_Of Lying and of Hypocrisy_
O thou who dost hearken unto my teachings, who dost take lessons in the
school of experience, never contract the habit of lying and of hypocrisy
which sap the foundations of concord. Give no access in thy heart to
deception; be simple, ingenuous, and without cunning. Lying and
deception are pollutions which only produce deception and confusion.
Forerunners of the works of Satan, they throw their authors in eternal
chains. Justly abhorred by men, they only produce disastrous results.
What is more horrible than never to open the mouth for good, and to
excite discord by false allegations? It is a speech passed into a
proverb that the perfidious die in grief. Infamy is the only good that
they can acquire; their life is consumed in sadness and grief. Perfidy,
bad faith, lying, hypocrisy, perversity of mind, and corruption of
heart; all these are the qualities of the damned, but they become not
the true faithful. The great teacher of religion said: The true
Mussulman is he whose hand and tongue are not to be feared. O thou who
dost seek happiness, should not the reputation, life, and riches of all
believers be regarded a sacred repository?