Notwithstanding the clear evidence of God's bounty, engendering these spiritual states in men, philosophers and learned men, wise in their own conceit, obstinately shut their eyes to it, and look afar off for what is really close to them, so that they incur the penalty of "being branded on the nostrils," adjudged against unbelievers. This is illustrated by the story of a poor Faqir who prayed to God that he might be fed without being obliged to work for his food. A divine voice came to him in his sleep and directed him to go to the house of a certain scribe and take a certain writing that he should find there. He did so, and on reading the writing found that it contained directions for finding a hidden treasure. The directions were as follows: "Go outside the city to the dome which covers the tomb of the martyr; turn your back to the tomb and your face towards Mecca, place an arrow in your bow, and where the arrow falls there dig for the treasure." But before the Faqir had time to commence the search the rumor of the writing and its contents had reached the king, who at once sent and took it away from the Faqir, and began to search for the treasure on his own account. After shooting many arrows and digging in all directions the king failed to find the treasure, and got weary of searching, and returned the writing to the Faqir. Then the Faqir tried what he could do, but failed altogether to hit the spot where the treasure was buried. At last, despairing of success by his own unaided efforts, he cast his care upon God, and implored the divine assistance. Then a voice from heaven came to him, saying, "You were directed to fix an arrow on your bow, but not to draw your bow with all your might, as you have been doing. Shoot as gently as possible, that the arrow may fall close to you, for the hidden treasure is indeed 'nearer to you than your neck-vein.' " Men overlook the spiritual treasures close to them, and for this reason it is that prophets have no honor in their own countries, as is illustrated by the cases of the saint Abu-'l-Hasan Khirqani and the Prophet Hud or Heber.

(4) But those who have not seen the self-determination of the human soul, and its incapability of being treated as a slave in what respects the choice of life, being disgusted at what is done through rude injustice, do not think that there is a God. On a par with these in opinion, are they who, falling into licentiousness in pleasures, and grievous pains, and unlooked-for accidents, and bidding defiance to events, say that there is no God, or that, though existing, He does not oversee all things. And others there are, who are persuaded that those they reckon gods are capable of being prevailed upon by sacrifices and gifts, favouring, so to speak, their prof-ligacies; and will not believe that He is the only true God, who exists in the invariablehess of righteous goodness.

(4) Then those who obey the law, since they have some knowledge of Him. cannot disbelieve or be ignorant of the truth. But those who disbelieve, and have shown a repugnance to engage in the works of the law, whoever else may, certainly confess their ignorance of the truth.

(60) The Simple says, God made all Things out of nothing; but he knows not that God; neither does he know what he is: For when he beholds the Earth, together with the Deep above the Earth, he thinks verily all this is not God; or else he thinks, God is not there. He always imagines with himself, that God dwells only above the azure Heaven of the Stars, and rules, as it were, with some Spirit which goes forth from him into this World; and that his Body is not present here upon the Earth, nor in the Earth. And

(31) "We created not mankind save to worship us" What profit did his science bring to Samiri? His science excluded him from God's portals. Consider what Qarun gained by his alchemy; Abu-l Jahl, again, what gained he from his wit Save to be hurled head-foremost into hell for infidelity? Know real science is seeing the fire directly, Not mere talk, inferring the fire from the smoke. Your scientific proofs are more offensive to the wise If these be your only proofs, O son,

(2) But see that none of the uninitiated listen to these things--those I mean who are entangled in things being, and fancy there is nothing superessentially above things being, but imagine that they know, by their own knowledge, Him, Who has placed darkness as His hiding-place. But, if the Divine initiations are above such, what would any one say respecting those still more uninitiated, such as both portray the Cause exalted above all, from the lowest of things created, and say that It in no wise excels the no-gods fashioned by themselves and of manifold shapes, it being our duty both to attribute and affirm all the attributes of things existing to It, as Cause of all, and more properly to deny them all to It, as being above all, and not to consider the negations to be in opposition to the affirmations, but far rather that It, which is above every abstraction and definition, is above the privations.

