Muhmmd Al-Hussini Islmic nd Jewish Duties of the Hert
Bḥyā ben Yūsuf ben Pākūdā l Andlusī The Book of Guidnce to the Duties of the Hert Introduction And s for the gtes which God the Exlted hs opened to knowledge of His religion nd lw, they re three. The first of them is the intellect sound from mldy, nd the second gte is the true Book of God inspired by Him to the Messenger (pece be upon him), nd the third gte is the Trditions trnsmitted upon the tongues of our forebers ccording to the prophets (my pece be upon them); nd our Mster Sʿdiā (my God enlighten his fce) hs previously expounded upon it to full stisfction. As for the knowledge of religion, it is divided into two prts. The first of the two is the duties of the limbs, which is externl knowledge; nd the second is the knowledge of the duties of the hert, b which is the conscience, c nd which is interior knowledge. As for the duties of the limbs, they re divided into two prts; the first of the two is the duties which re obligted by reson were their obligtion not to hve come in the Book, nd the second prt is trnsmitted d duties which reson neither obligtes nor prohibits, such s the prohibition of eting bsr be ḥlv e or the wering of רבנו סעדיה בשר בחלב Trnsltion by Muhmmd Al Hussini from the originl Judeo Arbic text qulūb msc. gen. pl. qlb hert root: q l b hert, centre, overturn c ḍmāʾir msc. nom. pl. ḍmīr conscience, volition, soul root: ḍ m r conscience, pronoun d smʿi fem. nom. sing. smʿī herd, url root: s m ʿ hering, listening e milk bsr be ḥlv met with בשר בחלב 1
shʿṭnez nd the sowing of kilyīm b nd mny the like thereof, the resons for whose prohibition nd the reson for obligtion of wht we hve been obligted in re conceled from us. As for the duties of the hert, the entirety of their roots re rtionl, ccording to wht I shll expound, with the strength of God the Exlted. The entirety of the duties re divided into commndment nd proscription, nd there is no need for us to elucidte tht in respect of the duties of the limbs becuse of their renown nd clrity. But I shll cite from mong the commndments duties of the hert nd their proscriptions which come to me, to be exmples for wht I hve not cited from them, with God s help. As for the commndments from the duties of the hert, mong them re the obligtions of our belief tht the world hs Cretor who creted it from nothing; moreover purity of [belief in] His Unity, c nd tht there is nothing like to Him; moreover our impertive of obedience to Him by our herts; moreover resoning upon Him by wy of considertion of His cretures; moreover relince upon Him, moreover modesty nd humility in his presence; d moreover the impertive of fer of Him nd vigilnce of Him nd shyness t His oversight of our exterior nd our internls; moreover our crving for His good plesure, nd sincerity in deed for ske of His fce; moreover love for the שעטנז כלאים crded, shʿṭnez mixture ; of obscure etymology; in the Mishn n crostic for three words mening שעטנז woven nd twisted, referring to the prohibition of wering wool nd flx mixtures b kilyīm both kinds, mixture, confusion ; referring to the prohibition of sowing seeds together of כלאים different kinds, or crossbreeding of nimls c twḥīd monotheistic unity of God verbl noun of wḥḥd he mde one, unified root: w ḥ d one, single, lone d byn ydyhi lit. between his two hnds 2
possessors of love for Him for ske of nerness to Him, nd htred for His hters nd whtever resembles tht whereof there is no expression in the limbs. As for the proscriptions of the duties of the hert, of them re everything contrry to wht we hve cited, nd of them re jelousy nd rncour nd vengence to the possessors of our lw, s the Book sys: You shll not tke vengence, nor ber ny grudge ginst the children of your people. And of them is the dwelling upon b the ide nd the notion of disobediences to God nd the yerning for them, nd the intention to execute them, nd whtever resembles tht from wht the conscience of the humn contins; nd none oversees it sve the Exlted Cretor, s it sys: I, the LORD serch the hert, I try the reins, c nd it sys: The lmp of God is the spirit of mn, serching ll the inwrd prts. d לא תקם ולא תטר את בני עמך אני יהוה חקר לב בחן כליות נר יהוה נשמת אדם חפש כל חדרי בטן. Leviticus 19:18 istiʿmāl usge, mnipultion verbl noun of istʿml he used, mnipulted root: ʿ m l do, work c Jeremih 17:10 d Proverbs 20:27 3
