after that the groups of people of wisdom said it is obligatory upon every wise person to explore the place of desire well and to clarify the causes of things and prepare for their consequences. indeed scholars are praised for their good verification in the beginnings of matters and their anticipation with their minds of what the consequences will bring so that they know when they face them what the states will lead to when they turn away from them. and their virtues become clear according to the degree of their difference in that. as for knowing matters when they are revealed and what appears of their secrets that is a matter in which the virtuous and the inferior the knowledgeable and the ignorant are balanced.
أما بعد فإن جماعات أهل الحكمة قالوا واجب على كل حكيم أن يحسن الارتياد لموضع البغية، وأن يبين أسباب الأمور ويمهد لعواقبها. فإنما حمدت العلماء بحسن التثبت في أوائل الأمور، واستشفافهم بعقولهم ماتجيء به العواقب، فيعلمون عند استقبالها ما تؤول به الحالات في استدبارها. وبقدر تفاوتهم في ذلك تستبين فضائلهم. فأما معرفة الأمور عند تكشفها وما يظهر من خفياتها فذاك أمر يعتدل فيه الفاضل والمفضول، والعالمون والجاهلون.