Al-Jāḥiẓ: In Praise of Books (في مدح الكتب), James E. Montgomery (Edinburgh University Press, 2013), pt. 4, The Slavific Book, 4.2: The Form of the Introduction, B. The Treatise on Legal Verdicts, #14, pp. 206-7:
Though knowledge be the life of the reasoning intellect, as the reasoning intellect is the life of the spirit and the spirit is the life of the body, the determining characteristic of knowledge is the determining characteristic of water and the other nutrients: when they exceed the extent to which they are required, they become harmful. Drinks are only palatable and food is only wholesome one bit at a time. Knowledge works like this and proceeds as they do. It is part of men’s souls to feel ennui over what they find too lengthy and too copious. We should not be among those who assist this or be among those who fail to understand the nature of the human constitution, for even the strongest is weak and even the most energetic grows weary. Though their states be disparate, they are all susceptible to and overcome by weakness.
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