"

XIV

A king said to a holy man, "Are you ever thinking of me?" "Yes," replied
he, "at such time as I am forgetting God Almighty! He will wander all
around whom God shall drive from his gate; and he will not let him go to
another door whom he shall direct into his own."

XV

One of the righteous in a dream saw a king in paradise, and a parsa, or
holy man, in hell. He questioned himself, saying, "What is the cause of
the exaltation of this, and the degradation of that, for we have fancied
their converse?" A voice came from above, answering, "This king is in
heaven because of his affection for the holy, and that parsa is in hell
because of his connection with the kingly."--What can a coarse frock,
rosary, and patched cloak avail? Abstain from such evil works as may
defile thee. There is no occasion to put a felt cowl upon thy head. Be a
dervish in thy actions, and wear a Tartarian coronet.

XVI

A pedestrian, naked from head to foot, left Cufah with the caravan of
pilgrims for Hijaz, or Mecca, and came along with us. I looked at and
saw him destitute of every necessary for the journey; yet he was
cheerfully pushing on, and bravely remarking:--"I am neither mounted on
a camel nor a mule under a burden. I am neither the lord of vassals nor
the vassal of a lord. I think not of present sorrows or past vanities,
but breathe the breath of ease and live the life of freedom!"

A gentleman mounted on a camel said to him, "O dervish, whither are you
going? return, or you must perish miserably." He did not heed what he
said, but entered the desert on foot and proceeded. On our reaching the
palm plantation of Mahmud, fate overtook the rich man, and he died. The
dervish went up to his bier and said, "I did not perish amidst hardship
on foot, and you expired on a camel's back." A person sat all night
weeping by the side of a sick friend. Next day he died, and the invalid
recovered!--Yes! many a fleet horse perished by the way, and that lame
ass reached the end of the journey. How many of the vigorous and hale
did they put underground, and that wounded man recovered!

* * * * *

XVIII

In the territory of the Greeks a caravan was attacked by robbers, and
plundered of much property. The merchants set up a lamentation and
complaint, and besought the intercession of God and the prophet; but all
to no purpose.--When the gloomy-minded robber is flushed with victory,
what will he feel for