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 answer on hearing wisdom, turning away, returning, and the patience of a teacher who waits for a hearer to become ready.
Translation
Budasaf said, "Go away tonight rightly guided, and stay nearby. If it seems good to us, we will send for you."
So Bilawhar went away for that night. Then Budasaf sent to him and met him on the second night.
Budasaf said to him, "Does a man hear wisdom, then answer it, then remain turned away from it for a time, and then return?"
Bilawhar said, "Yes. This is the condition of most people with wisdom. The likeness of that is like a shepherd of sheep in a wasteland. He passes by a spring of water, sees it, and pays it no attention. Time passes over him. Then he remembers the place of that spring, travels to it, opens the mouth of the spring, and cleans around it. Then the water comes out, and he and others benefit from it.
"So too the likeness of seekers of wisdom is like drawing out water from the depths of the earth. Some of it is near, like seep-wells and springs. Some of it is at the measure of a fathom or two fathoms. Some of it is scarce and far away, among thirsty places where water is not reached. After that, these differ in other stations also. A thing may be near, near in place, but not sweet and with no quenching in it; many a near thing belongs to hardship, for it is poor. Sometimes distance, coarseness, and foulness are combined, and sometimes nearness, sweetness, and quenching are combined."
Budasaf said, "Do the people who fall short in these stations have any share? Do they have any deliverance?"
Bilawhar said, "Freedom and bondage, safety and ruin, allegiance and enmity are present. In getting free from error and ignorance there is freedom; in clinging to the protection of wisdom, holding fast to the firmest handle, there is deliverance and safety. In allegiance to its people, and in help for them, there is elevation of degrees, abundant good, and the better recompense. If someone attains something of it, whether little or much, it is better. The road is clear, the proof is bright, the demonstration is shining, good is beneficial, evil is harmful, and God, mighty and exalted, is the just judge who does not wrong."
Budasaf said, "Then do you think the ignorant person ever hears anything of this speech?"
Bilawhar said, "I do not think he has heard with the hearing of one who has something in his heart; nor has anyone spoken to him so as to make him understand it. If anyone speaks to him, it wearies him."
Budasaf said, "Then how did the sages leave him apart from it throughout their long age?"
Bilawhar said, "They spoke to their common people at the proper places of their speech, and sometimes they withheld that from someone more just, gentler in nature, better in conduct, and more listening than your father. A man may live with his companion his whole life, seeing from him only familiarity, affection, pure kindness, and free exchange, and seeing nothing that separates them except religion and wisdom. Yet, while he is pained for him and grieved over him, he still does not disclose to him the secrets of wisdom if he does not see him as a place for them, nor fit for them, and does not see acceptance in him.
"It has reached me that there was a king among the kings, gentle and reforming, and he had a minister who helped him in reform, spared him burden, and spent his judgment and himself for him with sufficiency and watchfulness over his affair. The minister had heard the speech of wisdom, understood it, chosen it, and devoted himself to its people. The king did not conceal from him anything of his affairs, good or bad, and he too did not conceal anything at all from the king except the matter of religion and wisdom.
"They remained in that state for a long time. Whenever the minister looked at the king bowing to idols, magnifying them, serving them, and entering into some path of error and ignorance, there entered into him what enters the heart of a man who has only one child, the dearest of all people to him and the coolness of his eye, and who then keeps seeing him covered by madness and assailed by spirits of devils.
"The minister was in distress, grief, sorrow, and oppression because of that. Whenever he wanted to mention it to him, a barrier from within himself came between him and it. When he consulted his brothers about it, they said to him, 'You know your companion best. If you see him as fit for that and as a place for the speech, then speak and teach. If you do not see him as fit for that, beware lest you incite him against yourself and against religion and its people, for no one dares oppose a ruler.'
"So they remained in that state. Though error had overtaken that king, he was humble, affectionate, near to the people, easy, of good conduct toward his subjects, and eager to set them right.
