Avicenna on Theology

8/3/2019 Avicenna on Theology

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Avicenna on TheologyBy

ARTHUR J . ARBERR Y. Lrrr.D; F.B.A.FeUow of Pembroke Colk.-sc and

Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of A rabicin the Univcnity of C ambridge

HYPERION PUSS. INC.W a , , . , , . c....c . . . ,


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CONTENTSIT.ODUCTION 'AGII

Published in 1951 by J. Murray, LondonHyperion repnnt edition 1979, 83, 92Library of Congress Catalog Number 78-59000ISBN 0-88355-676-6Printed in the United States of America

AUTOBIOG.uHY Of AVICENNA 9BIOG.APlIY0. AVICBNNAINCONTINUATIONO. Till AUT0810GU'HY) ISON 'tHB NATUU Of GOD. lSPUDESTINATION ]8

Library of Congress Calaloging in Publicarion DataAvicenna, 980-1037.Avicenna on Iheology.Reprinl of the 1951 ed, published by J. Murray,London, in Ihe Wisdom of the East series.Includes index.I.Islamic: Iheology-Early works to 1800.2. Avicenn., 980-10)7. 3. Muslims-Bioaraphy.I. Arberry, Arthur John, 1905-1969. II. Tille.III. Series: The Wisdom of the Easl series.IBPI66.A92 1979) 297'.2 78-59000ISBN 0-88)"-676-6

ON P.O'HBCY.ON PUYl!.Tus AfTI!.-Lu:.POeM O TUB SoUL INDEX

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INTRODUCTIONTUB year 1951 is being celebrated throughout the Muslim world,and especially in Persia, as the millennary according to lunarreckoning of the birth of Avicelma, one of the greatest and mostoriginal thinkers produced by Islam. Born in 370 (980) at thelittle village of Afshana in the province of Bukhara-a regionnow hopelessly lost within the territories of the Soviet empire-Abu 'Ali al-l;Iusain ibn 'Abd Allih called Ibn Sina (to givehim his Muslim name) largely by virtue of h is own exceptionalgenius and diligent self-instruction became a master alike of theancient Greek leaming and the Arab sciences, and was the authorof large works on medicine and philosophy which, translatedinto Latin. continued to be studied in the medieval universitiesof Europe to the end of the sixteenth century.Concerning Avicenna's genealogy we know virtually nothing.

His father 'AbdAllih, a native of Balkh, was appointed governorof an oudying district of Bukhara by the Samanid ruler Nu~ IIibn ~iir, and was therefore presumably a man of somesubstance; his grandfather's name was al-iJasall, his great-grandfather's name was 'Ali, but that is all history records ofthem. How he came to be called Ibn Sina is entirdy obscure:it h a s been fancifully supposed that the name indicates a Cbineseorigin, but the wordtu r Chin ese ill Arabic is spelt with a differentkind of s. The region of TransoDDia, territories Ofti' whichthe Samanid dynasty reigned, cataioly laad a ftI'Y mixed p0pu-lation in th e teath century A.D.; lying widUn the broad areaof I r a a ia t ~ siDcc p r c - I a i s t o q " it .bad-thc sceneofrepCirccl~"'~T.t: . U ib t s . . . . . bcforc

.5 i .


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2 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGY INTRODUCTION 3the Arab legions carried Islam into an expanse once extensivelyBuddhist. It thus arisesthat Arabs, Persians and Turks all claimAvicerUla as a compatriot; at this point of history, with thescanty information at our disposal, it is impossible to pass finaljudgment on the merits of these rival pretensions. But it canalmost certainly be said that Avicenna had at least a half-shareof Persian blood in him, for his mother's name was Sitara,which in Persian means .. star ".If our knowledge of AvicelUla's ancestry and nationality isthus meagre, we are fortunate in possessing comparatively excel-lent sources for reconstructing his biography. For his earlyyears we are able to rely upon his own autobiography as recordedby his pupil Abu 'Ubaid al-Juzjani, and quoted by the Arabhistorians of philosophy and medicine, al-Qif!i (d. 1248) andIbn Abi U~aibi'a (d. 12.70); the story of his later life has beenwritten by the same al-Juzjani and preserved by the sameauthorities. These first-hand documents have been translatedand appended to th is introduction. Other secondary sourcesconfirm the facts presented in these two accounts, and addfurther iUustrative details.A brief summary of the political history of Persia duringAvicelUla's lifetime is nccessary, to indicate d IC somewhat con-fused and unsetded circumstances under which h e worked andwrote. TJiough nominally pa n of die vast empire ruled overby the caliphs of Baghdad, t h e s e territories since early in theninth century had been directly governed by vinually independ-ent princes, under whom th e old proud spirit, and with it th erich and varied culture of fran. crushed by th e stunning shockof th e Arab conquest, was now reviving. Bukiwa itself wasth e capital of th e Samanid amin; th e first seventeen years ofAvicenna's life were passedunder N" H, whose rcipwas dis-uarhcd by f m tu e n t ~ a a c I ~with 1 f C " ' ~

