This Good Works Translation is made from the 1888 Arabic printed text of Kitab Bilawhar wa-Budhasaf fi al-mawa'iz wa-al-amthal al-hikmiyah. This passage gives Budasaf's turn from idols toward the first things of religion: knowledge of God, action pleasing to God, the value of knowledge, discipline, moral judgment, and the difference between truthful speech and false composition.

Translation

Budasaf said, "As for the idols, I have never ceased to be detached from them, despairing of any good from them. But tell me: what is the first thing to which you call from religion?"

Bilawhar said, "The sum of religion is two things: one is knowledge of God, mighty and exalted, and the other is action according to His good pleasure."

Budasaf said, "What is knowledge of God?"

Bilawhar said, "That you know Him by oneness, kindness, mercy, justice, and power over everything."

Budasaf said, "What is the proof of that?"

Bilawhar said, "Do you not see, son of the king, that if you saw a craft whose maker was absent from you, you would know that it had a maker? And if you saw a building whose builder was absent from you, you would testify that it had a builder. In the same way, what you see in the creation of the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the stars, the turning of the sphere, the running of water, the wind, the cloud, and the governance of the rest of creation, all of it indicates to you that this creation has a creator who owns and governs it."

Budasaf said, "What actions please that Creator?"

Bilawhar said, "His good pleasure is that you bring to another only what you would love to have brought to you, and that you refrain from him what you would love to have withheld from you. In that there is justice, and God has good pleasure in justice. It is also that you do not attribute to Him what you would not be content to have attributed to yourself, and that you follow what His prophets and messengers brought, what they commanded, and go against what they forbade."

Budasaf said, "Since you have shown me the shame and deficiency in worshipping idols, and in standing upon what is not right, you have thereby granted me the choosing of a religion whose excellence is not yet known."

Bilawhar said, "You cannot remain outside the religion of God, nor enter it without knowledge."

Budasaf said, "What is it that makes this narrow for me and makes its contrary spacious?"

Bilawhar said, "Ignorance makes that narrow for you, and knowledge makes its contrary spacious for you."

Budasaf said, "What is the narrowness of ignorance, and what is the spaciousness of knowledge?"

Bilawhar said, "Knowledge is richness and spaciousness, and ignorance is poverty and narrowness."

Budasaf said, "What proves that?"

Bilawhar said, "What makes that plain to you is that your breast is narrowed by what you do not know concerning what you ask about. You cannot hope for release except by grasping the knowledge that releases you from the narrowness of ignorance, its grief, and its harm."

Budasaf said, "I have seen people hope for release in things where there is no release, and I am not safe from being one of them."

Bilawhar said, "Did anything show you this judgment and make known to you the station of its people except knowledge?"

Budasaf said, "That is so. But if I trusted that the benefit of knowledge and the harm of ignorance went no farther than that, I would not care for knowledge with joy or be distressed over ignorance with grief."

Bilawhar said, "Beyond what you see there is reward to which only knowledge leads, and punishment into which only ignorance plunges."

Budasaf said, "Bilawhar, if you see fit, increase me in renunciation of the world and desire for the hereafter."

Bilawhar said, "Son of the king, the world is no more than what God, mighty and exalted, called it: play, diversion, adornment, boasting among you, rivalry in wealth and children, scattering, and passing away. I have seen its people held hostage to calamities and afflictions. The face of benefit from it is little, its trouble is great, life in it is slight, and abundance in it is feared.

"I have seen that if a man had the world opened to him, with its joys, ease, pleasures, and whatever delights him to acquire from it; if every door of enjoyment over which people compete were opened to him; if destiny brought him the desires he wished for, kept afflictions, dangers, hateful things, and all evils away from him, helped him with brothers and supporters, kept him safe from enemies and enviers, granted him abundance of wealth, delight of the eye in family and children, honor in sovereignty, adornment among people, and stairways of gold and silver; then if he enjoyed what he had been given, and his enjoyment lasted long, and he surpassed his equals in it, rose above his enemies through it, and the common people envied him while he was honored, dignified, glad-eyed, sufficient from what concerned him, increased in his sovereignty, one part of his affair resembling another, high in ambition: still his farthest limit would be a hundred years, until his body wore out, his color and hair changed, his flesh, form, strength, and sight trembled and failed, he parted from his family and beloved ones, and another took his place in his sovereignty.

"And the farthest limit of what he creates is three hundred years, until what he gathered becomes scattered, what he made becomes dispersed, what he built becomes ruin, his name becomes unknown, his mention forgotten, his lineage low, and the honor of his posterity and children contemptible. What enriched him becomes a burden; what he gained becomes ruin. The rulers of affairs inherit his sovereignty through the ages, and his wealth is inherited by whomever the drivers of provisions and inheritances of property drive it to.

"When I saw every gathered thing scattered, and every acquired thing stripped away except piety and righteous action, which is not stripped away, does not wear out, and does not perish, I saw that I should make my judgment, desire, love, and speech run toward righteous action and piety. For that is the best of what we acquire, the best of what we hold as strength for works: avoiding works of evil and believing in God. That is the gain I gain, and the belief I hold.

"Since I perceived this, I have continued to love acting according to whatever good I am able to do and avoiding whatever evil I am able to avoid, together with belief in the promise of my Lord, blessed and exalted, certainty, and faith in the resurrection, the Garden, and the Fire."

Bilawhar said, "Know, son of the king, that whoever clings to rightness and establishes religion upon knowledge, even if he does only a little and refrains from doubtful things, he is free from sins. A little rightness in his speech is better than much truth from the speaker whose truth is mixed with falsehood.

"Among the things owed by a discerning man is the craft of governing his soul, like the governance of a firm, just imam who governs the common people: he commands them in what contains their welfare, forbids them what contains their corruption, then punishes whoever disobeys him and rewards whoever obeys him.

"So too is the governance of the people of his house in ordering their livelihoods, confirming them in their works, pressing their affair, and being severe in discipline toward anyone among them who opposes him. Let him take his own soul in that way, in all its characters and desires; let the tongue be turned against it so that it clings to its benefits and avoids its harms. Then let him appoint reward and punishment from himself: granting it joy when it does well, and chastising it with blame and regret when it does badly.

"It is fitting for the excellent man to look into the matters that come to him, take what is right in them, reject their error, and make little of himself, his opinion, and his work. For that is praised by the people of reason and blamed by the people of ignorance. By reason every good is grasped by God's permission; and by ignorance souls perish.

"Among the firmest trusts for people of understanding is what their minds have grasped, what their experience has reached, and what their eyes have obtained: keeping far from passions and abandoning whims.

"Do not be among those whose soul turns them away from matters, from looking into them, and from testing what comes to you when your mind does not reach it and your sight does not pierce it. How often the mind recoils from matters in some places, then reaches them after that.

"When something comes to you, use deliberateness and firmness. Beware of saying about any of that what you have no knowledge of. Beware of saying about a matter, 'This cannot be done, and it is not within one's power,' until incapacity makes you leave it and slacken in examining it. Examining it is better; in leaving it is ignorance, and it may mislead you until you also reject what has already become clear to you.

