Ain Al-Hayat, The Essence of Life.pdf - Higher Intellect | Content ...

and silver. But he got them filled with garbage. Now he called the courtiers who had
complained to his brother. And asked them to tell which of the chests were more
valuable. They said that the chests with golden filigree are valuable and those with
covering of coal tar are not of any value.
The king ordered the chests covered with coal tar to be opened. The jewels inside there
illumined the court premises. The king said, “ These chests are like those two wise
persons in tatters! You considered them with least respect seeing their exterior
appearance! You have said that the chests with covering of gold are valuable. They are
like those hypocrites who dress in costly garment and pretend to be wise and pious. Such
persons, with all their external finery, are full of garbage and trash as are these golden
chests!”
Hearing the story, the prince was very much impressed with Balohar. He caught hold of
his hand and said, “ O wise person! Tell me some more story of wisdom!”
Balohar narrated another story replete with lesson of piety to the prince:
Every tiller of the soil sows seeds in the land. In that process some seeds fall on the
corners of his holding that are consumed by the birds. Some seeds fall on stones and
wither over a few days. Some of the seeds fall on thorny bushes that don’t allow them to
grow and flourish. The seeds that fall on properly prepared and maintained soil, grow and
yield a plentiful crop. O Prince! Excepting the seeds that drop on the properly prepared
soil, the rest are just a waste for the farmer. Similarly words of virtue can only prosper
and come from one who has a pure heart!
The Prince said, “ O wise person! The contentment that my heart is getting from your
words of wisdom cannot be expressed! Relate to me some tale that reflects on the futility
of the world!”
Balohar said, “ It is said that once an elephant chased a man. The man ran scared and the
elephant chased him the more! On the way there was a well. Near the parapet of the well
grew a tree. The man, in desperation, hung to a branch of the tree. He saw that at the base
of the tree there were four snakes and under these snakes a python was lying with its
mouth wide open! When he looked up, he found white and black mice cutting away the
branch on which he was precariously hanging. He noticed that there was honey on a
branch within his reach. He started licking the honey oblivious of the hazards around
him. O prince! Life in the world is full of hazards and hardship. The four snakes are the
strong passion, bile, phlegm and blood. Any excess or shortage of these in the body of a
person can be the cause of his death. The two mice, white and black, are the day and
night in the life of a person that are busy cutting short his life. The python with mouth
wide open is the death. But the man thinks that the world for him is sweet like the honey!
The sweetness of the honey makes him oblivious of the hazards around him!
Yuzasaf said, “ O wise man! Tell me some more fables like this.”