1
It is better to have virtue, even if it means having no children. Your virtue will be recognized by other people and by God, and you will be remembered for it forever.
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2
Virtue provides an example for people to follow; when it is not there, they miss it. It has always been the finest prize a person can win, and it always will be so. It is the noblest of all the good qualities a person can have.
3
No matter how many children are born of a forbidden union, none of them will ever amount to anything. They are illegitimate; they can never lay a firm foundation for themselves, never take deep root.
4
Like trees with shallow roots, they put out leaves for a while, but they sway in the wind, and storms uproot them.
5
Their branches snap off before they mature; their fruit never ripens, and it is good for nothing.
6
On Judgment Day children born of a forbidden union will testify to the sin of their parents and act as witnesses against them.
7
Righteous people, however, will find rest, even if they die young.
8
We honor old age, but not just because a person has lived a long time.