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• The world is like a wanton woman who never stays with one husband; she seeks out husbands only so that they may be admired on her account—so do not accept being her cuckold.

I weighed her beauty against her deeds,
And found that all her charm cannot make up for her disgrace.

She swore to us she would never betray our covenants;
Indeed, it was as though she swore she would never keep them. (1)

Pursuing her is a march across ground stalked by predators (2), and swimming in her is like diving into a crocodile pool. Whatever you rejoice over from her is precisely what you will one day mourn; her pains are born of her pleasures, and her sorrows of her joys.

Desires that in youth were sweetness to their owners
Have, in the grey of age, become unalloyed torment. (3)

• The bird of instinct sees only the grain, while the eye of reason sees the snare; yet the eye of passion is blind.

The eye of contentment is too dim to spot every flaw,
Just as the eye of anger lays bare every fault. (4)

• Passions have been adorned for the eyes of raw nature; those who believe in the unseen looked away, whereas their followers fell into a wilderness of regrets. Thus, “They are the ones who are upon guidance from their Lord, and they are the successful.” (5) [al-Baqarah: 5]. Such people will be told: “Eat…"