Page:Tales from the Gulistan (1928).pdf/281

On Rules for Conduct of Life The land of Canaan having no natural excellence, the birth of a prophet therein could not enhance its worth. Display thy virtue if thou hast any; not thy origin; the rose is the offspring of thorns, and Abraham of Azer.

is known by its perfume, and not by what the druggist says. A scholar is silent like the perfumer's casket, but displays accomplishments, whilst an ignoramus is loud-voiced, and intrinsically empty like a war-drum.

A learned man among blockheads (so says the parable of our friends) is like a sweetheart among the blind, or a Qurân among unbelievers.

whom people have been cherishing during a lifetime, they must not suddenly insult.

It takes a stone many a year to become a ruby; beware not to break it in a moment with a stone!

may become captive to lust, like a weak man in the hands of an artful woman.

Bid farewell to pleasure in a house where the shouting of a woman is loud.