They tell a story of the judge of Hamadan who was infatuated with a blacksmith's boy, and the horseshoe of his heart was on fire. For a time, he was yearning for him, restless, waiting, seeking, and according to the event, saying:

That tall, slender cypress entered my eyes

Stole my heart from my hand and cast it at his feet.

This mischievous eye pulls hearts with its lasso

If you want not to give your heart to anyone, close your eyes.

I heard that he came before the judge in a passage, some of this affair had reached his ears and he was extremely offended. He cursed without restraint, spoke nonsense, picked up a stone, and left no disrespect undone. The judge said to one of the respected scholars who was his companion:

That beauty and the anger in his gaze

And that knot on his sweet, frowning eyebrow.

In Arab lands they say: The beloved's beating is like raisins (sweet).

To be punched in the mouth by your hand

Is sweeter than eating bread with one's own hand.

Indeed, from his impudence, the scent of forgiveness is coming.

Newly brought grapes have a sour taste

Be patient for two or three days, and it will become sweet.

He said this and returned to his seat of judgment. Several of the great just men were in his court. They kissed the ground in service and asked permission to say a word, even though it is a breach of etiquette, and the elders have said:

It is not right to discuss every word

Finding fault with elders is a mistake.

Except by the rule that the precedents of God's blessings are associated with the lives of servants, an expediency that they see and do not declare is a kind of betrayal. The correct way is not to pursue this boy with greed and to roll up the carpet of desire, because the position of judge is a lofty station, lest you defile it with a heinous sin, and the reality is what you saw and the story is what you heard.

One who has committed much disgrace

What care does he have for someone else's reputation?

Many a good name of fifty years

That one bad name tramples it underfoot.

The judge liked the advice of his sincere friends and praised the good opinion of the group and said: The opinion of dear ones regarding my well-being is perfectly correct and an irrefutable matter, but,

Blame me as much as you want

For one cannot wash away blackness from a black person.

I cannot be oblivious to your memory in any way

I am like a snake whose head has been hit; I cannot help but writhe.

He said this and urged people to investigate his condition and bestowed boundless favors, and they say: Whoever has gold on the scales has power in his arm, and whoever does not have access to a dinar has no one in the whole world.

Whoever saw gold lowered his head

Even if he carries an iron scale on his shoulder.

In short, one night a private meeting became possible, and on the same night, the police chief was informed. The judge spent the whole night with wine in his head and youth in his arms. He did not sleep from enjoyment and said with singing:

Tonight, this rooster must not be crowing on time

Lovers have not yet had enough of embrace and kisses.

For a moment when the beloved's mischief is asleep, beware

Be awake so that life does not pass in vain.

Until you hear the morning call from the Friday mosque

Or the sound of the drum from the door of the Atabak's palace.

Lip on lip, like the eye of a foolish rooster

It would be foolish to stop because of the rooster's crowing.

The judge was in this state when one of his associates entered and said: Why are you sitting? Get up and flee while you still can, for envious people have found fault with you, perhaps even truthfully, so that we can extinguish the fire of sedition, which is still small, with the water of strategy, lest tomorrow, when it rises, it engulfs the world. The judge looked at him with a smile and said:

When a lion has its paw on its prey

What difference does it make if a dog barks?

Place your face on the face of your friend

So that the enemy bites the back of his hand (in frustration).

They informed the king that same night that such a reprehensible act had occurred in his kingdom. What did he command? The king said: I consider him one of the eminent men of the age and unique of his time. Perhaps adversaries have engaged in calumny against him. This word will not be accepted by me unless it is witnessed, as the wise men have said:

To quickly and lightly draw the sword

One will bite the back of their hand in regret.

I heard that at dawn, he came to the judge's bedside with a few close associates. He saw the candle standing, the beloved sitting, wine spilled, the cup broken, and the judge in a drunken sleep, unaware of the king's presence.

He gently woke him up, saying: Get up, the sun has risen. The judge realized what was happening. He said: From which side did it rise? He said: From the east. He said: Praise be to God that the door of repentance is still open, according to the hadith: It will not be closed to the servants until the sun rises from the west. I ask forgiveness from you, O God, and I turn to you in repentance.

These two things incited me to sin

Unfortunate fate and incomplete intellect.

If you imprison me, I deserve it

And if you forgive, forgiveness is better than revenge.

The king said: Repentance in this state, when you have become aware of destruction, is of no use. So their faith did not benefit them when they saw Our punishment.

What is the use of repenting after stealing

When you cannot throw a rope onto the palace?

Tell the tall one to shorten his hand from the fruit

For the short one himself does not have a hand on the branch.

With such a reprehensible act that has become apparent, no way of escape is conceivable for you. He said this and the officers seized him. He said that he had one last word to say to the Sultan. The king heard and said: What is it? He said:

With the sleeve of reproach that you shake at me

Do not expect me to take my hand off your skirt (to let go).

If escape is impossible from this sin that is mine

There is hope in the generosity that you possess.

The king said: You have brought a wonderful jest and said a strange point, but it is impossible by reason and against the law that your knowledge and eloquence today will release you from the clutches of my punishment. I see it as expedient to throw you down from the castle so that others will accept advice and take warning. He said: O Lord of the world, I am nurtured by the bounty of this family, and this sin is not only done by me, throw someone else so that I may take warning. The king laughed and forgave his mistake and said to those who were hinting at killing him:

Whoever is the carrier of his own faults

Do not taunt the faults of others.