I was sitting on a ship with a group of nobles.
A boat following us sank, and two brothers fell into a whirlpool.
One of the nobles said to the sailor, “Save both of them, and I will give you fifty dinars for each.”
The sailor jumped into the water and saved one, but the other drowned.
I said, “His remaining life was over, which is why you delayed in saving him and hurried with the other.”
The sailor laughed and said, “What you said is true, but I was more inclined to save this one because once, in a desert, he let me ride his camel, while the other had whipped me when I was a child.”
I said, “God has spoken the truth: ‘Whoever does good, it is for his own soul, and whoever does evil, it is against it.’”
As long as you can, do not hurt anyone’s heart
For on this path, there are many thorns
Help the poor and needy
For you too will have needs one day.
