The Mind's Fifty Helpers (al-Aql wa al-Hawa) summary

Welcome. More than a thousand years ago, in the city of Tirmidh, in Central Asia, lived a scholar known as al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi. The sage of Tirmidh.

This short book of his imagines the human being as a place where two armies meet. On one side stands reason. On the other side stands desire. Two armies, and one battlefield. The heart.

And each, he says, has fifty helpers.

Reason's helpers begin like this. Understanding, insight, knowing, and certainty. Pausing before you act. Forbearance, sincerity, humility, and generosity. And the list goes on, through patience, gratitude, trust, and contentment, all the way to being ready for death.

And for every helper of reason, desire has an opposite. Against understanding, illusion. Against forbearance, a sharp temper. Against sincerity, showing off. Against humility, arrogance. Against generosity, stinginess.

For each helper, he explains the same things. Where it comes from. Its signs. What it does. And what it is not. And how a person can reach it.

So let us walk through the gate of reason, one helper at a time.