(2) It is said that when they sold Joseph to the Egyptians the latter treated him kindly. There were many buyers so the merchants priced him at from five to ten times his weight in musk. Meanwhile, in a state of agitation, an old woman ran up, and going among the buyers said to an Egyptian: "Let me buy the Canaanite, for I long to possess that young man. I have spun ten spools of thread to pay for him so take them and give me Joseph and say no more about it.'

The merchants smiled and said: "Your simplicity has misled you. This unique pearl is not for you; they have already offered a hundred treasures for him. How can you bid against them with your spools of thread?' The old woman, looking into their faces, said: "I know very well that you will not sell him for so little, but it is enough for me that my friends and enemies will say, ""this old woman has been among those who wished to buy Joseph".'

He who is without aspiration will never reach the boundless kingdom. Possessed of this lofty ambition a great prince regarded his worldly kingdom as ashes. When he realized the emptiness of temporal royalty, he decided that spiritual royalty was worth a thousand kingdoms of the world.

(14) And at the season when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that he might receive from them of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.

(3) One night, Mahmud, being in a state of dejection, went in disguise to the hammam. A young attendant welcomed him and made the necessary arrangements for him to sweat comfortably over the hot coals. Afterwards he gave the Sultan some dry bread, which he ate. Then The Sultan said to himself: 'If this attendant had excused himself from receiving me I would have had his head cut off.' At last the Sultan told the young man that he wished to return to his palace. The young man said: 'You have eaten my food, you have known my bed, and you have been my guest. I shall always be glad to receive you. Though in reality we are made of the same substance, how, in regard to outer things, can you be compared to one in my lowly position?' The Sultan was so pleased with this answer that he went seven times more as the guest of the attendant. On the last occasion he told him to make a request. 'If I, a beggar, should make a request,' the attendant said, 'the Sultan will not grant it.' 'Ask what you will,' said the Sultan, 'even if it be to leave the hammam and become a king.' 'My only request,' said he, 'is that the Sultan shall continue to be my guest. To be a bath attendant sitting near you in a hot room is better than to be a king in a garden without you. Since good fortune has come to me because of the hot-room, it would be ungrateful of me to leave it. Your presence has lighted up this place; what can I ask for better than yourself? ' If you love God seek also to be loved by him. But while one man seeks this love, ever old and ever new, another desires two obols of silver from the treasure of the world; he seeks a drop of water when he might have the ocean.

(13) Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

(34) And then he studies Cunning and Deceit, and casts about [to find] which Way he may by Shifts and Tricks fill his Belly and live; he curses his Master secretly, and though he steals away covertly by some Slight the Bread of another needy Man, yet that must be right [with him;] and his Master does not regard it, so he eats not of his Cost, and so that he continues to be his Dog under his Yoke. Thus the Master [Lord or Superior] is unrighteous and wicked, and makes also that his Servant is unrighteous and wicked; whereas otherwise (if he might eat his Bread under an easy Yoke) he would not be so cursed, and cunning in Thievery.

(2) One day Shaikh Khircani, who rested upon the very throne of God, had an intense longing for an aubergine. He called for it with horn and voice, so his mother went out and got one. No sooner had he eaten it than it happened that they cut off the head of his child, and at night a wicked man placed it on his doorstep. The shaikh then said: "A hundred times I had a foreboding that if I ate so much as a small piece of aubergine something disastrous would happen. But the desire for it was so strong that I could not overcome it.'

He who allows his desires to master him stifles his own soul. The learned know nothing; there is no surety in their learning; and many sorts of knowledge are required. At any moment a new caravan may arrive and a new test.

I know of no one so fortunate as Pharaoh's magicians, who, with the faith of men today, separated their souls from themselves; and, grounded in religion, relinquished all love for things of the world.

(4) Lokman of Sarkhasi said: 'O God, I am old, and my mind is troubled; I have strayed from the Way. To an old slave they give a certificate of freedom. In your service, O my King, my black hair has become white as snow. I am a slave, cast down; give me now the certificate of freedom.'

A voice from the inner world replied: 'You, who have been specially admitted to the sanctuar}', know that he who wishes for release from slavery must discard his reason, and not occupy himself with cares and anxieties.'

