بخش ۲ - ستایشِ خرد

What this poem says

Here is the place to speak of reason, and so let everything you know of goodness and wisdom come forward, that the listener may profit from it. Among all the blessings the merciful Lord has granted, none surpasses reason, and to praise it is only simple justice. Reason is mankind's guide and the untangler of every difficulty; it will sustain us in both worlds. The wellspring of our joy and sorrow, our wealth and our want, all trace back to wisdom. Whoever wants a living, joyful spirit must know that a dim and silent reason will never let him taste true happiness. Whoever fails to set reason at the head of his affairs will in the end regret his own deeds and carry a wounded heart — strangers will call him mad, and even his own kin will look on him as an outsider. A person's worth, in this world and the next, rests on reason, and whoever lacks it is as though his feet were bound, unable to move rightly. The soul needs an eye to find its way through life, and reason is that wakeful eye. This wise guardian is God's first creation, watching over our souls and overseeing eye, ear, and tongue so that we may tell good from evil. Now that we know no one can praise reason as it truly deserves, the discourse is cut short, and we turn instead to the story of the world's creation. Only remember this: you are a creature of the Lord of the world, and you must look upon existence with care. Stay forever thirsty to hear the words of the wise, and whenever you come upon new knowledge, learn it, and never rest — for however much you come to know, you will still find that the sea of knowledge has no shore.

A prose synopsis, not a translation of the verse. Translated from the Persian summary.