5 Lessons of Life from His Imperial Majesty to Prince Makonnen His son
In the Amharic book ልዑል መኮንን / ታሪክና መታሰቢያ በሥዕል, published by the Ethiopian Government in 1957 to commemorate Prince Makonnen Duke of Harar – after his sudden and tragic death in a car crash – we find a handwritten message from His Majesty Haile Selassie I. It contains 5 basic precepts for a good and honest life, that can be interpreted in parallel with the 5 pillars of Tewahedo Faith (Trinity, Incarnation, Baptism, Eucharist, Resurrection of the Dead).
ሚያዝያ፡ ፲፩ ፴፭ዓ
የስው፡ የድካሙ፡ ፍሬ፡ ለስሙና፡ ለነብሱ፡ ብቻ፡ መሆኑን፡ እወቅ፡
፩/ እግዚአብሔር፡ ከምስጢርህ፡ ሁሉ፡ የማይለይ፡ ነውና፡ ተጠንቅቀህ፡ ፍራው።
፪/ ስውን፡ ውደድ፡ ካዋቂዎችም፡ ምክራቸውን፡ ተቀበል፡ ነገርግን፡ ያንተን፡ አሳብ፡ መሰረት፡ አድርግ፡ የስው፡ ምክር፡ ረዳት፡ ነው፡ እንጂ፡ ዋና፡ መሆን፡ አይችልም።
፫/ ትምርትህን፡ አጥብቀህ፡ ተማር፡ ጊዜህን፡ በከንቱ፡ በማስለፍህ፡ የማይመለስ፡ ጸጸት፡ ያገኝሃል።
፬/ በገዠነትህ፡ የምታገኘው፡ ክብርና፡ እንጀራ፡ እንዳይወቅስህ፡ የሚገባህን፡ በደቡ፡ እንድትሰራ፡ የሚገባ፡ ነው፡ ያለዚያ፡ ወቀሳና፡ ውርደት፡ ይከተልሃል።
፭/ ዘወትር፡ ልብህ፡ ይውቀስህ፡ ከንቱ፡ ሆነህ፡ እንዳትቀር፡ ማንም፡ ቢረዳህ፡ ያንተ፡ ሃሳብ፡ መስረት፡ ካልሆነ፡ ብድር፡ ሁሉ፡ የባለቤቱ፡ ነው።
Miyazya 11/ 1935 (Ethiopian Calendar)
Know that the fruit of the toil of man is only for his name and his soul.
1. Egziabhier is inseparable from all your secrets, be careful and fear Him.
2. Love man, accept counsels from the wises but make your own thought the foundation, man’s advice is a helper, thus it cannot be the main thing.
3. Stick to your education, learn, spending your time in vanity brings irrevocable regret.
4. It is necessary for you to work according to what you deserve, so that the honor and bread you dream of may not bring blame upon you, otherwise blame and shame will follow you.
5. All the loan belongs to the creditor, so let your thought be the foundation if anyone helps you, that your heart might not continuously blame you of being vain.