"Then the king and his minister remained in that state for a stretch of time. One night, after the people had grown quiet, the king said to his minister, 'Would you like, now, to ride so that we may travel through this city, look at the condition of the people in the depth of night, and look at the traces of the rain that has struck us in these days?'
"The minister said to him, 'Yes, if you love that.'
"So the king and the minister rode by night and went around the quarters of the city. They passed, in one of its roads, a refuse heap belonging to the people of the city, where they threw what they gathered from their houses and courtyards and what they swept from their homes. The king saw the light of a fire gleaming from the direction of the refuse heap, and said to the minister, 'This fire has a story. Dismount with me. We will walk on our feet until we come near it and learn about it.'
"They did that. When they reached the place from which the light came out, they found a hole like a cave among mountain caves. A poor man, one of the poor who ask from what is in people's hands, had dug it and made it a dwelling for himself and his wife. The king and the minister heard the sound of singing and the stirring of strings before they looked into the cave.
"When they looked into the cave from a place where the poor man and his wife could not see them, they saw a disfigured man wearing two worn-out garments from the rags of the refuse heap, reclining on a cushion he had prepared from the refuse heap. Before him was an earthenware pitcher containing drink for him, and in his hands was a lute that he was playing. His wife, in a condition like his condition, tatteredness, clothing, and disfigurement, stood before him. She gave him drink when he asked for drink, danced for him when he grew merry, greeted him with the greeting of a king when she drew near to him, and he called her 'mistress of women.'
"The two of them described one another with beauty, loveliness, generosity, open-handedness, and splendor. They had joy, gladness, delight, laughter, and a mutual love and passion that cannot be described. The king stood on his feet for a long time looking at them, marvelling at their condition, their liveliness, and the pleasure and bliss they were in, while they did not cease laughing, delighting, and drinking.
"Then the king and his minister went away. The king's wonder at what he had seen and heard from them did not end. Among the things the king said to the minister was, 'I do not know that you and I have ever obtained any pleasure, joy, gladness, or liveliness like what these two miserable people have obtained in this night, although I do not think they do anything but this every night.'
"The minister seized that opportunity and said, 'Do you not fear, O king, that we may be deceived in what we are in, just as these two miserable people are?'
"The king said, 'How is that?'
"The minister said, 'Do you not fear that your kingdom, in the eye of one who knows the enduring kingdom, is like this refuse heap in our eyes; that your kingdom, in the eye of one who hopes for happiness in the dwellings of bliss, is like this cave in our eyes; that your body, in the eye of one who knows purity, cleanliness, beauty, and health, is like the body of this disfigured, deranged creature in our eyes; and that their wonder at your delight in what you are in is like our wonder at these two people delighting in what they are in?'
"The king said, 'Who are the people of this description, and what is the enduring kingdom they describe?'
"The minister said, 'They are the people of religion, who describe the enduring kingdom.'
"The king said, 'What is it?'
"The minister said, 'In it are joy and gladness with which there is no sorrow; pleasure in which there is no weariness; light with which there is no darkness; knowledge with which there is no ignorance; love with which there is no hatred; satisfaction with which there is no anger; security with which there is no fear; beauty with which there is no ugliness; health with which there is no sickness; life with which there is no death; sweetness with which there is no foulness; kingdom that has no interruption; the completion of good; and safety from every evil in the dwelling of lastingness, with which there is no passing away.'
"The king said, 'Can this dwelling be attained by seeking, or is there a path to it?'
"The minister said, 'Yes. Whoever seeks it enters it.'
"The king said, 'What kept you from telling me this before today?'
"The minister said, 'Nothing kept me from that except that I saw you as a place for it in intellect, affection, and trust, but I did not see you as its place because of the sovereignty that is upon your neck. Sovereignty deafens all this, and blinds one to what has occupied his heart. Added to that blindness and deafness is zeal that comes between him and reflection and judgment, because his heart is occupied with scattered matters, near and far: by what he loves and hates; by the occupation of his hearing with the multitude of sayings and needs that distract from this and make its remembrance forgotten; and by the occupation of his sight with the kinds of things he looks at that make him tyrannical, arrogant, and drawn toward rejecting it for pleasures and desires. With this zeal and anger, there was no proper opening except today, when I saw you as a place for it.'
