Comprehensive Study Notes on Nasihat al-Muluk (Counsel for Kings)

Translator's Introduction: Authorship, Transmission, and Textual History

Composition and Patronage:
- Naṣīḥat al-Mulūk was authored in Persian by Al-Ghazālī towards the end of his life. An attributed personal letter gives the composition year as $503/1109\text{--}1110$ .
- The patron's identity is disputed: Arabic manuscripts of al-Tibr al-Masbūk state it was dedicated to Sultan Muḥammad ibn Malikshāh (Seljuk Empire ruler, $1105\text{--}1118$ ).
- The extant Persian original addresses the patron as the "King of the East," widely interpreted as Malikshāh's brother Sanjar, who ruled Khorasan before succeeding Malikshāh in $1118$ .
Translation and Textual Transmission:
- According to historian Ibn Khallikān (d. $681/1282$ ), the Arabic translation (al-Tibr al-Masbūk) was produced by ʿAlī ibn Mubārak of Erbil, nephew of minister Ibn al-Mustawfī (d. $637/1239$ ).
- By Mamluk and Ottoman times, the Persian original was almost lost, while the Arabic translation circulated widely.
- In the early 20th century, Persian manuscripts were discovered in Tehran, forming the chief basis of Jalāl al-Dīn Humāʾī's $1937$ edition (Majlis Press, Tehran, $1315\text{ solar}/1937\text{--}1317/1939$ ). Gaps in the incomplete Tehran text (copied in $1267/1850$ ) were patched using Arabic manuscripts and auxiliary works.
- Modern editions rely on Humāʾī's Persian edition and Dr. Muḥammad Damaj's $1987$ Arabic edition (Al-Muʾassassa al-Jāmiʿiyya/al-Markaz al-Islāmī lil-Buḥūth, Beirut, $1407/1987$ ; based on Beirut and Damascus manuscripts).
Authenticity Debate:
- Part 1 reflects core Ghazalian thought (political leadership as a piously discharged religious responsibility) and borrows from Kīmiyā-yi-Saʿādat (a Persian recasting of Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn).
- Part 2 displays a worldly, "Iranian" perspective adhering to the "Mirrors for Princes" genre, concluding with a section on women addressed to the common man rather than a monarch.
Textual Divergences and Hadith Translation Methodology:
- Part 2 anecdotes in Persian present barebones narratives, whereas the Arabic al-Tibr provides embellished versions matching texts like Arabian Nights and Kalīla wa Dimna.
- Hadiths were translated into Persian and re-translated to Arabic. Priorities were given to original Hadith source texts, translating directly into English rather than literal word-for-word Persian renderings.

Author's Introduction: The Tree of Faith and Royal Devotional Duties

Address and Gratitude for Faith:
- Addressed to Sultan Ghayyāth al-Dīn Abū Shujāʿ Muḥammad ibn Malikshāh (Muḥammad Tāpār I, ruler $1105\text{--}1118$ ) as "King of the East" ("Sultan of the World, King of the East and the West").
- Faith is the seed for eternal happiness. Temporal blessings ending with death are worthless; Noah lived over $1000\text{ years}$ , yet $5000\text{ years}$ post-death it is as though he never existed.
- Faith is structured like a tree: 10 roots (beliefs of the heart) and 10 branches (actions of the body), as illustrated in Qur'an 14:24.
Royal Friday Devotional Program:
- Devote Friday (the festival day of the faithful) entirely to worshipping God.
- Form the intention to fast on Friday eve (and Thursday if possible).
- Perform a full purificatory bath (ghusl) before dawn on Friday.
- Wear clothing that is lawful, prayer-suitable, and free of fine silk. Summer fabrics: dabīqī (Egyptian fabric), qaṣab (embroidered fabric), lace, or linen. Winter fabrics: fur, non-silken brocade, or wool.
- Perform the dawn prayer in congregation. Maintain Qibla orientation without talking until sunrise.
- Glorify God using a rosary by repeating $1000\text{ times}$ : "There is no god but God, and Muḥammad is the Messenger of God."
- Have the book read aloud every Friday until committed to memory. Perform four cycles of prayer and glorify God until midmorning.
- Post-midmorning (Ḍuḥā / Chāsht) prayer: Say "Dear God, bless Muḥammad and the family of Muḥammad", "I ask forgiveness of God and repent to Him", and distribute charity.

