L ISTEN to one of the qualities of good men, if thou art thyself a good man, and benevolently inclined! 1

Shabli, returning from the shop of a corn dealer, carried back to his village on his shoulder a sack of wheat. 2

He looked and beheld in that heap of grain an ant which kept running bewildered from corner to corner. 3

Filled with pity thereat, and unable to sleep at night, he carried it back to its own dwelling, saying: 4

It were no benevolence to wound and distract this poor ant by severing it from its own place! 5

Soothe to rest the hearts of the distracted, wouldst thou be at rest thyself from the blows of Fortune. 6

How sweet are the words of the noble Firdausi, upon whose grave be the mercy of the Benignant One! 7

Crush not yonder emmet as it draggeth along its grain; for it too liveth, and its life is sweet to it. 8

A shadow must there be, and a stone upon that heart, that could wish to sorrow the heart even of an emmet! 9

Strike not with the hand of violence the head of the feeble; for one day, like the ant, thou mayest fall under the foot thyself! 10

Pity the poor moth in the flame of the taper; see how it is scorched in the face of the assembly! 11