—namely, that they might otherwise lavish it on a book of depravity: volumes of idle tales, collections of verse, or the so-called wisdom of Persia and Rome.

So grasp the essence of religion. Examine what each action contains of lawful benefit and harmful consequence, so that you may discern the ranks of right and of wrong and, when responsibilities collide, give precedence to the weightier of them. This is the very core of the knowledge brought by the messengers. Merely distinguishing between the general category of good and that of evil, or between what is evidence and what is not, is often easy (1).

But to discriminate among the levels of good and evil, and the grades of proof—so that, when duties compete, one advances the most evident good (2), censures the most repugnant evil, and prefers the stronger of two proofs—is the particular expertise of this religion’s scholars.

These levels are three:

1. A righteous act that the Divine Law prescribes and in which there is no disapproval whatsoever.
2. (3) A righteous act in some—or most—of its aspects, either because the intention behind it is sound or because it incorporates, alongside other elements, portions that the Law endorses.
3. (4) An act that contains no righteousness at all: either because it entails abandoning a righteous deed entirely, or because it is sheer corrupt behavior.