Stage 3 · Saadia Gaon (882–942)

Emunot v'Deot: IV:3 · The Gift of Ability

כתאב אלאמאנאת ואלאעתקאדאת — The Book of Beliefs and Opinions

Emunot v'Deot in the original Judeo-Arabic, with a working English translation by Eliyahu Freedman (working draft). Hover a phrase to see its English light up; tap any word for a gloss.

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Pageקנד

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Section 3. After clarifying how to grasp these aspects of justice, I say: what befits the Creator's justice and compassion toward this human being is that He gave him the capacity and power to perform what He commanded him.

As for reason: the Wise One does not impose on anyone what is not within his capacity, nor what is beyond his power.

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I also found that the capacity must exist before the act — so that it gives the person the option to act or to refrain.

Pageקנה

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I also think I should clarify: just as a person's doing something is an act, so too his refraining is an act — for he refrains only by doing its opposite.

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Section 3. Everything that resembles [these matters] and that a believer encounters — he should think well of it, for he will certainly find a perspective of wisdom in it, as it says: 'All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth' (Ps. 25:10).

English is a working draft — alignment is sentence-by-sentence.