first things first, securing it in the place to which they would drive him out. Then, when he was driven out, he would come to sufficiency and abundance from what he had sent ahead and secured. He acted on that, and by it he was saved from the evil consequence of his affair.
"'You, O son of the king, are in the position of that man who did not become at home in estrangement, was not deceived by sovereignty, and inquired into the condition of those people and the condition of the city. And I am the man whom you sought as a helper for guidance and aid.'"
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 parables of the three companions and the one-year king, printed Arabic pages 48-52. The translated passage begins inside page 48, after the interpretation of the man-in-the-well parable, and ends inside page 52, before Budasaf's request about the hereafter.
Public source: https://books.google.com/books?id=vYacAQAACAAJ
Source Text
Arabic Text
قال بوداسف إن
المثل لعجيب إن التشبيه لحق فزدني مثل للدنيا وأصحابها
المغرورين فيها بما لا ينفع والمتهاون بما يعود عليه نفع قال
بلوهر زعموا أن رجلا كان له ثلاثة قرناء فأما أحدهم فكان
يؤثر هواه على نفسه ويجعل شغله بليله ونهاره و
يركب الأهوال والمخاوف في سببه لا يفتر منه ولا يتشاغل
في ابدال نفسه وماله له وأما الثاني فدون منزلة الأول
وهو مع ذلك حبيب اليه اثير عنده قريب منه يكرمه
ويلاطفه ويخدم ويبذل له ولا يغفل عنه قد جعل له
كده وبلغ غاية رضاه في الطافه واكرامه حتى كأنه هو حبيبه
عنده ولا شيء آثر عنده منه ولا هو به الطف منه وكان
الثالث مجفوا عنده مستثقلا مغفولا عنه لقليل من شغله
ووده وماله الا اقله لا يكاد يتعاهده الا في الحين بعد
الحين حتى اذا نزلت بالرجل النازلة التي احتاج الرجل
فيها الى اصحابه وخواصه وقرنائه وجاءت رسل الملك
ليذهبوا به اليه ففزع الى قرينه الاول فقال له قد
علمت ايثاري اياك وابدال نفسي لك وركوبي الاهوال
بسببك وهذا يوم حاجتي اليك فما ذا لي عندك قال له ما
انا لك بصاحب ان لي اصحابا يشغلوني عنك هم اولى بي
منك ولكن لعلي ازودك اثوابا لا تنتفع بها ثم فزع الى
قرينه الثاني في المحبة واللطف فقال له ما ذا لي عندك
فاني لم ازل اشتد في حاجتك وهذا يوم حاجتي اليك
قال له ان امر نفسي يشغلني عنك وعن امرك فاعمل
لشأنك واعلم انه قد انقطع ما بيني بينك ان طريقي
لغير طريقك غير اني لعلي اشيعك خطوات يسيرة ثم انصرف
ثم التفت الى قرينه الثالث الذي كان لا يلتفت اليه في
ايام رخاءه فقال له اني منك لمستحي لطول جفوتي اياك
ولكن الحاجة اضطرتني اليك فماذا لي عندك فقال له لك
عندي المحافظة عليك واللزوم لك وقلة الغفلة عنك فانا
صاحبك دون الاصحاب الذي لا يسلمك ولا يخذلك ولا
يغدر بك فلا يهولنك ولا يهمنك قلة ما اسلفت عندي
فاني قد كنت احفظ ذلك لك عندي واوفره عليك ثم لم
ارض بذلك حتى اتجرت لك فيه فربحت لك ارباحا كثيرة
فعندي لك اليوم من مالك اضعاف ما وضعت عندي فانا
ارجو ان يكون في ذلك رضاء الملك وفرج لك فانطلق
فانا معك فقال الرجل ما ادري على اي الامرين انا اشد
حسرة وندامة على ما فرطت فيه من قرين الصدق ام على
ما اجتهدت فيه لقرين السوء قال بلوهر اما القرين الاول
فالمال والقرين الثاني الاهل والولد والثالث العمل قال
بوداسف هذا هو الحق فزدني للدنيا وصاحبها المغرور
بها مثلا قال بلوهر زعموا ان اهل مدينة كانوا يأتون بالرجل
الغريب الجاهل بامورهم فيملكونه عليهم فيجعلون امورهم
اليه فلا يشك ان ملكه ذلك دائم عليهم لجهالته بهم و
بتلك سنتهم ولم يكونوا يدعوا الملك عليهم الا سنة واحدة ثم يبدلونه فلم
يشك الذي يملك عليهم لجهالته بهم الا ان ملكه عليهم دائم
فاذا وفت له سنة واحدة وهو في طيب ما هو فيه اخرجوه
من بينهم ومن مدينتهم عريانا مجردا مسلوبا فكان يقع
في الشقاء والبلاء والجهد ولم يكن يحدث نفسه انهم
يخرجونه من الملكة فصار ما مضى من ملكه وبالا عليه و
حزنا ومشقة واذا ثم ان اهل تلك المدينة اخذوا فيما
كانوا يأخذون رجلا لبيبا له عقل وحياء وحكمة عالما
بالدنيا وامورها فملكوه عليهم فلما رأى الرجل غربته فيهم لم
يستانس نفسه اليهم وطلب ان يجد بين اظهرهم رجلا
خابرا بامورهم يستخبره احوال تلك المدينة واهلها فلم يفتر
عن طلب ذلك حتى وجد رجلا فساله فافضى اليه سر القوم
وفحواهم وحذره واشار عليه ان ينظر الى الاموال التي في
يديه فيحرز منها ما استطاع الاول فالاول فيحرزه في المكان
الذي يخرجونه اليه فاذا اخرج انتهى الى كفاية وسعة
مما كان قد قدم واحرز فعمل بذلك فنجا به من شر عاقبة
امره فانت يا بن الملك بمنزلة ذلك الرجل الذي لم يستانس
بالغربة ولم يغتر بالسلطان واستخبر حال اولئك القوم
وحال المدينة وانا الرجل الذي طلبت لك عونا للدليل
والمعونة