Maxim: The sage said, “Just as an unbearable stench rises from a carcass, from an ignorant person there wafts the reek of ignorance, bringing harm to him, his neighbors, his household, and his relatives.”
Maxim: A sage was asked, “What is intellect?” He answered, “Sound judgment and a set of bonds that hold twenty-three pairs of opposites together; without these bonds the good would be confused with the bad.” Those bonds are
• between tawḥīd (monotheism) and shirk (polytheism),
• between faith and unbelief,
• between rancor and recklessness,
• between Islam and heedlessness,
• between certainty and doubt,
• between a good end and affliction,
• between generosity and miserliness,
• between good character and ugliness,
• between humility and arrogance,
• between friendship and enmity,
• between knowledge and ignorance,
• between modesty and brazenness,
• between truth and falsehood,
• between dignity and frivolity,
• between darkness and light,
• between honor and disgrace,
• between obedience and disobedience,
• between the remembrance of Allah and heedlessness,
• between sincere counsel and envy,
• between the Sunnah and innovation,
• between mercy and harshness,
• and between forbearance and folly.
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—said: All the beauties of this world reside in intellect, for every science and every deed ultimately return to intellect, as the following tale makes clear.
Anecdote: It is related that the wind once carried the throne of Solomon son of David—upon them be peace—until a city came into sight. Solomon ordered the wind to set him down, and it lowered him at the city gate, where he read the following inscription:
“The wage for one day of hard labor is a single dirham; beauty and comeliness command two hundred mithqāls a day; yet the value of one hour of knowledge cannot be reckoned. Everything depends on knowledge, though knowledge itself is captive; sound management and intellect are twins. Whoever Allah grants intellect, He has indeed granted abundant good.”
As the poet said:
If you descend from a line as precious as a flawless gem,
or rival fair Joseph, son of Jacob, in beauty,
Yet you do not sit in the company of your cherished intellect,
among people you will be nothing but despised and blamed.
So understand, dear brother, the reality, rarity, and lofty worth of intellect. Since you possess it, you must praise and thank the Bestower of every favor, the Creator—exalted is His power.