Chapter I: The Principles of Creed (The Ten Roots of Faith)

First Principle: God's Existence:
- God is the sole Creator, One without equal, uncreated, eternal without beginning or end, self-existent, and necessary in His existence.
Second Principle: God's Transcendence:
- God transcends image, body, form, measure, quantity, modality, and spatial location.
- His settling (istiwāʾ) upon the Throne transcends physical contact, stability, or localization. He is above everything yet closer to every person than their jugular vein (Q. 42:11).
- He will be seen in the afterlife in a manner beyond worldly physical vision.
Third Principle: His Power:
- Total capability over all existents. The eight (or seven) heavens, seven earths, Throne, and Footstool reside completely within His power.
Fourth Principle: His Knowledge and Will:
- All-encompassing knowledge: desert sand grains, tree leaves, heart thoughts, dust specks, and stars. Nothing occurs, changes, or exists except by His predestining, decree, and will.
Fifth and Sixth Principles: His Hearing and Seeing:
- Hears ant footfalls on dark nights; sees worm shapes and colors beneath the earth. Operates without bodily organs (ears, eyes) or physical instruments. Creates instantaneously via "Be!" (Kun).
Seventh Principle: His Speech:
- Active, binding command operating without a windpipe, tongue, or mouth. The Torah, Gospel, Psalms, and Qur'an are His eternal attribute, transcending human phonemes and sounds.
Eighth Principle: His Acts:
- Sole Creator of all creation. Pain, poverty, incapacity, and ignorance were created in absolute justice. Injustice requires usurping another's property; since all property belongs to God, He cannot commit injustice.
Ninth Principle: The Hereafter:
- Humans consist of body and soul. The body is a lodging for the soul until its appointed time (ajal).
- In the grave, the soul rejoins the body to face interrogation by Munkar and Nakīr (unsuccessful answers result in punishment with snakes and scorpions).
- At Resurrection, souls return to bodies for the Day of Reckoning. Deeds are weighed on a scale, and all must traverse the Bridge (narrower than a hair, sharper than a sword).
- Intercession is granted by Prophets, imams, scholars, and saints. Unbelievers remain in Hell permanently; sinful believers are eventually admitted to Paradise.
Tenth Principle: The Prophet:
- God dispatched angels and Prophets to reveal the paths of salvation and damnation. Muḥammad is the Seal of the Prophets, master of all Prophets, sent to all mankind and jinn.

