Rules for Life: Timeless Lessons from Tenth Century Central Asia

A thousand years ago, in the city of Samarqand, a scholar by the name of Abu al-Layth gave lessons about how to live a good life—a life that was pleasing both to God and to people. He dealt with almost every aspect of life, from how to greet people and how to eat, to how to study and debate. What’s more, Abu al-Layth also explained why, linking lessons on manners to clear moral principles laid out in the Quran and the life of the Prophet. At some point, Abu al-Layth’s students compiled these teachings into a book called Bustan al-‘Arifin (‘The Garden of the Knowledgeable’). Over the passing of time, its reputation grew and grew, seeing copies and translations being made from the Ottoman Empire to Aceh in what is today Indonesia. And now the book is finally available in English too. Nile Green talks to Peri Bearman, translator of A Guide to a Life of Moral Integrity: An Annotated Translation of Bustān al-ʿārifīn by Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī (Georgias Press, 2025).