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

matter before pronouncing the final judgement. The king too controlled his anger and did
not order the slaying of the courtier.
The courtier repeated the same act on the second and the third day. The king did not say
anything. On the fourth day the courtier had tied up a skull on one side and a quantity of
sand on the other. He also carried a weighing balance to the court. He kept the skull in
front of him In one pan of the scale he put a coin and in the other he put the sand. When
both the pans were balanced he started putting the sand through the mouth of the skull
and also through the holes of the eyes.
The king was very puzzled with this strange behavior of the courtier. He said, “ What is
the reason for your mad behavior in my presence? Have you gone bold that I respect and
honor you much! Explain, what you mean by this strange act?”
Hearing this, the courtier got up and touched the feet of the king. He said, “ O monarch! I
have to tell you something! If you give me a patient hearing I wish to tell you some
words of wisdom! You know that the words of wisdom are like an arrow that pierces a
soft thing and doesn’t affect a stone! Good advice is like the rain -water. When it falls on
good soil, it brings forth flowers and fruit, on a rocky soil it does nothing! Human beings
have innumerable wishes and therefore it will be a constant struggle between wisdom and
the desires. If desires dominate, good advice has no effect! When wisdom prevails, good
advice has its effect and the person comes to the right path! Now, I shall explain the
purpose of my actions!
From childhood I am fond of acquiring knowledge and skills! I used to spend lot of time
in search of knowledge. When I acquired knowledge, I started doing experiments. One
day, during my researches, I happened to enter the royal graveyard. This soiled skull way
lying near an old grave. Because I have great admiration for the kings, I picked up the
skull and brought it home. At home I cleaned it and wrapped it in a silk scarf. I used to
wash it with rose water and keep it at a prominent place in my house. I thought that if it is
a king’s skull, it might revive to its original condition and the king might come back to
life! I did the exercise for many days but I noticed no change in the skull. Then I thought
that perhaps the skull belongs to some poor mendicant. I trusted it to a poor person to
take care of it. He kept it in a shabby and dusty place. But no change came about in the
skull.
When all my efforts brought about no change in the skull I visited some wise people.
They too were unable to satisfy me. Now I thought that the king is the wisest person in
the realm and I must present my problem before him.
I have adopted this stratagem of the demonstrations to seek your help in solving the
problem. I wish to know if the skull is that of a king or of a pauper! I have seen that the
kings are never satisfied of their possessions! Even if they capture the entire world, they
think of capturing the skies! I measured sand equal to the weight of a coin and the eyes of
the skull were filled. Similarly I put a handful of sand into the mouth of the skull and it
was full. Although I have never seen the mouth of a king being sated any time! If I