Several officials of Sultan Mahmud asked Hasan Muimandi one day what the sultan had told him about a certain affair. He replied: ‘You must yourselves have heard it.’ They rejoined: ‘What he says to thee he does not think proper to communicate to the like of us.’ He answered: ‘Because he trusts that I shall not reveal it. Then why do you ask me to do so?’

A knowing man will not utter every word which occurs to him.
It is not proper to endanger one’s head for the king’s secret.

 

Content
p. 17 Chapter 1: The Manners of Kings
p. 55 Chapter 2: On the Morals of Dervishes
p. 89 Chapter 3: On the Excellence of Content
p. 115 Chapter 4: On the Advantages of Silence
p. 122 Chapter 5: On Love and Youth
p. 146 Chapter 6: On Weakness and Old Age
p. 154 Chapter 7: On the Effects of Education
p. 175 Chapter 8: On Rules for Conduct in Life