"Wise and mighty Ruler, condescend to
pardon the humblest of your servants if
he presumes to lay at your feet the honours
which you have deigned to confer on him in
the loveliest country on the earth. The longest
life, oh bountiful Master, hardly grants time
enough to man to prepare himself for death.
Compared with the performance of that first
of duties, all other human employments are
vain as the feeble toil of an ant on the highway,
which the foot of the first traveller crushes
to nothing! Permit me, then, to prepare
myself for the approach of eternity. Permit
me, by the aid of solitude and silence, to
familiarise my mind with the sublime mysteries
of religion; and to wait reverently for
the moment when eternity unveils itself to
my eyes, and the last summons calls me to
my account before the Judgment Seat."

The Vizir said these words, knelt down,
laid his forehead on the earth, and was
silent. After a minute of reflection, the
emperor answered him in these terms:—

"Faithful servant! Your discourse has
filled my mind with perplexity and fear. The
apprehensions which you have caused in me
are like those felt by a man who finds himself
standing, unawares, on the edge of a precipice.
Nevertheless, I cannot decide whether
the sense of trouble that you have awakened
within me is justified by sound reason or
not. My days, like yours, however long they
may be, are but an instant compared with
eternity. But, if I thought as you do; if all
men capable of doing good followed your
example, who would remain to guide the
faithful ? Surely the duties of government
would then fall to the share of those men only
who are brutally careless of the future that
awaits them beyond the grave—who are
insensible to all feelings which are not
connected with their earthly passions and their
earthly interests? In that case, should I not
be—should you not be responsible— before
the Supreme Being for the miseries, without
number, which would then be let loose on
the world. Ponder that well, Vizir! And
while I, on my side, consider the same
subject attentively, depart in peace to the abode
which I have prepared to receive you, since
your arrival in this city. May Heaven direct
us both into the way which it is safest and
best to take!"

The Vizir withdrew. For three days he
remained in his retirement, and received no
message from the emperor. At the end of
the third day, he sent to the palace to beg
for a second audience. The request was
immediately granted.

When he again appeared in the presence of
his sovereign, his countenance expressed the
tranquillity of his mind. He drew a letter
from his bosom, kissed it, and presented it to
the emperor on his knees. Shah Jehan having
given him permission to speak, he expressed
himself, thereupon, in these words:—

"Sovereign lord and master! The letter
which you have deigned to take from my
hands has been addressed to me by the
sage, Abbas, who now stands with me
in the light of your presence, and who
has lent me the assistance of his wisdom
to unravel the scruples and perplexities which
have beset my mind. Thanks to the lesson I
have learned from him, I can now look back
on my past life with pleasure, and contemplate
the future with hope. Thanks to the
wisdom which I have imbibed from his
teaching, I can now conscientiously bow my
head before the honours which your bounty
showers on me, and can gladly offer myself
again to be the shadow of your power in the
province of Morodabad.

Shah Jehan, who had listened to the Vizir
with amazement and curiosity, directed that
the letter should be given to the sage, Abbas,
and ordered him to read aloud the words of
wisdom that he had written to Gazee Ed Din.
The venerable man stood forth in the midst
of the Court, and, obeying the Emperor, read
these lines:—

"May the pious and merciful Vizir, to
whom the wise generosity of our sovereign
lord and master has entrusted the government
of a province, enjoy to the end of his
days the blessing of perfect health!

"I was grieved in my inmost heart when
I heard that you had deprived the millions
of souls who inhabit Morodabad of the
advantages which they enjoyed under your
authority. Modesty and respect prevented
me from combating your scruples of
conscience while you were describing them in
the presence of the Emperor. I hasten,
therefore, to write the words which I could
not venture to speak. My purpose is to clear
your mind of the doubts which now darken
it, by relating to you the history of my own
youth. The anxious thoughts which now
trouble you, were once the thoughts which
troubled me also. May your soul be relieved
of the burden that oppresses it, as mine was
relieved in the byegone time!

"My early manhood was passed in studying
the science of medicine. I learnt all the
secrets of my art, and practised it for the
benefit of my species. In time, however, the
fearful scenes of suffering and death which
perpetually offered themselves to my eyes, so
far affected my mind as to make me tremble
for my own life. Wherever I went, my grave
seemed to be yawning at my feet. The awful
necessity of preparing myself for eternity,
impressed itself upon my soul, and withdrew
my thoughts from every earthly consideration.
I resolved to retire from the world, to
despise the acquisition of all mortal
knowledge, and to devote my remaining days to
the severest practices of a purely religious
life. In accordance with this idea, I resolved
to humble myself by suffering the hardship
of voluntary poverty. After much consideration,
I came to the conclusion that those who
stood in need of my money were the persons