the intent is that a person should feel joy by remembering that through his service to the Creator, he is prepared and designated to "gaze at the delight of G-d" (Ps.27:4) and that "light is sown for the righteous" (Ps. 97:11), which is a constant and eternal pleasure which has no mixture of pain, unlike the worldly pleasures.

Then you may permit (literally 'release') yourself the emotion of joy -- He used the term "release" metaphorically, that this trait be restrained until you release it when you need it.

cannot (1) remove nor (2) separate from -- a man can get rid of a trouble in two ways. Either he removes this pain from himself or he separates himself from that painful thing. For example, regarding a fire. He may have the ability to extinguish the fire or to run away from the flames. Hence he wrote here two expressions.

courage -- the intent is on courage of heart. While timidity refers to softness of heart.

when you meet the enemies of the L-ord -- as David said [regarding Goliath]: "For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should mock the armies of the living G-d?" And David put his life at risk, and strengthened his heart to wage war against him.

bear all distress -- for the trait of forbearance requires courage of heart....

all distress and all trials -- bad things happen to a person sometimes to sadden him and make him suffer for his sins, as written (Eicha 1:16) "Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow..which the L-ord inflicted". And even if he is a tzadik (righteous person), he bears for his generation (to atone for them) like the prophet Yechezkel. Sometimes the intent is to test him.

you refrain (literally: delay) from standing up -- he used the term "delay" since one needs only to delay and be patient. For due to surprise, and lack of deliberation and calmness, a man gets upset at one who rebukes him and stands up against him. But if he delays this, certainly, after time, he will understand that this is foolish and a great sin to pay them back evil for their good intent, and he will change his mind completely regarding standing up against him.

That you be ashamed to rebel against your Benefactor with the very same good that He is bestowing you - the wise man with his wisdom, the rich man with his wealth, the strong man with his strength.

to His face -- i.e. before Him, as in "a people who without ceasing provoke Me to anger to My face" (Isaiah 65:3). The author specified 3 aspects 1. to His face, 2. in His hands, 3. while He rebukes you. The first aspect is that he rebels against G-d with the good itself. On that he wrote "to His face". Secondly, that he knows that he is in G-d's hands, like pottery in the hands of the potter, who can do whatever he wants with it. How could he not be ashamed to rebel against G-d? Thirdly, that G-d already warned him. Therefore, he wrote "while He rebukes you".

wicked -- these are the mufkarim ("free men" i.e. of religious duty) who are deliberate. "transgressors" - this refers to those who sin due to their lusts.

those who oppose the truth -- even though one may not see them committing acts of sin, just that when one hears their words it becomes apparent that they oppose the main principles of the true faith - we must stand up against them.

to exhort men to do kindness and to warn people to avoid what is reprehensible -- one must also use the trait of boldness and to strive to be a man - to exhort people to do kindness and warn them to refrain from reprehensible deeds. These last two are warnings for how to behave in the future. Afterwards he wrote: "to shame sinners..", that it is proper after he has already warned them privately and they did not heed and they returned to their wickedness, one must rebuke them publicly, to curse them and shame them until they desist from their sins. Thus our sages learned from Nechemia (Moed Katan 16a).

when you see people turning away from the way of truth, namely, the way of the torah of truth. He wrote "way of truth" corresponding to the commandments between man and G-d and the "rule of righteousness" corresponding to those between man and his fellow. Behold, earlier regarding the trait of courage, he wrote "when you meet the enemies of the L-ord". There the intent was on the wicked who come to strike out at G-d's torah or His people, as written "For behold, Your enemies stir, and those who hate You raise their heads; Against Your people they plot cunningly, and they take counsel against Your protected ones; They said, 'Come, let us destroy them from [being] a nation, and the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.'" (Ps.83:35). There showing anger to them is not enough. Rather one must stand up against them and foil their plans, as written there. For this one needs courage, which is strength of heart, to be moser nefesh (self-sacrificing) in G-d's war, like David in the war against the Philistines, especially in the battle against Goliath, or like the Chashmonaim in the war against the Greeks. Here he is talking about individuals who are being wicked by themselves, and it is enough to show anger to them, to show them that you disapprove of their deeds, and that their deeds are evil in the eyes of G-d. Through this they will feel ashamed and perhaps they will repent.