Bḥyā ben Yūsuf ben Pākūdā l Andlusī The Book of Guidnce to the Duties of the Hert The First Gte on the Exposition of the Aspects of Purity of Unity of the Cretor, Glorious nd Mighty Section 2 Sy: As to how mny prts re divided [belief in] the Unity b of God the Exlted, I sy indeed, since the expression of Unity hs become rife in the speech of the people of Unity, nd their constnt usge of it in their tlk hs multiplied, it hs become to them mong the expressions of stonishment in joy nd clmity, nd they use it s lment upon tribultion to mplify its mtter nd render it more wful, without thinking upon the knowledge of the true mening of wht is relesed upon their tongues in ignornce nd fecklessness. And they fncy tht the mening of Unity is cler to them s its pronouncing is cler to them, nd they do not sense tht their herts re devoid c of the truth of it, nd their consciences re empty of its mening, since they render it Unity by their tongues nd their expressions while they believe it by their herts s more thn one, nd they fshion Trnsltion by Michel Shire nd Muhmmd Al Hussini from the originl Judeo Arbic text twḥīd monotheistic unity of God verbl noun of wḥḥd he mde one, unified root: w ḥ d one, single, lone c ṣifr msc. nom. sing. zero, nil, void 4
it in their consciences fter the form of the generlity of extnt unities, nd they describe it by ttributes which do not suit the One, the True by reson of their ignornce of the mening of true [bsolute] Unity nd metphoricl b [reltive] Unity, except for the select from mong the people of Unity who re firm in knowledge nd understnd the mening of the Cretor nd the creted, nd the conditions of the One, the True nd His ttributes. And the philosopher spoke truly in his sying tht none worships the Cuse of cuses nd Primordil of primordils except the prophet of the ge by his nture, nd the philosopher elucidting wht he hs gined in knowledge. As for those other thn the pir of them, they only worship one other thn Him, becuse they do not understnd n existence except s composite, nd for tht reson it is necessry to differentite [belief in] Unity ccording to the difference in the intellect of the people nd the superiority of their discernment in regrd to Unity, into four divisions. The first of them is [belief in] the Unity of God by the tongue only, nd it is its first degree to which re rised the child nd the ignornt of the mening of religion, while there is no truth of the mening of it in himself. The second division is [belief in] the Unity of God in the hert nd the tongue ccording to Trdition nd good conjecture by trnsmission, while he hs no knowledge of the soundness of tht from the spect of his reson nd his understnding. So he is in the sttion of blind mn led by possessor of sound ḥqīqī msc. gen. sing. true, rel, genuine root: ḥ q q truth, right, correct mjāzī msc. gen. sing. metphoricl, llegoricl, figurtive root: m j z productive, metphor 5
sight, nd perhps he hs imitted n imittor like him, nd they re in the sttion of group of blind men. Ech one of them hs put his hnd upon the shoulder of his compnion, nd his compnion likewise upon the shoulder of the one whom he follows, nd the one whom he follows upon the one whom he follows, until the ffir ends with the sighted mn who leds them. And if the leder should be neglectful of them in vigilnce of them or fil to wtch them, or one of them were to fll, or if n ccident should befll him, the disequilibrium would pertin to ll of them, nd they would stry from their pth or perhps they would fll in ditch or stumble upon something which obstructs them from going. Thus, the follower of Trdition in his [belief in] Unity is not secure from polytheism, for if he hers something from the speech nd rguments of the unbelievers, b perhps his doctrine my chnge nd he disbelieve without his sensing, nd for tht reson our forebers (pece be upon them) sid: Be diligent in study nd know wht to nswer heretic. c And the third of the divisions of [belief in] Unity is the [belief in] Unity of God with the hert nd the tongue fter resoning upon it nd the soundness of His existence by wy of nlysis, without knowledge of the mening of true [bsolute] Unity nd metphoricl [reltive] Unity. He is in the sttion of the possessor of sound sight, הוי שוקד ללמוד ודע מה שתשיב את אפיקורום shirk msc. nom. sing. ssocitionism, polytheism root: sh r k prtner, ssocition, compny kuffār msc. gen. pl. kāfir rejecter, unbeliever root: k f r rejection, disbelief c Pirke Avot 2:14 6
