In Praise of Wisdom

Now, wise one, this is the right moment to speak of wisdom and describe it. So bring out whatever you know about wisdom, so the attentive ear may profit from it. Wisdom is better than anything God has given; to praise wisdom is the truest justice. Wisdom is your guide and it opens the heart; wisdom takes your hand in both worlds. From it comes your joy and from it your sorrow; from it your abundance and from it your lack. If a person's wisdom is clouded, though otherwise bright of soul, they will never feel true joy for even a moment. What did that sage, that man of reason, say, whose words a wise listener draws benefit from? Whoever does not keep wisdom before them will end up with a heart torn by their own deeds. The clear-headed will call such a person mad, and even their own kin will treat them as a stranger. Through wisdom you are honored in both worlds; without it, your feet are shackled and bound. Look closely: wisdom is the eye of the soul; without that eye you cannot travel this world with joy. Know that wisdom was the first thing created; it guards the soul and watches over the three senses. Your three watchmen are the eye, the ear, and the tongue, for through these three, without doubt, come both good and evil. Who could ever fully praise wisdom and the soul? And if I tried to praise them, who could bear to hear it all? Wise one, since no one can do it justice, what use is more talk? From here on, tell instead how creation came to be. You are the work of the world's Maker; you can see all things, both the open and the hidden. Seek the path through the words of those who know; travel the world and share what you learn with everyone. Whenever you hear a lesson from any field of knowledge, do not rest for a single moment from learning it. When you glimpse the branch of true understanding, you will realize that knowledge has no end.