"By my life, there is no good from which a person cannot take some part if he cannot take the whole. Have you not seen that a person cannot look directly at the disk of the sun, and his eyes cannot bear all its light, yet that does not prevent him from seeing some of its light and using it for his need. Have you not seen that what overcomes a person in that does not prevent him from the benefit of what he is able to bear of it?

"So too with food and drink: a person cannot eat and drink everything he wants and desires, and he has strength for only a little of it. Yet what he cannot eat and drink does not prevent him from finding the taste of what he does eat and drink, by which he lives and benefits.

"So too is knowledge. Know, son of the king, that knowledge is greater in importance and more majestic in rank than that hearts should encompass it, as I have set it forth for you by the sun and food. The intellect carries knowledge according to its strength and capacity. What it has seen is not made blind to it by what it has not seen, and its weakness in what it does not know does not prevent it from benefiting from what it has known.

"But this is one of Satan's hidden weapons, which no one sees except one who has seen, and from which no one is safe except one who is protected. Among the chief of his weapons are two weapons. The first of them is that he nearly causes a person to fall into thinking that he has no intellect and no benefit in himself; by that he turns him away from knowing God, mighty and glorious, and from love of truth, seeking, and asking from Him, and busies him with other things among the distractions of the world. If he succeeds in this, then it is his greatest victory. If the person refuses and overcomes him, he resorts to the other weapon.

"When a man has understood and seen something, he presents to him things that make it hard for him and weary him, things from which he gains no benefit, so that he makes hateful to him the thing he is in by making difficult what comes to him from his zeal. He says to him: 'You will never complete this, never grasp it, and never be able to bear it. Why this trouble, misery, and toil over what cannot be borne and cannot be reached?' By this weapon much strength has been split in people's souls in the search for truth and the search for salvation.

"The device against these two weapons is two sayings. As for the first of them, it is: distraction from acquiring what benefits. As for the other, it is: desire for a little of what has been acquired of knowledge and good. Know both of them, and beware of being deceived away from acquiring knowledge and preserving what has been acquired.

"For you are in a house where Satan has taken control of most of its people by the varieties of his tricks and the causes of his error. Among them is one whose hearing and reason he has struck, leaving him not to ask about knowledge and good, like a beast; and he has prescribed for them different religions. They are people who strive in error, until he has made the striving of the people of their error a trial for others, and until their striving has become one of his traps and stratagems. Then he casts enmity among them, so that some of them deem lawful the blood and wealth of others.

"He has cast into their error certain things from the mention of truth, in order by that to confuse the people of truth and the seekers of good, and to turn them away from the upright religion, to which falsehood does not come in any way. He and his armies persist in destroying people and leading them astray; they do not grow weary and they do not slacken. Their number cannot be counted, and the repelling of their harms and stratagems cannot be borne except by God's help and strength. We ask God for help in obedience to Him and for being set straight by His strength. There is no might and no power except by God, the Most High, the Great.

"The people most entitled to examine matters as they approach, to contemplate their pages as they stand before them, and to hold knowledge about their outcomes are the people of reason among the learned, because God, exalted is He, has made incumbent upon them the preservation of this knowledge by religion, and has argued against them through the examination of matters and reflection on ages past, together with what they have undertaken: the entanglement of the exits of their ways, the management of the places where their traces fall, the abundance of what has been prescribed among them by the people of error, and the judgments of the people of right by recognized proofs and known virtues upon the plans of truth and the realities of truthfulness.

"They must bind people to beneficial knowledge, whether people love it or hate it, and act according to what God has made the learned carry: the beauties of discipline, nobility of deeds, and loveliness of character; reliance on everything by which they hope for the repair of affairs in their day; and seeking the enduring benefits of descendants in their tomorrow.

"When they fulfill that and know what they have been assigned to, and carry themselves upon it, people thank them, entrust them with what is absent from them, and their aim becomes complete for them. Then none of them is ignorant of their excellence, no one denies their right or anything of their affairs, suspicions about them do not differ, desires do not drive people away from them toward others, and opinions among them do not scatter.

"Then discipline takes effect among them; people draw near by humility toward them, obedience to them, and submission in all their states, until that becomes a character among them and a trained habit among the people of compliance. Falsehood is effaced with its people, and shortcoming belongs to whoever is cut off on other than its cord.

"Open disgrace is suppressed, the matter is settled upon its proper people, and good qualities become the prevailing thing over all the states of people. By them people are known, and to them they are guided, taking those ways as custom, so that descendants are established upon them and children transmit them from fathers, and those who remain from those who have passed.

"The learned are not able, by themselves, to do anything better than striving to accord with truth and fit rightness. After that, God's judgment runs according to His will in what servants love or hate.

"We have known that good-doing is reached only by careful pursuit, that success does not come without seeking, and that the key of good is the sincerity of a good intention together with striking the place of trust where it should be struck. Whoever seeks a matter from other than its proper direction is only increased, by persistence in seeking his aim, in distance from the habit that revives reason and by which the practice runs in good affairs.

"Among the good things of affairs are reviving good discipline, persisting in the giving of knowledge, attaching hearts gently before they are occupied by something else, and hastening to make them find it sweet before they find its opposite sweet, from ignorance and from their nearness to roughness.

"I have desired for you, son of the king, that in disciplining your soul with good and fortifying it against harms, you should profit from the strength of your reason, your concern, and your desire, by settling knowledge and the beauties of discipline within you, so that by that you may fulfill God's right upon you in seeking good.

"Among what I ask mighty God for you in this is success toward right guidance, sound immediate judgment, gladness, and a good completion of the final outcome. You have an intellect that corrupting passions have not confused; no poison of natures has fallen upon you; greed has not enclosed you; no evil trade has overcome you; defects have not hastened in you; and the turnings of men's manners have not become confused upon you.

"You, son of the king, are like an empty vessel: what is deposited in it, it preserves. You are like a white, clear, unpierced pearl that has not passed through the hands of agents among merchants and sellers; it has only been made fair to them so that they might store from it and buy with its price.

"So receive your affair by the blessing of God, mighty and exalted, His help, His setting-straight, and His good decree, by asking for discipline, kindness, and the middle justice short of excess, short of falling short.

"Let not excessive eagerness to learn it carry you away so that it makes you arrogant, or becomes hard for you, or narrows your breast. Discipline is heavy to carry, and knowledge is hard company for one who has not tasted its sweetness and for whom experience has not distinguished between it and anything else."

Budasaf said, "I hope indeed that I will be among those who profit whenever you command me to take something, and who accept it with acceptance. So sow your seed in me."

Bilawhar said, "The seed I have deposited with you is fear of God, mighty and exalted, and standing by His command."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: is it by decree that what befalls people befalls them, or by action?"

Bilawhar said, "Decree and action are in the position of spirit and body. The spirit without the body is not good, and the body without the spirit is only a form; when they are joined, they become strong and sound. So it is with decree and action. If decree did not fall upon action, decree would be a thing that is not good; and if action did not have decree agreeing with it, it would not be complete. But when the two are joined, they become strong."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: what is decree, and what is action?"

Bilawhar said, "Decree is what is certainly coming to be, with no escape; and action is the cause of what comes to be. When decree comes, it makes the thing real, and it is."

