Original content

English translation

A Bedouin composed an ode congratulating the arrival of a generous man among the chiefs of the Arabs, recited it before him, and at the end said: "Stretch out toward me a hand whose palm is accustomed to the bestowing of bounty, and whose back to being kissed." That is: Stretch out toward me a hand whose palm has grown accustomed to the giving of gold and wealth, and whose back to the kisses of the needy and the petitioners. The generous man stretched out his hand toward him, and when the Bedouin kissed it, he said pleasantly: The hairs of your lip have scratched my hand. The Bedouin said: What harm can the coarse thorn of a hedgehog do to the paw of a fierce lion? This saying pleased the generous man greatly, and he said: This saying is dearer to me than that whole ode! He commanded that they give the Bedouin a thousand dirhams for the ode, and three thousand dirhams for that saying. He whom praise has raised above the firmament, if he is no master of speech, is the lowest of all. Do you know who the master of speech is? He who can tell the better from the good, and the good from the better.