The doctrine of the Mu'tazilites, mentioned, that all men's intellects are alike and equal at birth, is again controverted, and the poet dwells on the essential differences which characterize the intellects akin to Universal Reason or the Logos, and those swayed by partial or carnal reason; the former, like the children of Israel, seeking exaltation through self-abasement; and the others, like Pharaoh, running after worldly rank and power, to their own destruction. In order to make probation of men, as already explained, God fills the world with deceptions, making apparent blessings destructive to us, and apparent evils salutary. On the other hand, if men try to deceive God, they fail signally. Hypocritical weeping and wailing like that of Joseph's brethren is at once detected by God. Thus a certain Arab had a dog to which he was much attached; but one day the dog died of hunger. He at once began to weep and wail, and disturbed the whole neighborhood by his ostentatious grief One of the neighbors came and inquired into the matter, and on hearing that the dog had died of hunger, he asked the Arab why he had not fed him from the wallet of food which he had in his hand. The Arab said that he had collected this food to support himself, and made it a principle not to part with any of it to any one who could not pay for it; but that, as his tears cost him nothing, he was pouring them forth in token of the sorrow he felt for his dog's death. The neighbor, on hearing this, rebuked him for his hypocrisy, and went his way. Then follows a commentary on the text, "Almost would the infidels strike thee down with their very looks when they hear the reading of the Koran."

(91) One said, 'This sky will pass away; Doubtless this building had a builder.' The other said, 'It is eternal and without period; It had no builder, or it was its own builder.' The first said, 'Do you then deny the Creator, The Bringer of day and night, the Sustainer of men?' He answered, 'Without proof I will not listen To what you say; 'tis only based on blind belief. Go! bring proof and evidence, for never Will I accept this statement without proof.'

(28) Hence, through ignorance, sloth, and folly, Though he stands hard by us, we are shut off from him. The noise of thunder makes the head of the thirsty ache; When he knows not that it unlocks the blessed showers, His eyes are fixed on the running stream, He urges the steed of his desire towards the caused, Whoso beholds the Causer face to face, How can he set his heart on things caused on earth?

(21) But if not, then it will be with thee, as it was with the wise Heathens, who gazed on the Creation, and would search and sift it out by their own Reason, and though with their Fictions and Conceits they came before God's Countenance or Face, yet they were not able to see it, but were stark blind in the Knowledge of God. [Reason]

(7) For since God knew in virtue of His prescience that he would not believe, He nevertheless, in order that he might receive his own perfection gave him philosophy, but gave it him previous to faith. And He gave the sun, and the moon, and the stars to be worshipped; "which God," the Law says, made for the nations, that they might not become altogether atheistical, and so utterly perish. But they, also in the instance of this commandment, having become devoid of sense, and addicting themselves to graven images, are judged unless they repent; some of them because, though able, they would not believe God; and others because, though willing, they did not take the necessary pains to become believers. There were also, however, those who, from the worship of the heavenly bodies, did not return to the Maker of them. For this was the sway given to the nations to rise up to God, by means of the worship of the heavenly bodies. But those who would not abide by those heavenly bodies assigned to them, but fell away from them to stocks and stones, "were counted," it is said, "as chaff-dust and as a drop from a jar," beyond salvation, cast away from the body.

(81) God is "what is nearer to you than your neck-vein," O you, who have made ready your bow and arrows, The game is close to you, and you shoot too far off. The further a man shoots, the further off he is, The philosopher kills himself with thinking, Tell him that his back is turned to that treasure; Tell him that the more he runs to and fro, The Almighty says, "Make efforts in our ways," Not "Make efforts away from us," O restless one. Like Canaan, who went away, from shame to follow Noah,

(34) But indeed, why should I write much of the Blindness of the Heathens. Are not our Doctors, in their crowned Ornaments of Hoods and cornered Caps, as blind as they? They know indeed that there is a God, who has created all this, but they know not where that God is, or how he is.

(4) It is by one's own fault that he does not choose what is best; God is free of blame. As to the point in hand, it is the business of some to lay out the word at interest, and of others to test it, and either choose it or not. And the judgment is determined within themselves.