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"Allah hath bounteously bestowed on thee a Barber who is an

astrologer, one learned in alchemy and white magic;[FN#612]

syntax, grammar, and lexicology; the arts of logic, rhetoric and

elocution; mathematics, arithmetic and algebra; astronomy,

astromancy and geometry; theology, the Traditions of the Apostle

and the Commentaries on the Koran. Furthermore, I have read books

galore and digested them and have had experience of affairs and

comprehended them. In short I have learned the theorick and the

practick of all the arts and sciences; I know everything of them

by rote and I am a past master in tota re scibili. Thy father

loved me for my lack of officiousness, argal, to serve thee is a

religious duty incumbent on me. I am no busy body as thou seemest

to suppose, and on this account I am known as The Silent Man,

also, The Modest Man. Wherefore it behoveth thee to render thanks

to Allah Almighty and not cross me, for I am a true counsellor to

thee and benevolently minded towards thee.