"The king said, 'If this matter you have described is certain, then we ought to set our night, our day, our hearing, and our sight only upon it and upon seeking that noble place. Even if it is doubtful, we are more entitled to make most of our occupation the seeking of knowledge until we know whether it is truth or falsehood. I do not see your concealment of this matter as good between you and me, though I trusted your affection and knew your worth.'
"The minister said, 'O king, if I sinned in what lies between you and me by leaving this matter unexplained to you, then I was blaming and reproaching myself for endangering my religion by keeping your company and remaining over you. This matter differs between the one who knows it and the one ignorant of it, even if they agree in leaving its obligations, turning aside from its path, and acting for the world, which is its enemy. I remained over you only out of obligation toward you, compassion, and concern for you, as a swimmer remained over his companion who did not know how to swim when the two of them fell into deep water.'
"The king said, 'How was that?'
"The minister said, 'It has reached me that two brothers were close friends. One of them was a swimmer, skilled in dealing with water; the other had no knowledge of swimming and no courage upon the water. They waded into a river and fell into deep water. The swimmer began working with his limbs to get out of drowning. When he turned toward his companion, he found him sinking at times and at times raising his head, not helping himself at all.
"'When he saw his ignorance of swimming and how little help he was to himself, he turned toward him out of obligation and care. He began circling, watching for an opportunity in his affair to save him, and not daring to draw near to him for fear that he would cling to him and they would both drown. The swimmer was light-bodied and weak in grasp, while his companion was strong, powerful, and large. He kept striking the water with his hands before his companion's eyes, guiding him toward the art of swimming and getting out of the water, until his companion moved his hands, imitating swimming. When the swimmer saw that he was helping himself, he hoped to save him. He risked himself by drawing near to him until he enabled him to take hold of his hands; then he swam with him until they both got out.
"'Likewise, O king, I risked myself in mentioning this to you, though I feared your force and your strength and knew my own lowliness and weakness, with my fear and dread of the matter by which the judgment due to your right would fall, until I saw the opportunity and hoped for your deliverance. Will you command me to persist with you in this matter?'
"The king said, 'Rather, I command you not to cease from me in it by night or day, and not to spare me or yourself.'
"So the minister did what the king commanded, and their path was toward deliverance and safety."
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: Budasaf's question on hearing wisdom and returning to it, Bilawhar's water-source comparison, the question of ignorant hearers, and the king-and-minister parables of the poor couple and the swimmer, printed Arabic pages 69-79. The translated passage begins after Budasaf dismisses Bilawhar for the first night and ends inside page 79, before Budasaf asks to flee with Bilawhar.
