How to adorn yourself with virtue?

The author Ibn Hazm said:

“Blessed is he whose soul finds pleasure in virtue and good works, fleeing from vice and sins. Unhappy is he who finds pleasure in vice and sins, fleeing from virtue and good works.

Whoever strives for the afterlife is on the side of the angels. Anyone who fights for evil is on the side of the demons. Anyone who chases glory and victory is on the side of the wild beasts. Whoever runs after the pleasures of the senses is on the side of the beasts. Anyone who runs after money for its own sake and not to spend it on religious obligations and laudable acts of charity is too ignoble, too vile to be compared to a beast. It is more like stagnant water in inaccessible cellars: no animal benefits from even the slightest drop.

The wise man derives no satisfaction from a characteristic which places him inferior to wild animals, beasts and inanimate objects. He only rejoices in his progress in the virtue by which Allah distinguishes him from these same wild animals, beasts and objects. It is about the virtue of reason that he shares with the angels."

Author: Ibn Hazm

Edition: MuslimLife

Number of pages : 104