you hold testimony in someone’s favor of which he is unaware, and he is in pressing need of it, inform him of it. Give your poor brother such a grant as you are able, for its reward is tremendous.
Let your fear of God and your hope in Him through faith be equal; give predominance to hope and a good opinion of God, and aspire to His mercy. It is established from the Messenger of God, God bless him and grant him peace: “If the unbeliever knew the mercy that is with God, no one would despair of His Garden.”
Beware of refusing a gift or despising it, whatever it may be. Turn to God in repentance with every breath. If you enter into partnership with someone in anything, do not betray him. When you do a deed, do it well, for God has prescribed excellence in everything. Be humble and do not boast over anyone. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Qayrawānī said concerning this:
People are equals in their likeness:
Their father is Adam, and their mother Eve.
If from their origin they have a lineage
In which to boast, it is clay and water.
Excellence belongs only to the people of excellence, for they
Are guides upon guidance for those who seek it.
Notes
Translator’s note: The attribution “ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Qayrawānī” is retained as it appears in the supplied text; the identity intended by this wording is left unresolved.
