So live in close contact with the masses and be mindful of their welfare.

So live in close contact with the masses and be mindful of their welfare. Keep at a distance he who exposes the weakness of others. After all, the masses are not free from weaknesses. It is the duty of the ruler to shield them. Do not bring to light that which is hidden, but try to remove those weaknesses, which have been brought to light. God is watchful of everything that is hidden from you, and He alone will deal with it.

Cover up the faults of the public to the best of your ability and God will not disclose your faults to the public gaze. Loosen the tangle of mutual hatred between the public and the administration and remove all those causes, which may give rise to strained relations between them. Protect yourself from every such act as may not be quite correct for you. Do not make haste in seeking confirmation of tale telling, for the taleteller is a deceitful person appearing in the garb of a friend.

Never take counsel of a miser, for, he will vitiate your magnanimity and frighten you of poverty. Do not take counsel of a coward also for he will weaken your resolutions. Do not take counsel of the greedy too, for he will instill greed in you and turn you into a tyrant. Miserliness, cowardliness and greed deprive man of his trust in God. The worst counselor is he who has served as a counselor to unjust rulers and shared their crimes.

So, never let men who have been companions of tyrants or shared their crimes be your counselors. You can get better men then these, men gifted with intelligence and foresight, but unpolluted by sin, men who have never aided a tyrant in his tyranny or a criminal in his crime. Such men will never be a burden to you. On the other hand, they will be a source of help and strength to you at all times. They will be friends to you and strangers to your enemies.

Choose such men alone for companionship both in private and in public. Even among these, show preference for those who have a habitual regard for truth however trying to you at times their truth may prove to be, and who offer you no encouragement in the display of tendencies, which God does not like His friends to develop.

Keep close to you the upright and the God-fearing and make clear to them that they are never to flatter you and never to give you credit for any good that you may not have done: for, the tolerance of flattery and unhealthy praise stimulates pride in man and makes him arrogant. Do not treat the good and bad alike.