Then he counseled him and said to him, "Do not be pleased for people except with what you are pleased with for yourself. Action has recompense, so fear punishment. Know that the turning of affairs is plain to the eyes, so be on guard. Do not promise a promise whose fulfillment is not in your hand, and do not let the easy ascent deceive you when the descent is rough."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: who is the most just of people, who is the most unjust of people, who is the wisest of people, who is the most foolish of people, and who is the happiest of people?"

Bilawhar said, "The most just of people is the one who gives people equity from himself. The most unjust of them is the one who sees his own injustice as justice and the justice of the rightly guided as injustice. The wisest of them is the one who works for the hereafter before arriving at it. The most foolish of them is the one whose concern is the world and whose work is sins. The happiest of them is the one whose final affair is sealed with good.

"Whoever deals with people by something such that, if he were dealt with its like, he would perish, his religion is the religion of Satan. Whoever deals with them by something such that, if he were dealt with it, he would be sound, his religion is the religion of God, mighty and exalted, and the Sunnah.

"It is also fitting for you not to deem the good ugly, even if it is among the wicked, and not to deem the ugly good, even if it is among the righteous."

He said, "What takes away the light of discernment is disobedience to God, mighty and exalted; worship of idols and images; and giving counsel to a man impressed with his own opinion by something he will not accept."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: which people are most entitled to happiness?"

He said, "The one obedient to God, mighty and exalted, who is not defiled."

He said, "Which of them has the fewest sins?"

He said, "The one most following God's command, most upright in His obedience, and farthest from Satan's command."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: what is God's command, mighty and exalted, and what is Satan's command?"

Bilawhar said, "Good deeds are God's command, and evil deeds are Satan's command."

Budasaf said, "What is the good deed, and what are the evil deeds?"

Bilawhar said, "The good deed is good intention and good speech together with righteous action. The evil deeds are bad intention, bad speech, and bad action."

Budasaf said, "What is good intention?"

Bilawhar said, "Good intention is moderation of aspiration. Good speech is truthfulness, commanding what is right, and acting by it. Bad intention is excess of aspiration; bad speech is lying; and bad action is disobedience."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: how is aspiration moderated?"

Bilawhar said, "It is fright at the world's vanishing and being cut off; restraining the bridle of desire from matters in which there is calamity in this world and liability in the hereafter; generosity in giving provision in the path of God, mighty and exalted; and truthfulness, meaning truthfulness on the road in religion, so that a man does not deceive himself or lie to himself.

"Excess of aspiration is storing up for the world, resting secure in it, aspiring toward matters whose outcome is trials, and withholding what is owed to God, mighty and exalted. Lying is a man's lying to himself, while he remains led by desire and keeps putting off his religion."

Budasaf said, "Which men are most complete in righteousness?"

He said, "Those most complete in intellects, most awake to the outcome, most intent on it, most victorious over their adversaries, and most cautious."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: what is that outcome, and who are those adversaries whom the intelligent person overcomes?"

Bilawhar said, "The outcome is the hereafter. The adversaries are the natures and differing passions appointed over man."

Budasaf said, "What are those differing natures and passions?"

He said, "Greed and anger, envy, rancor, partisan heat, appetite, stubborn contention, and ostentation."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: which of these is strongest, and which is least escaped?"

Bilawhar said, "Greed is least content and most obscene. Anger is most unjust in rule and least thankful. Envy is worst in condition and most false in assumption. Partisan heat is most stubborn and most hideous in disobedience. Rancor is longest in bitterness, least merciful, and fiercest in assault. Appetite is most intense in seeking forbidden things and least content. Ostentation is strongest in trickery and compulsion, most hidden in concealment, and most lying. Stubborn contention is harshest toward brothers and most corrupting of manly virtue. Folly is laziest and most deeply rooted in dullness."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: among the things by which Satan gains victory over people, what is most effective in destroying them?"

Bilawhar said, "His blinding them to righteousness and sin, reward and punishment, and the outcomes of affairs by introducing confusion."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: what power has God strengthened the servants with for overcoming that evil thing and those ruinous passions?"

Bilawhar said, "It is intellect, knowledge, acting by it, and training the soul away from its appetites; hope for reward in religion; frequent reflection on the world's passing away and the nearness of the appointed term; guarding against taking what perishes in exchange for what remains; taking warning from what has passed of affairs and what remains of them; guarding against constriction over what is not known among people of understanding, and against seeking what cannot be attained; acting with punishment in view; restraining the soul from bad habit and carrying it toward good habit and praiseworthy character; and keeping a person's affair according to the measure of his livelihood until he reaches his aim, for that is satisfaction and contentment.

"It also includes practicing patience and hope, cleaving to reason and knowledge, good despair over what has passed and a contented soul concerning it, leaving the treatment of what cannot be completed, choosing the path of guidance over the path of error, settling the soul upon the truth that whoever does good will be recompensed for it and whoever does evil will be taken by it, knowledge of what is due, entering deeply into worship, knowledge in judgment, acting with insight, restraining the heart from following desire and riding appetites, and taking hold of prudence."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: which moral qualities are noblest and strongest?"

Bilawhar said, "Humility and gentleness of speech."

Budasaf said, "Which habit is best?"

Bilawhar said, "Faithfulness and affection."

Budasaf said, "Which brothers are purest in benefit?"

Bilawhar said, "Those who renounce the world and desire to take only what contains enough for livelihood and preparation for the return."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: which portion is best?"

Bilawhar said, "The remembrance of God."

Budasaf said, "Which actions are most beneficial?"

Bilawhar said, "Commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong."

Budasaf said, "Which adversary is most bitter?"

Bilawhar said, "The one who leaves sins."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: which things have the strongest mastery over a person: reason, nature, or discipline?"

Bilawhar said, "Discipline is an increase in reason and nature, their rectifier and their bearer. Each of them has afflictions, and its greatest benefit is its safety from afflictions: that vanity should not carry them away; that one should not learn knowledge for boasting; and that one should not make forbearance into rancor, contentment into narrowness of view, trustworthiness into miserliness, chastity into weakness, truthfulness into bad ignorance, hope into slackness, generosity into extravagance, compassion into panic, or humility into abasement; nor companionship with the righteous into ostentation, nor affection into bad conduct, nor counsel into harm, nor good seeking into envy, nor modesty into dullness, nor scrupulousness into reputation-seeking."

Budasaf said, "Tell me: what things most resemble the world?"

Bilawhar said, "The dreams of a sleeper."

Budasaf said, "Which person rightly deserves to be envied?"

Bilawhar said, "The reforming imam: upright, faithful, in good condition, an imam of guidance."

Budasaf said, "Which man is most hard-pressed?"

Bilawhar said, "The weak wicked man."

Budasaf said, "Which man is best in contentment?"

Bilawhar said, "The one best in opinion toward God, most content, and least heedless of the remembrance of God, the passing away of the world, the remembrance of death, and the ending of the term."

Budasaf said, "Which man has the greatest trustworthiness?"

Bilawhar said, "The most chaste of them."

Budasaf said, "And which of them is most chaste?"

Bilawhar said, "The one who is ashamed before God as though he sees Him."

Budasaf said, "Who among people is most entitled to victory?"