Lokman said: 'O my God, I desire only you, and I know 'that I must not give way to imagination or care and anxiety.' When Lokman had renounced these things, he said: 'Now I do not know what I am. I am not a slave, but what am I? My slavery is ended, but my freedom has not taken place: in my heart is neither joy nor sadness. I am without quality, yet I am not deprived of it. I am a contemplative, yet I do not possess contemplation. I do not know if Thou art I or I am Thou; I have been reduced to nothing in Thee and duality has been lost.'

(2) Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

(3) Another time when Sultan Mahmud was riding alone he met an old woodcutter leading his donkey loaded with brambles. At that moment the donkey stumbled, and as he fell the thorns skinned the old man's head. The Sultan seeing the brambles on the ground, the donkey upside down, and the man rubbing his head, asked; 'O unlucky man, do you need a friend?' 'Indeed I do,' replied the woodcutter. 'Good cavalier, if you will help me I shall reap the benefit and you will come to no harm. Your looks are a good omen for me. It is well known that one meets with good-will from those who have a pleasing countenance.' So the kind-hearted Sultan got off his horse, and having pulled the donkey to its feet, lifted up the faggot of thorns and fastened it on its back. Then he rode off to rejoin his army. He said to the soldiers: 'An old woodcutter is coming along with a donkey loaded with brambles. Bar the way so that he will have to pass in front of me.' When the woodcutter came up to the soldiers he said to himself, ' How shall I get through with this feeble beast?' So he went by another way, but catching sight of the royal parasol in the distance began to tremble, for the road he was compelled to take would bring him face to face with the Sultan. As he got nearer he was overcome with confusion for under the parasol he saw a familiar face. 'O God,' he said, 'what a state I'm in! Today I have had Mahmud for my porter.'

When he came up, Mahmud said to him: 'My poor friend, what do you do for a living?' The woodcutter replied, 'You know already. Be honest. You don't recognize me? I am a poor old man, a woodcutter by trade; day and night I gather brambles in the desert and sell them, yet my donkey dies of

hunger. If you wish me well give me some bread.' 'You poor man,' said the Sultan, 'how much do you want for your faggot?' The woodcutter replied: 'Since you do not wish to take it for nothing and I do not wish to sell it, give me a purse of gold.' At this the soldiers cried out: 'Hold your tongue, fool! Your faggot is not worth a handful of barley. You should give it for nothing.' The old man said: 'That is all very well, but its value has changed. When a lucky man like the Sultan puts his hands to my bundle of thorns they become bunches of roses. If he wishes to buy them he must pay a dinar at the very least for he has raised the value of my thorns a hundred times by touching them.'

(2) One day a good-natured king gave a rare and beautiful fruit to a slave, who tasted it and thereupon said that never in his life had he eaten anything so delicious. This made the king wish to try it himself, and he asked the slave for a piece. But when he put it into his mouth he found it very bitter and he raised his eyebrows in astonishment. The slave said: ' Sire, since I have received so many gifts at your hand how can I complain of one bitter fruit? Seeing that you shower benefits on me why should one bitterness estrange me from you?'

So, servant of God, if you experience suffering in your striving, be persuaded that it can be a treasure for you. The thing seems topsy-turvy but, remember the slave.

(40) He, all day and night, speaking and doing the Lord's commands, rejoices exceedingly, not only on rising in the morning and at noon, but also when walking about, when asleep, when dressing and undressing; and he teaches his son, if he has a son. He is inseparable from the commandment and from hope, and is ever giving thanks to God, like the living creatures figuratively spoken of by Esaias, and submissive in every trial, he says, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." For such also was Job; who after the spoiling of his effects, along with the health of his body, resigned all through love to the Lord. For "he was," it is said, "just, holy, and kept apart from all wickedness." Now the word "holy" points out all duties toward God, and the entire course of life.

(165) Unto some He gives the ability to receive the Knowledge of Light; and others, even when asleep, he makes fruitful from His own strength.

