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Nizam al-Mulk's Rules for Kings

Nizam al-Mulk (1018-1092), whose name is a title meaning harmony of the kingdom, governed the Seljuq empire as vizier for thirty years. His father had been a tax collector for the Ghaznavids. The renowned Sufi Shaikh, Abu Sa'id ibn Abi'l-Khair, was Nizam al-Mulk's teacher, and later the vizier founded several hospices for the Sufis. Nizam al-Mulk became an advisor to Alp-Arslan when he was governor of Khurasan, and he may have been responsible for ordering the death of al-Kunduri after Alp-Arslan won the succession struggle in 1063. Nizam al-Mulk's influence as vizier became especially important in 1072 when Malik-Shah came to the throne at the age of 18.
In 1086 the king commanded Nizam al-Mulk to consider the condition of the country and make a digest of past and present principles and laws so that the duty of the king could be correctly discharged, and all the wrong practices could be discontinued. Within a few years Nizam al-Mulk had written the first 39 chapters of his Siyar al-Muluk (Rules for Kings), which is also known in Europe as the Siyasat-nama (The Book of Government). In 1090 Nizam al-Mulk quarreled with Sultan Malik-Shah and may even have been replaced by Taj al-Mulk, who was favored by Tarkan Khatun in her hopes to have her son Mahmud succeed to the throne instead of the elder son Berk-yaruq. Eleven additional chapters criticized current conditions more strongly and were probably never read by Malik-Shah, because the librarian recorded that he did not reveal the book until the troubles ended, probably in 1105 when Muhammad became the undisputed sultan.
In the prolog Nizam al-Mulk described the purpose of the book as requested by Sultan Malik-Shah. Nizam al-Mulk began by suggesting that in every age God chooses one person endowed with virtues to rule as king. Disobedience or disregard of the divine laws results in retribution for deeds, and in the resulting calamities innocent people may be killed until again one human being acquires power and employs subordinates according to merit. A good king has a pleasing appearance, is kind, has integrity, is manly, brave, and skilled in arms and arts, is merciful, keeps promises, has sound faith and worships God with devotion, prays, fasts, and respects religious authorities, honors the devout, patronizes the learned and wise, gives to charity regularly, does good to the poor, is kind to subordinates, and relieves the people of oppressors.
Justice is the most important virtue, and Nizam al-Mulk recommended the king hold court on two days of the week to hear complaints personally and redress wrongs so that oppressors would curb their activities from fear of punishment. Tax collectors should take only the amount due and with civility. Any peasant in need of oxen or seed should be given a loan to keep him viable. Even viziers should be investigated secretly to make sure they are fulfilling their function properly. If impropriety is found in the conduct of any officials, they should be removed from office and chastised according to the crime. A story is told of the just king Nushirvan (Khusrau I), who complained that his doors were open to oppressors but not to the peasants. The palace doors should be more open to the givers (peasants) than to the takers (soldiers).
Judges should also be monitored, and those that are covetous and dishonest should be replaced by the learned and pious. In addition to the tax collectors and judges, the conduct of the prefect of police and the censor should be investigated. The mystic Abu 'Ali Daqqaq asked the governor of Khurasan if he loved gold more than his enemy and then pointed out that he will leave gold behind him but will take his enemy into the next world. Then the story is told of how Sultan Mahmud, afraid that he was not handsome, was advised by Ahmad ibn Hasan to take gold as his enemy so that men will regard him as their friend. Mahmud then became generous and charitable, and the whole world adored him.
Nizam al-Mulk illustrated his points with numerous stories. In one an amir (commander) borrows 600 dinars from a man and promises to pay back 700 in one year; but the man is not able to get any money back for many months and finally goes to a poor tailor, who sends a servant to the amir. The tailor is successful and tells how a previous amir took a woman by force, and so he made the call to prayer during the night so that she could return, and her husband would not divorce her. Mu'tasim called in the tailor and asked why he made the call to prayer at the wrong time, and he told him of the amir's offense. The amir was severely punished, and the tailor was told to make the call to prayer at the wrong time whenever the sultan's attention was needed. Thus the new amir knew that he had better pay back the money.
