266 – Abū Ḥafṣ, the freedman of ʿAbd al-Malik—namely Hishām—related to me; I heard his scribe recite:

Not long will Sālim remain secure, though countless be his guards and record-keepers;
Whoever boasts a massive gate and stern doorkeeper—soon enough the doorkeeper will desert the gate.
After the curtains are drawn he becomes a lesson to onlookers, a hostage in a dwelling whose sides can never be traversed.
No sooner was he laid in the ground than his troops and cortèges transferred their loyalty to someone else;
Every spiteful foe rejoiced at his fate, while his neighbors and kinsmen abandoned him.⦗193⦘

So strive to win felicity for your own soul, for every person is held in pledge to what he himself has earned.