Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Ghālib ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Mundhir, better known as Ibn Zaṭīnā al-Baghdādī, the chancery scribe of the city. He embraced Islam—having formerly been a Christian—so his Islam became excellent; he was among the most eloquent of people and the most persuasive in exhortation. Of his sayings are these:
“The finest of your moments is an hour devoted purely to Allah, and cleansed (1) of thinking about anyone other than Him and of placing hope in anyone besides Him (2). As long as you remain in the service of the ruler, do not be deceived by the times. Restrain your hand, avert your gaze, increase your fasting, shorten your sleep and you will be secure; give thanks to your Lord and your affairs will be praised.
“Provision for the traveller must precede (3) his departure, so lay up your supplies and you will reach the wished-for homecoming.
“How long will you persist in heedlessness, as though you were safe from the consequences of delay? The span of frivolity has passed, the season of youth is gone, yet you have acquired no sure pledge of your Lord’s good pleasure. Matters have brought you to the age of enfeeblement and the time of indolence, and still you have gained no lasting profit.
“Your spirit submits, but your eye sheds no tears; your heart does not humble itself, your self is covetous, and you wrong (4) your own soul even as you lament for it. You put on a show of renouncing the world, yet for wealth (5) you yearn. You chase what is not rightfully yours, while you do not discharge (6) what is rightfully due from you. You seek your Lord’s bounty, yet you withhold the smallest charity. You censure (7) your commanding self, yet it never turns from entertainment. You rouse the heedless with your warnings, then feign sleep when your own share is due (8) and you doze off. You single out others for your beneficence while your own needy soul you leave without benefit. You hover about the truth even while you are infatuated (9) with falsehood. You stumble in narrow passes though the pathways (10) of salvation lie broad before you. You plunge into sins and intercede for the criminals; you display contentment with little yet are never sated with much; you build up the perishing abode while your everlasting dwelling lies a desolate ruin; you settle into a lodging of departure as though you would never return to your Lord; you imagine that no watcher observes you while your deeds are being raised to the Watcher; you venture upon grave sins while shunning minor ones, and you hope for forgiveness even while you