Public source: https://books.google.com/books?id=vYacAQAACAAJ
Source Text
Arabic Text
قال بوداسف انصرف
الليلة راشدا وكن قريبا اذا بدا لنا ارسلنا اليك فانصرف
عن تلك الليلة ثم ان بوداسف ارسل اليه فالقاه الليلة
الثانية قال له بوداسف فهل يسمع الرجل الحكمة ثم
يستجيب لها ثم يلبث ناكلا عنها ثم ينيب فقال بلوهر
نعم هذا حال اكثر الناس في الحكمة وانما المثل في ذلك مثل
رجل راعي غنم في ارض فلاة فيمر بعين من ماء فيراه
ولا يكترث به فيمر عليه الزمان ثم يذكر مكان تلك
العين فيسير اليه فيفتح فم العين وينظف حواليه فيخرج
الماء فينتفع هو وغيره به وكذلك مثل طلاب الحكمة
كمثل استنباط الماء في اعماق الارض فمنها القريب
كالاحساء والعيون ومنها ما هو على القامة والقامتين
ومنها النزر البعيدة منها المعاطش التي لا يدرك فيها الماء
وهن بعد ذلك مختلفات في منازل اخرى ايضا قريب
قريب المقر غير العذب لا روي فيه ورب قريبها للعسر
فان خسيف وربما اجتمع البعد والغلظ والنتونة و
ربما اجتمع القريب والعذوبة والروي قال بوداسف
فهل لاهل التقصير في هذه المنازل حظ وهل لهم من
نجاة قال بلوهر العتق والرق والسلامة والعطب
والولاية والعداوة موجودة ففي التخلص من الضلالة
والجهالة عتق وفي التعلق بعصمة الحكمة اعتصاما بالعروة
الوثقى نجاة وسلامة وفي الولاية لاهلها والمعونة
لهم ارتفاع الدرجات والخير الوافر والجزاء الافضل
اذا نال نائل منه شيئا ما قل منه او كثر فهو افضل
والطريق واضح والحجة نيرة والبرهان زاهر والخير
نافع والشر ضار والله عز وجل الحكم العادل الذي لا يجور
قال بوداسف فهل ترى الجهال يسمع من هذا الكلام شيئا
قط قال بلوهر لا اراه سمع سماع من له في قلبه
ولا كلمه احد حتى افهمه اياه ولو كلمه احد نصبه قال
بوداسف فكيف ترك له منه ذلك الحكماء طول دهرهم
قال بلوهر تكلموا لعوامهم بمواضع كلامهم وربما تركوا
ذلك ممن هو اشد انصافا والين عريكة واحسن سيرة
واستماعا من ابيك حتى ان الرجل ليعاش صاحبه طول
عمر وهو لا يرى منه الا الاستيناس والمودة والملاطفة
الخالصة والمفاوضة ولا يرى انه يفرق بينهما شئ الا
الدين والحكمة وهو مع ذلك متوجع له محزون عليه ثم
لا يفضي اليه باسرار الحكمة اذا لم يرها موضعا ولا
لها اهلا ولا يرى عنده قبولا قد بلغني ان ملكا من
الملوك كان لينا مصلحا وكان له وزير معين له على
الاصلاح ويكفيه المؤنة ويبذل له رأيه ونفسه
بالكفاية والتفقد لامره وكان الوزير قد سمع كلام
الحكمة وعقلها واجتباها وانقطع الى اهلها وكان الملك
لا يكتمه شيئا من شأنه حسنا ولا سيئا وكان هو ايضا
لا يكتم الملك شيئا من الاشياء الا امر الدين والحكمة فمكثا
مع ذلك زمانا طويلا وكان كلما نظر الوزير الى الملك
يسجد للاصنام ويعظمها ويخدمها وياخذ في شئ من
طرق الضلالة والجهالة دخل عليه من ذلك ما يدخل قلب
الرجل الذي ليس له غير ولد واحد هو احب الناس اليه
واقرهم لعينه ثم لا يزال يراه يلتبس به الجنون وتعتريه
ارواح الشياطين وكان الوزير من ذلك في هم وغم وحزن
مكرب وكان كلما اراد ذكر ذلك له حال بينه وبينه حاجز
من نفسه فاذا استشار في ذلك اخوانه قالوا له انت