when he wlks upon pth intending towrd distnt lnd, nd the pth is bundnt in uncertinty, nd he hs no knowledge nd no discernment of the most desired rod to the lnd towrd which he is intending, while he knows the direction nd course. So he tires gretly nd does not rrive t his desire becuse of his ignornce of the rod, s the Wise One hs sid: The lbour of fools weries every one of them, for he does not know how to go to the city. And the fourth division is [the belief in] the Unity of God, Mighty nd Glorious, by the hert nd the tongue fter resoning upon it nd stnding upon the trueness of His monotheism by wy of nlysis nd use of rtionl nlogy, nd it is the most perfect nd the highest of them, which the prophet (pece be upon him) urges upon by his sying: Know it tody nd ly it upon your hert, tht the LORD is the God. עמל הכסילים תיגענו אשר לא ידא ללכת על עיר וידעת היום והשבת אל לבבך כי יהוה הוא האלהים Ecclesistes 10:15 b Deuteronomy 4:39 7
Bḥyā ben Yūsuf ben Pākūdā l Andlusī The Book of Guidnce to the Duties of the Hert Introduction Thus, king from mong the kings pportioned mong his slves skeins of silk to put to the test their intelligence. So the proficient nd sensible one mong them selected the best of wht he hd from out of wht he hd obtined, then selected the best lso from wht remined, nd pportioned it into three grdes, superltive, medium nd inferior. Then he mnufctured from ech grde to its best extent ccording to wht ws pproprite to be mde from it; moreover he put to service with it the clsses b of crftsmen to mke silk clothes of different styles nd colours, nd then dorned himself with them in the presence of c the king, in every occsion nd in every plce, ccording to whichever of them ws comptible for it. And the ignornt one from mong the king s slves mde from the entirety of wht he hd obtined of the silk whtever the proficient one hd mde, from the lowest nd inferior of his silk. Then he took for it the price tht grtified him nd used its profit in good food nd delicious drink, nd the like thereof. When tht reched the king, he regrded with fvour Trnsltion by Michel Shire nd Muhmmd Al Hussini from the originl Judeo Arbic text ṭbqāt fem. gen. pl. ṭbq ctegory, clss root: ṭ b q strtum, level, grde, genelogy c byn ydyhi lit. between his two hnds 8
the ction of the proficient nd sensible one nd he brought him ner to his presence nd elected him to his select echelon, nd he bhorred the ction of the ignornt one from mong his slves, nd sent him fr nd bnished him to the wildest plce in his lnd, nd lodged him in the bode of the people of his wrth. Thus, O brother, does God, Glorious nd Mighty, recompense his cretion. His true Book is test for us. So the intelligent, clever nd sensible one, when he reds the Book of God nd understnds it well, pportions it into three prts. The first of them is the fmilirity with the subtle spiritul menings which re the inner knowledge, such s the knowledge of the duties of the hert, nd the etiquettes of the soul, b nd he will oblige himself to the lbour of them constntly. Then he bstrcts out from it second prt, being the knowledge of the duties of the limbs t its time nd t its plce. Then he uses the third portion in the knowledge of the histories nd fmilirity with the clsses of people nd their genelogy ccording to the cohorts of former genertions, nd wht pssed by wy of the stories nd reports in the er of the ncients; nd he pplies every thing from tht in its time nd in its plce suitble for it, ccording to the need of it. In ddition to tht, he seeks the help in his ppliction in every one of them the science of mthemtics, nd the ʾnzlhu 3 sing. perf. + 3 sing. cc. pron. ʾnzl he sent down root IV: n z l descend, go down nufūs msc. gen. pl. nfs soul, person, breth root: n f s breth, soul, person, mind 9
science of epistemology, nd the science of logicl deduction, since from them rise the introductions to theologicl science; becuse whoever is ignornt of them will not discern the trces b of the Wisdom of the Cretor, Exlted is He, in His cretures, nd will be ignornt of the ffirs of his own body, over nything the like of it; just s the proficient slve used the instruments of the crftsmen in completion of wht he intended to mke from the king s silk. burhān msc. gen. sing. proof, evidence root: b r h n demonstrtion, evidence, testimony, verifiction ʾāthār msc. cc. pl. ʾthr trce, vestige, influence root: ʾ th r impression, vestige, influence, ruins 10