A covetous man paid an early morning visit to the king of Khwarazm, and twice prostrated himself to the ground before him.
“Tell me, O father,” his son inquired, “didst thou not say that Mecca was thy place of worship? Why didst thou to-day repeat thy prayers before the king?”
Contentment exalteth the head; that which is full of avarice comes no higher than the shoulder.
He who has wrapped up the volume of his avarice needs not to write to any one, “I am thy slave and servant.”
By begging wilt thou be driven from every assembly; drive it from thyself, so that no one may drive thee away.
Concerning the Evils of Over-eating
Some said to a pious man who was stricken with fever: “Ask for some conserve of roses from such a one.”
“Oh, friend,” he replied, “it were better to die in bitterness than to endure the affliction of his sour face.”
A wise man does not eat conserve of roses from the hand of one whose face has been soured by pride.