اعلم بصاحبك فان رايته اهلا لذلك وموضعا للكلام
فكلم واعلم وان لم تره اهلا لذلك فاياك ان تغريه
على نفسك وعلى الدين واهله فان السلطان لا يجترئ به
احد فلم يزالا على ذلك وكان ذلك الملك مع ما يلحقه
من الضلالة متواضعا متحببا قريبا من الناس سهلا
حسن السيرة في رعيته حريصا على استصلاحهم فاصطحب
الملك ووزيره على ذلك برهة من الدهر ثم ان الملك قال لوزيره
ذات ليلة بعد هدوا الناس هل لك رغبة الحال ان تركب فنسير
في هذه المدينة فننظر الى حال الناس في جوف الليل وننظر
الى اثار المطر التي اصابتنا في هذه الايام قال له الوزير نعم
ان احببت ذلك فركب الملك والوزير ليلا فطافا في نواحي
المدينة فمرا في بعض طرقاتها على مزبلة لاهل المدينة
يطرحون فيها ما يتقممون من منازلهم وافنيتهم وما
يكنسون من بيوتهم فبصر الملك بضوء نار يلمع من ناحية
المزبلة فقال للوزير ان هذه النار لقصة فانزل
بنا نمشي على ارجلنا حتى ندنو منها فنعلم ذلك ففعلا
فلما انتهيا الى مخرج الضوء وجدا نقبا شبيها بغار من
غيران الجبال نقبه مسكين من المساكين الذين يسالون
من بايديهم فاتخذه مسكنا له ولامراته فسمع الملك
والوزير صوت غناء وتحريك اوتار قبل ان ينظرا
في الغار فلما نظرا في الغار من حيث لا يراهما الرجل الفقير
وامراته فراياه رجلا مشوها عليه ثوبان خلقان من
خرق المزبلة متكئا على متكأة قد هيأها من المزبلة وبين
يديه ابريق من فخار فيه شراب له وفي يديه طنبور
يضرب به وامرأته في مثل خلقته وخلقانه ولباسه و
تشويهه قائمة بين يديه تسقيه اذا استسقى وتزفن
له اذا طرب وتحييه بتحية الملك اذا دنت منه ويسميها
سيدة النساء وهما يتواصفان بالحسن والجمال والكرم والسخا
والبهاء ولهما من السرور والفرح والطرب والضحك وما
بينهما من التحاب والتعاشق ما لا يوصف فقام الملك على
رجليه طويلا ينظر اليها ويتعجب من حالهما ونشاطهما
وما هما فيه من اللذة والنعيم لا يفتران من الضحك والطرب
والشرب ثم انصرف الملك ووزيره لا ينقضي عجب الملك
مما رأى وسمع منهما فكان مما قال الملك للوزير ما اعلم اني
واياك قد اصبنا قط لذة وسرورا وفرحا ونشاطا مثل الذي
هذين الانسانين البائسين وما اصابا في هذه الليلة
مع اني لا اظنهما الا وهما يفعلان مثل هذا كل ليلة فاغتنم
الوزير تلك الفرصة فقال اما تخاف ايها الملك ان تكون
من المغرور فيما نحن فيه مثلما فيه هذان البائسان
قال الملك وكيف ذلك قال الوزير اما تخاف ان يكون
ملكك في عين من يعرف الملكوت الدائمة مثل هذه المزبلة
في اعيننا ويكون ملكك في عين من يرجو السعادة
في مساكن النعيم مثل هذا الغار في اعيننا ويكون جسدك
في عين من يعرف الطهارة والنظافة والحسن والصحة
مثل جسد هذه المشوه الخلق المخبل في اعيننا وان يكون
تعجبهم من اعجابك بما انت فيه كتعجبنا من اعجاب هذين
بما هما فيه قال الملك من هم اصحاب هذه الصفة وما
الذين يصفون من الملكوت الدائمة قال الوزير
اولئك هم اهل الدين الذين يصفون الملكوت الدائمة
قال الملك وما هي قال الوزير فيها السرور والفرح اللذان
ليس معهما حزن واللذة التي ليس فيها نصب والنور الذي
ليس معها ظلمة والعلم الذي ليس معه جهل والمحبة التي
