If you were asked the question, ‘Do you have the soul of a free man or the soul of a slave?’, what would you answer? I’m sure the majority would answer that they are free men, but there is a difference between being a slave with shackles on your feet and being someone who possesses the soul of a slave.

In George S. Clarson’s book, The Richest Man in Babylon, there is a chapter telling the story of a man named Dabasir who was a successful camel trader. Dabasir was a man who was liked and respected by all who knew him.

Dabasir wasn’t always successful though, in fact, when he was young Dabasir handled his money very poorly, living well above his means until his debts were overwhelming. His debts became too much to pay and his wife went back to her father’s house. Out of shame and cowardice, Dabasir left the city of Babylon in search of an opportunity to start over in a place where nobody knew him.

Young Dabasir joined a group of robbers who were eventually caught by the desert tribes that they stole from and executed, and Dabasir was sold into slavery. The chieftain who bought Dabasir’s freedom put him under the charge of one of his wives, Sira. It was though Dabasir’s conversations with Sira that the young man learned the difference between the soul of a free man and the soul of a slave.

Sira had Dabasir tend to the camels as they trekked across the desert to visit her mother, and on the journey Dabasir told his mistress that he was not a slave by birth, that he was the son of a free man. Sira’s response to his claim cut Dabasir deeper than he would have ever expected, and it left him pondering her words for a long time after they were spoken.

“How can you call yourself a free man when your weakness has brought you to this? If a man has in himself the soul of a slave will he not become one no matter what his birth, even as water seeks its level? If a man has within him the soul of a free man, will he not become respected and honored in his own city in spite of his misfortune? ”

-Sira, The Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clarson

In Sira’s words we have the first glimpses at what it means to have the soul of a free man. Dabasir’s weakness was one of self-control. He gave into his impulses to spend money that he didn’t have, borrowing money from whoever would lend it to him until his debts had his wife returning to her father and had Dabasir fleeing his own city.

A free man has self-control. The free man does not allow weakness or self-indulgence to lead him to ruin. The soul of a slave is one that has no self-control, and that lack of self-control eventually allows others to control their lives, as if the universe recognizes that they are not responsible enough to direct their own lives. Either you control yourself or let others control you because of your lack of discipline.

In the above quote we receive the second insight into what it means to have the soul of a free man, which is that a free man rises above his misfortune, and does so with honor, maintaining the respect of his peers as he overcomes challenges.

Dabasir’s misfortune was self-inflicted, but he acted with the soul of a slave. Instead of accepting that he was the source of his own problems and attempting to develop self-control and instead of attempting to recover from is error by working to repay his debts, he acted with the soul of a slave and ran away from his problems. There is no honor in fleeing from challenge. There is no respect to be earned from running away from your problems. But that is what Dabasir did, and as water meets its level, Dabasir had the soul of a slave and a slave is what he became.

Still Dabasir did not want to accept that he had the soul of a slave. Yet Sira called out his weakness and pointed out that he did not do everything that was in his power to drag himself out of the pit he had foolishly dug himself into. Sira told Dabasir to prove he was not a weakling and then she asked him another insightful question.

“Does not thy great king fight his enemies in every way he can and with every force he has? Thy debts are thy enemy.”

-Sira, The Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clarson

The king is arguably the freest man that there is, and what he does when threatened with a problem is to throw all his might at his enemies and he uses every resource available to solve the problem. Dabasir did not do what a free man would have done. He accepted defeat. He allowed his wife to return to her father as if to say he was too much of a child to have a wife, so she should go back to the care of a man.

A free man does anything and everything he can to solve his problems. A slave accepts defeat and runs from his problems. Dabasir did not stand his ground like a man when confronted with his self-inflicted issues; he dealt with them with the soul of a slave. He did not honor himself and fight back. He did not honor his wife by doing whatever it was in his power to solve his problems and give her a good life. Instead Dabasir fled his problems and chose a life without honor, the life of a robber, and he received what he deserved for his actions which was the life of a slave.

One fateful day Sira had Dabasir prepare the camels once more for the journey to visit her mother, and when they had reached their destination, she gave her slave a choice, an opportunity to decide if he had the soul of a free man or the soul of a slave.

Sira told Dabasir that she had extra provisions packed and that she would would allow him to escape across the desert and that if he had the soul of a free man, then he should prove it so by traveling back to his city to repay his debts. Why she took such a risk on Dabasir, we do not know, but she was a slave in her own way, and perhaps she wanted to give a young man the chance to claim his freedom just as she wished for her own.

Dabasir accepted Sira’s kind offer and took off across the desert, but the journey would not be easy. The desert was harsh, its heat unrelenting, and as food and water that he had started the journey with vanished, and exhaustion took root, Dabasir was forced to question whether or not he truly had the soul of a free man.

