Story of a Devout Miser
In the remote regions of Turkey there lived a good and pious man, whom I and some fellow-travellers once visited. He received us cordially, and seated us with respect. He had vineyards, and wheat-fields, slaves and gold, but was as miserly as a leafless tree. His feelings were warm, but his fireplace was cold. He passed the night awake in prayer, and we in hunger. In the morning he girt his loins and recommenced the same politeness of the previous night.
One of our party was of merry wit and temper. “Come, give us food in change for a kiss,”[15] he said, “for that is better to a hungry man. In serving me, place not thy hand upon my shoe, but give me bread and strike thy shoe upon my head.”
Excellence is attained by generosity, not by vigils in the night.
Idle words are a hollow drum; invocations without merit are a weak support.
Story of Hātim Tai[16]
Hātim Tai possessed a horse whose fleetness was as that of the morning breeze. Of this was the Sultan of Turkey informed.
“Like Hātim Tai,” he was told, “none is equal in generosity; like his horse, nothing is equal in speed and gait. As a ship in the sea it traverses the desert, while the eagle, exhausted, lags behind.”
“From Hātim will I request that horse,” the king replied. “If he be generous and give it to me, then shall I know that his fame is true; if not, that it is but the sound of a hollow drum.”
So he despatched a messenger with ten followers to Hātim. They alighted at the house of the Arab chief, who prepared a feast and killed a horse[17] in their honour.
On the following day, when the messenger explained the object of his mission, Hātim became as one mad with grief. “Why,” he cried, “didst thou not give me before thy message? That swift-paced horse did I roast last night for thee to eat. No other means had I to entertain thee; that horse alone stood by my tent, and I would not that my guests should sleep fasting.”
To the men he gave money and splendid robes, and when the news of his generosity reached to Turkey, the king showered a thousand praises upon his nature.