perhaps i would compose a book that was inferior to it in its meanings and wording so i would translate it under someone elses name and refer it to someone who was ahead of me in his time such as ibn almuqaffa alkhalil sallam the author of bayt alhikmah yahya ibn khalid alattabi and other authors of books similar to these. then those people would come to me with their own names who criticized the book that was wiser than this book to copy this book and read it to me and they would write it in their own handwriting and they would make it a leader that they would follow and they would study it among themselves and they would learn from it and they would use its wording and meanings in their books and speeches and they would narrate it from me to others who were students of that type so that they would establish leadership through it and people would follow them in it because it was not translated under my name and it was not attributed to my authorship.
وربما ألفت الكتاب الذي هو دونه في معانيه وألفاظه، فأترجمه باسم غيري، وأحيله على من تقدمني عصره مثل ابن المقفع والخليل، وسلم صاحب بيت الحكمة، ويحيى بن خالد، والعتابي، ومن أشبه هؤلاء من مؤلفي الكتب، فيأتيني أولئك القوم بأعيانهم الطاعنون على الكتاب الذي كان أحكم من هذا الكتاب، لاستنساخ هذا الكتاب وقراءته علي، ويكتبونه بخطوطهم، ويصيرونه إماما يقتدون به، ويتدارسونه بينهم، ويتأدبون به، ويستعملون ألفاظه ومعانيه في كتبهم وخطاباتهم، ويروونه عني لغيرهم من طلاب ذلك الجنس فتثبت لهم به رياسة، ويأتم بهم قوم فيه؛ لأنه لم يترجم باسمي، ولم ينسب إلى تأليفي.