has created the eighteen thousand species
of living beings [64] by one fiat, can give you children without
any difficulty. Mighty sire, banish these fanciful notions from
your mind, or else all your subjects will be thrown into confusion,
and this empire,--with what trouble and pains your royal forefathers
and yourself have erected it!--will be lost in a moment, and, from
want of care, the whole country will be ruined; God forbid that you
should incur evil fame! Moreover, you will have to answer to God,
in the day of judgment, when he will say, 'Having made thee a king,
I placed my creatures under thy care; but thou hadst no faith in my
beneficence, and thou hast afflicted thy subjects [by abandoning thy
charge.'] What answer will you make to this accusation? Then even your
devotion and prayers will not avail you, for the heart of man is the
abode of God, and kings will have to answer only for the justice [65]
of their conduct. Pardon your slave's want of respect, but to leave
their homes, and wander from forest to forest, is the occupation of
hermits, [66] but not that of kings. You ought to act according to
your allotted station: the remembering of God, and devotion to him,
are not limited to woods or mountains: your majesty has undoubtedly
heard this verse, 'God is near him, and he seeks him in the wilderness;
the child is in his arms, and there is a proclamation [of its being
lost] throughout the city.'

"If you will be pleased to act impartially, and follow this slave's
advice, in that case the best thing is, that your Majesty should
keep God in mind every moment, and offer up to him your prayers. No
one has yet returned hopeless from his threshold. In the day, arrange
the affairs of state, and administer justice to the poor and injured;
then the creatures of God will repose in peace and comfort under the
skirt of your prosperity. Pray at night; and after beseeching blessings
for the pure spirit of the Prophet, solicit assistance from recluse
_Darweshes_ and holy men, [who are abstracted from worldly objects
and cares;] bestow daily food on orphans, prisoners, poor parents
of numerous children, and helpless widows. From the blessings of
these good works and benevolent intentions, if God please, it is to
be fervently hoped that the objects and desires of your heart will
all be fulfilled, and the circumstances for which the royal mind is
afflicted, will likewise be accomplished, and your noble heart will
rejoice! L