His heart took heed and he said:

What lasting joy can a living soul possess
when death is ever drawing near?

Then they became like withered leaves—
the east wind and the west tossed them about.(1)

I say: The lord of al-Khawarnaq to whom the poet alludes was one of the ancient kings. A scholar of his age admonished him about the excess, arrogance, and rebellion in which he had indulged,(2) pursuing his own whims and neglecting to keep his Lord in view. The scholar reminded him of the kings and kingdoms that had preceded him, how they had vanished until not one remained, and how what had come to him from others would soon pass from him to those who followed. The admonition struck home; he paused to consider himself, reflected on his present and his past, and feared the constriction of the grave.(3) He repented and turned back, abandoned the throne, donned the garb of the poor, roamed the deserts, and sought the solace of solitude. He broke away from the people’s pursuit of passions and their disobedience of the Lord of the heavens.

His story is set out at length by Shaykh al-Imām Muwaffaq ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī(4)(5) in his book “The Penitents.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim al-Suhaylī likewise relates it with a firm chain of transmission in his work “al-Rawḍ al-Unuf,”(6)(7) arranged with exemplary order and lucid exposition.

[Account of the Kings of the Minor Dynasties]

As for the ruler of al-Ḥaḍr—Sāṭirūn—it has already been noted that he held precedence over all the other petty kings. He lived in the era of Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian Greek. After Alexander had defeated Darius son of Darius, humbled his empire, ravaged his lands, violated the sanctuary of his people, plundered his treasures, and scattered the Persians far and wide, he resolved that they should never again be united or their affairs brought together. He therefore set up each king over a particular people in a province of…(8)