Welcome back to Wisdom from the Golestan of Saadi.
Today’s story from Saadi is about kingship, and the dark alliance between fear and power.

Saadi writes:

They once asked Hormuz, the son of the great King Nushirvan,
“What fault did you find in your father’s ministers, that you had them imprisoned?”

Hormuz replied,
“I found no fault in them.
But I saw that their fear of me was too great,
and their trust in my rule too small.
So I feared that, out of their fear, they might turn to harm me.
And I followed the advice of the sages, who have said:”

Fear him who fears you, O wise one,
even if you could defeat a hundred like him in battle.

The serpent strikes the shepherd’s foot
because it fears he will crush its head with a stone.

Have you not seen, when the cat is cornered and weak,
it turns and claws at the leopard’s eyes?

Saadi’s message is subtle:
Those who live by fear often create the very danger they dread.
Mistrust begets hostility,
and power without compassion soon turns upon itself.

In the end, wisdom lies not in ruling by fear,
but in ruling without it.