 when i saw his way of thinking and his foolishness and how miserliness had overcome him and overpowered him i said i have no remedy for them that is more effective than to prevent the dyer from eating at all. he said no by god it is someone else! and another friend of ours with whom we had been afflicted by eating and he thought that we had known him to be miserly with food and he thought about that in his mind and he imagined that we had discussed his matter.
فلما رأيت مذهبه وحمقه، وغلبة البخل عليه، وقهره له، قلت ما لهم عندي علاج هو أنجع فيهم من أن يمنعوا الصباغ كله. قال لا والله إن هو غيره! وصديق لنا آخر، كنا قد ابتلينا بمؤاكلته، وقد كان ظن أنا قد عرفناه بالبخل على الطعام، وهجس ذلك في نفسه، وتوهم أنا قد تذاكرنا أمره.