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- So(1) will the excuse(2) of the one who is censured—that(3) “such is my nature”—help him in the least, or can the same be said of a mere stumble?
- Or is censure and punishment even more certain for the man whose very disposition is to perpetrate vile evils?
(1) The T manuscript reads: “wa-hal.”
(2) Al-Durra al-Bahiyya has: “fa-hal yarfaʿna dhamma al-malum” (“so, will they remove the blame from the censured?”); manuscript A: “fa-hal yarfaʿna dhanba …” (“so, will they erase the sin …”); manuscript J: “fa-lam yanfaʿn ʿudhru al-malum li-annahu …” (“yet the excuse of the censured did not avail him, because …”).
(3) The ʿUqud recension simply reads: “li-annahu.”
٨٣- فهل (١) ينفعن عُذْرُ (٢) الملوم بأنه (٣) ... كذا طبعه أم هل يقال لعثرةِ
٨٤- أم الذمُّ والتعذيب أوكد للذي ... طبيعته فعل الشرور الشنيعة
(١) في ط: وهل.
(٢) في الدرة البهية: فهل يرفعن ذم الملوم، وفي أ: فهل يرفعن ذنب..
وفي ج: فلم ينفعن عذر الملوم لأنه.
(٣) في عقود: لأنه.