Chapter II: The Branches of Faith and the Ten Principles of Royal Justice

Nature of the Branches:
- Justice and obedience proceeding from the seven body parts (eyes, ears, tongue, stomach, loins, hands, feet) linked to the seven gates of Hell.
- Divided into duties to God (prayer, fasting, refraining from wine/sin) and duties to people (justice, avoiding oppression).
- Golden Rule for Governance: Perform obedience to God as expected from servants; act toward subjects as a subject would wish a ruler to act.
Ten Principles of Royal Justice:
- 1. Value and Danger of Rulership (Wilāyat):
  - A single day's justice exceeds $60\text{ years}$ (or $70\text{ years}$ ) of worship. Every daily prayer of a just ruler equals $70000\text{ prayers}$ .
  - A just ruler is among the seven shaded under God's shade on Judgment Day.
  - Curse of God, angels, and mankind falls upon rulers who refuse mercy, judge unjustly, or break promises.
  - Three persons God will not look upon: dishonest king, elderly adulterer, arrogant pauper.
  - Chained hands at Resurrection: righteous rulers are freed; sinful rulers receive additional chains.
  - Unjust rulers fall into Hell for $70\text{ years}$ .
  - Prophet David was told by Gabriel that taking a treasury livelihood was his sole flaw; God subsequently taught David to forge chain mail for self-sufficiency.
  - Caliph Umar walked at night fearing accountability for a mangy sheep by a waterway. After death, his reckoning lasted $12\text{ years}$ . Byzantine envoys found him sleeping on hot ground with his whip under his head.
- 2. Seeking Genuine Religious Scholars:
  - Seek scholars who offer honest counsel without treasury designs; avoid worldly flatterers.
  - Shaqīq al-Balkhī counsel to Hārūn al-Rashīd: Occupying seats of Abu Bakr (ṣidq), Umar (farq), Uthman (modesty/generosity), and Ali (knowledge/justice). Named the Caliph as doorkeeper of Hell armed with treasury, sword, and whip. Asserted that the ruler is the wellspring and subordinates are streams.
  - Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ counsel to Hārūn al-Rashīd and ʿAbbās: Recited Qur'an 45:21, warned Hārūn of Resurrection, called ʿAbbās "Hāmān", and rejected $1000\text{ dinars}$ .
  - Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī definition of justice to Umar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz: Father to younger Muslims, son to older ones, brother to peers; punish strictly in proportion to offences.
  - Deaf King of China ordered victims of injustice to wear red garments so he could spot and assist them from elephant-back.
  - Abū Qilāba counsel to Umar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz: "From the time of Adam until today, no caliph remains but you… You will be the next caliph to die."
  - Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (Marwān) fasted three days, broke fast on Abū Ḥāzim's cooked bran, and conceived ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (father of Umar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz).
  - Umar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz repented after a slave reminded him: "Remember the night whose morn will be the Day of Resurrection!"
  - Hārūn al-Rashīd at ʿArafāt stood bareheaded and barefooted on hot gravel beseeching forgiveness.
  - Abū Ḥāzim counsel: "Lie down and place death beneath your pillow."
- 3. Restraining Retinue and Officials:
  - Rulers are held accountable for official tyranny. Umar wrote to Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī: extravagant officials turn the ruler into a sheep fattening itself for slaughter.
  - Inner justice: Restrain appetite (shahwa) and irascibility (ghaḍab) under intellect and religion. Intellect is God's army; appetite and irascibility are Satan's army.
  - True nature of desires: Gluttony = wild animal; luxury clothing = woman; venting wrath = beast; demanding service = ignoramus.
- 4. Overcoming Pride and Anger:
  - Anger is the ghoul haunting the intellect. Abū Jaʿfar Manṣūr pardoned a traitor when Mubārak ibn Faḍāla cited Ḥasan al-Baṣrī on pardoning others.
  - Jesus to John: Be thankful when spoken of truthfully or lied about, as good deeds are added to your account.
  - True strength is restraining oneself when angry. Complete faith requires: anger not causing slip into falsehood, pleasure not straying from truth, and power not taking more than due.
  - Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī presented fresh dates to a man who slandered him.
  - ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn (Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn) bestowed his cloak and $1000\text{ dirhams}$ on an insulter. He freed a slave who broke a sheep's leg to intentionally provoke him, stating he would anger Satan instead.
  - Satan's three warnings to Moses: Beware of quick temper (played with like a ball), women (most reliable trap), and greed (ruins worldly life and religion).
- 5. Empathetic Governance:
  - Imagine oneself as the subject in every situation. At Badr, Gabriel rebuked the Prophet for sitting in shade while companions were in the sun.
- 6. Accessibility to Petitioners:
  - Tending to Muslim needs takes precedence over supererogatory worship. Umar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz returned to court immediately when his son warned death could strike during his afternoon rest.
- 7. Cultivating Contentment:
  - Shun luxury in food and clothing. Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb vowed to relinquish eating two loaves of bread on one plate and owning two garments after Salmān al-Fārisī noted it.
- 8. Practicing Gentleness:
  - God is gentle with gentle rulers and harsh with harsh rulers. Abū Ḥāzim told Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik that salvation requires every dirham received and spent to be lawful.
- 9. Popular Contentment within Sacred Law:
  - Best rulers are loved by subjects; worst are hated and cursed. Rulers must dispatch secret reconnaissance agents to gather accurate feedback on public sentiment.
- 10. Unyielding Adherence to Sacred Law:
  - Never seek human approval by disobeying God. ʿĀʾisha wrote to Muʿāwiya: Pleasing God despite human displeasure makes God make people pleased; pleasing people by displeasing God brings divine and human wrath.