Bilawhar said, "A resolute man, struggling in pursuit of the truth that overcomes him in his need and his strength."

Budasaf said, "What thing is most pleasing to the eye?"

Bilawhar said, "A well-disciplined child, and an agreeable wife who helps in work for the hereafter."

Budasaf said, "Which harm is most binding?"

Bilawhar said, "A bad child, and a bad wife from whom you find no escape."

Budasaf said, "What thing is best?"

Bilawhar said, "The discipline of religion."

Budasaf said, "What thing is most hidden?"

Bilawhar said, "The hostile Satan and the hard heart."

Budasaf said, "What thing has the farthest end?"

Bilawhar said, "The eye of the one greedy for the world, which is never satisfied."

Budasaf said, "What thing has the foulest outcome?"

Bilawhar said, "Seeking the pleasure of wicked people in the displeasure of God."

Budasaf said, "What thing changes most quickly?"

Bilawhar said, "The hearts of kings who work for the world."

Budasaf said, "Which wickedness is most obscene?"

Bilawhar said, "Giving the covenant of God, mighty and exalted, and betraying it."

Budasaf said, "What thing is most quickly cut off?"

Bilawhar said, "The affection and friendship of the deceiver."

Budasaf said, "What thing is most unjust?"

Bilawhar said, "The tongue of lying."

Budasaf said, "What thing is most confused?"

Bilawhar said, "The conduct of the hypocritical, deceptive man in his world."

The two of them went back and forth in speech and argument until the king's son recognized the excellence of what he was being called to, the greatness of its danger, and its nearness, and his sight penetrated the whole matter of his religion.

Budasaf said, "Tell me, O Bilawhar, about the matter of paradise and hell, and explain to me the matter of knowledge, reason, truth, and falsehood."

Bilawhar said, "You have heard paradise and hell mentioned. If they did not have meanings, no name would have been assigned to them. Meanings are marked with names just as animals are marked with different kinds of marks. A name does not fall upon anything without a body. If a speaker wished to send out speech without meaning, he could do so."

Budasaf said, "Then what assures me that your speech is not of that kind?"

Bilawhar said, "As for one who understands and is understood from, he has known his meaning, and by that he deserves to be called a speaker. As for one who does not understand and is not understood from, he is not a speaker; he is only a babbler."

Budasaf said, "Perhaps this is like what you have named of the reward of the hereafter and its punishment."

Bilawhar said, "As for reward, it is honor, and punishment is humiliation. Whoever does not understand what has been named to him from them, and claims that he neither hates nor loves, has claimed that it is equal to him whether he is humiliated or honored. Whoever acknowledges that he has understood what has been named to him of that has no escape from acknowledging that the intelligible is known, and that the known is worthy of being believed."

Budasaf said, "Many a false statement is known. If you require me to believe every known thing, then you have required me to believe the liars."

Bilawhar said, "I have only required you to believe the meanings of the individual names, even if the liar utters them, and I have released you from believing the composition of falsehood."

Budasaf said, "How is that?"

Bilawhar said, "The liar composes things whose individual realities are known but whose composition is objectionable. He claims that knowledge and ignorance, truth and falsehood, the good-doer and the evil-doer are equal. Each of those exists in itself, but the liar has composed out of it what does not cohere for him."

Budasaf said, "What, then, is the difference between the speech of the truthful person and the speech of the liar, if the speech of both is known and the known part of it exists?"

Bilawhar said, "They are distinguished in this: the liar's speech is known in the meaning of the individual names, but not known in its composition. An example of the liar's speech is when he says, 'Fire is cold.' He has composed two names, both of them known individually, but objectionable when joined in composition. The like of this in the speech of the truthful person is when he says, 'Fire is hot.' He has composed two names known in visible reality and in composition."

Budasaf said, "Sometimes truth has clarity enough for one who is satisfied by it; and sometimes speech that is not truth comes between truth and falsehood for its hearers. Of which of these two kinds is your speech?"

Bilawhar said, "I divide speech into two divisions: one is truth and the other is falsehood. Then I divide truth in two ways: one is clear and is sufficient by itself, and the other is hidden and is inferred by something else. Then I divide falsehood into two divisions: one is clear and is sufficient by itself, and the other is hidden and is inferred by something else.

"My speech to you about paradise, hell, and their Lord is clear truth that is sufficient by itself and by which something else may be inferred."

Budasaf said, "Does the clear differ from the clear just as the clear differs from the hidden?"

Bilawhar said, "I divide the clear into two aspects: their clarity is equal, but their interpretation is different."

Budasaf said, "Explain those aspects to me, and show me where your speech falls among them."

Bilawhar said, "I separate speech into two divisions, so that one of them is truth and the other is falsehood. Then I separate truth into two groups, so that some of it is clear and some hidden. Then I separate the clear into two divisions, so that some of it is in individual names and some of it is in composed names. In my speech to you about God and about paradise and hell, the clarity of individual terms and the clarity of composition have come together."

Budasaf said, "You have compelled me to faith in God and in what has come from Him of reward and punishment."

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was made from the Arabic text of Kitab Bilawhar wa-Budhasaf fi al-mawa'iz wa-al-amthal al-hikmiyah, al-Matba' al-Safdari, 1888. The English body is newly written from the Arabic source.

Source Colophon

Primary source witness: Google Books volume vYacAQAACAAJ, Kitab Bilawhar wa-Budhasaf fi al-mawa'iz wa-al-amthal al-hikmiyah, al-Matba' al-Safdari, 1888, original from Harvard.

Translated passage: Budasaf's question about the first thing of religion, Bilawhar's answers on knowledge of God, actions pleasing to God, knowledge and ignorance, discipline, moral judgment, and the speech of truth, printed Arabic pages 87-112. The translated passage begins inside printed page 87, after the application of the bird's three words to idol-worship, and ends inside printed page 112, before Budasaf asks to return to renunciation of the world.

Public source: https://books.google.com/books?id=vYacAQAACAAJ

Source Text

Arabic Text

قال بوداسف اما الاصنام فلم ازل
زاهدا فيها آيسا من خيرها ولكن اخبرني ما اول ما تدعو
اليه من الدين قال بلوهر جماع الدين شيئان احدهما
معرفة الله عز وجل والاخر العمل برضاه قال بوداسف فكيف
معرفة الله قال بلوهر ان تعرفه بالوحدانية والرأفة
والرحمة والمعدلة والقدرة على كل شيء قال بوداسف
وما الحجة في ذلك قال بلوهر الا ترى يا ابن الملك انك
لو رايت صناعة غاب عنك صانعها عرفت ان لها صانعا
وان رأيت بناء غاب عنك بانيه شهدت ان له بانيا
فكذلك ما ترى في خلق السموات والارض والشمس والقمر
والنجوم ودوران الفلك وجري الماء والريح والسحاب
وتدبير سائر الخلق يدلك اجمع ان لهذا الخلق خالقا

