GIVING
Kerman, in Persia, has been sacked at least six times. In 1794 the city was almost entirely destroyed by Agha Mohammed Khan, who later demanded twenty thousand pairs of human eyes before he would withdraw his troops. Kerman never recovered from this terrible blow, and to-day is a byword for its poverty and beggars. There is a quaint saying among its beggars:
“Khuda guft, ‘Beddeh’;
Shaitan guft, ‘Neddeh.’”
This means, “God says, ‘Give’; Satan says, ‘Don’t give.’”
The generous impulse is a divine motion: the selfish, is satanic. Many are poor because they are first blind and do not possess the enlightenment of good sense and God’s grace.
(1221)
Forever the sun is pouring its gold
On a hundred worlds that beg and borrow;