gent, and their hearts were in the right place, when they looked at the wonders inside the palace, they declared: “There are great matters afoot here!” They understood that it was not in vain or some trifling plaything. They were curious, and while wondering: “I wonder what the talisman to this is and what it contains,” they suddenly heard the speech the master and instructor was giving, and they realized that the keys to all the mysteries were with him. So they approached him and said: “Peace be upon you, O master! By rights, a truthful and exact instructor like you is necessary for a magnificent palace such as this. Please tell us what our lord has made known to you!” First of all the master repeated the speech to them. They listened carefully, and accepting it, profited greatly. They acted as the king wished. And because the king was pleased at their becoming conduct and manners, he invited them to another special, elevated, ineffable palace. And he bestowed it on them in a way worthy of such a munificent king, and fitting for such obedient subjects, and suitable for such well-mannered guests, and appropriate to such an elevated palace. He made them permanently happy.

As for the Second Group, because their minds were corrupted and their hearts extinguished, when they entered the palace, they were defeated by their evil-commanding souls and took notice of nothing apart from the delicious foods; they closed their eyes to all the virtues and stopped up their ears to the guidance of the master and the warnings of his students. They stuffed themselves like animals then sank into sleep. They quaffed elixirs which had been prepared for certain other matters and were not to have been consumed. Then they became drunk and started shouting so much they greatly upset the other spectating guests. They were ill-mannered in the face of the glorious maker’s rules. So the soldiers of the palace’s owner arrested them, and cast them into a prison appropriate to such unmannerly people.

O friend who is listening to this story with me! Of course you have understood that the glorious ruler built this palace for the above-mentioned aims. The achievement of these aims is dependent on two things:

The First: The existence of the master whom we saw and whose speech we heard. Because if it were not for him, all these aims would be in vain. For if an incomprehensible book has no teacher, it consists only of meaningless paper.

The Second is the people accepting the master’s words and heeding them. That is to say, the master’s existence is the cause of the palace’s existence, and the people’s listening to him is the cause of the continuation of the palace’s existence. In which case it can be said that if it were not for