among serpents, eating with them and sleeping beside them; or like a man afloat in the sea amid crocodiles that swallow people, forever courting peril.
Maxim: It is said, “Woe to the one tried by the company of rulers, for they have no friend, no kin, no servant, no child, and they show respect only to the person whose knowledge or courage they presently need. Once their need is met, neither affection remains from them nor loyalty and shame from him. Most of their business is sheer ostentation: they make light of their own grave sins while magnifying the minor faults of others.” Sufyān said, “Do not accompany the ruler, and beware of serving him: if you obey him he will exhaust you; if you oppose him he will kill you and seize what is yours.”
Anecdote: It is related that Yazdegerd son of Shahriyar once entered upon his father at a time when no one had permission to do so. Shahriyar said to Bahram, “Go, give that particular gatekeeper thirty blows with a staff, drive him from the gate, and appoint So-and-so the freeman in his stead.” Yazdegerd was then thirteen years old. The first gatekeeper was removed. Some days later Yazdegerd came again wishing to enter upon his father. The new gatekeeper placed his hand on the prince’s chest, pushed him back, and said, “If you return and I find you here, I shall beat you sixty times—thirty on account of the dismissed gatekeeper and thirty so that you never again approach the king outside the appointed hour, even though you are his son—lest you bring upon yourself beating, humiliation, and expulsion.”
One of the soundest measures for a king is that he not handle matters personally; rather, he must preserve his majesty, for many souls are bound to his and the subjects’ welfare depends on his life. Likewise, he should neither wrong himself nor others. He must not gamble with affairs nor treat them lightly. Each night he should have someone else sleep in his bed and move himself elsewhere, so that if an enemy comes to take his life he finds another in his place and the king remains beyond his reach, as the following story relates.
Anecdote: It is said that Khusraw son of Abroiz fled from Bahram Jūr, saying, “I am ruined, yet though my flight is a disgrace, by it I will save the lives of a number of my companions, for I…”