when he sees people acting properly, everything falling in its right direction and in its right place. These three expressions are opposite to the three he used earlier. Corresponding to "rule of righteousness", he wrote "all things fall in their right direction". Corresponding to "when falsehood prevails over truth", he wrote: "in its right place". Corresponding to "when you see a departure from the way of truth", he wrote: "always keeping the ways of truth".

needy (dal), poor (ani) -- the sages counted 7 expressions for the poor man (Vayikra Raba BeHar). Each one applies to a specific aspect. The term "dal" (needy) refers to one whose flesh is scant, with little fat, such as "Why are you becoming so thin, O' son of the king" (Samuel II 13:4). The term "ani" applies to his being submitted, such as "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?" (Ex. 10:3).

who does not know how to guide himself -- his understanding is not sufficient to guide him in the proper course whether in matters of this world or of the next.

one who regrets his iniquities, one who weeps for his past sins out of fear -- This expression is of the type: "not only this but also this". i.e. One who regrets his iniquities without being prompted by the [fear of] punishment - his regret is due to his sins only. After he repents, he regrets his bad deed of rebelling against G-d. Certainly it is proper to have pity on him. Not only that, but even one who weeps out of fear of punishment - it is also proper to have pity on him and to teach him the way of his rectification.

paying back the wicked -- refers to those who are bad towards G-d. "Exact vengeance on the corrupt" refers to those who are bad to human beings, and who oppress them. Regarding the latter he used the term "vengeance" for them but not for those bad to G-d since the term "vengeance" is incorrect because if they acted wickedly, what [damage] did they do to G-d? And even though it is written in scripture sometimes, it is just a borrowed term.

pious -- in doing good. "pure" - pure and of clean hands from not doing bad. "G-d fearing" - that he places the fear of G-d opposite his face constantly. He preceded the fear of G-d to the torah wisdom as the mishna says "he whose fear of G-d precedes his wisdom [his wisdom endures]..." (Pirkei Avot 3:12). "occupied in the service of G-d" - generally, all his occupation is in the service of G-d. Even when he is doing his physical needs his intent is to serve G-d. However, it is not correct to call this "serving" hence he used the term "occupied".

accept on yourself the justice -- i.e. that you accept the justice of the evil that befell you and receive it with love as an atonement for your sin.

Correspondingly, there are two reasons to hate the wicked. Either because they transgress the will of G-d, and hate Him. Or because joining their company is a substantial snare which can bring you to slip and stumble. "stood up against the men of truth" - i.e. if we see a man standing against the men of truth, such as Korach and his company, even though we don't know his deeds, it is proper to hate him since he hates those G-d loves.

to assign to everything its proper place -- to volunteer to put your attention to the conduct of your fellows, that their matters be in proper order.

every good-character person -- since on the surface, we cannot know about someone whether he is truly G-d fearing. But if he is of good character, than we can assume he is also G-d fearing. And it is proper to grace him with money, if he needs, or to teach him wisdom. For it is not proper to teach wisdom (torah) to a student who is not worthy. As the sages said in several places such as Chulin 133a and Makot 10a.

the cruel and foolish (enticed) -- corresponding to generosity with your money, he wrote "the cruel". Since they are cruel on others, why should one be generous towards them? Corresponding to wisdom he wrote the "foolish", which are enticed by their evil inclination to distance themselves from wisdom.

who do not recognize themselves -- their low worth. Therefore the beneficence of G-d is not big in their eyes. Alternatively, because they do not recognize the greatness of the good. All the more so for one who does not recognize either one, as he wrote in the introduction to the Gate of Examination.

He that reproves a scorner gets to himself shame -- regarding stinginess with one's money, no proof is needed because since they are evil why should you give to them? Furthermore, you will be reducing what you have. This is unlike wisdom, which is similar to lighting a candle with a candle and the first candle does not lose anything, and maybe this wisdom will improve them. Therefore, he brought a proof from the verse that he is damaging himself. And regarding one who does not appreciate the good, he brought the teaching of the sages "He who does a favor to an ingrate...".

the spiritual pleasures -- this is the pleasure of the wise in [the study of] wisdom, and their delighting in it. On actual good deeds, he wrote "and in doing deeds".