Section: Boldness

you fence them about by the withholding of harm and by keeping the overpowering hands away from them, so that you may be to them as a compassionate father and they may be to you as dutiful children; for you are a guardian charged with a flock and one held answerable and called to account. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "Every one of you is a shepherd, and every one of you is answerable for his flock." So God has a right over you in their regard, and the sultan has a claim upon you in their regard. Seize by means of them the gratitude for your beneficence, and adorn by means of them the traces of your authority; for this world is the shadow of a cloud and the dream of sleepers. It has been said: of this world, the proof is in this world. It is related of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, that he said: "Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a passer-by on the road." It has been said in the scattered sayings of wisdom (manthūr al-ḥikam): the branch of life is pressed dry every day. Some of the sages have said: every day drives on to its morrow, and every man is taken to task for the offence of his tongue and his hand. So seize the heedlessness of time, snatch the opening of what is possible, take from yourself for yourself, and provision yourself from your today for your tomorrow. The sage of the Rūm wrote to Alexander: do not be ravenous after this world, for your stay in it is short. And among the most judicious things said on this theme is the saying of the poet:

Your cares are yoked to living — you cross no stretch of life but with them; And the sweetness of your world is poisoned — you eat no honeycomb but with venom; When a thing is complete its flaw appears — look for its passing when they say: complete.

And when God the Exalted turned in forgiveness toward Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd, blessing and peace be upon them both, and restored his kingdom to him, he had it inscribed upon his throne: when well-being is sound, affliction comes down; when safety is complete, ruin sprouts; and when security is complete, fear rises high

Section

(Boldness)

(Of the vizier's excellences and his qualities)

As for the third section, it is boldness (al-iqdām). It lies in governance (siyāsah), or in its two conditions, and in the vizierate it is the more sufficient of its two considerations, through the success of boldness and the failure of holding back. It has been said in the scattered sayings of wisdom (manthūr al-ḥikam): by boldness (iqdām) are feet (aqdām) raised high. Boldness becomes obligatory only when its grounds appear — an opening you may snatch or a strength you find — and when you make for its doors in their proper time and when it is possible, as the poet said:

If you come at a matter by other than its door, you go astray — but aim for the door and you are guided.

Then you bring the two together, your prudence (ḥazm) and your resolve (ʻazm): prudence is the managing of affairs according to the requirement of judgement (raʼy), and resolve is their execution at the time appointed for them. So when the conditions of boldness are complete in these four respects, nothing bars victory but the hindrances of destiny. It has been said in the ancient wisdom: when two men seek one portion of fortune, it falls to the better of them in religion; and if they are equal in religion, it falls to the better of them in manly virtue (murūʼah); and if they are equal in manly virtue, it falls to the one of them with more supporters; and if they are equal in supporters, it falls to the more favoured of them in luck. But if one of the conditions of boldness is broken, boldness becomes a reckless exposure to danger which the prudence of the man of understanding forbids, and it bars from victory unless a decree prevails — for decrees are no measure to be reckoned by. The sage of India said: the cause by which the incapable man attains his need is the very thing that stands between the prudent man and his quest. Abzurjmihr was asked: what is the most astonishing of things? He said: the success of the ignorant and the barrenness of the intelligent. A man came in to ʻAbdallāh ibn Ṭāhir and said to him: O amīr, what is the thing in which neither resolve nor prudence is needed? He asked him for three days' delay in his answer. The man returned to him after them and asked him, and he said to him: fortune (al-dawlah). He said: you have spoken truly, and nothing brought this word out of you but fortune. And for this reason it has been said in the scattered sayings of wisdom: good fortune comes to the one who does not come to it.

Boldness divides into two divisions: the first is boldness in drawing in benefits, and the second is boldness in repelling harms.

As for boldness in drawing in benefits, it is of two sorts: the one, the annexing of a kingdom; the second, the increase of resources (mawādd). As for the annexing of a kingdom, it comes about by prudence and resolve when these two are joined to inducement (raghbah) and dread (rahbah); and that it should be by taking unawares and by contrivance is better than that it should be by fighting, which is why the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "War is deception." It has been said in the proverbs of wisdom: four things that none mounts but a rash fool, and out of which few come safe — joining battle, going to sea, drinking poison by way of experiment, and entrusting women with a secret. As for the increase of resources, it comes about by justice and beneficence when these two are joined to gentleness and easy dealing, so that by them cultivation may increase and tillage abound; for the earth is the treasure-house of the king, brought out by helpers who volunteer: forbearance toward them contents them, and harsh usage of them cuts them off. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "Seek provision in the hidden stores of the earth" — meaning sowing. And that you should draw supply from a flowing branch whose good is general is better than that you should uproot a root, cut off, whose harm is general; for what flows is never exhausted, and what is cut off does not last. Nothing spoils it but rushing before its time and haste before its season. It has been said in the proverbs of wisdom: fortunes have their stages, so do not be hasty over a fruit that has not ripened, for you will have it sweet in its season, and the One who orders your affairs knows better the time in which it is fit, so trust His choice for you; and do not load the needs of your whole lifetime upon this day of yours that you are in, or it will grow narrow for you and despair will divert you from your management. So let him beware of haste, and people will see him as a doer of ill. One of the sages was asked: who is the worst of people? He said: he who does not care that people see him as a doer of ill.

As for boldness in repelling harms, it is of two sorts: the repelling of what has fallen into disorder in the realm, and this has two causes — alienation and injustice. So repel the harm of each of the two by the contrary of its cause, for the cure of every disease is by its contrary among the remedies. If the disorder of the realm comes from neglect, you rouse your resolve for it; and if it comes from incapacity, you employ your prudence in it. If the deficiency of resources comes from alienation, you bring in anew your power to inspire dread; and if it comes from injustice, you make your justice manifest in it. If the arising of this in the realm has issued from you, you are held to account for your falling short at the outset and you make up for your negligence at the end: you mend your ill doing by your good doing and efface your foul deed by your fair one. And if its arising came from another than you, the guilt of the ill doing is upon him and the praise of the good doing is yours: by you the evil of his mark is made plain, and by him the beauty of your mark is made plain. And ʻAṭāʼ ibn al-Sāyib related, from his father, from Ibn ʻUmar, from the Prophet