I have never doubted Allah since I saw Him. I have never denied Allah since I knew Him Whosoever knows himself well knows his Maker. Glory is to be found in serving the Creator; who seeketh it from the creature will never find it. If you love Allah, tear out your heart's love of the world. My Allah, how vast is what we behold of Thy creation; yet how small would that look compared with what Thy might conceals. Fear Allah for He heareth all you say, and knoweth all your thoughts. The fear of Allah makes on secure. Away, away! But for the fear of Allah, I should be the cunningest of all Arabs. I do not exhort you to obey Allah before obeying Him myself. I do not forbid you to commit sins that I do not forbid myself. Allah will bless whoever bridles his propensity to disobedience. The blessing of heaven falls upon whosoever restores truth, kills falsehood, brings tyranny low, and elevates justice.
The best form of devotion to the service of Allah is not to make a show of it.
Perfection is not of this world. The world is but the shadow of a cloud, and the dream of a sleep: joy and sadness mingled: honey and poison. The 'bosom' of the earth is dead, and its 'back' is sick. The inhabitants of the earth are only dogs barking, and annoying beasts. The one howls against the other. The strong devour the weak: the great subdue the little. They are beasts of burden: some harnessed the others at large. By Allah, the world, in my eyes, is more to be condemned than the meatless bone of a pig in the hands of a leper: it is less than a leaf in the mouth of a grasshopper. The world is a dwelling surrounded by scourges, and heaped with perfidy. Its state endures not, and all who come to perish. The world is a dwelling degrading to its owner, where the lawful is mixed with the unlawful, good with evil, sweet with bitter. Look upon the world with the eye of the cloistered ascetic, not as one loving it blindly. O World! Deceive someone else. I need thee not; thrice have I repudiated thee; marry thee will I never more. The world is like a serpent: it's touch soft, but it's bite mortal.
How marvelous a thing is man! He sees with the help of gross matter; speaks with the flesh; hears with his bones, and breathes by means of the pharynx. How poor a thing is a son of Adam (as)! He knows not his length of days, nor understands his sicknesses: the sting of a flea will make him suffer; he smells of sweat, and dies of a cough! Oh, how can a son of Adam boast, who begins as a germ and ends as a corpse who cannot nourish himself, nor escape death? Every day an angel of heaven cries: O people there below! Produce offspring to die; build to be destroyed; gather ye together to depart!
How can you rejoice in a life that grows shorter each hour? Oh! How short the hours hasten to change into days, the days into months, the months into years, and those into life's annihilation! Where are those who have a longer life than yours? Have left the greatest monuments? Have built, fortified, organized, and embellished? Where are the accumulators and planners? Where are Kisra? Qaisar Tubba? Himyar? Worldwide glory can be undone by an hour's degradation. The sweetness of life lies in dispensing with formalities. The enjoyment of this life is like thy shadow. If you stop, it stops: try to over take it, and it moves on. The issue of a long life is disease and decrepitude. Who lives long will mourn his friends. Life is an enemy that you did not provoke; that, which you did not oppress, oppresses you: that, which you never attacked, attacks you. Life is a poison that one absorbs, if one knows it not for a poison. Whosoever attaches himself strongly to life exposes himself as a target for misfortune and the vicissitudes of fate. Three defects make life disagreeable: vindictiveness, jealousy, and a bad character. It is in life's vicissitudes that one judges the worth of men. This life and the life hereafter resemble the two wives of a bigamist: one being satisfied means the other vexed. Those of your days that are over are past; those to come are doubtful; therefore labor while there is still time. Your pride in the transitory possessions of this fleeting existence is born of ignorance. Think of its end in the instant itself of pleasure, and while enjoying any good thing, remember its transitoriness. No earthly joy but is followed by tears. The past seems never to have been, and the future already to have been. The rudest trials are these: too burdensome a family, exacerbation of indebtedness, sickness long-drawn-out. Fortune goes even as it comes; life fractures even while it knits. When fortune smiles upon you, it lends you another's qualities, and when it turn from you, it takes away your own. One of the signs of misfortune is to have to be bedfellow of basemen.
While you live you die. Each breath of a man is a step nearer death. Death awaits every living creature, and every thing must end. You are the game that Death hunts. If you stand still, it will seize you; if you flee, it will overtake you. It is astonishing that any one, and even while seeing his like die, should forget death. One expecting death gives himself up to good deeds. Whoever is not serviceable to his kind is to be counted among the dead.
