He is like a courageous man who has no weapon; how can one who is weaponless encounter his enemy? Nevertheless, the courageous man is more capable of acquiring a weapon than the coward is of acquiring courage. Likewise, the one who acts without [formal] knowledge is nobler than the one who has knowledge but does not act 1 .
The third rank: A man who is both knowledgeable and active. He is like a man possessing both courage and a weapon. This is the rank that ought to be the noble one.
O soul: The moon is a luminous body so long as the light from the sun reaches it. But if the shadow of the Earth happens to intervene between them, the moon eclipses and turns dark. Similarly, the soul is luminous and radiant as long as the light of the Intellect reaches it; but if the causes of generation and corruption intervene as a barrier between them, the soul loses its light, becomes eclipsed, and turns dark.
Just as the moon will never escape eclipses as long as the Earth remains in the center of the universe, the soul will never escape darkness and harm as long as it remains tethered to nature.
Thus, it has become clear from this exposition that the soul's rest lies in its departure from nature and its swift transition away from this world.