"And I inquired of learned men into the laws and regulations of ancient princes, from the
days of Adam to those of the Prophet, and from the days of the Prophet down to this time.
And I weighed their institutions and their actions and their opinions, one by one. And from
their approved manners and their good qualities I selected models. And I inquired into the
causes of the subversion of their power, and I shunned those actions which tend to the
destruction and overthrow of regal authority. And from cruelty and from oppression, which
are the destroyers of posterity and the bringers of famine and of plagues, I found it was
good to abstain.
"Ninthly. The situation of my people was known unto me. And those who were great among
them I considered as my brethren; and I regarded the poor as my children. And I made
myself acquainted with the tempers and the dispositions of the people of every country and
of every city. And I contracted intimacies with the citizens and the chiefs and the nobles;
and I appointed over them governors adapted to their manners and their dispositions and
their wishes. And I knew the circumstances of the inhabitants of every province. And in
every kingdom I appointed writers of intelligence, men of truth and integrity, that they
might send me information of the conduct and the behavior and the actions and the manners
of the troops and of the inhabitants, and of every occurrence that might come to pass
amongst them. And if I discovered aught contrary to their information, I inflicted
punishment on the intelligencer; and every circumstance of cruelty and oppression in the
governors and in the troops and in the inhabitants, which reached my ears, I chastised
agreeably to justice and equity.
"Tenthly. Whatever tribe, and whatever horde, whether Toork, or Taucheek, or Arrub, or
Ajjum, came in unto me, I received their chiefs with distinction and respect, and their