The good man is alive even when he has been carried to the home of the dead. The best man is he who is most serviceable to his equals. It is the merciful men who know the value of capable men. A good man revolts against violence, but shows himself mild and reasonable, if well treated. The rascal is hard and gross in the presence of kindness, humbling himself only to harshness. One of the finest of a liberal man's gestures is not to take advantage of what he knows of others. The honorable man shows himself not insolent in the very greatest successes, and is unmoved as a mountain by the breath of the north wind. The baseman is made drunk by any the least success, and is as the grass shaken by the breeze. One of the greatest of the afflictions of good men is to be obliged to honor the wicked. The man the most worthy of pity is the scholar at the orders of an ignoramus, the man of a generous nature directed by an avaricious man, and one of piety dictated to by a debauchee. Men are like trees; though the water with which they are watered is the same yet the fruits are not alike. Men are asleep: they will awake when they die. How many men blamed have done no wrong?
The worst man is the one who sees himself as the best. The wicked man thinks no good of anyone; for how should he imagine that others have what he lacks himself? The worst of men is one who is agog to see the defects of another, but is blind to his own vices. The egoist doesn't see his own defects; but, should he learn the excellence of another man's character, he will be offended by what he now feels as lacking in himself. The worst man is the one not to be deterred by the fear of being caught out in the flagrantest debaucheries. The most detestable man is he who returns evil for good, and the most praiseworthy, he whose answer to villainy is a generous deed. With all haste flee the debauched and vicious man. The band of a nation is the debauched scholar, and tyrant is the bane of justice. The men the most hateful to Allah are the proud pauper, the adulterous old man, the profligate scholar.
The robe of virtue is the most honorable. Virtue is the key to success. A man is a believer as long as he is virtuous. The chief of the virtues is to curb the passions.
The man of vice loves to foster other's vice, and so multiply excuse for his own. A heinous vice is to fall foul of a man for a defect also in yourself. One of the indications of vileness is to give offence of good men.
Books are the gardens of the learned. The man of learning lives even after his death: the ignorant man is dead, while still alive. The scholar knows an ignorant man, because formerly he was ignorant himself; but the ignoramus knows not the scholar, never having been one. Whoever in his mind reflects a good opinion, learns to distinguish points of error. The truly learned man is he who understands that what he knows is the little in comparison with what he does not know.
There is not treasure like knowledge. The realm of knowledge has no bounds. The chief of the talents is knowledge. Knowledge leads to wisdom; accordingly the educated man is the wise one. Riches diminish by expenditure, while knowledge is increased by dissemination. The rare a thing, the more its value increases, except knowledge: the more diffused it is the more valuable. The end of these two is never reached: knowledge and understanding. By knowledge you are saved; by ignorance, lost. Truth is the road most beaten, and knowledge the best guide. Knowledge is a treasure so vast, that it is never exhausted: wisdom is a new robe that never gets worn. The robe of knowledge will immortalize you, and never look old. Gain knowledge: it adorns you, if you are rich, and feeds you, if poor. The man the most secure in his knowledge is he whose convictions are not weakened by doubt. The knowledge the most useful is what one puts into practice. Choose the best part of each science, as the bee sips the most delicate part of the flower. Pursue knowledge, that you may be worthy of an honorable and respected position. Seek knowledge, make yourself known by it; practice it; you will so become a learned man. Experience is knowledge gained. The inexperienced are often deceived. A monarch is respected for his power; the scholar because of what he knows; the benefactor for his benefactions, and the patriarch for his age. How know another, if one does not know oneself? Do not hate what you do not know, for the greater part of knowledge consists of what you do not know. If you hide what you know, you will be supposed to know nothing. One questioned about a matter, of which he knows not, should not blush to say: 'I do not know.' Man is at enmity with what he does not know. The bane of knowledge is lack of practicing it: the bane of labor is to work, but not with sincerity. The overthrow of science is like the rending of the timbers of a ship, which founders dragging down all the voyagers with it. That knowledge is ver superficial, which remains only on your tongue; the intrinsic merit and value of knowledge is that you act up to it.
