Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

BY AL-MAKIN. 377
i. And Aristotle spake first and said,' "Inasmuch sayings of
"as there must be an end to this world, it was *hers!"'°^°'
"better [for Alexander] to leave it before [it came
"to pass]."
ii. Antigos (Antigonus) said, "It is our fate to
travel by this road, whereby we attain unto that
which passeth not away, and leave behind that
which doth pass away.
iii. Philemon said, "To-day hath drawn nigh the
"evil which was afar off, and the happiness which
"was near hath departed to a remote place."
iv. x'\plat6n (Plato) said, "O thou that wast
"smitten with the desire [to possess] the wealth of
"others, and who didst gather it together in deed,
"now art thou bearing thy sin, and the joy which
"was thine has departed unto others."
V. Diogenes said, "Alexander went away [p. 221]
"from us uttering speech, and now he hath returned
"unto us speechless."''
vi. Taros said, "To-day the sheep pasture their
"shepherd."
vii. Nilos said, "Thou, O Alexander, dost rebuke
"others for heaping up riches, for yesterday thou
"wast the treasure-house for gold, and to-day thou
"art thyself treasured up in gold."
^ See Mas'udi, torn. ii. p. 252 ff; the Arabic version
of these sayings is given by Eutychius (ed. Pocock, p.
287 ff.)-
' This saying was quoted before the Khalif Wathik (see
Mas'udi, torn. vii. p. 186), as follows:— ^_j«^l ^^\$ j.jJS^\J\
^^^\ aJ^ lis^l
f^'Tr'^ 3^3 ?>^' ^^"^ Ci^ •
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