(4) "For Abraham, who for his free faith was called ' the friend of God,' was not elated by glory, but modestly said, 'I am dust and ashes.' And of Job it is thus written: ' Job was just and blameless, true and pious, abstaining from all evil.'" He it was who overcame the tempter by patience, and at once testified and was testified to by God; who keeps hold of humility, and says, "No one is pure from defilement, not even if his life were but for one day." "Moses, 'the servant who was faithful in all his house,' said to Him who uttered the oracles from the bush,' Who am I, that Thou sendest me? I am slow of speech, and of a stammering tongue,' to minister the voice of God in human speech. And again: ' I am smoke from a pot.'" "For God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble."

(13) Therefore I will not bury his talent in the earth, but lend it out upon usury or interest, lest he should say to me at that time of his requiring it of me, Thou wicked, slothful servant, why hast thou hid my talent in the darkness, and didst not put it out upon use, and so now I might have received it with usury, gain, and profit? For then he would take it quite away from me, and give it to another, who has gained many talents with his one. Therefore I will sow, let him water it, I leave the care to him. Now observe:

(39) And as he interpreted to them so it befell them, and Pharaoh restored the chief butler to his office, and the (chief) baker he slew, as Joseph had inter- preted to them.

(8) When this torch of kings left Gazna to make war on the Hindus and encountered their mighty army, he was cast down, and he made a vow to the King of Justice that if he were victorious he would give all the booty that fell into his hands to the dervdshes. He gained the victory, and his army collected an enormous amount of treasure. When the black-faces had retreated leaving the plunder, Mahmud said:

' Send this to the dervishes, for I have promised God to do so, and I must keep my vow.' Then his officers protested and said: 'Why give so much silver and gold to a handful of men who do not fight! Why not give it to the army which has borne the brunt of the battle, or, at least, put it in the treasury?'

The Sultan hesitated between his vow and the protests of his army. Meanwhile, Bu Hassein, an idiot of God, who was intelligent but uneducated, passed along that way. Mahmud seeing him in the distance said: 'Call that idiot; tell him to come here and say what ought to be done, and I will act accordingly; since he fears neither the Sultan nor the army he will give an impartial opinion.' When the Sultan had put the case to Bu Hassein, the latter said: 'Sire, it is a question of two obols, but if you wish to act becomingly towards God, think no more, O my dear, about these two obols; and if you win another victory by his grace, be ashamed to hold back two obols. Since God has given you the victory, can that which belongs to God belong to you?'

Mahmud thereupon gave the treasure to the dervishes, and became a great monarch.

(40) And the Lord gave Joseph favour and mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said unto his servants : " We shall not find such a wise and discreet man as this man, for the spirit of the Lord is with him."

(65) He said, "There was a good man who owned a vineyard. He leased it to tenant farmers so that they might work it and he might collect the produce from them. He sent his servant so that the tenants might give him the produce of the vineyard. They seized his servant and beat him, all but killing him. The servant went back and told his master. The master said, 'Perhaps did not recognize .' He sent another servant. The tenants beat this one as well. Then the owner sent his son and said, 'Perhaps they will show respect to my son.' Because the tenants knew that it was he who was the heir to the vineyard, they seized him and killed him. Let him who has ears hear."

(2) The Lullubu people' will bring you the produce of the mountains and countryside as tribute. Your she-goats will bear triplets, your ewes twins, your donkey under burden will overtake the mule, your steed at the chariot will be bristling to gallop, your ax at the yoke will have no match. Gilgamesh addressed Princess Ishtar saying: "What would I have to give you if I married you! Do you need oil or garments for your body! Do you lack anything for food or drink! I would gladly feed you food fit for a god, I would gladly give you wine fit for a king,... may the street(?) be your home(?), may you be clothed in a garment, and may any lusting man (?) marry you!...an oven who... ice, a half-door that keeps out neither breeze nor blast, a palace that crushes down valiant warriors, an elephant who devours its own covering, pitch that blackens the hands of its bearer, a waterskin that soaks its bearer through, limestone that buckles out the stone wall, a battering ram that attracts the enemy land, a shoe that bites its owner's feet!

(34) And they dealt treacherously with him, and formed a plot against him to slay him, but changing their minds, 7 Corrupt for " Shakir-Maani." they sold him to Ishmaelite merchants, and they brought him down into Egypt, and they sold him to Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh, the chief of the cooks, priest of the city of 'Flew.