1Cademy - بخش ۳۹ - داستان خاقان چین که تحفه حقیر به اسکندر فرستاد و به حکمتی شریفش آگاهی داد / Section 39 - The Tale of the Khaqan of China Who Sent a Humble Gift to Alexander and Informed Him with a Noble Wisdom

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Haft Awrang

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بخش ۳۹ - داستان خاقان چین که تحفه حقیر به اسکندر فرستاد و به حکمتی شریفش آگاهی داد / Section 39 - The Tale of the Khaqan of China Who Sent a Humble Gift to Alexander and Informed Him with a Noble Wisdom

Original content

سکندر ز اقصای یونان زمین
سپه راند بر قصد خاقان چین

چو آوازه او به خاقان رسید
ز تسکین آن فتنه درمان ندید

ز لشگرگه خود به درگاه او
رسولی روان کرد و همراه او

کنیزی فرستاد و یک تن غلام
یکی دست جامه یکی خوان طعام

سکندر چو آن تحفه ها را بدید
سرانگشت حیرت به دندان گزید

به خود گفت کین تحفه های حقیر
نمی افتد از وی مرا دلپذیر

فرستادن آن بدین انجمن
نه لایق به وی باشد و نی به من

همانا نهان نکته ای خواسته ست
که در چشمش آن را بیاراسته ست

حکیمان که در لشکر خویش داشت
کز ایشان دل حکمت اندیش داشت

به خلوتگه خاص خود خواندشان
به صد گونه تعظیم بنشاندشان

فرو خواند راز دل خویش را
که تا حل کند مشکل خویش را

یکی زان میان گفت کز شاه چین
پیامیست پوشیده سوی تو این

که چون آدمی را مرتب بود
کنیزی که همخوابه شب بود

غلامی توانا به خدمتگری
که در کار سختت دهد یاوری

یکی دست جامه به سالی تمام
پی طعمه هر روز یک خوان طعام

چرا هر زمان رنج دیگر کشد
به هر کشور از دور لشگر کشد

نهد رو به هر ملک تاراج را
رباید ز فرق شهان تاج را

گرفتم که گیتی بگیرد تمام
به دستش دهد ملک و ملت زمام

به کوشش برآید به چرخ بلند
نخواهد شدن بیش ازین بهره مند

همان به که کوس قناعت زند
در رستگاری و طاعت زند

سکندر چو از وی شنید این سخن
درخت انانی شکستش ز بن

بگفت آن که رو در هدایت بود
نصیحت همینش کفایت بود

وز آن پس به خاقان در صلح کوفت
ز راهش غبار خصومت بروفت

شد از خاطر صافی انصاف ده
که از هر چه جوید شه انصاف به

جهان پادشاها در انصاف کوش
ز جام عدالت می صاف نوش

به انصاف و عدل است گیتی به پای
سپاهی چو آن نیست گیتی گشای

اگر ملک خواهی ره عدل پوی
وگر نی ز دل این هوس را بشوی

تهی قبضه از تیر تدبیر باش
به تیغ عدالت جهانگیر باش

چنان زی که گر باشدت شرق جای
کنندت طلب اهل غرب از خدای

نه زانسان که در ری شوی جایگیر
به نفرینت از روم خیزد نفیر

شد از دست ظلم تو کشور خراب
به ملک دگر پا مکن در رکاب

به ملک خودت نیست جز ظلم خوی
چه آری به اقلیم بیگانه روی

رعیت به ظلم تو چون عالمند
ز ظلم تو بر یکدگر ظالمند

به عدل آر رو تا که عادل شوند
همه با تو در عدل یکدل شوند

دل شه چو میل عنایت کند
عنایت به مردم سرایت کند

وگر شیوه ظلم گیرد به پیش
شوند اهل عالم همه ظلم کیش

English translation

Alexander, from the farthest reaches of the land of Greece, led his army with the aim of the Khaqan of China. When the news of him reached the Khaqan, he found no remedy to quell that turmoil. From his own camp to his court he dispatched an envoy, and together with him he sent a slave girl and one manservant, a suit of clothes and a table of food. When Alexander beheld those gifts, he bit the fingertip of astonishment with his teeth. He said to himself: these paltry gifts do not seem pleasing to me coming from him. Sending such things to this assembly befits neither him nor me. Surely he has intended some hidden point which he has adorned in his own eyes. The sages that he kept within his army, from whom he held a wisdom-pondering heart, he summoned to his own private chamber and seated them with a hundred kinds of honor. He recited to them the secret of his heart so that he might resolve his difficulty. One among them said: from the King of China this is a veiled message directed to you, that when a human being is duly provided with a slave girl who is a bedfellow at night, a servant able in rendering service who gives you aid in your hard tasks, a suit of clothes for the whole year through, and for sustenance each day a table of food, why should he endure fresh hardship at every turn and lead an army from afar against every land, setting his face to plunder every realm, snatching the crown from the heads of kings? Suppose that he seizes the whole world entire, and kingdom and nation yield their reins into his hand, that through striving he rises to the lofty heaven— he will gain no more benefit than this. Better that he beat the drum of contentment and strike it in salvation and obedience. When Alexander heard this speech from him, the tree of egotism broke off at its root. He said: as for him whose face was set toward guidance, this single counsel was sufficient for him. And thereafter he knocked at the door of peace with the Khaqan and swept the dust of enmity from his path. With a pure mind he became a dealer of fairness, for of all that a king may seek, fairness is best. O king of the world, strive after fairness, drink pure wine from the cup of justice. By fairness and justice the world stands upright; there is no army like it for conquering the world. If you desire a kingdom, tread the path of justice, and if not, wash this longing from your heart. Keep your grip empty of the arrow of scheming; be a world-conqueror by the sword of justice. Live in such a way that, though the East be your abode, the people of the West would seek you from God— not in such a way that you settle in Ray while a wail of cursing you rises up from Rome. The land has been laid waste by the hand of your oppression; set not your foot in the stirrup toward another kingdom. In your own realm you have no habit but oppression; why then do you turn your face toward a foreign clime? Since the subjects know your oppression, through your oppression they oppress one another. Turn your face to justice, so that they become just, so that all become of one heart with you in justice. When the king's heart inclines toward grace, grace spreads onward to the people. And if he takes up the way of oppression before them, all the people of the world become oppression-minded.

Updated 2026-07-19

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