238 The king spoke kindly to the man and said to another, ‘How can a man worthily pay the debt of gratitude to his parents?’ And he said, ‘By never causing them pain, and this is not possible unless God dispose the mind to the pursuit of the noblest ends.’
239 The king expressed agreement and asked the next How he could become an eager listener? And he said, ‘By remembering that all knowledge is useful, because it enables you by the help of God in a time of emergency to select some of the things which you have learned and apply them to the crisis which confronts you. And so the efforts of men are fulfilled by the assistance of God.’
240 The king praised him and asked the next How he could avoid doing anything contrary to law? And he said, ‘If you recognize that it is God who has put the thoughts into the hearts of the lawgivers that the lives of men might be preserved, you will follow them.’
241 The king acknowledged the man’s answer and said to another, ‘What is the advantage of kinship?’ And he replied, ‘If we consider that we ourselves are afflicted by the misfortunes which fall upon our relatives and if their sufferings become our own – then the strength of kinship is 242 apparent at once, for it is only when such feeling is shown that we shall win honour and esteem in their eyes. For help, when it is linked with kindliness, is of itself a bond which is altogether indissoluble. And in the day of their prosperity we must not crave their possessions, but must pray God to bestow all manner of good upon them.’
243 And having accorded to him the same praise as to the rest, the king asked another How he could attain freedom from fear? And he said, ‘When the mind is conscious that it has wrought no evil, and when God directs it to all noble counsels.’
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