And sages say，'The King hath need of many people，but the people have need of but one King' wherefore it beseemeth that he be well acquainted with their natures，that he reduce their discord to concord，that with his justice be encompass them all and with his bounties overwhelm them all.And know，O King，that Ardeshir，styled Jamr Shadid，or the Live Coal，third of the Kings of Persia，conquered the whole world and divided it into four divisions and，for this purpose，get for himself four seal rings，one for each division.The first seal was that of the sea and the police of prohibition and on it was written，Alterna lives.
The second was the seal of tribute and of the receipt of monies，and on it was written，Building up.The third was the seal of the provisioning department and on it was written，Plenty.The fourth was the seal of the oppressed，and on it was written，Justice.And these usages remained valid in Persia until the revelation of Al-Islam.Chosroes also wrote his son，who was with the army，'Be not thou too open handed with thy troops，or they will be too rich to need thee.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Sixty-first night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Chosroes wrote his son，'Be not thou too open handed with thy troops，or they will be too rich to need thee；nor be thou niggardly with them，or they will murmur against thee.Give thy giving deliberately and confer thy favours advisedly；open thy hand to them in time of success and stint them not in time of distress.'
There is a legend that a desert Arab came once to the Caliph Al-Mansur[262] and said，'Starve thy dog and he shall follow thee.' When the Caliph heard his words，he was enraged with the Arab，but Abu 'l-Abbas of Tus said to him，'I fear that if some other than thou should show him a scone，the dog would follow him and leave thee alone.' Thereupon the Caliph Al-Mansur's wrath subsided and he knew that the wild Arab had intended no offence and ordered him a present.And know，O King，that Abd al-Malik bin Marwan wrote to his brother Abd al-Aziz，when he despatched him to Egypt，as follows，'Pay heed to thy Secretaries and thy Chamberlains，for the Secretaries will acquaint thee with estate fished matters and the Chamberlains with matters of official ceremony，whilst thine expenditure will make thy troops known to thee.' Omar bin Al-Khattab[263] （whom Allah accept！） when engaging a servant was in the habit of conditioning him with four conditions；the first that he should not ride the baggage beasts，the second that he should not wear fine clothes，the third that he should not eat of the spoil and the fourth that he should not put off praying till after the proper period.It is said that there is no wealth more profitable than understanding，and there is no understanding like common sense and prudence，and there is no prudence like piety；that there is no means of drawing near to God like good morals，no measure like good breeding，no traffic like good works and no profit like earning the Divine favour；that there is no temperance like standing within the limits of the law，no science like that of meditation，no worship like obeying the Divine commends，no faith like modesty，no calculation like self abasement and no honour like knowledge.So guard the head and what it containeth and the belly and what it compriseth；and think of death and doom ere it ariseth.Saith Ali （whose face Allah honour！），'Beware of the wickedness of women and be on thy guard against them： consult them not in aught；[264] but grudge not complaisance to them，lest they greed for intrigue.' And eke quoth he，'Whoso leaveth the path of moderation his wits become perplexed'；and there be rules for this which we will mention，if it be Allah's will.And Omar （whom Allah accept！） saith，'There are three kinds of women，firstly the true believing，Heaven fearing，love full and fruit full，who helpeth her mate against fate，not helping fate against her mate；secondly，she who loveth her children but no more and，lastly，she who is a shackle Allah setteth on the neck of whom He will.' Men be also three： the wise when he exerciseth his own judgement；the wiser who，when befalleth somewhat whereof he knoweth not the issue，seeketh folk of good counsel and acteth by their advice；and the unwise irresolute ignoring the right way nor heeding those who would guide him straight.Justice is indispensable in all things；even slave girls have need of justice；and men quote as an instance highway robbers who live by violenting mankind，for did they not deal equitably among themselves and observe justice in dividing their booty，their order would fall to pieces.[265] In short，for the rest，the Prince of noble qualities is Beneficence cum Benevolence；and how excellent is the saying of the poet，By open hand and ruth the youth rose to his tribe's command；Go and do likewise for the same were easy task to thee.'
And quoth another，'In ruth and mildness surety lies and mercy wins respect，And Truth is best asylum for the man of soothfast soul：
Whoso for wealth of gold would win and wear the world's good word，On glory's course must ever be the first to gain the goal.'
