The author's prologue and the plan of the book

( In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate )

The fittest thing the tongue may utter, and whose obligation is established by the blazing rays of demonstration, is praise to Him who deserves praise for the permanence of His majesty and exaltation, and thanks to Him who merits thanks for the completeness of His blessings and bounties: He whose wondrous handiworks have become manifest and whose marvellous originations dazzle the eye; who brought the creatures into being by the perfection of His power, and whose exquisite craftings point to the subtleties of His wisdom; who favoured man above the rest of creation with preponderant intellect and righteous works, that he might discern the outcomes of prudence and draw taut the courses of resolve, and who enabled him to climb the ascents of perfection and to adorn himself with sound deeds, so that he might be lit by the light of success and given drink in the shade of prosperity. We praise Him with a praise that calls for the doubling of what is best, and we thank Him with a thanks that summons blessing upon blessing; and we call down blessing and peace upon His Messenger, the chosen one from among the righteous, the elect from among the best, possessed of great character (akhlāq) and noble lineage: Muḥammad and his family, the choicest of mankind and the beacon of guidance — the blessings of God be upon him and upon them all. To proceed: the noblest and highest of the sciences, the most august of the branches of knowledge and the most fitting, is that which serves man as a means to everlasting felicity and to true joy; and man's utmost degree in felicity, and his highest rank in pleasure and joy in this world and the next, is that he should win through to knowledge of the Necessary Existent and of what proceeds from Him in the order in which it exists. He cannot reach that except by purifying his inward self of blameworthy attributes and adorning it with praiseworthy character.

The science that undertakes to set forth the rules of this purification and adornment is the science of the refinement of character (tahdhīb al-akhlāq), which is called spiritual medicine (al-ṭibb al-rūḥānī). It is the science that guides to the most exemplary roads and the straightest ways, and that makes plain the purpose for which the Books were sent down and the Messengers sent. It is the means to the kindling and acquisition of the virtues (faḍāʼil, sing. faḍīlah), and the instrument for gathering in the perfections of the soul (nafs) and taking them wholly in. This is an epitome of that science, sufficient to fix its principles and its rules, adequate to bind together its branches and its stray particulars. In it I have gathered the choicest sayings of the sages on the noble traits of character and their brightest blazes, and the scattered gold of the maxims of the excellent on the beauties of good conduct and their pearls; and by composing it I have served the library of the most great patron, master of the necks of the nations, lord of the viziers of the East and of China, quintessence of the sultan of sultans, deliverer of creation from destruction, holder of the chancery of the realms, succour of mankind, rain-shower of liberality, banner of guidance: Muḥammad, the praised one in the highest assembly —

A vizier who of all men has the first claim upon exaltation — so the Lord of the Throne has granted him of bounty all that best became him.

May his banners and standards never cease to be granted victory, and his enemies never cease to be crushed by annihilation and abasement. And although God has given him, in the very root of his native constitution (fiṭrah), such soundness of judgement as dispenses him from seeking any supply, so that he stands in no need of any completing of his readiness in order to acquire the noble traits of character; and although He (exalted be He) has upheld him with holy attributes and human perfections, with celestial powers and angelic settled dispositions (malakāt), so that he sees what is good for the kingdom in the mirror of his own judgement, with the eye of inspiration and of divine enabling, as though he were looking upon the unseen from behind a thin curtain — yet a multiplying of lights upon obscure things is the more profitable, and the more effective in driving off the darkness of doubtful resemblances; for the valley's flood comes of the flowing of scant streams, and the overflowing of rivers of drops that follow one upon another. So what is asked of God (exalted be He) is that this epitome may shine in the heights of his presence with the honour of arrival; that He let it fall in the place of acceptance; that He lengthen his continuance in lasting glory, and make his shade and his bounties perpetual over the people of excellence. He is the One whose help is sought, and upon Him is all reliance.

I have arranged this book, in epitome, in three parts, each part of them in two chapters:

( Part One ) on the universal principles of the science of character (ʻilm al-akhlāq) ( Its First Chapter ) on its preliminaries and its first principles ( The Second Chapter ) on its objects of inquiry and its aims ( Part Two ) on the particular branches of the beauties of character ( Its First Chapter ) on the counsels of the sages and the rules of conduct profitable in every department ( The Second Chapter ) on those rare sayings that pass current as proverbs ( Part Three ) on what belongs properly to the beauties of the character of kings and to the conduct of their followers among servants and retainers ( Its First Chapter ) on the noble traits of the character of kings in particular ( The Second Chapter ) on the conduct of servants. And I ask God (exalted be He) for the enabling grace of right direction; He is tender toward His servants, and He is my sufficiency and the best of trustees.

( Part One ) on the universal principles of the science of character