I studied the books of the Imams and continued doing so until I met the most skilled and understanding man of his time, the most intelligent craftsman and scholar of his era, the chemistry teacher, the wise Frenchman, Pierron. I read to him the book Kalila wa Dimna in Arabic. I then mentioned to him some of the wondrous things I had witnessed on my travels. He then instructed me to clarify what I had seen of wonders and to inform him of the strange events that befell me on those journeys. I obeyed his command, due to his great kindness to me, and I saw that this was also best, according to the saying of the author of Al-Maqsurah: "A person is spoken of after his death; so let our mention be good." I therefore hastened to fulfill his request, to illuminate the minds and reveal the hidden treasures of wisdom to the public. I included anecdotes that I heard from reliable sources or نقلته from books, as digressions for appropriate occasions, so that this journey would be a flourishing garden of flowers for those who contemplate it, and a garden of ripe fruits for those who listen to its meanings. I exerted effort to clarify its meanings for the contemplators, and I did not shy away from using unusual language to make it easy for the listeners to understand. I organized it into an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion, and divided each into chapters, as in a table of contents, and I named it "Tashyid" (Construction) from the Rajaz (a type of Arabic poetry) of the minds.