“Whoever thinks about where this world ends up takes care, and whoever is certain the road is long gets ready for the journey.”

This is one of the first entries in Sayd al-Khatir, and the ones after it keep the same short, rhymed rhythm: “How strange you are, who are certain of something and then forget it… Your self overpowers you in what you only suppose, and you do not overpower it in what you know for certain.” Ibn al-Jawzi was a preacher, and it shows: these lines were made to be remembered.