and their ancestors; for, out of their good opinion of them and the reverence they showed them, they preferred what (1) those ancestors were upon to what the messengers had brought, holding them in too high esteem to oppose them or to testify that they were disbelievers, astray, and upon falsehood. Such is the situation of every blind imitator who venerates someone in any matter wherein he departs from the truth—until the Day of Resurrection.

Section

The fourth cause: that (2) a given interpretation has been accepted and approved by a person distinguished in some craft or in one of the subtle or lofty sciences; through his excellence in that field, his name is elevated among the people and his fame spreads. When an uninformed, inexperienced listener hears that this eminent figure has embraced that interpretation and innovation and has chosen it, he forms a good opinion of it, adopts it as his own creed, and is content to take the earlier figure as his imam. He says, “With his sharp natural talent, intelligence, sound mind, mastery of his craft, and the way he has surpassed his peers, he would only choose what is sounder and better among beliefs, and what is more correct and exemplary among interpretations. How can my choice compare with his? (3) I therefore accept for myself what he accepted for himself, for his intellect, mind, and innate talent surely guide him (4) to what is right, just as they guided him to what was hidden from others in his discipline and knowledge.”

This calamity has destroyed (5) nations beyond count—Allah alone knows their number. They observed that the philosophers excelled in the mathematical and medical sciences and, through the power of their intellects and the sharpness of their faculties, had deduced