هو يملكه ويدبره قال بوداسف فما رضى ذاك الخالق
من الاعمال قال بلوهر رضاه ان لا تاتي الى غيرك
الا ما تحب ان ياتيك وتكف عنه ما تحب ان يكف عنك
فان في ذلك عدلا ولله في العدل رضا وان لا تضيف اليه
ما لا ترضى ان يضاف اليك واتباع ما جاءت به انبيائه
ورسله ع م لما امروا به والمخالفة لما نهوا عنه قال
بوداسف اما اذا اريتني العيب والنقص في عبادة الاوثان
والمقام على غير الصواب فقد منحتني بذلك من اجتباء
دين غير معروف الفضل قال لا يسعك المقام على
غير دين الله ولا الدخول فيه من غير معرفة قال بوداسف
وما الذي يضيق ذلك علي ويوسع خلافه قال بلوهر
الجهل يضيق ذلك عليك والعلم يوسع خلافه عليك
قال بوداسف وما ضيق الجهل وما سعة العلم قال
بلوهر العلم غنى وسعة والجهل فاقة وضيق قال
بوداسف وما يحقق ذلك قال بلوهر الذي يبين لك

ان صدرك يضيق بما تجهل مما تسأل عنه وانك لا ترجو
الفرج الا في درك العلم الذي يفرج عنك ضيق الجهل و
غمه واذاه قال بوداسف قد رايت من يرجو الفرج فيما
لا فرج فيه ولست آمن ان اكون منهم قال بلوهر وهل
اراك هذا الراي وعرفك منزلة اهله غير العلم قال
بوداسف ان ذلك كذلك ولو وثقت بان نفع العلم و
ضر الجهل لا يعدوان ذلك لم اكترث بالعلم فرحا ولا
بالجهل اغتماما قال بلوهر ان من وراء ما ترى ثوابا
لا يقود اليه الا العلم وعقابا لا يقتحم فيه الا الجهل قال
بوداسف يا بلوهر ان رايت ان تزيدني تزهيدا في الدنيا
وترغيبا في الاخرة قال بلوهر يا ابن الملك ان الدنيا لا
تعدو ان تكون كما نعتها الله عز وجل لعب ولهو وزينة و
تفاخر بينكم وتكاثر في الاموال والاولاد وتفرق وزوال
ورايت اهلها رهينة مصائب وآفات ووجه الانتفاع
لها قليلا والعناء لها كثيرا والعيش زهيدا والسعة مخوفة

ورايت لو ان امرءا فتحت له الدنيا وسرورها ونعيمها و
لذاتها وما سره ليقتني منها من ابواب كل تمتع له ما يتنافس
فيه واتاه القدر بما يتمنى من الرغائب وجنب الآفات
والمحاذر والمكاره ووفي الشرور كلها وساعده الاخوان
والاعوان وسلم من الاعداء والحساد ورزق السعة
في المال وقرة العين في الاهل والاولاد والشرف في السلطان
والحلية في الناس والمعارج من الذهب والفضة ثم تمتع
بما اعطي من ذلك فطال به امتاعه وفضل فيه اكفاءه
وعلا به اعداءه وغبطه العامة مشرفا ومكرما قرير
العين مكفيا ماهم مزيدا في سلطانه يشبه بعض امره
بعضا رفيع الهمة لكان ابعد غايته مائة سنة حتى يبلى
جسمه ويتغير لونه وشعره ويتزلزل لحمه وخلقه وقوته
وبصره ويفارق اهله واحباءه ويبدل غيره في سلطانه
وابعد الغاية لما يخلق ثلاثمائة عام حتى يصير ما جمع متفرقا
وما عمل متبددا وما شيد خرابا ويصير اسمه مجهولا وذكره

منسيا وحسبه خاملا وشرف عقبه وولده حقيرا وما
يغني عنه وبالا وما كسب خبالا ويرث سلطانه ولاة الامور
على الازمان ويرث ماله من يسوقه اليه سواق الارزاق
والمواريث من الاموال فلما رأيت كل مجموع متفرقا وكل
مكسوب مسلوبا الا التقوى وعمل البر الذي لا يسلب لا
يبلى ولا يهلك رأيت انا اجري رأيي هواي محبتي وقولي
في عمل البر والتقوى فانه افضل ما نحن مكتسبوه من
المكاسب افضل ما نحن معتقدوه من القوة على الاعمال
والاجتناب لاعمال الشر والتصديق بالله فذلك هو الكسب
الذي اكتسب والعقيدة التي اعتقدها ولم ازل منذ
ابصرت ذلك احب العمل بما قدرت عليه من الخير و
اجتناب ما قدرت على اجتنابه من الشر مع التصديق
بوعد ربي تبارك وتعالى واليقين والايمان بالبعث
والجنة والنار قال بلوهر اعلم يا بن الملك ان من
لزم الصواب واقام الدين على العلم وان لم يعمل الا قليلا

وكف عن الشبهة فقد برئ من الخطايا وقليل الصواب
يكون كلامه افضل من المتكلم بكثرة من الصدق اذا شابه
الكذب وان مما يحق على الرجل اللبيب سياسة نفسه صنعة
كسياسة الامام الحازم العادل الذي يسوس العوام و
يأمرهم بما فيه صلاحهم وينهاهم عما فيه فسادهم ثم يعاقب
من عصاه ويثيب من اطاعه وكذلك سياسة اهل
بيته في تدبير معايشهم وتوكيدهم باعمالهم والمبالغة
في امرهم والشدة في الادب على من خالفه منهم فيأخذ
بذلك نفسه في جميع اخلاقها واهوائها وليسن عليها
اللسان في لزوم منافعها واجتناب مضارها ثم يجعل
من نفسه ثوابا وعقابا بأن امكانها من السرور اذا احسنت
وتعذيبها بالذم والندم اذا اساءت فاما يحق على الفاضل
النظر فيما يرد عليه من الامور والاخذ بصوابها والنفي
لخطائها وان يحقر نفسه ورايه وعمله فانه ممدوح اهل
العقل ومذموم اهل الجهل وبالعقل يدرك كل خير

باذن الله تعالى وبالجهل تهلك النفوس وان من اوثق
الثقات عند اولى الالباب ما ادركته عقولهم وبلغته
تجربتهم ونالته ابصارهم الابعاد عن الشهوات وترك
الاهواء ولا تكونن ممن تصده نفسه عن الامور
والنظر فيها واختبار ما يرد عليك مما لا يبلغه عقلك
ولا ينفذ فيه نظرك فما اكثر ما ينبو العقل عن الامور
في المواطن ثم يبلغه بعد ذلك وعليك في ورود ما يرد
عليك بالاناءة والتثبت واياك ان تقول لشيء من
ذلك بما لا علم لك به واياك ان تقول لامر هذا لا يستطاع
ولا يقدر عليه حتى يجعلك العجز على تركه وتتوانى بالنظر
فيه والنظر فيه افضل وفي تركه الجهل فيضلك حتى
ترفض ايضا ما قد وضح لك ولعمري ما من الخير شيء لا
يستطيع احد من الناس استيفاء بعضه اذا لم يقدر
على الكل الم ترى ان الانسان لا يستطيع ان يتبين عين
الشمس لا تحتمل عيناه جميع نورها ولا يمنعه من ذلك

