190 Notice of the Ihhwlin al safd. [Aug. 



they both arrived safely at the end of their journey. In the same man- 

 ner our brethren ought not to reproach each other for having saved each 

 other. Mutual assistance ought to be afforded between two and two, 

 or more. The ignorant is like the blind, the poor is like the weak, and 

 the rich like the strong, the well informed resemble the seeing, the 

 journey may be compared to the union of the soul with the body, and 

 the desert with the life of this world, and the safe arrival with salvation 

 in the life to come. 



Those of our brothers who are poor, but possessed of knowledge and 

 cannot find a rich man who will enter in partnership with them, must 

 be patient and wait for better times ; for they may be certain that 

 God will help them and will send them a comrade or a brother who will 

 make easier to them the burthen of poverty, as he has promised it to his 

 saints. For him who trusts in God, he will open an outlet, and he will 

 help him when he does not expect it. It is also said in the Qoran 

 God will facilitate to him who trusts in him his undertakings. He 

 ought also to recollect that he who possesses knowledge is better than he 

 who possesses wealth, as it has already been explained. 



He who possess neither knowledge nor wealth ought to thank God 

 for what he has, and thus to render himself worthy of more, as it is pro- 

 mised in the Qoran — " If you are grateful we are sure to better your 

 condition." His mind will be pure, his morals good and he will be 

 free from bad principles : he will love his family and what is good, and he 

 will be patient and contented with what God has allotted to him. And 

 he ought to remember that he who has good morals has a better lot 

 than he who possesses wealth and knowledge ; for there are instances that 

 a man has wealth and knowledge, or one of the two, and yet he is defec- 

 tive in the above qualities, for it frequently happens that philosophers 

 who write books on ethics are the most immoral characters, whereas 

 simple-hearted men are generally the most moral. Good morals is 

 one of the greatest gifts of heaven, as it is said in the tradition, good 

 morals, sustenance and death are all the work of God, but He praises his 

 prophet for his morals in the words of the Qoran, " thou hast good 

 morals." It is also said in the Qoran : — " If thou hast bad morals 

 everybody will avoid thee." It is said that a man with good morals 

 will enjoy in paradise the same happiness as a man who fasts and 

 spends the night in prayers. Morality is the characteristic of the 



