345 – Al-ʿAbbās ibn Hishām related to me from his father:

Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik sent for Sulaymān al-Kalbī, a man renowned for wide learning, outstanding virtue, and sound judgment. Sulaymān said:

“I entered upon him while he was in an upper chamber; my breathing was laboured and my chest heaving. I gave the greeting of peace; he returned it but left me to compose myself until my agitation subsided. Then he said:

‘News of you has reached me that pleases me, and whenever I hear of someone who arouses my interest as you have, I hasten to grant him what he desires and enlist his aid in weighty matters of mine.

Know that Muḥammad, the son of the Commander of the Faithful, occupies with me the rank of which you are aware—he is the very apple of my eye. I pray that Allah ⦗522⦘ will raise him to the finest station ever attained by any member of his household. The Commander of the Faithful has placed you in charge of his discipline, his education, and of overseeing whatever Allah may use to set his affairs aright.

So fear Allah and discharge the trust you bear toward him by cultivating certain qualities; had there been but one of them, you would still be obliged not to neglect it—how much more so when they are combined!

The first is that you are his trustee, and therefore duty-bound to render the trust.

The second is that I am the ruler whose favour you hope for and whose displeasure you fear.

The third is that whenever the imam ascends a degree in worldly affairs, you ascend with him; this should spur you to embrace the counsel I am giving you.

Admit into his private circle people of the Quran, men of virtue, and elders. From them you stand to gain in one of two ways: either you will hear from them noble speech which you will grasp and preserve, and their renown will accrue to you, or people will see them leaving his company and assume that you are upon the same path as they.

Do not introduce to him libertines or drinkers of wine. With such people you face one of two dangers: either he hears indecent talk from them, adopts it, and you then wish to turn him from it but cannot, or people see them emerging from your presence and imagine that you share their views.

When you hear from him a misshapen word, do not rebuke him for it ⦗523⦘ lest he grow obstinate; rather, take note of it. When he rises from the gathering, steer him toward something better. If you hear from him an obscure expression, alert the assembly to its meaning; perhaps they did not understand it while you did because of your attentiveness, so that they depart having heard from him goodly speech which they can report and praise.

When people come to your doors, hasten to provide their relishes, treat them graciously, and offer them the finest food. Once they have finished lunch or dinner, whoever wishes may stay of his own accord to converse, and whoever wishes may depart to his family, for people have needs besides visiting you.

When you give, give to the people of the Quran, the bearers of knowledge, and men of merit; you will be rewarded for strengthening them, and people will commend your generosity. Do not give to libertines or wine-drinkers; you would sin by enabling them and the people would reproach you—unless it be in the course of rescuing someone or mediating so that one of them may settle an obligation.

Let your hands be open in generosity and your faces bright with cheerfulness. You are kings while the people are commoners, and you rule them and they tread in your footsteps only by the overflow of your bounty and the gentleness of your demeanour ⦗524⦘.

See that he is taught the lineage of the Arabs so that none of it, great or small, is hidden from him. Teach him the stations of the moon, the varieties of oratory, the proper occasions for speech, and the art of answering.

If he lingers in his training or in cultivating manliness, go in to him—even were he beneath the family coverlet—and drag him to whatever will benefit him by Allah’s leave. Beware of concealing anything about him from me, lest another inform me and I bring you down from what pleases you to what harms you.

He must not go out except with his turban on, nor ride an animal with docked tail or shorn mane, nor may the tail of his mount be tied up for him. He is not to ride a narrow saddle that would expose his buttocks like the riffraff, nor drink while craning his neck about or lifting it skyward.

Hold him to all this, and add to it from your own resources as much as you can. I shall gauge his intelligence today and hereafter; if I find that he has increased in goodness beyond what he was, the mark of the Commander of the Faithful will be seen upon you. But if the opposite proves true, blame none but yourself.’”