Verily, you have more need of a good education than to win silver and gold. A good education hides low origin. The educated man sees with both heart and mind: the ignoramus sees only with his eyes. Listen, and you will teach yourself: remain silent, and you risk nothing. To devote oneself to the religious life without being taught is to resemble the mill-donkey going round and round without moving from the place. Who learns nothing, will never be taught. Whoever will not endure the affliction of being taught, will stay forever in the debasement of ignorance. Teacher and pupil participate equally in God's reward. One learns by asking questions. The best teaching is that which corrects you. Who never corrects himself, will never correct another. Teaching that does not correct you is in the wrong track. The man of least capacity is the one who shows himself incapable of self-correction. Make yourself the servant of any scholar you meet.
A wise man needs each day an hour set apart in which to examine his conscience, and measure what he has gained or lost. The heart is the source of wisdom, with the ear as its channel. Philosophy is a tree growing in the heart, and bearing it's fruit on the tongue. Belief and wisdom are twin brother; Allah accepts not the one without the other. By wisdom one attains the top in affairs. Allah hath given His creatures nothing to place higher than reason. Verily, the foreseeing man is not to be caught by a ruse, not the wise man deceived by cupidity. To place reliance on anyone before getting to know him well is to lack wisdom. Voluptuousness grows less as wisdom increases. The wise man relies upon his labor; the ignorant trusts in illusions. The sage seeks perfection; the ignoramus, wealth. The supposition of a wise man is nearer being right than an ignoramus's knowledge. It is a wise man's part to obey his superiors, to respect his equal, and to be just to his inferior. The greatest wealth is the wealth of wisdom and judgment; the greatest poverty is the poverty of stupidity and ignorance; the worst unsocialbleness is that of vanity, conceit and self-glorification; the best nobility of descent exhibits itself in politeness and in refinement of culture. A wise man first thinks and then speaks and a fool speaks and then thinks.
The intelligent man is whoever knows how to be happier today than yesterday. Of a man's good qualities two are eminent: intelligence and speech. By the first he profits himself, and by the second he makes others to profit. The cecity of the eyes is to be preferred to a blind intelligence. Intelligence is a natural gift, and increases with teaching and experience. No one who possesses intelligence is ever reduced to poverty. He is honored who frequents the intelligent.
No who reflects on God's gifts, succeeds. A man's reflection is the mirror that shows him his good and bad deeds. Whoever has the power of reflection, draws a lesson from everything. Matters obscure become clear on reflection. Act only after reflection, and all your affairs will work out well. Reflect before you attack. Reflect before you speak: you will so avoid error.
And ignorant man is a rock from which no water flows, a tree whose branches are never verdant, a soil where grow plants that never bud. Ignorance is your most hateful enemy. Ignorance works a man more harm than a cancer in the body. The ignorant man does not see his mistakes and disdains advice. Stupidity is a pain irremediable; a disease incurable. The stupidest man is the one who believes himself to be the most intelligent. One of the signs of a stupid man is a frequent change of opinion.
What would man be without speech? A painted image, or an animal turned loose. Never speak when it is not the time for speech. Often a word pierced like a sword! Often have words pierced deeper than arrows. How often one word has let loose a war! How many loves have been born in a single glance! The tongue has a sharper point than the lance. How many men has the tongue undone! The tongue of an ignorant fellow is his key to death. Fear your tongue: it is an arrow that misses the mark. Guard your head against the stumbling of your tongue. The hand of the tongue is writing. The word light on the lips and easy to understand is eloquent. The heart is the treasurer of the tongue, and tongue, the interpreter of the men. The tongue is a savage beast: leave it free, and it will wound you. A stumbling foot means hurt, and a blundering tongue, a loss. Every second word of a stupid man is an oath. The best speaking is that which fits the deed. To keep silent when you can say something wise and useful is as bad as keep on propagating foolish and unwise thoughts. If you are wished and saluted then return the wish in the most appropriate manner. If you are favored then repay the obligation manifold; but he will always excel in merit who takes the initiative. The best speaking is that which does not offend the ear, and the understanding of which does not fatigue the intelligence. Sincere speaking strengthens one's argument. Consider not who speaks, but what is said. Do not undervalue a fine idea, because it comes from an unimportant person. If an orator's thought and speech are in accord, the auditory will accept his utterance; otherwise no effect will be produced. Speak, that you may make yourself known; for a man is hidden beneath his tongue. The more sincerely a man speaks, the more will he be respected. A stupid man will give himself away in three things; in speaking of matters of which he is ignorant; in answering before he is questioned; in temerity in his undertakings. Whoever says what he should not say, hears what he does not want to hear. Speech is as a medicine, a small dose of which is beneficial, but a large on mortal. Beware of commenting on a fact that you do not know to the bottom, and with exactitude. Your speaking reflects your intelligence and your words the extent of your knowledge. Metonymy gets you out of speaking plainly. The bane of speech is prolixity. Chattering bores one's company. Avoid chattering; that frequent cause of mistakes boredom. The ear is useless, when the mind wanders. The ear is useless, when the mind wanders. If you aren't a brilliant and learned talker, be an attentive listener.
