—a man in whose heart both religion and reason are alive, so that he is beloved in the hearts of his subjects; whose good judgment is ever at hand; who is a seeker of knowledge, learning constantly from the scholars; whose generosity is abundant and whose household is spacious, so that the people of merit esteem him; who nurtures men of letters so that scholars branch out from his patronage; and who banishes from his realm those who delight in hunting for faults, for when the fault-finders are gone, faults themselves keep their distance.
Any king who lacks such qualities will take no joy in his dominion; the causes of his ruin will hasten toward him, and his own relatives and companions will perish at his hand—for slander finds fertile ground only where reason is absent, as the poet said:
The sage, with words as forceful as a lion, declared:
“Abandon jesting—you are no lion in that game.
Guard yourself when the lawless break loose,
for a single glance can draw the monarch’s ire.
Shrink from contending with him for his realm;
when anger seizes him, keep well away.
I have heard it said of wine that the king
grows drunk on it long before its time.”
A pointed lesson: Muʿāwiyah once asked al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays, “Abū Yaḥyā, how fares the age?” He replied, “The age is you: if you are upright, the age is upright, and if you are corrupt, the age is corrupt.”
Al-Aḥnaf also said: “The world is built up by justice and ruined by tyranny; justice sends forth a pure light whose first gleams can be seen from a thousand leagues away, whereas oppression heaps darkness upon darkness and its gloom blackens the horizon from a thousand leagues away.”
Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ declared: “If I had one supplication certain to be answered, I would use it for none but a just ruler, for a just ruler is the welfare of humanity and the adornment of the land.” And it has been reported from the Master of mankind—may blessings and peace be upon him: “The just will stand upon pulpits of pearl on the Day of Resurrection.”
Story: One day Alexander was seated upon the throne of his kingdom after the curtain had been drawn back when a thief was brought before him. The thief pleaded, “Your Majesty, I did steal, yet I had no craving for theft, nor did my heart desire it.” Alexander replied, “Nevertheless you shall be crucified, though your heart neither seeks nor desires crucifixion.” Thus it behooves the ruler to act justly and to scrutinize with the utmost care every policy he decrees, so that it may be carried out by those around him—his vizier, chamberlain, deputy, and governor—for many