ليس معها بغضة والرضى الذي ليس معه سخط والامن
الذي ليس معه خوف والحسن الذي ليس معه قبح والصحة
التي ليس معها سقم والحياة التي ليس معها موت
والطيب الذي ليس معه نتن والملك الذي ليس له انقطاع
وتمام الخير والسلامة من جميع الشرور في دار البقاء
الذي ليس معها زوال قال الملك فهل يدركون هذه الدار
مطلبا او اليها سبيلا قال الوزير نعم ان من طلبها
دخلها قال الملك فما منعك ان تكون اخبرتني بهذا قبل
هذا اليوم قال الوزير ما منعني من ذلك الا اني رايتك
له موضعا في العقل والمحبة والثقة ولكن لم ارك موضعه
لما في عنقك من السلطان فان السلطان يصم هذه كله
ويعمي عن الذي قد شغل به قلبه فيزيد مع ذلك العمى
والصمم الحمية التي تحول بينه وبين التدبير والتقدير
لاشتغال قلبه بالامور المتفرقة القريبة والبعيدة
ما يحب ويكره واشتغال سمعه بكثرة الاقاويل والحاجة
التي تلهي عن هذا وتنسي ذكره واشتغال بصره بصنوف
ما ينظر اليه ما يطغيه ويبطره ويدعو الى رفضه من
اللذات والشهوات ثم لا يكون مع هذه الحمية والغضب
الا اليوم لما رأيتك له موضعا قال الملك لان كان هذا الامر
الذي وصفت يقينا ما ينبغي لنا ان نجعل ليلنا ونهارنا و
اسماعنا وابصارنا الا فيه وطلبا لذلك المكان الشريف
ولئن كان شكا انا لاحق ان نجعل اكثر شغلنا في طلب
علم حتى نعلم احق هو ام باطل ما ارى كتمانك هذا
الامر بجميل فيما بيني وبينك وان كنت بمودتك واثقا
وبقدرك عارفا قال الوزير ايها الملك ان كان
اثمت فيما بيني وبينك في ترك شرح هذا الامر لك
فقد كنت في تغريري بديني في صحبتك والمقام عليك
الى نفسي لائما مليما فان هذا الامر متفاوت فيما بين
عارفه والجاهل به اذا اتفقا في ترك فرائضه والنكوب
عن منهاجه والعمل للدنيا التي هي عدوه وانما اقمت عليك
تذمما منك ورأفة ومحافظة عليك كما اقام السابح على
صاحبه الجاهل بالسباحة حين وقعا في الغمر قال الملك كيف
ذلك قال الوزير وذلك انه بلغني ان اخوين كانا متصادقين
احدهما سابح عالم بمعالجة الماء والاخر لا علم له بالسباحة
ولا جرأة له على الماء فخاضا نهرا فوقعا في الغمر فطفق
السابح يعمل باطرافه ليخرج من الغرق فلما التفت الى
صاحبه وجده ينغمس احيانا ويطلع راسه احيانا
لا يعين نفسه بشئ فلما راى جهالته بالسباحة وقلة
غنائه عن نفسه انصرف عليه تذمما وحفاظا فجعل
يطوف وينظر الفرصة في امره لاستنقاذه ولا يجترئ
على الدنو منه مخافة ان يتعلق به فيغرقان جميعا
والسابح خفيف الجسم ضعيف البطش وصاحبه قوي شديد
جسيم فما زال يخبط الماء بيديه نصب عيني صاحبه
يهديه لحيلة السباحة والخروج من الماء حتى حرك صاحبه
بيديه يحكي السباحة فلما راه اعان نفسه رجا ان يخلصه
فغرر بنفسه في الدنو منه حتى مكنه من يديه ثم سبح
به حتى خرجا جميعا وكذلك ايها الملك غررت بنفسي في
ذكر هذا لك مع تخوفي لبطشك وقوتك وعلى مهانة
نفسي وضعفها مع خيفتي وجلي من الامر الذي يكون
به قضاء واجب حقك حتى رايت الفرصة ورجوت
لك الخلاص افاتامرني ان اواظب عليك في هذا الامر
قال الملك بل آمرك ان لا تقلع عني فيه ليلا ولا نهارا
ولا ترحمني ولا نفسك ففعل الوزير ما امر الملك فكان
سبيلهما الى النجاة والخلاص