Mashrabaمشربة

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الحكم العطائية

←→Read ¶36 in the text

36 · 46 words · shading: how many commentators stop on each word

أَصْلُ كُلِّ مَعْصِيَةٍ وَغَفْلَةٍ وَشَهْوَةٍ الرِّضَا عَنِ النَّفْسِ وَأَصْلُ كُلِّ طَاعَةٍ وَيَقَظَةٍ وَعِفَّةٍ عَدَمُ الرِّضَا مِنْكَ عَنْهَا وَلَانْ تَصْحَبَ جَاهِلًا لَا يَرْضَى عَنْ نَفْسِهِ خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنْ أَنْ تَصْحَبَ عَالِمًا يَرْضَى عَنْ نَفْسِهِ فَأَىُّ عِلْمٍ لِعَالِمٍ يَرْضَى عَنْ نَفْسِهِ وَأَىُّ جَهْلٍ لِجَاهِلٍ لَا يَرْضَى عَنْ نَفْسِهِ

The root of every act of disobedience, every heedlessness and every appetite is contentment with the self; and the root of every act of obedience, every wakefulness and every chastity is your lack of contentment with it. That you should keep company with an ignorant man who is not content with himself is better for you than that you should keep company with a learned man who is content with himself. For what knowledge has a learned man who is content with himself? And what ignorance has an ignorant man who is not content with himself?

On the whole passage · 1 of 1

Ibn ʿAbbād

الرضا عن النفس أصل جميع الصفات المذمومة وعدم الرضا عنها أصل الصفات المحمودة وقد اتفق على هذا جميع العارفين وأرباب القلوب وذلك لان الرضا عن النفس يوجب تغطية عيوبها ومساويها ويصير قبيحها حسنا … فائدة الصحبة انما هى الزيادة فى الحال وعدم النقصان فيها حسبما يأتى الكلام عليه عند قوله لا تصحب من لا ينهضك حاله ولا يدلك على الله مقاله فصحبة من يرضى عن نفسه وان كان عالما شر محض ولا فائدة فيها

Satisfaction with the self (*al-riḍā ʿan al-nafs*) is the root of all blameworthy qualities, and the absence of satisfaction with it is the root of the praiseworthy qualities. All the gnostics (*al-ʿārifūn*) and the masters of hearts (*arbāb al-qulūb*) are agreed on this. That is because satisfaction with the self requires covering over its faults and its wicked traits, and makes what is ugly in it appear beautiful … The benefit of companionship (*ṣuḥba*) lies only in increase in one's spiritual state (*ḥāl*) and freedom from any diminution in it, as will be discussed at his saying, "Do not keep company with one whose state does not rouse you and whose speech does not guide you to God." So keeping company with one who is satisfied with himself, even if he is learned, is sheer evil, and there is no benefit in it.

The opening of his commentary only; the whole of it runs over pdf 38–40 (printed p. 34–36) of the print: follow the link to the page images.

Ibn ʿAbbād · pdf 38–40 (printed p. 34–36)

Ibn ʿAbbād's Arabic: the opening of his commentary on each passage, transcribed from the page images of the Cairo 1319/1901 print and read twice (each comment links to the page where his commentary on that passage begins; the rest of it is on the following pages, not transcribed). English translations of the commentaries and of the passage are AI (Claude) and marked. Differences are computed by comparing the words each commentator quotes with our working text; they may reflect a different manuscript reading, a paraphrase, or an alignment error. About this text.