ان يتبين بعض نورها فينتفع به حاجته الا ترى ان الذي
اعياه من ذلك لم يمنعه نفع ما قوي عليه منه وكذلك
الطعام والشراب لا يستطيع ان يأكل ويشرب جميع ما يريد
ويشتهي ولا يقوى من ذلك الا على القليل منه لم يمنعه
ما لا يستطيع اكله وشربه ان يجد طعم ما يأكل ويشرب بما
يعيش به وينتفع وكذلك العلم واعلم يا ابن الملك ان
العلم اعظم خطرا واجل قدرا من ان تستوعبه القلوب
ما قد مثلته لك من الشمس والطعام لان العقل حامل
من العلم بقدر قوته وطاقته ولا يعمى عليه ما قد ابصر
منه مما لا يبصر منه ولا يمنعه ان ينتفع منه بما قد علم من
ضعفه عما لا يعلم ولكن هذا من اسلحة الشيطان الغامضة
التي لا يبصرها الا من قد ابصر ولا يسلم منها الا من عصم
وان من راس اسلحته سلاحان احدهما ان يكاد يوقع في
الانسان انه لا عقل له ولا منفعة فيه فيصده بذلك
من معرفة الله عز وجل وعن محبة الحق والطلب والسوال

له ويشغله بغيره من ملاهي الدنيا فان هو انجح في هذا
فهو ظفره الاعظم وان هو عصى وغلب عليه فزع الى
السلاح الاخر فاذا عقل الرجل شيئا وابصره عرض عليه
باشياء تعسره وتضجره مما لا ينتفع فيبغضه اليه ما هو
فيه بتصعيب ذلك عليه بما يأتيه من النشط يقول له
لست مستكملا هذا ابدا ولا مدركه ولا مطيقه فما هذا
العناء والشقاء والتعب فيما لا يطاق ولا يدرك فلهذا
السلاح صدع كثير من القوة في نفس الناس في طلب
الحق وطلب النجاة وحيلة هذين السلاحين كلمتان اما
الاولى منهما فاللهو عن اكتساب ما ينفع واما الاخرى
فالرغبة في قليل ما اكتسب من العلم والخير فاعرفهما و
احذر من ان تخدع عن اكتساب علم والحفظ بالمكسوب
فانك في دار قد استحوذ الشيطان على اكثر اهلها بضروب
مخائله واسباب ضلالته فمنهم من ضرب على سمعه
وعقله فتركه لا يسال عن العلم والخير كالبهيمة وشرع

لهم اديانا مختلفة فهم المجتهدون في الضلالة حتى جعل اجتهاد
اهل ضلالهم فتنة لغيرهم وحتى صار اجتهادهم من
مصائده ومكايده ثم اوقع بينهم العداوة فاستحل بعضهم
دماء بعض واموالهم والقى في ضلالهم باشياء من ذكر
الحق ليلبس بذلك على اهل الحق وطلاب الخير فيصدهم
من الدين القيم الذي لا يأتيه الباطل بوجه من الوجوه
فهو وجنوده دائبون في هلاك الناس واضلالهم لا
يسأمون ولا يفترون ولا يحصى عددهم ولا يطاق دفع
مضارهم ومكايدهم الا بعون الله وقوته فنسأل الله
العون على طاعته والتسديد لقوته ولا حول ولا قوة
الا بالله العلي العظيم وان احق الناس بالنظر في الامور
مقبلة والتأمل في صفحاتها معترضة واعتقاد العلم في
عواقبها لاهل العقل من العلماء لما استحق الله تعالى عليهم
من حفظ هذا العلم بالدين واحتج عليهم من النظر في الامور
والتفكر في سالف الدهور مع ما توكلوا مع ذلك من

تعقد مخارج مذاهبهم وتدبر مواقع اثارهم وكثرة ما شرع
فيهم من اهل الخطاء وحكومات اهل الصواب بالحجج المعروفة
والفضائل المعلومة على خطط الحق وحقائق الصدق والزامهم
الناس نافع العلم فيما احبوا او كرهوا والعمل بما حمل الله العلماء
من محاسن الادب وكرم الفعال وجميل الاخلاق والاعتماد على ما
يرجوا به صلاح الامور في يومهم والتوخي للمنافع الباقية للاعقاب
في غدهم هم اذا اقتضوا ذلك وعرفوا الذي نسبوا اليه حملوا انفسهم
عليه شكر الناس لهم وائتمنوهم على غيبهم وتكاملت لهم
بغيتهم فلم يجهل احدهم عند ذلك فضلهم ولم ينكر احد
حقهم ولا شيئا من امورهم ولم يختلف فيهم ظنونهم
ولم تنبعث بهم الى غيرهم اهواؤهم ولم يتفرق فيهم
اراؤهم وعند ذلك ينجع فيهم الادب ويتقربون
بالخضوع اليهم والطاعة لهم والانقياد في جميع حالاتهم
حتى يصير ذلك منهم خلقا ومن اهل الاذعان تخلقا
وينسخ الباطل باهله والتقصير من انقطع في غير حبله

وينقمع التفاضح ويتقرر الامر على اهله ويكون المحاسن
هي الغالبة على كل حالات الناس يعرفون بها ويهتدون
اليها متخذين بذلك السنن فيثبت عليه النسل وينقله
الابناء عن الآباء والباقون عن الماضين والعلماء
ليست بقادرة من انفسها على شيء افضل من الاجتهاد
في موافقة الحق وملايمة الصواب ثم قضاء الله بعد
يجري على ارادته فيما احب العباد او كرهوا وقد
عرفنا ان الاحسان لا يصاب الا بالتحري والتوفيق
لا يكون عن غير طلب ومفتاح الخير صدق النية الجيدة
مع اصابة موضع الثقة من حيث ينبغي فان من طلب
الامر من غير جهته لم يزده الامعان في طلب بغيته
الا بعدا بعادة ما ينعش العقل ويجري به السنن في
محاسن الامور احياء حسن الادب والمواظبة على افادة
العلم وان يناط القلوب برفق قبل اشتغالها بغيره ومعاجلة
استحلاءها اياه قبل استحلاءها ضده من الجهل وقربها

من الجفاء واحببت لك يا ابن الملك ان تستفيد في
تاديبك نفسك بالخير وتحصينها من الآفات قوة عقلك
وهمك وهواك باسكان العلم جوفك محاسن الادب
لتقضي بذلك حق الله عليك فيه من طلب الخير ومما
اسال الله العظيم لك فيه التوفيق للرشاد وحسن القضاء
العاجل والغبطة وحسن تمام العاقبة فانك من عقل لم
يلبس بك اهواء مفسدة ولم يقع عليك سم طباع
ولم يشتمل بك طمع ولم يغلب عليك تجارة سوء ولم
يسرع فيك العلل ولم يختلف عليك تصاريف آداب الرجال
فانت يا ابن الملك كالوعاء الفارغ الذي استودع حفظ وكا
اللؤلؤة البيضاء الصافية غير المنقوبة التي لم
يتداولها ايدي الوكلا من التجار والبياع فانما حليت
لهم ليحرزوا منها وليشتروا بثمنها فاستقبل امرك
على بركة الله عز وجل وعونه وتسديده وحسن قضائه
بسؤال الادب والترؤف والقسط الاوسط دون

