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CLASSICAL ESSAY |
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by Humein Ibn Ishak
At a Greek holiday, four philosophers met in a temple which was adorned with golden pictures. These philosophers were the pillars of wisdom. They talked about the objects of wisdom, and discussed the philosophical principles of wisdom, while mentioning sayings of the old thinkers. One of them said: This meeting shall not be forgotten. For the friends of wisdom will always like to learn wisdom. Now, we will utter wise sentences to be remembered by late generations so that posterity may learn from them. They shall be a moral school for those who come next, and established wisdom for those who come long after us. The first said: Through noble souls and pure thoughts the spirits soar up to the air of spiritual understanding in the realm of light and power which are hidden to those who glance at the real world. There, they walk about celestial flower-beds, free from any misfortune. After the spirit has become pure, they will live an eternal life that cannot perish nor vanish into nothing. Then, ultimate ground will be united with ultimate ground, the pure will be united with the pure, and the obscure will be drowned into the obscure. Then the spirit will behold hidden mysteries, and will have sure possession of the knowledge that is obtained by the force of thought and by the union of ideas and concepts. The second said: How can the spirit strive to grasp what is hidden, since the essence of truth is hidden to it? How can the pure be separated from the impure if the spirit is not imbued with the knowledge of pure thought? How can thought reach the depth of hiddenness since it is abiding in the darkness of foolishness, and since greed is spoiling the origin? The third said: While grasping eternal truth, ideas get into the whirlpool of consideration, and thus are raised to the sphere of pure spirit, and strive with all their forces for grasping the hidden. Thus they arrive at the realm of high sublimity where the souls are resting in the shadow of Divine Majesty. The fourth said: Contradictions can be reconciled, and the hidden can be recognized only if the spirit becomes allied with the other spirits; goes along the path of understanding; becomes purified from obscure stupidity, and if it becomes separated from the abode of darkness in order to arrive at the free square of understanding. That is the highest happiness, the most magnificent and noble.
Excerpted from The Sayings of the Philosophers, by Hunein Ibn Ishak |
The
Cambridge Companion
to
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