Luqman the Wise noted that knowledge is better than wealth, because you have to take care of wealth, but knowledge takes care of you. Nizam al-Mulk believed that sound judgment is better for a king than having a powerful army. He quoted the Qur'an to show that God commanded even Muhammad to seek advice and counsel. Nizam recommended having different races among the troops so that they would compete with each other to excel. He described Alp-Tegin's rise to power from a slave and page of the Samanids to a commander. He punished a page for taking hay and a chicken from a peasant without paying for it as he ordered. This made other soldiers afraid, and the peasants were safe. His justice led the citizens of Ghaznain to take Alp-Tegin as their king. Because the Samanids tried to destroy the worthy Alp-Tegin, they declined and were overcome by Alp-Tegin and his successor Sebuk-Tegin, who founded the Ghaznavid empire.
Nizam al-Mulk believed it was the perfection of wisdom not to become angry at all; but if one does become angry, intelligence should prevail over wrath. The wise have said that patience is good, but it is even better during success. Knowledge is good, but it is even better with skill. Wealth is good, but it is even better with gratitude and enjoyment. Worship is good, but it is even better with understanding and reverence for God. Yet nothing is better than generosity, and kindness, and hospitality.
In the second part (chapters 40-50) Nizam al-Mulk seems to write from the bitterness of his retirement. He wrote that two appointments should not be given to one man nor should one position be given to more than one person. He complained that many worthy people remain unemployed when some persons are given several positions each. He lamented that it used to be that those hired followed the Hanafi or Shafi'i teachings and were from Khurasan or Transoxiana or a Sunni city, and Shi'ites were refused; but now someone (probably Taj al-Mulk) wants to economize by reducing 400,000 men on the pay-roll to 70,000 in order to fill the treasury with gold. Nizam argued that a larger empire required more employees and that even more men would enable them to govern India too.
Nizam told stories from history to show that a good era replaces a sick time when a just king does away with evil-doers, has right judgments, and a vizier and officers of virtue; every task has the proper worker; heretics are put down, and the orthodox are raised up; tyrants are repressed; soldiers as well as peasants fear the king; the uneducated and base are not given positions; the inexperienced are not promoted; advice is sought from the intelligent and mature; men are selected for their skill, not because of their money; religion is not sold for worldly things; everything is ordered according to merit; thus all people have work according to their capability; and all things are regulated by justice and government by the grace of God.
Those under the king should not be allowed to assume power. Nizam was particularly critical of women, and his prejudice even went so far as to assume that one should always do the opposite of what a woman recommends. Nizam has Buzurjmihr complain that Khusrau gave power to his queen Shirin. He believed the Sasanians fell from power because they entrusted important affairs to petty and ignorant officers and because they hated learning and learned people. Thus instead of having wise officers, Buzurjmihr said he had to deal with women and boys. Buzurjmihr Bakhtgan advised the king to banish the bad qualities from himself, which he listed as "hatred, envy, pride, anger, lust, greed, desire, spite, mendacity, avarice, ill temper, cruelty, selfishness, hastiness, ingratitude, and frivolity."2 The good qualities he should exercise are "modesty, good temper, clemency, forgiveness, humility, generosity, truthfulness, patience, gratitude, mercy, knowledge, intelligence, and justice."3
Nizam al-Mulk expressed his sharpest venom against the heretics by recounting his version of history, showing how they have arisen and have been destroyed. He goes back to the Mazdak revolution in the last century of the Sasanian empire. They offended him not only by their sharing their property but because they believed in sharing their wives also. Nizam would also accuse some Shi'i heretics of practicing the same evils, charging them with incest, for example. He described how the evil Qarmatis and Batinis arose and were put down in various regions. He noted that the Batinis were called by different names in different places.

In Aleppo and Egypt they call them Isma'ilis;
in Qum, Kashan, Tabaristan and Sabzvar they are called Seveners;
in Baghdad, Transoxiana and Ghaznain they are known as Qarmatis,
in Kufa as Mubarakis, in Basra as Ravandis and Burqa'is,
in Rayy as Khalafis, in Gurgan as The Wearers of Red,
in Syria as The Wearers of White, in the West as Sa'idis,
in Lahsa and Bahrain as Jannabis, and in Isfahan as Batinis;
whereas they call themselves The Didactics and other such names.
But their whole purpose is only to abolish Islam,
to mislead mankind and cast them into perdition.4

Nizam commended al-Mu'tasim for his three victories over the Byzantines, Babak's revolt in Azerbaijan, and the Zarathustrian Mazyar in Tabaristan. Nizam cited the early caliph 'Umar's response to the last Sasanian king Yazdijurd Shahryar to show that the latter's empire was declining, because his court was crowded with complainers; his treasury was full of ill-gotten wealth; and his army was disobedient. Nizam thus became a conservative voice for the Sunni tradition and ruled by an absolute monarch.