19. GOOD MANNERS REVEAL GENTLENESS OF BODY AND CLARITY OF SOUL
I noticed that when the hunting dogs pass by the urban dogs, the latter bark and run after the former, as if they see them more honored and respected, and so they envy that. I also notice that the hunting dogs do not care for them, nor pay them any attention or give their barking any regard—as if these hunting dogs are not of the same species as them.
This is because the urban dogs have tough bodies and bare organs that have no honesty, while the hunting dogs have a gentle build and manners that benefit those traits. Additionally, they restrict their hunting to their owner out of fear (kawf) of his punishment, or gratitude (shukr) for his favors. Therefore, I found that good manners and sociability are related to the gentleness of the body and the clarity of the soul (safa al-rub).
Similarly, the wise believer does not care for those who envy him nor give him any regard, because each of them is in a different valley; one envies the other on worldly matters, while the other is only concerned with the Hereafter; how far apart are these two valleys?!
al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir
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