Preface

Boundless thanks and limitless praise to the Necessary Being, God, whose power is exalted, who adorned humankind with the ornament of reason and dressed it in the form of existence, so that through it a person might strive to the utmost in acquiring noble character and beautiful qualities. And countless blessings upon the luminous, fragrant resting place of the Lord of all creation, Muhammad the Chosen, upon whom be the most perfect greetings, whose robe of nature and decree of creation were embroidered with the words «Were it not for you, I would not have created the heavens» and crowned with «Truly you are of a magnificent character». And peace and greetings upon his descendants and companions, for whichever of them you follow, you will be guided rightly. Now then: let it not be hidden from people of perfection, to whom this address is directed, that over the body of every human being a noble substance called the soul is appointed as guardian and master, coming from the realm of command, as in «Say: the spirit is from the command of my Lord». The true reality of a person is that substance; it stands by its own essence, is protected and preserved from annihilation, and is capable of progress and perfection. Just as the body takes pleasure in appetites and sensory delights and turns toward the lower world, so the soul takes its share from knowledge of the Glorious Lord, which is the final goal of all goals, and from grasping truths and dispensing good, and it turns toward the sacred world. And just as the body, through chronic disease, loses its proper function, so too the soul, when it falls sick with the illnesses peculiar to it, love of rank and wealth, chasing appetites, and attention to the pleasures of the lower world, loses its proper function: beholding the majestic Lord, grasping the intelligibles, and dispensing good. Indeed, a poet must have said in this sense: You were raised out of both worlds, nurtured through so many intermediaries. You are the first in the plan of creation and the last in the reckoning; do not treat yourself as something trivial. And just as physicians have devoted their effort to curing the body's ills and preserving its health, so the prophets fixed their aim on driving off the afflictions and diseases of the soul, in order to bring it from deadly whirlpools and the abyss of ignorance to the shore of salvation and perfection. When a wise man reflects carefully, it becomes clear to him that the purpose of sending those who bore the trust of prophethood was to refine the character and purify the conduct of God's servants. This meaning has flowed onto a poet's tongue in this manner: Whether or not a prophet comes, keep your conduct pure, for a person of clean character does not go to hell. The Prophet himself lifted the veil from the face of this bride of meaning and displayed the beauty of this hint upon the throne of plain statement, saying, «I was sent to perfect noble character». The scholars of old set down in writing, in long treatises whose meaning my humble understanding cannot fully grasp, the best and safest way to perfect one's character. From the blessed time of Adam the Pure until this age, the noblest of humankind have, with great toil and discipline, striven mightily to understand the four virtues, wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice, and have counted them the cause of worldly happiness and otherworldly salvation, and have said: Whatever your religion, be a doer of good and generous, for unbelief with good character is better than Islam with bad character. Now, in this age which is the cream of all eras and the essence of all centuries, since the temperament of the great has grown refined and men of high mind and lofty judgment have appeared, they have turned their clear thought and sound reflection upon the whole matter of this life and the next. The old customs seemed base and worthless to their discerning eyes; and since, with the passing of time, most of those old rules had decayed, reviving them weighed heavy on the noble minds and luminous hearts of these people. So, like true men, they trod underfoot those old morals and ways, and for the sake of their life and their hereafter they took up this new path now current among the great and the notables, of which this brief treatise sets out to describe a little, and they firmly built the foundation of their religious and worldly affairs upon it. The field of meanings is open and the thread of talk is long; let us begin with our purpose. For some time this feeble one, Obayd Zakani, has felt a stirring in his heart to compose a brief work: partly on the morals of the ancients, which people now call the abolished code, and partly on the morals and ways of the great of this age, which they consider the chosen code, so that it may benefit seekers of this science and beginners on this road. Thus he set down this treatise, named The Ethics of the Aristocrats, and arranged it in seven chapters, each containing two doctrines: the abolished doctrine by which the ancients lived, and the chosen doctrine which our great men have now invented. And although the scope of this brief work ends in satire, still: Anyone who knows this city knows where our wares come from. The hope of this feeble one, in composing this brief work, is that: Perhaps some kind heart, some day, somewhere, will say a prayer for this poor man's cause.