Al-Akhlâq wa’l-Siyar (Morals and Behaviour)
In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Introduction In the name of Allâh[1] the Most Merciful and
Clement: [O Allâh I implore Your assistance, O Allâh bless Muhammad
and his
family and grant them peace.] Abû Muhammad Alî Ibn Ahmad Ibn Saîd Ibn Hazm [the Andalusian jurist].
Allâh may be pleased with him has said: 1. Praise be to Allâh for His great gifts. May Allâh bless [our master] Muhammad
, His servant, the seal of His Prophets and Messengers; may He grant them eternal
blessings. I rely on Him for any ability and strength I may have, and I seek His aid and
protection against all the various terrors and ills of this world. And may He deliver me
from all horror and suffering in the next world. 2. Now, I have gathered together in this book numerous ideas which Allâh, the
provider of intellect, has enabled me to profit from as day succeeded day, [and year
succeeded year] and circumstances altered, permitting me to understand the vicissitudes of
fate and to control its fluctuations, to the extent that I have devoted the larger part of
my life to it. I have chosen to master these problems by study and contemplation, rather
than throw myself into the various sensual pleasures which attract most souls on this
earth, and rather than amass unnecessary wealth. I have gathered together all my
observations into this book in the hope that the Almighty may allow it to benefit
whichever of His servants He wishes who has access to [is capable of understanding] my
book, in the matters over which I have slaved, devoting all my efforts to them and
reflecting at length upon them. I hope that it will be well received, and I present it
with good intentions and blessings [with a good heart]. This book will benefit a person more than financial treasures and possessions of
property, if he meditates upon it, and if Allâh enables him to make good use of it. As
for myself, my hope in this enterprise is to win the greatest reward from Allâh, since my
intention is to help His servants, to remedy whatever is corrupt in their character, and
to heal the sickness of their souls. I beseech the assistance of Allâh [Almighty, we wish
only for God, the best of defenders].