She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Chosroës wrote his son, 'Be not thou too open handed with thy troops, or they will be too rich to need thee; nor be thou niggardly with them, or they will murmur against thee. Give thy giving deliberately and confer thy favours advisedly; open thy hand to them in time of success and stint them not in time of distress.' There is a legend that a desert Arab came once to the Caliph Al- Mansúr[FN#262] and said, 'Starve thy dog and he shall follow thee.' When the Caliph heard his words, he was enraged with the Arab, but Abu 'l-Abbás of Tús said to him, 'I fear that if some other than thou should show him a scone, the dog would follow him and leave thee alone.' Thereupon the Caliph Al-Mansur's wrath subsided and he knew that the wild Arab had intended no offence and ordered him a present. And know, O King, that Abd al-Malik bin Marwán wrote to his brother Abd al-Azíz, when he despatched him to Egypt, as follows, 'Pay heed to thy Secretaries and thy Chamberlains, for the Secretaries will acquaint thee with estate fished matters and the Chamberlains with matters of official ceremony, whilst thine expenditure will make thy troops known to thee.' Omar bin Al-Khattáb[FN#263] (whom Allah accept!) when engaging a servant was in the habit of conditioning him with four conditions; the first that he should not ride the baggage beasts, the second that he should not wear fine clothes, the third that he should not eat of the spoil and the fourth that he should not put off praying till after the proper period. It is said that there is no wealth more profitable than understanding, and there is no understanding like common sense and prudence, and there is no prudence like piety; that there is no means of drawing near to God like good morals, no measure like good breeding, no traffic like good works and no profit like earning the Divine favour; that there is no temperance like standing within the limits of the law, no science like that of meditation, no worship like obeying the Divine commends, no faith like modesty, no calculation like self abasement and no honour like knowledge. So guard the head and what it containeth and the belly and what it compriseth; and think of death and doom ere it ariseth. Saith Ali (whose face Allah honour!), 'Beware of the wickedness of women and be on thy guard against them: consult them not in aught;[FN#264] but grudge not complaisance to them, lest they greed for intrigue.' And eke quoth he, 'Whoso leaveth the path of moderation his wits become perplexed'; and there be rules for this which we will mention, if it be Allah's will. And Omar (whom Allah accept!) saith, 'There are three kinds of women, firstly the true believing, Heaven fearing, love full and fruit full, who helpeth her mate against fate, not helping fate against her mate; secondly, she who loveth her children but no more and, lastly, she who is a shackle Allah