Q0569
“Wisdom is the companion of the Law and its milk-sister.” — Averroes (The Decisive Treatise (Faṣl al-Maqāl), Butterworth)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: The Decisive Treatise (Faṣl al-Maqāl), Butterworth. Theme: reason.
English
Wisdom is the companion of the Law and its milk-sister.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to The Decisive Treatise (Faṣl al-Maqāl), Butterworth and files it under Islamic Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Averroes
Ibn Rushd (Averroes, 1126–1198) served as qāḍī and physician in al-Andalus while producing the most influential Arabic commentaries on Aristotle. In the Decisive Treatise he argues that the Law itself obliges demonstrative reflection; in The Incoherence of the Incoherence he answers al-Ghazālī’s attack on the philosophers.
How to read this passage
Philosophers disagree about whether reason is the slave of the passions, the legislator of morality, or one tool among others. The quotations here keep that disagreement in play. This passage enters that discussion through reason, faith, order.
Concepts in this quote
- Reason
- Reason is the capacity to give and assess reasons—central to logic, science, ethics, and public argument.
- Faith
- Faith appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat faith as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
- Order
- Order names cosmos, ritual, law, and the patterned stability that makes shared life possible—or oppressive.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Averroes. (n.d.). Wisdom is the companion of the Law and its milk-sister. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0569
MLA: Averroes. “Wisdom is the companion of the Law and….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0569.
Chicago: Averroes. “Wisdom is the companion of the Law and….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0569.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Wisdom is the companion of the Law and…”?
The passage is attributed to Averroes, The Decisive Treatise (Faṣl al-Maqāl), Butterworth. The archive attributes this English wording to The Decisive Treatise (Faṣl al-Maqāl), Butterworth and files it under Islamic Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Averroes mean by reason?
Philosophers disagree about whether reason is the slave of the passions, the legislator of morality, or one tool among others. The quotations here keep that disagreement in play. This passage enters that discussion through reason, faith, order.