Frontmatter
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i |
Letter from the General Editor
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iii |
Table of Contents
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vii |
Map: Buyid and Neighbouring Lands
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xii |
On the influence of companions on a person’s character and on the benefits of companionship
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2 |
On why people scorn certain forms of ostentatious demeanor and why individuals aren’t simply allowed to do as they please
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4 |
On what the soul seeks in this world and on the nature of human beings
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6 |
On the nature and attributes of God
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10 |
On why people experience fear in the absence of an apparent cause
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10 |
On why people fly into a rage when they can’t open a lock
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12 |
On why people with small heads have light brains
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14 |
On certain beliefs concerning the relation between a person’s facial hair and his character
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16 |
On why people racked by suffering find it easy to face death
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18 |
On why people denigrate things they fail to attain and are hostile to things of which they are ignorant
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20 |
On why it is easier to make enemies than friends
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22 |
On why atheists act morally
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24 |
On why some people willingly become the butt of other people’s jokes
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26 |
On why people love to occupy positions of eminence
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28 |
On why we honor people for the achievements of their ancestors but not those of their progeny
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32 |
On why the progeny of illustrious people evince an elevated sense of entitlement and self-importance
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32 |
On whether it would be more consistent with the true order of things if all people were honored equally
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36 |
On different forms of divination
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38 |
On why some people dislike being addressed as “old man” while others relish it
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42 |
On why people take comfort from knowing they are not alone in their misfortune
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44 |
On the virtues of different nations, such as the Arabs, Byzantines, Persians, and Indians
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48 |
On why intelligent people are more susceptible to grief
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50 |
On why intrinsic merit and worldly fortune do not coincide
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54 |
On the meaning of coincidence
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64 |
On the nature of compulsion and choice
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66 |
On the reason for the wanderlust experienced by certain people
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74 |
On why people desire knowledge, and on the benefits of knowledge
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78 |
On why people and other animals respond so powerfully to certain kinds of sounds and musical effects
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82 |
On why older people are more liable to hope; on the meaning of “hope” and related terms
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86 |
On why women are more jealous than men; on the nature and moral status of jealousy
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88 |
On why more people die young than die old
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92 |
On why people seek likenesses
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96 |
On why we find it easier to represent extreme ugliness in our imagination than exquisite beauty
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98 |
On why sudden joy affects people so violently
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102 |
On why we experience states of suffering more intensely than states of well-being
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104 |
On why seeing someone laughing causes others to laugh
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106 |
On why human beings are so attached to the world despite the misfortunes and suffering they experience in it
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108 |
On why people say the world would fall to ruin if it weren’t for fools
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110 |
On the anxiety experienced by people who have something to hide
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116 |
On why we are more likely to heed a preacher who practices what he preaches
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116 |
On why Arabs and non-Arabs declare their pedigrees in times of war
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120 |
On why people distinguish between different kinds of air, water, and earth, but not different kinds of fire
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122 |
On why people feel happier when they unexpectedly obtain something they weren’t seeking than when they obtain what they were seeking
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126 |
On why fine edifices fall to ruin when left uninhabited
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128 |
On why men of sublime character beget knaves
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130 |
On why our longing for home grows more intense the nearer we come to it
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130 |
On the meaning of the dictum that judgement sleeps while passion keeps watch
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134 |
On a remark concerning logic made by the dialectical theologian Abū Hāshim to the philosopher Abū Bishr Mattā
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136 |
On why some Arabic words are feminine and others masculine
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138 |
On whether a human being could know everything
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140 |
On why new incumbents are harsh toward the officials they replace
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142 |
On why human beings are considered to be orphans after losing their father rather than their mother
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144 |
On why chess is so hard to master
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146 |
On why people dislike changing their name or patronymic, and why they have a sense of aversion toward certain names and titles
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148 |
On the mannerisms of people whose mind is preoccupied, and on why people have so many different ways of behaving when they feel anxious or unhappy
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150 |
On different ways of approaching God’s attributes
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154 |
On why we find it easier to remember what is correct than what is defective
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158 |
On why prosodists tend to produce flat poetry
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160 |
On the meaning of the dictum that the learned live longer than the ignorant
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164 |
On why it is harder to speak eloquently than to write eloquently
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166 |
On the significance of the fact that human beings are the only animals to stand upright
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168 |
On why certainty is less enduring than doubt
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170 |
On why we laugh harder when a person keeps a straight face
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172 |
On the meaning of the scholars’ proposition that a rare instance attracts no ruling
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172 |
On the possibility of certain kinds of coincidences obtaining
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176 |
On the role of analogical reasoning in the linguistic sciences
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178 |
On whether God created the world for a cause
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180 |
On why a life of comfort makes people feel oppressed and leads them to behave wantonly
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182 |
On why some things are best when they’re new and others are best when old
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184 |
On why people who display great piety are prone to arrogance
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186 |
On why a warm manner is more pleasing than a cold benefaction
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188 |
On why those closest to a king are less inclined to prattle about his person than those at the farthest remove from him
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192 |
On Ibn Sālim al-Baṣrī’s claim that God perceived the world while it was nonexistent
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194 |
On why the poets love to dwell on the apparitions that come to them in their sleep
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196 |
On why people are reluctant to advertise their merits
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198 |
On the relative merits of verse as against prose
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200 |
On why people feel oppressed when things are prohibited to them
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202 |
On why preachers are affected by stage fright when addressing large audiences
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204 |
On the anxiety that affects onlookers when they see preachers affected by stage fright
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206 |
On why we hate hearing the same thing twice
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208 |
On whether the religious Law can conflict with human reason
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210 |
On a remark made by Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb concerning the possibility of uttering something that is completely false versus something completely true
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218 |
On why excellent souls find repose in the truth and find falsehood repugnant
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220 |
On a question put by Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb concerning why animals are generated inside plants but plants are not generated inside animals
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222 |
On the nature of alchemy and why people are so enamoured of it
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224 |
On a question put by Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb concerning the difference between the words “indeterminable” and “impenetrable”
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230 |
On the disagreements between jurists
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230 |
On why people despise kings who are governed by pleasure and fear kings governed by reason
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238 |
On the physical reactions people exhibit when listening to music
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240 |
On why liars often tell the truth but not the reverse, and on whether habits can change
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244 |
On certain popular sayings
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246 |
On the distinction between different forms of divination
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248 |
On why there are four categories for inquiry: whether, what, which, and why
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250 |
On the nonexistent
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254 |
On why a physician rejoices at the recovery of his patient
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256 |
On why money is made of silver and gold and not other substances
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258 |
On the specific time when the soul attaches itself to the body
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264 |
On whether souls can recollect what they used to know after leaving the body
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268 |
On why mountains exist
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270 |
On why there are three souls
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274 |
On why the sea is located on a particular side of the earth
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276 |
On why seawater is salty
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278 |
On how we can see things in our sleep without an organ of sense perception
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278 |
On a puzzle concerning the possibility of seeking something we do not know
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280 |
On why it does not snow in the summer
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282 |
On the proof for the existence of angels
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284 |
On what justifies the suffering of children and non-rational animals
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286 |
On why it takes us longer to hear thunder than to see lightning
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288 |
On the possibility that a person may abandon every belief he adopts ad infinitum
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290 |
Notes
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295 |
Glossary
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299 |
Bibliography
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304 |
Further Reading
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308 |
Index
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309 |
About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute
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318 |
About the Typefaces
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319 |
Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature
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320 |
About the Editor–Translators
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324 |