Secret of Secrets

until I reached the Temple of the Sun-Worshipper, which Asclapius Asclepius built for himself. I found there an ascetic, a devotee, deeply versed in a subtle science and possessing a penetrating understanding. I acted with refinement toward him and brought him down [to my request], and I employed strategy by means of gentleness and glorification until he permitted me to have the scrolls of the temple deposited placed within it. Among them I found the sought-after [knowledge] which I intended and desired. I brought it to the victorious court, and I attained the goal that I requested. I began, with the help and support of God, and the fortune aid of the Commander of the Faithful, and his love for its translation, to transfer it from the Greek tongue to the Arabic tongue. The first thing I composed in it was...