الافراط دون التقصير ولا يحملنك فرط الحرص على تعلمه
ان يبطرك او يشق عليك او يضيق صدرك فان الادب
ثقيل محمله والعلم شديد صحبته على من لم يستلذ حلاوته
ولم يفرق له التجارب بينه وبين غيره وقال بوذاسف
انى لارجو ان اكون ممن ينتفع كلما تامرني باخذه ويقبله
بقبوله فازرع في بذرك قال بلوهر اما استودعتك
بذري تقوى الله عز وجل والقيام بامره قال بوذاسف
اخبرني ابالقدر يصيب الناس ما يصيبهم ام بالعمل قال بلوهر
ان القدر والعمل بمنزلة الروح والجسد فالروح بغير
الجسد لا يحسن والجسد بغير الروح صورة فاذا اجتمعا
قويا وصلحا وكذلك القدر والعمل فلو لم يكن القدر
يقع على العمل كان القدر شيئا لا يحسن ولو لم يكن العمل
يوافقه القدر لم يتم ولكنهما باجتماعهما قويا قال
بوذاسف اخبرني ما القدر وما العمل قال بلوهر
القدر ما هو كاين حتما لا محالة والعمل علة ما يكون

فاذا جاء القدر حققه فكان ثم اوصاه فقال له لا ترض
للناس الا ما ترضاه لنفسك فان للعمل جزاء فاتق العقاب
واعلم ان تقلب الامور لعيان فكن على حذر ولا تعدن
وعدا ليس في يدك وفاؤه ولا يغرنك المرتقى السهل
اذا كان التحدر وعرا قال بوذاسف فاخبرني من
اعدل الناس من اجور الناس من اكيس الناس من
احمق الناس من اسعد الناس قال بلوهر اعدل
الناس من انصف الناس من نفسه واجورهم من راى
جوره عدلا وعدل المهتدي جورا واكيسهم من عمل
للاخرة قبل قدومه عليها واحمقهم من كانت الدنيا
همته والخطايا عمله واسعدهم من ختم عاقبة امره بخير
قال من دان الناس بمثل ما ان دين بمثله هلك فدينه
دين الشيطان ومن دانهم بمثل ما ان دين صلح فدينه
دين الله عز وجل والسنة وقال ينبغي لك ايضا ان لا
تستقبح الحسن وان كان في الفجار ولا تستحسن القبيح ان

كان في الابرار وقال وما يذهب ضياء العرف في معصية الله
عز وجل وعبادة الاوثان والاصنام والاشارة على
الرجل المعجب برايه بما لا يقبله قال بوذاسف اخبرني
اي الناس اولى بالسعادة قال المطيع لله عز وجل الذي
لا يدنس قال فايهم اقل ذنوبا قال اتبعهم لامر الله واقومهم
في طاعته وابعدهم من امر الشيطان قال بوذاسف
اخبرني ما امر الله عز وجل وما امر الشيطان قال
بلوهر الحسنات امر الله والسيئات امر الشيطان قال
بوذاسف ما الحسنة وما السيئات قال بلوهر الحسنة
حسن النية والقول الطيب مع العمل الصالح والسيئات سوء
النية وسوء القول والعمل السيء قال بوذاسف وما حسن
النية قال بلوهر حسن النية اقتصاد الهمة وحسن
القول الصدق وان تامر بالمعروف وتعمل به وسوء
النية افراط الهمة وسوء القول الكذب وسوء العمل
المعصية قال بوذاسف اخبرني كيف اقتصاد الهمة

قال بلوهر الذعر لزوال الدنيا وانقطاعها والكف
للجام الهوى عن الامور التي فيها النكبة في الدنيا
والتبعة في الاخرة والسخاء باعطاء النفقة في سبيل الله
عز وجل والصدق صدق الطريق في الدين ولا يخادع
المرء نفسه ولا يكذبها وافراط الهمة الادخار للدنيا
والطمانينة اليها والطموح الى الامور التي عاقبتها فتنا
ومنع حقوق الله عز وجل والكذب كذب المرء نفسه
ولا يزال للهوى منقادا لدينه مسوفا قال بودا
سف فاي الرجال اكمل في الصلاح قال اكملهم في العقول وايقظهم
بالعاقبة وانظرهم فيها واغلبهم لخصمائه واشدهم
احترازا قال بوداسف فاخبرني ما تلك العاقبة
وما اولئك الخصماء الذين يغلبهم العاقل قال
بلوهر العاقبة الاخرة والخصماء الطبايع والاهواء
المختلفة الموكلة بالانسان قال بوداسف وما
تلك الطبايع والاهواء المختلفة قال الحرص

والغضب والحسد والحقد والحمية والشهوة واللجاجة
والرياء قال بوداسف اخبرني ايها اقوى واقل ان
يسلم منه قال بلوهر الحرص اقل رضى وافحش
والغضب اجور سلطانا واقل شكرا والحسد اسوء
حالا واخلف ظنا والحمية اشد لجاجة وافظع معصية
والحقد اطول توغرا واقل رحمة واشد سطوة والشهوة
اشد طلبا للمحارم واقل قناعة والرياء اشد خدعة
وقهرا واخفى اكتتاما واكذب واللجاجة اشد على الاخوان
وافسد للمروة والسفه اشد كسلا وارسخ بلادة
قال بوداسف فاخبرني فيما ظفر به الشيطان من الاشياء ابلغ
في هلاكهم قال بلوهر تعميته عليهم البر والاثم
والثواب والعقاب وعواقب الامور في ادخال الاشتباه
قال بوداسف فاخبرني ما القوة التي قوى الله العباد
بها في مغالبة تلك السيئة والاهواء المردية قال
بلوهر هو العقل والعلم والعمل بها ورياضة النفس عن شهواتها

والرجاء للثواب في الدين وكثرة التفكر لفناء الدنيا و
قرب الاجل والاحتفاظ من ان يعتاض ما يفنى بما يبقى
والاعتبار بما مضى من الامور وباقيها والاحتفاظ من
التضيق مما لا يعرف عند ذوى الالباب وطلب ما لا
ينال والعمل للعقاب وكف النفس عن العادة السيئة و
حملها على العادة الحسنة والاخلاق المحمودة وان يكون
امر المرء بقدر عيشه حتى يبلغ غايته فان ذلك هو
الرضى والقنوع وعمل الصبر والرجا واللزوم للعقل
والمعرفة وحسن الياس على ما فات وطيب النفس عنه و
ترك معالجة ما لا يتم واختيار سبيل الرشد لسبيل الغي
وتوطين النفس على ان من عمل خيرا يجزي به ومن عمل شرا
اخذ به والمعرفة في الحقوق والخوض في العبادة والعلم
في الحكم والعمل بالبصيرة وكف القلب عن اتباع الهوى
وركوب الشهوات والاخذ بالحزم قال بوداسف
فاخبرني اي الاخلاق اكرم واعز قال بلوهر التواضع

