means by which both the subtleties and the great matters of knowledge are attained. If you suppose that some individuals of that generation were deficient, compare them with your Qarmatian esotericist brethren, the common followers of the Dahrī philosophers, and their counterparts among the ordinary Nusayrīs, Ismā‘īlīs, and others like them. You will find that the gulf in intellect and knowledge between the least of the former and the best of the latter is greater than the distance between the foot and the crown of the head.

Are not your companions the very people who answered the call of the Banū ‘Ubayd, whose plots and schemes deceived them in worldly and religious affairs, until they believed that someone among the most hardened unbelievers and inveterate liars was an infallible imam who possessed the knowledge of the first and last generations? Indeed, ordinary Christians, despite their profound ignorance and misguidance, are more discerning and intelligent than the ordinary people among your companions who answer the call of such men and submit to them.

Has there ever been a nation in the world more ignorant, more misguided, or further removed from reason and knowledge than a nation whose leaders are philosophers? Were not your Greek authorities, such as Aristotle