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Maamar X: On What It Is Most Fitting for a Person to Do in This World.
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Preamble. The Tenth Maamar: on what is most beneficial for a person to do in the abode of this world.
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Preamble. This is a maamar into which many people have ventured, yet few have arrived at the praiseworthy view.
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I say by way of opening: since the Creator of all (mighty and exalted) is one in essence, it necessarily follows that created things are constituted from many things — as I demonstrated above.
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And I say here: even the visible unity — whatever unity it may be — is unity only in the domain of number; when examined more carefully, it contains many meanings.
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To put it more plainly: with all existing things, when any body is examined, one finds in it heat, cold, moisture, and dryness.
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When the body of a tree is examined, one finds additionally branches, leaves, fruit, and whatever is joined to them.
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When the body of a person is examined, one finds additionally flesh, bones, sinews, veins, and muscles, and all that is joined to them.
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This is something that admits no doubt, nor can one deny its being-found; and all of it is by design of the Creator — for the Creator (mighty and exalted) is one, yet his works are many.
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This is what Scripture says: 'How manifold are your works, O Lord; all of them you have made with wisdom' (Ps. 104:24).
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Even the heavens contain a diversity of parts, magnitudes, forms, colors, and motions beyond enumeration — and by that it is the heavens.
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As Scripture says: 'Who made the Pleiades and Orion and the chambers of the south' (Job 9:9).
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Section I.
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Having premised this, I say now: similarly, the person has loves for many things
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and aversions to many things — as it says: 'Many plans are in a person's heart, but the counsel of the Lord shall stand' (Prov. 19:21).
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For just as bodies cannot subsist on one of the four elements alone, and the body of a tree cannot stand with just one of its parts —
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and a person cannot live on one bone or on flesh alone, and even the heavens cannot be lit by a single star —
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so too a person cannot be expected to conduct himself through his whole life by a single character trait.
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Rather, it is from the combination of what we described in each domain — more of one thing and less of another — that each matter reaches completion.
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So too from the combination of a person's character traits — loves and aversions in greater and lesser measure — his well-being is achieved.
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It is as if one brings these traits before a judge to render judgment over them — as Scripture says: 'A good man shows favor and lends; he conducts his affairs with justice' (Ps. 112:5).
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Or as if one weighed them and assigned them their portions — as it says: 'Level the path of your foot' (Prov. 4:26). When a person does this, his affairs are in equilibrium and well-ordered.
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What prompted me to place this section at the opening of this maamar is that I observed people who believe with certainty that a person ought to conduct himself by a single character trait for his whole life —
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preferring love of one thing above all else and aversion to one thing above all else. I examined this view and found it to be utterly erroneous in several respects.
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One: if love of and preference for a single thing were most beneficial, the Creator would not have implanted in human nature love for other things.
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And if this were the case, it would have been possible to create a person from a single element, as a single piece, with the rest of existing things following accordingly.
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But observe: even the parts of tasks cannot be accomplished by a single thing — how much less their totality!
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For example: if a builder were to build a house from stone alone, or wood alone, or reeds alone, or nails alone, its quality would not be what it is when he builds from all of these combined.
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The same analogy applies to cooked food, what is eaten, what is drunk, what is worn, what is used, and all other necessities.
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Will a person not open his eyes, when he sees that these particulars — which exist only to serve and benefit him — cannot come from a single thing? How much more so the states of his soul and its character traits!
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Section II.
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I should make clear that the harms of this exclusive choice are not minor but severe — as I will illustrate.
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I say: some chose wandering in the mountains, and it drove them to obsessive distraction;
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some chose eating and drinking, and it led them to disease;
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some chose amassing wealth, which made them prey for others; some chose vengeance, and ended by turning all of these things against themselves; and similar matters — as I will explain in the body of this maamar, with God's help.
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But I premise this here by saying: for this reason, one requires wisdom to guide and direct a person always — as it says: 'In your walking, it shall guide you' (Prov. 6:22).
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The fundamental principle here is that a person is master over his character traits and exercises sovereignty over what he loves and what he dislikes.
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For each trait has its proper domain where it should be deployed; when one sees the occasion that calls for a given trait, he releases it to the degree that is fitting, until that action is complete.
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And when he sees the occasion that calls for restraining that trait, he restrains it until that moment passes. And all of this —