Reject all malicious speaking, be there justification for it, or be there none. Beware of backbiting; it sows the seeds of bitterness, and separates you from Allah and men. Whoever listens to slander is himself a slanderer. Be on your guard against abominable words; they make hearts to burn with rage.
Truth is the road most beaten, and knowledge the best guide. Truth is an unfailing remedy. Truth embellishes one's speech. Truth springs from the class of opinions. Be truthful in your speaking, and sincere in your acts. The best truth is the keeping of promises.
Better be dumb then lie. A lie is a perfidy. A little truth repels much falsehood, just as a little fire burns a lot of wood. The speaker of truth is honorable; the liar is contemptible. Whoever gets a reputation for lying, sees men's confidence in him dwindle. Avoid a liar. If you are obliged to have intercourse with him, do not justify him; but do not let him see that you know that he lies; for he will sooner give up your friendship then renounce lying. Sincerity declines; falsehood flourishes; the tongue speaks of friendship, but the heart is full of hate. Deceiving one who confides in you is ingratitude.
It is no role of a messenger to flatter. Do not flatter: it is no sign of faith. Silence is the garden of meditation. Silence increases dignity. Silence robeth thee soberly and with dignity, and spareth thee all making of excuse. Silence in an ignorant man is his veil. To how much silence an answer! The most eloquent answer to a fool is silence. Silence is better than eloquence, when it is not a time to speak. Silence without thought is mere dumbness.
The wise man hath a wonderful box in which to keep his secrets. Whoever confides his secret to another, agrees to his own debasement. Whoever goes haltingly under the burden of his own secret, will show even more weakness, if charged with the secret of another. Whoever divulges your secret, works your detriment. One who guards his secrets has complete control over his affairs.
Hypocrites robe themselves in lies. The hypocrite has a sweet tongue, but a bitter heart. A hypocrite's tongue is clean, but there is sickness hidden in his heart.
The ugliest verity is that used to praise oneself. To vaunt oneself is the fail of self-respect. Be on your guard against listening to exaggerated praise of yourself: an odor spreads therefrom that corrupts and debases the heart. Beware of praising anyone for qualities that he lacks: his acts betray him, and give you the lie. One who praises you for qualities you lack, will next be found blaming you for faults not yours. It is to mock a man: to praise him for a quality that he lacks. One of the most blameworthy of actions is to praise the ignoble. To praise the wicked is a heinous sin.
Hatred is born of jesting. The laugh overmuch is to lose dignity. Make too many jokes, and you will never be taken seriously. Avoid the utterance that is laughed at even if it is only a repetition of the words of another.
Impudence disgraces a man. What an ugly face hath an impudent man!
The wisest is he who does not disdain the advice of others. Take the advice of wise men, and thus escape blame and repentance. Take counsel even of an enemy, if he is wise: follow not the advice of an ignorant friend. Take counsel with your enemies, in order to learn from their thoughts the extent of their enmity, and the ends they are seeking. Guide yourself by the lamp of the counsels of those who practice what they counsel. Whoever seeks and follows the advice of another, avoids many errors: whoever acts, following no counsel but his own, exposes himself to the risk of making many mistakes. There is an urge in us to take counsel, because the advice of a counselor is pure, while that of one seeking counsel is mixed with alloy. To give a man advice publicly is to cast blame upon him. The world will be your best counselor, if you follow its advice. The man who gives advice that he does not follow himself, is like a bow without a string. One trafficking his advice to you is like a merchant offering heavy usury. One who seeks advice learns to recognize mistakes.
Better be alone than with a bad companion. One who lives alone continues safe and sound. Who know the world live alone. Who knows men shun them. Nobody counts on men who knows them. Allah will enrich whoever seeks nothing of men.