Chapter III: The Two Springs That Water the Tree of Faith

Spring 1: Knowledge of the World Here-Below:
- The world is a temporary bridge/waystation: womb -> grave. Years = stages, months = rest stops, weeks = villages, days = leagues, breaths = steps.
- Ten Allegories of the World:
  1. Sorcery: More sorcerous than Hārūt and Mārūt. Appears stationary but flees like a shadow.
  2. Wanton Woman: Lures lovers and slays them. Jesus saw the world as an old woman who had killed all her uncounted husbands.
  3. Veiled Ugliness: Unveiled at Resurrection as an old woman with green eyes and protruding teeth.
  4. Transient Road: Short stay between pre-eternity and eternity.
  5. Rich Food: Overeating causes stomach distress; brief pleasure yields lasting remorse and painful death-parting.
  6. Unending Entanglement: Drinking sea water increases thirst until death; diving into the sea without getting wet is impossible.
  7. Mansion Guesthouse: Tray of gold/jewels and silver censer of incense. Wise guests enjoy the scent and move on; fools claim ownership and cry when items are taken back.
  8. Ship Passengers on an Island: Ascetics perform quick ablutions and secure prime seats. Sightseers get cramped seats. Stone collectors carry heavy, foul-smelling burdens. Lost wanderers miss departure and die or are eaten by beasts.
  9. Refuse Dump: Prophet showed Abū Hurayra human skulls, rags, decaying bones, and human waste to symbolize worldly ambition.
  10. Three Travelers and Hidden Treasure: One traveler poisons food to claim treasure; two murder him upon return, eat the food, and die. World outlives them all.
Spring 2: Knowledge and Remembrance of Death:
- Azrael (Angel of Death) seizes souls without bribery, respite, or delay.
- Five Anecdotes of Death:
  1. Wahb ibn Munabbih Account: Proud king on horseback confronted by rough-clothed Angel of Death; soul taken instantly. A believer welcomed the Angel and died in prostration.
  2. Rich Man in Tall Palace: Angel of Death knocked loudly; wealth spoke back to the man, reproaching him for hoarding instead of building mosques and bridges.
  3. Yazīd al-Raqāshī Account: Tyrant king denied a 1-day or 1-hour respite by the Angel of Death, taking only bad deeds to Hell.
  4. Solomon and Companion: Companion asked wind to carry him to India to flee a staring stranger. Angel of Death revealed he was commanded to take his soul in India and was amazed to see him in Palestine.
  5. Dhūl-Qarnayn and Content People: People dug graves at doors and ate grass. King presented two skulls (unjust king vs just king) and pointed to Dhūl-Qarnayn's head, refusing wealth because contentment brings friends.
- Remembering death $20\text{ times}$ daily yields the reward of martyrs (ʿĀʾisha narration). Cleanses sins and promotes worldly asceticism.

