poet wrote,

"I look to my money and keep it with care, * For right well I wot
'tis my buckler and brand:
Did I lavish my dirhams on hostilest foes,[FN#25] * I should
truck my good luck by mine ill luck trepanned:
So I'll eat it and drink it and joy in my wealth; * And no
spending my pennies on others I'll stand:
I will keep my purse close 'gainst whoever he be; * And a niggard
in grain a true friend ne'er I fand:
Far better deny him than come to say:--Lend, * And five-fold the
loan shall return to thy hand!
And he turns face aside and he sidles away, * While I stand like
a dog disappointed, unmanned,
Oh, the sorry lot his who hath yellow-boys none, * Though his
genius and virtues shine bright as the sun!

O my master," continued the Steward, "this lavish outlay and
these magnificent gifts waste away wealth." When Nur al-Din Ali
heard these words he looked at his servant and cried, "Of all
thou hast spoken I will not heed one single word, for I have
heard the saying of the poet who saith,

'An my palm be full of wealth and my wealth I ne'er bestow, * A
palsy take my hand and my foot ne'er rise again!
Show my niggard who by niggardise e'er rose to high degree, * Or
the generous gifts generally hath slain.'"

And he pursued, "Know, O Steward, it is my desire that so long as
thou hast money enough for my breakfast, thou trouble me not with