hanife

Updated: July 5, 2025

"Princess," the Sheik began, "Ebn Hanife was a father amongst Dervishes, and he had a saying, 'Ye shall know a plant by its flower, a vine by its fruit, and a man by his acts; what he does being to the man as the flower to the plant, and the fruit to the vine; if he have done nothing, prove him by his tastes and preferences, for what he likes best that he will do when left to himself. By these tests let us presume to try the Prince Mahommed.... There is nothing which enthralls us like the exercise of power nothing we so nearly carry with us into the tomb to be a motive there; for who shall say it has not a part in the promise of resurrection?

Lewis Wallace - The Prince of India — Volume 01