“People think wealth and power are the greatest fate. In this world, a moment of health is the best state.”
— Suleiman the Magnificent
From poetry by Suleiman I under his pen name Muhibbi. He wrote over 4,000 poems during his 46-year reign (1520-1566) as Ottoman Sultan.
1566. Hungary. Last campaign. Seventy-one, sick, barely standing in my tent. My armies stretched from Vienna to the Persian Gulf. Belgrade, Rhodes, Hungary, all mine. More gold than anyone could spend. But that morning I'd have traded every coin for one breath without pain. You chase money and status. I had it all. Believe the dying sultan: health is the only wealth you cannot buy back.