الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

الأخلاق والسير في مداواة النفوس

Al-Akhlâq wa’l-Siyar (Morals and Behaviour)

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

قَالَ أَبُو مُحَمَّد عَليّ بن أَحْمد بن [سعيد بن] حزم [الفقيه الأندلسي] رَضِي الله عَنهُ:

Abû Muhammad ‘Alî Ibn Ahmad Ibn Sa’îd Ibn Hazm [the Andalusian jurist]. Allâh may be pleased with him has said:

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

لابن حزم الأندلسي

By Ibn Hazm al-Andaloosee

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

الْحَمد لله على عَظِيم مننه، وَصلى الله على مُحَمَّد عَبده وَخَاتم أنبيائه وَرُسُله وَسلم تَسْلِيمًا، وَأَبْرَأ إِلَيْهِ تَعَالَى من الْحول وَالْقُوَّة، وَأَسْتَعِينهُ على كل مَا يعْصم فِي الدُّنْيَا من جَمِيع المخاوف والمكاره، ويخلص فِي الْأُخْرَى من كل هول ومضيق.

Praise be to Allâh for His great gifts. May Allâh bless [our master] Muhammad, His servant, the seal of His Prophets and Messengers; may He grant them eternal blessings. I rely on Him for any ability and strength I may have, and I seek His aid and protection against all the various terrors and ills of this world. And may He deliver me from all horror and suffering in the next world.

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

أما بعد: فَإِنِّي جمعت فِي كتابي هَذَا مَعَاني كَثِيرَة، أفادنيها واهب التَّمْيِيز تَعَالَى بمرور الْأَيَّام وتعاقب الْأَحْوَال، بِمَا منحني عز وَجل من التهمم بتصاريف الزَّمَان، والإشراف على أَحْوَاله، حَتَّى أنفقت فِي ذَلِك أَكثر عمري،

Now, I have gathered together in this book numerous ideas which Allâh, the provider of intellect, has enabled me to profit from as day succeeded day, [and year succeeded year] and circumstances altered, permitting me to understand the vicissitudes of fate and to control its fluctuations, to the extent that I have devoted the larger part of my life to it.

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

وزممت كل ما سبرت من ذلك بهذا الكتاب لينفع الله به من يشاء من عباده ممن يصل إليه ما أتعبت فيه نفسي، وأجهدتها فيه وأطلت فيه فكري فيأخذه عفوًا، وأهديت إليه هنيئًا، فيكون ذلك أفضل له من كنوز المال وعقد الأملاك إذا تدبره ويسره الله تعالى لاستعماله.

I have gathered together all my observations into this book in the hope that the Almighty may allow it to benefit whichever of His servants He wishes who has access to [is capable of understanding] my book, in the matters over which I have slaved, devoting all my efforts to them and reflecting at length upon them. I hope that it will be well received, and I present it with good intentions and blessings [with a good heart]. This book will benefit a person more than financial treasures and possessions of property, if he meditates upon it, and if Allâh enables him to make good use of it.

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

وأنا راجٍ في ذلك من الله تعالى، أعظم الأجر لنيتي في نفع عباده وإصلاح ما فسد من أخلافهم، ومداواة علل نفوسهم، وبالله تعالى أستعين.

As for myself, my hope in this enterprise is to win the greatest reward from Allâh, since my intention is to help His servants, to remedy whatever is corrupt in their character, and to heal the sickness of their souls. I beseech the assistance of Allâh [Almighty, we wish only for God, the best of defenders].

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

[فصل في] مداواة النفوس وإصلاح الأخلاق [الذميمة]

I) The Treatment to be given to Souls, and the Reform of Vicious Characters

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

لذة العاقل بتمييزه ولذة العالم بعلمه ولذة الحكيم بحكمته ولذة المجتهد لله عز وجل باجتهاده أعظم من لذة الآكل بأكله والشارب بشربه والواطئ بوطئه والكاسب بكسبه واللاعب بلعبه والآمر بأمره.

The pleasure which a prudent man has from his own good sense, a scholar from his knowledge, a wise man from his wisdom, the pleasure of anyone who works hard in ways pleasing to Almighty God, is greater than the pleasure which the gourmet has from his food, a drinking man from his tipple, a lover from the act of love, a conqueror from his conquest, a reveller from his amusements [the player from his game] or a commander from giving orders.

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

وبرهان ذلك أن الحكيم العاقل والعالم والعامل واجدون لسائر اللذات التي سمينا كما يجدها المنهمك فيها ويحسونها كما يحسها المقبل عليها [وقد تركوها وأعرضوا عنها وآثروا طلب الفضائل عليها] وإنما يحكم في الشيئين من عرفهما لا من عرف أحدهما ولم يعرف الآخر.

The proof of this is that the wise man, the prudent man, the scholar, the practising Muslim and all those that we have mentioned are capable of enjoying these pleasures as much as the man who indulges in them. They have the same feelings, desires as those who hasten to satisfy them. But they have deliberately refrained and turned away from them, preferring to seek after moral excellence. None can judge these two [kinds of pleasure] except someone who has known both, not someone who has known one and not the other.

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

وآثرت تقييد ذلك بالمطالعة [له] والفكرة فيه على جميع اللذات التي تميل إليها أكثر النفوس، وعلى الازدياد من فضول المال.

I have chosen to master these problems by study and contemplation, rather than throw myself into the various sensual pleasures which attract most souls on this earth, and rather than amass unnecessary wealth.

الأخلاق والسير
Morals and Behaviour

إذا تعقبت الأمور كلها فسدت عليك وانتهيت في آخر فكرتك -باضمحلال جميع أحوال الدنيا- إلى أن الحقيقة إنما هي العمل للآخرة فقط لأن كل أمل ظفرت [به فعقباه] حزن، إما بذهابه عنك وإما بذهابك عنه، ولا بد من أحد هذين الشيئين، إلا العمل لله عز وجل، فعقباه على كل حال سرور في عاجل وآجل.

[As things happen one after the other] If you look deeply into worldly matters you will become melancholy and will end by reflecting upon the ephemeral nature of everything here below, and the fact that truth lies only in striving for the hereafter, since every ambition to which you might cling will end in tears; either the goal is snatched from you, or you have to give the attempt up before you reach it. One of these two endings is inevitable except in the search for God the Almighty and Powerful. Then the result is always joy, both immediate and eternal.

انتقل إلى أعلى