ولين الكلمة قال بوداسف اي العادة احسن قال
بلوهر الوفاء والتودد قال بوداسف اي الاخوان
اصفى نفعا قال بلوهر المتزهدون في الدنيا والراغبون في
اخذ ما فيه بلاغ المعاش ومهد للمعاد قال بودا
سف فاخبرني اي القسم افضل قال بلوهر ذكر الله قال
بوداسف اي الافعال انفع قال بلوهر الامر بالمعروف
والنهي عن المنكر قال بوداسف فاي الخصوم الد
قال بلوهر تارك الذنوب قال بوداسف فاخبرني
اي الامور املك بالانسان العقل والطبيعة ام الادب
قال بلوهر الادب زيادة في العقل والطبيعة معدلهما
وحاملهما ولكل واحد منها آفات فاعظمها منفعة سلمها
من الآفات وهو ان لا يذهب بها عجبا ولا يعلم العلم فخرا
ولا الحلم حقدا ولا القناعة صغر نظر ولا الامانة بخلا
ولا العفاف ضعفا ولا الصدق سوء جهل ولا الرجاء
تقاعسا ولا الجود سرفا ولا الرافة جزعا ولا التواضع خناعة
ولا

ولا صحبة الصالحين رياء ولا المودة سوء سيرة ولا
النصيحة غائلة ولا حسن الطلب حسدا ولا الحياء بلادة
ولا الورع سمعة قال بوداسف فاخبرني اي الاشياء
اشبه بالدنيا قال بلوهر احلام النائم قال بوداسف
فاي الناس حق ان يغتبط قال بلوهر الامام المصلح
المستقيم الوفي حسن الحال امام هدى قال بوداسف
اي الرجال اجهد قال بلوهر الضعيف الفاجر قال
بوداسف اي الرجال افضل رضاء قال بلوهر
احسنهم ظنا بالله واقنعهم واقلهم غفلة من ذكر الله
وفناء الدنيا وذكر الموت وانقطاع المدة قال
بوداسف اي الرجال اعظم امانة قال بلوهر
اعفهم قال بوداسف وايهم اعفهم قال بلوهر
من استحيا من الله كانه يراه قال بوداسف من
احق الناس بالظفر قال بلوهر حازم مجاهد في طلب الحق الذي
يغلبه في حاجته وقوته قال بوداسف في شيء اقر للعين قال

بلوهر الولد الاديب والزوجة الموافقة المعينة على عمل
الاخرة قال بوداسف اي الاذى الزم قال بلوهر
الولد السوء والزوجة السوء التي لا تجد منها بدا
قال بوداسف اي شيء احسن قال بلوهر ادب
الدين قال بوداسف اي شيء اخفى قال بلوهر
الشيطان المعادي والقلب القاسي قال
بوداسف فاي شيء ابعد غاية قال بلوهر عين
الحريص على الدنيا التي لا تشبع قال بوداسف فاي
شيء اخبث عاقبة قال بلوهر التماس رضى الاشرار
في سخط الله قال بوداسف اي شيء اسرع تقلبا
قال بلوهر قلوب الملوك الذين يعملون للدنيا
قال بوداسف اي الفجور افحش قال بلوهر عطاء
عهد الله عز وجل والغدر فيه قال بوداسف اي
شيء اسرع انقطاعا قال بلوهر مودة الغاش و
خلته قال بوداسف اي شيء اجور قال بلوهر

لسان الكذب قال بوداسف اي شيء اشد التباسا
قال بلوهر سيرة الرجل المرائي المخادع في دنياها
يراجعان القول والحجة حتى عرف ابن الملك فضل
ما دعاه اليه وعظم خطره واقربه ونفذ بصره في
امر دينه كله قال بوداسف اخبرني يا بلوهر
امر الجنة والنار وبين لي امر العلم والعقل والصدق
والكذب قال بلوهر قد سمعت بذكر الجنة والنار اما
لولا معناهما لم يقدر لهما اسم وذلك ان المعاني
وسمت بالاسماء كما وسمت الدواب بانواع السمت
ولا يقع الاسم على غير جسد ولو شاء الناطق ان
يخرج القول على غير معنى لفعل قال بوداسف فما
يؤمنني ان يكون منطقك على غير ذلك قال بلوهر
اما من فهم وفهم عنه فقد عرف معناه ويستحق بذلك
ان يسمى ناطقا واما من لم يفهم ولا يفهم عنه فليس
بناطق ولكنه هاذي قال بوداسف فلعل هذا

مثلك فيما سميت من ثواب الاخرة وعقابها قال
بلوهر اما الثواب كرامة والعقاب هوان فمن لم يعقل
ما سمي له منها وزعم انه لا يكره ولا يحب فقد زعم
انه سواء عليه اهين ام اكرم ومن اقر بانه قد عقل
ما سمي له من ذلك فلا مخرج له من الاقرار بان المعقول
معلوم والمعلوم اهل بان يؤمن به قال بوداسف
رب حديث مبطل معلوم فان انت كلفتني التصديق
بكل معلوم فقد كلفتني تصديق الكذابين قال
بلوهر انما كلفتك التصديق بمعاني الاسماء المفردة
وان نطق بها الكاذب واطلقناك عن التصديق بتاليف
الكذب قال بوداسف وكيف ذلك قال بلوهر
ان الكذاب الف بين اشياء معروفة الاعيان
مستنكرة التاليف فزعم ان العلم والجهل والصدق
والكذب والمحسن والمسيء سواء فكل ذلك موجود
بعينه وقد الف الكذاب ما لا يتالف له منه قال

بوداسف فما الفصل بين قول الصادق وقول الكاذب اذا كان
كلامهما معروفا وكان المعروف منه موجودا قال
بلوهر يفصل بينهما ان قول الكاذب معروف في معنى
الاسماء المفردة غير معروف التاليف ومثل ذلك من
قول الكاذب ان يقول النار باردة فالف بين اسمين
كلاهما معروف العين مفردا مستنكر التاليف مجموعا
ومثله من قول الصادق ان يقول النار حارة فالف
بين اسمين معروفين في العيان والتاليف قال
بوداسف ربما كان مع الصدق من البيان ما يكتفي
به المكتفي وربما جاء الحديث غير الصدق بين الصدق
والكذب عند سامعيه فمن اي هذين النوعين حديثك
قال بلوهر اقسم الكلام قسمين احدهما صدق والاخر
كذب ثم اقسم الصدق بوجهين احدهما بين يكتفى به
والاخر خفي يستدل بغيره عليه ثم اقسم الكذب قسمين
احدهما بين يكتفى به والاخر خفي يستدل بغيره عليه

وحديثي اياك عن الجنة والنار وربهما من الصدق
البين الذي يكتفى بنفسه ويستدل به على غيره
قال بوداسف هل يفترق البين عن البين كما يفترق
البين من الخفي قال بلوهر اقسم البين لوجهين
بيانهما سواء وتفسيرهما مختلف قال بوداسف فسر لي
تلك الوجوه وارني موقع حديثك منها قال بلوهر
افرق الكلام فرقتين فيصير احدهما صدقا والاخر كذبا
ثم افرق الصدق فريقين فيصير بعض بينا وبعض
خفيا ثم افرق البين فرقتين فيصير بعض في الاسماء
المفردة وبعضه في الاسماء المؤلفة وقد اجتمع في
حديثي اياك عن الله وعن الجنة والنار بيان الافراد
وبيان التاليف قال بوداسف قد اضطررتني
الى الايمان بالله وبما جاء من عنده من الثواب والعقاب