Chapter Four
On the Loftiness of Kings’ Aspirations

The Commander of the Faithful ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—may Allah be pleased with him—said, “Strive never to harbor a lowly ambition, for I have never seen anything that trips a person more than a paltry aim.”

ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ said, “A man stands where he chooses to stand: if he honors himself, his affairs soar; if he debases himself, he is humbled and his worth diminishes.”

Himmah (aspiration) means to raise one’s own station. The proud heart is a mark of the great, for they know their own value and therefore ennoble themselves. No one’s rank is lifted until he himself first lifts it.

A person preserves his dignity by avoiding the company of the base, by refraining from tasks unfitting for someone of his stature, and by shunning whatever draws reproach. Lofty aspiration and noble pride are qualities especially suited to kings; Allah endowed them with these traits so that ministers and intimates might learn from their example, as the following story shows.

Story: Abu al-Dawāniq once ordered that a man be given five hundred dirhams. Aḥmad ibn al-Khaṣīb objected, saying, “It is unseemly for a king to bestow any sum under one thousand.”

On another day Hārūn al-Rashīd rode in state with his retinue when the horse of one of his soldiers stumbled and fell. Hārūn said, “Give him five hundred dirhams.” Yaḥyā signaled to him with his eyes and afterwards remarked, “That was a mistake.” When they dismounted, the caliph asked, “What mistake did I make that caused you to signal to me?” Yaḥyā replied, “No king should let a number smaller than one thousand pass his lips.”

Hārūn answered, “But suppose a case arises—like this one—where it would be improper to give more than five hundred dirhams. What, then, should be said?”

Yaḥyā responded, “Say, ‘Give him a horse,’ and then hand him a horse in keeping with accepted custom and protocol, thereby preserving