Just as the seed of a date grows into a fruitful tree through proper care...

Just as the seed of a date grows into a fruitful tree through proper care, or a wild horse is trained to serve his master, or a dog is trained to be the lifelong friend and a help to man, so also can man attain perfection and wisdom through self-discipline and intelligent perseverance. Human perfection has many levels. The greater the amount of self-discipline and effort on the part of the individual, the higher the level of perfection that he would attain.

In other words, he stands between two extreme points, the lowest of which is below the level of beasts and the highest of which surpasses even the high station of angels. The human movement between these two extremes is discussed by ` ilm al-akhlaq or the science of ethics. It is the goal of ethics to raise and guide man from the lowest animal state to that exalted position superior to that of the angels. The importance of ethics is thus revealed.

And it is because of the reasons mentioned above that ethics is considered to be the most exalted and valuable of sciences; since the worth of any science is directly related to the worth of the subject with which it is concerned, and since the subject of the science of ethics is man and the means through which he can attain perfection.

Moreover, we know that man is the noblest of creatures, the ultimate purpose of whose existence is to attain perfection; therefore, it follows that ethics is the noblest of all sciences. In fact, in the past, the philosophers did not consider any or the other fields of learning to be truly independent sciences.

They believed that without the science of ethics and spiritual purification, mastery over any other science is not only devoid of any value, but it would in fact lead to the obstruction of insight and ultimate destruction of those who pursue it. That is why it has been said that which means, `knowledge is the thickest of veils', which prevents man from seeing the real nature of things.

Souls Purification and Adornment Moral virtues in man gain him eternal happiness, while moral corruption leads him to everlasting wretchedness. It is therefore necessary for man to purge and purify himself of all evil traits of character and adorn his soul with all forms of ethical and moral virtues. Moreover, without having cleansed oneself of all evil habits, it would be impossible to nourish and develop moral virtues in oneself. The human soul can be compared to a mirror in this regard.