Riches are intended for the comfort of life, and not life for the purpose of hoarding riches. I asked a wise man, saying: "Who is the fortunate man, and who is the unfortunate?" He said: "That man was fortunate who spent and gave away, and that man unfortunate who died and left behind:--Pray not for that good-for-nothing man who did nothing, for he passed his life in hoarding riches, and did not spend them." II The prophet Moses, on whom be peace, _admonished Carum, saying: "Be bounteous in like manner as God has been bounteous to thee_":--but he listened not, and you have heard the end of him. Whoever did not an act of charity with his silver and gold, sacrificed his future prospects on his hoard of gold and silver. If desirous that thou shouldst benefit by the wealth of this world, be generous with thy fellow-creature, as God has been generous with thee. The Arabs say:--"_Show thy generosity, but make it not obligatory, that the benefit of it may redound to thee_":--that is, bestow and make presents, but do not exact an obligation that the profit of that act may be returned to you. Wherever the tree of generosity strikes root it sends forth its boughs, and they shoot above the skies. If thou cherishest a hope of enjoying its fruit, by gratitude I entreat of thee not to lay a saw upon its trunk. Render thanks to God, that thou wert found worthy of his divine grace, that he has not excluded thee from the riches of his bounty. Esteem it no obligation that thou art serving the king, but show thy gratitude to him, namely God, who has placed thee in this service. III Two persons labored to a vain, and studied to an unprofitable end: he who hoarded wealth and did not spend it, and he who acquired science and did not practise it:--However much thou art read in theory, if thou hast no practice thou art ignorant. He is neither a sage philosopher nor an acute divine, but a beast of burden with a load of books. How can that brainless head know or comprehend whether he carries on his back a library or bundle of fagots? IV Learning is intended to fortify religious practice, and not to gratify worldly traffic:--Whoever prostituted his temperance, piety, and science, gathered his harvest into a heap and set fire to it. V An intemperate man of learning is like a blind link-boy:--_He shows the road to others, but sees it not himself_:--whoever ventured his life on an unproductive hazard gained nothing by the risk, and lost his own stake. VI A kingdom is embellished by the wise, and religion rendered illustrious by the pious. Kings stand more in need of the company of the intelligent than the intelligent do of the society of kings:--If, O king! thou wilt listen to my advice, in all thy archives thou canst not find a wiser maxim than this: entrust thy concerns only to the learned, notwithstanding business is not a learned man's concern. VII