The author's prologue and the plan of the book

( Bismi Allāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm )

Inna awlá mā naṭaqa bihi al-lisān wa-thabata wujūbuhu bi-sawāṭiʻ al-burhān al-ḥamd li-man yastaḥiqq al-ḥamd li-dawām al-majd wa-al-ʻulá wa-al-shukr li-man yastawjib al-shukr li-tamām al-niʻam wa-al-ālāʼ alladhī ẓaharat ʻajāʼib maṣnūʻātuhu wa-baharat gharāʼib mubdaʻātuhu wa-awjada al-khalāʼiq bi-kamāl qudratihi wa-dalla badāʼiʻ ṣanʻatihi ʻalá laṭāʼif ḥikmatihi wa-faḍḍala al-insān ʻalá al-barīyah bi-al-ʻaql al-rājiḥ wa-al-ʻamal al-ṣāliḥ ḥattá tubṣira natāʼij al-ḥazm wa-tūtira manāhij al-ʻazm wa-waqqahu lil-taraqqí fī madārij al-kamāl wa-al-taḥallí bi-ṣawāliḥ al-aʻmāl ḥattá yastaḍīʼ bi-nūr al-najāḥ wa-yastaqí bi-ẓill al-falāḥ naḥmaduhu ḥamdan yaqtaḍī taḍāʻuf al-ḥusná wa-nashkuruhu shukran yastadʻí tarāduf al-nuʻmá wa-nuṣallí wa-nusallim ʻalá rasūlihi al-Muṣṭafá min al-abrār al-mujtabī min al-akhyār dhī al-akhlāq al-ʻaẓīmah wa-al-aʻrāq al-karīmah Muḥammad wa-ālihi khiyār al-wará wa-manār al-hudá ṣalawāt Allāh ʻalayhi wa-ʻalayhim ajmaʻīn ammā baʻd fa-inna ashraf al-ʻulūm wa-aʻlāhā wa-ajall al-maʻārif wa-awlāhā mā yakūn dharīʻah lil-insān ilá al-saʻādah al-abadīyah wa-al-bahjah al-ḥaqīqīyah wa-al-darajah al-quṣwá lil-insān fī al-saʻādah wa-al-rutbah al-ʻulyā lahu fī al-ladhdhah wa-al-bahjah fī al-dunyā wa-al-ākhirah an yafūz bi-maʻrifat wājib al-wujūd wa-mā ṣadara ʻanhu ʻalá al-tartīb al-mawjūd wa-lā yumkin wuṣūluhu ilá dhālika illā bi-tazkiyat al-bāṭin ʻan al-awṣāf al-madhmūmah wa-taḥliyatihi bi-al-akhlāq al-maḥmūdah

wa-al-ʻilm al-kāfil bi-bayān qawāʻid al-tazkiyah wa-al-taḥliyah huwa ʻilm tahdhīb al-akhlāq al-musammá bi-al-ṭibb al-rūḥānī wa-huwa al-ʻilm al-hādī ilá amthal al-ṭuruq wa-aqwam al-subul wa-al-mubayyin li-mā huwa al-maqṣūd min inzāl al-kutub wa-irsāl al-rusul wa-huwa al-dharīʻah ilá iqtibās al-faḍāʼil wa-iktisābihā wa-al-wasīlah li-istijmāʻ kamālāt al-nafs wa-istīʻābihā . wa-hādhā mukhtaṣar fī hādhā al-ʻilm kāf fī ḍabṭ uṣūlihi wa-qawāʻidihi wāf bi-rabṭ furūʻihi wa-awbadihi . jamaʻtu fīhi ʻuyūn aqwāl al-ḥukamāʼ fī makārim al-akhlāq wa-ghurarihā wa-shudhūr amthāl al-fuḍalāʼ fī maḥāsin al-ādāb wa-durarihā wa-khadamtu bi-taʼlīfihi khizānat kutub al-makhdūm al-aʻẓam mālik riqāb al-umam mawlá wuzarāʼ al-sharq wa-al-Ṣīn khulāṣat sulṭān al-salāṭīn munqidh al-khalq min al-mahālik ṣāḥib dīwān al-mamālik ghiyāth al-wará ghayth al-nadá ʻalam al-hudá Muḥammad al-maḥmūd fī al-malaʼ al-aʻlá

Wazīrun huwa al-awlá min al-nāsi bi-al-ʻulá ٭ fa-awlāhu rabbu al-ʻarshi bi-al-ṭawli mā awlá

lā-zāla manṣūr al-alwiyah wa-al-aʻlām maqhūr al-ʻidá bi-al-ibādah wa-al-irghām . wa-huwa wa-in kāna ātāhu Allāh fī aṣl al-fiṭrah min ṣawāb al-raʼy mā yughnīhi ʻan istimdād wa-lā yaftaqir fī iqtināʼ makārim al-akhlāq ilá takmīl istiʻdād wa-ayyadahu taʻālá bi-al-ṣifāt al-qudsīyah wa-al-kamālāt al-insīyah wa-al-quwá al-falakīyah wa-al-malakāt al-malakīyah yará maṣāliḥ al-mulk fī mirʼāt raʼyihi bi-ʻayn al-ilhām wa-al-tawfīq ka-annahu yanẓur ilá al-ghayb min warāʼ sajf raqīq lākin takāthur al-anwār ʻalá al-mubhamāt anfaʻ wa-iẓlām al-shubah adfaʻ fa-inna madda al-wādí min sayl al-bulghāt wa-fayḍ al-anhār min tawālí al-qaṭarāt . fa-al-masʼūl min Allāh taʻālá an yushriq hādhā al-mukhtaṣar fī ʻulyā ḥaḍratihi bi-sharaf al-wuṣūl wa-an yūqiʻahu mawqiʻ al-qubūl wa-an yuṭīl fī al-ʻizz al-dāʼim baqāhu wa-yudīm ʻalá ahl al-faḍl ẓillahu wa-nuʻmāhu wa-huwa al-mustaʻān wa-ʻalayhi al-tuklān

wa-rattabtu hādhā al-kitāb mukhtaṣaran ʻalá thalāthat aqsām kull qism minhā ʻalá faṣlayn

( al-qism al-awwal ) fī al-uṣūl al-kullīyah li-ʻilm al-akhlāq ( al-faṣl al-awwal minhu ) fī muqaddimātihi wa-mabādīhi ( al-faṣl al-thānī ) fī maṭālibihi wa-maqāṣidihi ( al-qism al-thānī ) fī al-furūʻ al-juzʼīyah li-maḥāsin al-akhlāq ( al-faṣl al-awwal minhu ) fī naṣāʼiḥ al-ḥukamāʼ wa-al-ādāb al-nāfiʻah fī jamīʻ al-abwāb ( al-faṣl al-thānī ) fī-mā yajrī majrá al-amthāl al-sāʼirah min al-kalimāt al-nādirah ( al-qism al-thālith ) fī-mā yakhtaṣṣ bi-maḥāsin akhlāq al-mulūk wa-ādāb atbāʻihim min al-khadam wa-al-ḥawāshí ( al-faṣl al-awwal minhu ) fī makārim akhlāq al-mulūk khāṣṣah ( al-faṣl al-thānī ) fī ādāb al-khadam wa-asʼal Allāh taʻālá tawfīq al-sadād innahu raʼūf bi-al-ʻibād wa-huwa ḥasbī wa-niʻma al-wakīl

( al-qism al-awwal ) fī al-uṣūl al-kullīyah li-ʻilm al-akhlāq