I perceived within myself, saying, "He is disturbed, and listens to my
advice with impatience;" and, having called the sahib diwan, or lord
high treasurer, in virtue of a former intimacy that subsisted between
us, I stated his case and spoke so fully upon his skill and merits, that
he put him in nomination for a trifling office. After some time, having
adverted to his kindly disposition and approved of his good management,
his promotion was in train, and he got confirmed in a much higher
station. Thus was the star of his good fortune in ascension, till it
rose into the zenith of ambition; and he became the favorite of his
majesty the king, towards whom all turned for counsel, and upon whom all
eyes rested their hopes! I rejoiced at this prosperous change of his
affairs, and said:--"Repine not at thy bankrupt circumstances, nor let
thy heart despond, for the fountain of immortality has its source of
chaos.--_Take heed, O brother in affliction! and be not disheartened,
for God has in store many hidden mercies_.--Sit not down soured at the
revolutions of the times, for patience is bitter, yet it will yield
sweet fruit."

At that juncture I happened to accompany a party of friends on a journey
to Hijaz, or Arabia Petraea. On my return from the pilgrimage to Mecca,
he came out two stages to meet me. I perceived that his outward plight
was wretched, and his garb that of dervishes. I asked, "How is this?" He
replied, "Just as you said, a faction bore me a grudge and charged me
with malpractices; and the king, be his reign eternal, would not
investigate the truth of that charge, and my old and best friends stood
aloof from my defence, and overlooked my claims on our former
acquaintance.--When, through an act of God, a man has fallen, the whole
world will put their feet upon his neck; when they see that fortune has
taken him by the hand, they will put their hands upon their breasts, and