Part II, Chapter I: On the Polity, Justice, Chronicles, and Lineages of Kings

Divine Appointment and Durability of Rule:
- Kings and Prophets are chosen groups. "The sultan is God's shadow upon earth" (farr-i Īzadī). Obedience is commanded (Q. 4:59, Q. 3:26).
- Sovereignty endurance principle: "Sovereignty may remain with unbelief, but it will not remain with injustice."
- Magians ruled for nearly $4000\text{ years}$ through justice. God revealed to David not to speak ill of Persians because they made the world thrive.
- Just rulers develop the world (Ardashīr, Farīdūn, Bahrām Gūr, Kisrā Anūshirvān); tyrants ruin it (Ḍaḥḥāk, Afrāsiyāb).
Chronology and Genealogies of Persian Kings:
- Adam gave 40 scriptural pages to Seth (religion) and Kayūmarth (world/kingship).
- Pīshdādians:
  - Kayūmarth (1st king, $30\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Hūshang ( $90/40\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Ṭahmūrath (warred against jinn, $930/30\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Jamshīd (weapons, saddles, $770/700\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Bayvarāsp / Ḍaḥḥāk (two serpents, sorcerer, tyrant, $1000\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Afrīdūn ( $500\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Minūchihr ( $120\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Nawzar ( $12\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Afrāsiyāb / Alp Er Tunga ( $12\text{ yrs}$ in Iran).
  - Zav son of Ṭahmāsp ( $3/50\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Garshāsp ( $8\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Kay Qubād ( $100/120\text{ yrs}$ ).
- Kayānians:
  - Kay Kāvūs ( $120\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Kay Khusraw ( $60\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Luhrāsp ( $110/120\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Gushtāsp (Zoroastrian religion, $110/120\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Bahman son of Asfandiyār ( $112\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Shamīrān / Humāy ( $30/17\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Dārā ( $40/41\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Dārā son of Dārā.
  - Alexander the Greek / Dhūl-Qarnayn ( $12/36\text{ yrs}$ ).
- Ashkānians (Parthians): Ashk ibn Hurmuz ( $13\text{ yrs } 1\text{ mo}$ ), etc.
- Sasanians:
  - Ardashīr son of Pābak ( $44\text{ yrs}$ : 30 war, 14 peace).
  - Shāpūr ( $33\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Hormizd ( $30\text{ yrs } 3\text{ mos}$ ).
  - Bahrām III ( $4\text{ mos}$ ).
  - Narseh ( $9\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Hurmuz ( $70\text{ yrs } 5\text{ mos}$ ).
  - Shāpūr Dhūl-Aktāf ("Shoulder-Piercer", $70\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Ardashīr ( $20\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Shāpūr son of Shāpūr ( $5\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Bahrām ( $12\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Yazdgird the Sinner ( $30\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Bahrām Gūr ( $33\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Yazdgird II ( $80\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Hurmuz ( $11\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Pīrūz ( $11\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Balāsh ( $5\text{ yrs } 2\text{ mos}$ ).
  - Kay Qubād ( $40\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Jāmāsp the Wise ( $1\text{ yr } 6\text{ mos}$ ).
  - Khusraw Anūshirvān the Just ( $48\text{ yrs}$ ; born in Prophet's time).
  - Hurmuz ( $12\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Khusraw Parvīz ( $38\text{ yrs}$ ).
  - Shīrūyah ( $7\text{ mos}$ ).
  - Ardashīr ( $1\text{ yr } 6\text{ mos}$ ).
  - Gurāz / Shahrbaraz ( $25\text{ days}$ ).
  - Pūrāndukht ( $6\text{ mos}$ ).
  - Āzarmīdukht ( $4\text{ mos}$ ).
  - Farrukh Zād ( $1\text{ mo}$ ).
  - Yazdgird son of Shahriyār ( $20\text{ yrs}$ ; defeated during Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb's caliphate).
Historical Lessons and Royal Justice:
- Abū ʿAlī Ilyās and Abū ʿAlī Daqqāq dialogue: Loving gold vs enemy. Rulers leave gold behind and take enemies to the next world.
- Anūshirvān the Just: Prophet noted, "I was born in the time of the just king." Feigned illness to request an old brick from a ruined village; none was found. Sent capers to the King of India to criticize uncultivated land.
- Chain of Prosperity Aphorism: "Religion depends upon the monarchy, the monarchy upon the army, the army upon wealth, wealth upon prosperity, and prosperity upon justice."
- Two forms of injustice: 1) Ruler to subject / strong to weak / rich to poor; 2) Self-injustice through sin.
- Fisherman and Bailiff Anecdote: Bailiff beat fisherman and seized fish. Fish bit bailiff's hand, causing severe infection and step-by-step arm amputations. Restored miraculously after compensating the fisherman; revelation to Moses.
- Moses at the Spring: Child took left-behind purse (unpaid wages of father); rider returned and killed innocent blind man (who had previously murdered rider's father).
- Primary necessity for kings is correct religion. Populace mirrors royal conduct: Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (gardens/mansions), Sulayman ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (eating/food), Umar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (worship/Qur'an).
- Garden of a Thousand Delights (Bāgh-i Hazār Kām): Anūshirvān, Caesar, Emperor of China, Khagan, and King of India met to praise good names and righteous thoughts.
- Ismāʿīl ibn Aḥmad Sāmānī (Emir of Khorasan): Amputated donkey-driver's hand for stealing garden produce in Merv. Removed curtain after Asr prayer at brook of Mūliyān for open petitions. Defeated ʿAmr ibn Layth's $100000\text{ iron-armored troops}$ with $1000\text{ men}$ . Refused ʿAmr's wealth to avoid inheriting his sins.