Property is for the comfort of life, not for the accumulation of wealth. A sage, having been asked who is lucky and who is not, replied: ‘He is lucky who has eaten and sowed but he is unlucky who has died and not enjoyed.’ <br /> <br /> Pray not for the nobody who has done nothing, <br /> Who spent his life in accumulating property but has not enjoyed it. <br /> <br />Moses, upon whom be peace, thus advised Qaroon (Korah): ‘Do thou good as Allah has done unto thee.’ But he would not listen and thou hast heard of his end: <br /> <br /> Who has not accumulated good with dirhems and dinars <br /> Has staked his end upon his dirhems and dinars. <br /> If thou desirest to profit by riches of the world <br /> Be liberal to mankind as God has been liberal to thee. <br /> <br />The Arab says: Be liberal without imposing obligations and verily the profit will return to thee. <br /> <br /> Wherever the tree of beneficence has taken root <br /> Its tallness and branches pass beyond the sky. <br /> If thou art desirous to eat the fruit thereof <br /> Do not put a saw to its foot by imposing obligations. <br /> Thank God that thou hast been divinely aided <br /> And not excluded from his gifts and bounty. <br /> Think not thou conferrest an obligation on the sultan by serving him <br /> But be obliged to him for having kept thee in his service.<br /><br />Saadi Shirazi<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ch-08-on-rules-for-conduct-in-life-maxim-01/
