2789 – Muḥammad narrated to us; he said: Yaḥyā narrated to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥasan narrated to us; he said: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us, from Maʿmar, from Ibn Burqān—that is, Jaʿfar—that ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ wrote to Muʿāwiyah rebuking him for excessive deliberation. Muʿāwiyah replied:

“To proceed: ⦗1534⦘
Reflecting on information brings increase and right guidance. The truly guided person is the one who is steered away from haste, while the truly frustrated is he who is frustrated for lack of deliberation. The deliberate man hits the mark—or comes very close—whereas the hasty man errs—or is on the verge of erring. Whoever is not benefited by gentleness will be harmed by roughness, and whoever is not schooled by experience will neither reach lofty stations nor attain the level of sound judgment until his knowledge outweighs his ignorance and his patience outweighs his desire—and none attains that except through the strength of forbearance.”