It seemed as if he would die in that desert, but with a sudden flare of courage, he got up. The hold that thirst and hunger and the heat had on him before seemed to melt away.

“Have I the soul of a slave or the soul of a free man? Then with clearness I realized that if I had the soul of a slave, I should give up, lie down in the desert and die, a fitting end for a runaway slave.”

-Dabasir, The Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clarson

Dabasir rose with a new determination; he saw the world through a new perspective. Dabasir saw the true values of life; he was becoming a free man.

“I staggered weakly to my feet. What mattered hunger? What mattered thirst? They were but incidents on the road to Babylon. Within me surged the soul of a free man going back to conquer his enemies and reward his friends. I thrilled with the great resolve.”

-Dabasir, The Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clarson

The free man does not let anything get between him and what matters most. The free man valves his purpose above all, and the aches and pains and obstacles in his way will not prevent him from doing what must be done to accomplish his mission.

A free man lives by the Virtue of Resolution. When a free man resolves to do something, anything that gets in his way is just a bump on the road. An obstacle is not the end of the journey. The free man will accomplish what he sets out to do no matter the opposition encountered a long the way. The man with the soul of a slave accepts defeat; his resolve is weak, and when opposition is encountered, he submits.

Dabasir became a free man in that desert. He got up and kept going even with death looming over him. He rallied his camels and set out again to Babylon and found water and food as he got closer and closer to his destination.

“We found the trail to Babylon because the soul of a free man looks at life as a series of problems to be solved and solves them, while the soul of the slave whines, ‘What can I do who am but a slave?’.”

-Dabasir, The Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clarson

The man with the soul of a free man is a problem-solver. Problems are just problems and they are meant to be solved. The man with the soul of a free man accepts responsibility for solving his problems and does what he must to resolve the issues at hand.

The man with the soul of a slave is a complainer. The man with the soul of a slave lets problems rule him. They blame misfortune for their problems and refuse to accept the responsibility to solve their own issues. The slaves would rather endure the pain of the problem than to endure the pain of accepting responsibility and working to fix it. They do not rule their emotions like a free man. They let their emotions rule them and are thus slaves to their problems.

It seems that the cost of freedom is ultimate responsibility for oneself, and that cost is too high for some, and they resign themselves to the soul of a slave. The man with the soul of a free man willingly takes responsibility for his life and every problem in it, especially when the problem is a result of his own doing. The free man knows what he wants and is determined to get it. The free man is committed to seeing his mission through to the end.

“Where the determination is, the way can be found.”

-Dabasir, The Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clarson

Dabasir was determined to return to Babylon and solve his problems with honor, and the way opened for him. He found all whom he owed debts, and he told them that he resolved to pay them back. Some of his debtors were determined to hate him, but some were glad to see he had returned to settle his debts.

None were as determined as Dabasir who found a way and made a plan to pay his debts, and eventually, he did. It took a very long time, but Dabasir used the skill he had developed as a slave and traded camels to earn money to pay back what he owed. His wife returned to him and he made her a home, and she did not resent him. Dabasir’s wife admired him for returning and for being a man who took responsibility for his actions and earned his respect back with honor.

The man with the soul of a free man is one who lives a life of virtue. As you can see in the tale of Dabasir, he lived his life without virtue until he ended up a slave. He spent money he didn’t have, and he failed to honor his debts. Young Dabasir was self-indulgent, and he paid a heavier price than the gold he owed for his lack of self-control.

Fleeing his city, he once again chose a path without honor, robbing the innocent and again using the money that he stole for self-indulgence. But the universe kept a tab on the balance he owed, and he paid his debts of dishonor during his time as a slave. All the immoral choices he made only drove him closer to slavery.

It wasn’t until Dabasir chose to be a free man and to return to his home to honor his debts when the universe conspired to make a path for him. He chose to live by the Virtue of Perseverance and keep going in that desert when he might very well die trying to find his way back.

Dabasir chose to live by the Virtue of Strength when he decided not to be a weakling and give up. He made the decision to live with honor and to find a way when the odds were stacked against him. The moment that he chose to be responsible for his debts is when he took back control and started to direct his life rather than have his life directed for him.

Ask yourself if you have the soul of a free man or if you have the soul of a slave. Do you have self-control? Do you rise to challenge and become a problem-solver, or are you the one who accepts defeat and complains? Do you let obstacles get in the way of your mission, or do you power through challenges to see your resolution to completion? Do you willingly take responsibility for your actions and for your life, or do you hide from responsibility like a child? Do you live a virtuous life, or do you do as you please without regard for honor?

Do you have the soul of a free man or the soul of a slave?

Like what you read? Subscribe to get the latest content!

Support the Eclectic Method and get cool stickers in return! Click the banner or the link below to shop on the Eclectic Method store at stickermule.com and get a $10 credit! Search @theeclecticmethod and browse for unique designs and artwork created by the author.