principalities, and saw the ,rise to power_of th e Turkisb slaveSubuktagin, father of the famous M~mud of Ghazna. AfterNiiI",s death in 997 the Samanid kingdom rapidly broke up, t~edynasty coming to an end in 999 when Mai}miid the Ghamavidoverran its remaining territories.This catastrophe marked the beginning of Avicenna's wander-ings. fortunately not before the precocious youth had ma~ehimself master of many sciencesand acquired that encyclopaedicknowledge upon which his later original achievements. weresecurely based. Though M~mud was eager to add hUR tothe galaxy of talent and learning which he was pleased to.hav.eilluminate his court, the philosopher preferred to throw Inhaslot with Persian princes rather than risk the capricious patronageof the fanatical Turkish parvcI " ' .Avicewu's first refuge was Gurgaay Uurjaniya) ~ nor~~rnKhwarizlU the ruler of which had lately succeeded 1Il reumtmgthe whole' province under one throne, thus refo~ding thebrilliant regime of the Khwarizmshahs. But ~e. did not f~elsettled there, having in mind. as he tells us, to Jonl ~Ie serviceof Qabiis ibn Washmgir. di e Ziyarid pr~e ofTabaristan, ~oin C ) 9 8 regained his throne after long exil


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AVICENNA ON THEOLOGY INTRODUCTION sappoill~ed vizier. Shams al-Daula's son on succeeding to therulerslup would have continued Avicenna in office but thephilosopher. no doubt diagnosing the mortal sickness of theregime and foreseeing its early demise. began secret overturesto transfer his allegiance to the Kakuyid ruler 'Ala' al-Daulawho. from his capital Isfahan was plotting the overthrow of th eBU_Yldsof Hamadhan. Avicenna was thrown into prison byT IJ a l- M ul k, who however after suffering defeat at the handso~ 'Ala'al-Daula sought to make his peace with him; but onerught the great phi losopher escaped in Sufi disguise and succeededin making his way to Isfahan. h is f inal refuge. It was in 'Ali'al-Da~'s service that he ended his days in 428 (037).. P olit ic s have always ~en closely interwoven with theologyIII~e pat~~ o~ t he Islanuc state; the fortunes of princes duringAVlcelUla s lifetime were but facets of the wider struggle betweenorthodoxy and schism. The caliphate of Baghdad was Swmi,and th e days were long past when the liberal Ma'miin (d. 811),great patton of Greek learning. could nominate as his successora Shi'ite imam. Mutawakkil [d , 8.7). under th e inf luence ofhis ~un~ntalist. ulenla, enco!~age~ a reaction against a llforeign influences 01Islam. Sh i ISm. III retreat at th e capital,took refuge with th e semi-independent courts of the Samanidsand th e Buyids; th e Fatimids, establishing themselves in Cairosecretly pl~d th e ~~erthrow of th e orthodox caliphs of Islan:and sent their Isma iii propagandists as far a6eld as distantTransoxania. The mys t ic a l doct ri n e of th e hereditary Imamate,th e theory of that divine light which was transmit ted throughth e lineal descendaacs of th e Prophet-a notion i tsel f c lose lyrdatecl to th e o ld Persian legend of th e royal splendota-Cound. d c ; : : : ; c U a th e fmtutic s p c c u b r i o a s ofth e bra:~1Iic . ~ . . . ccJ+c"':~ - . f " . '", . , . ~ d a r ia s _ . . . . . . . .of _ _",ii .

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in order to win sympathy for ultra-Shi'ite polit ica l pretensions.a bold attempt was


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6 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGY INTRODUCTION 7

!.

Even during his lifetime Avicenna was suspected of infidelityto Islam; after his death accusations of heresy, freethought andatheism were repeatedly levelled against him. The battlebetween free speculation and orthodox belief was decisivelywon by his great compatriot Ghazali (d. 1111). whose T a l , a j i , ta l- f a la s i f a ( " Incoherence of the Philosophers ") ended foreverany possibility that Avicelma's system might provide the patternfor a broader Islamic theology.It isnot possible within the scope of this brief essayto discussa ll the points of dispute between Avicenna and the orthodox.Some of the charges brought against him were obviously untrue,so far at least as a non-Muslim may presume to judge. Hecertainly believed in One God; he certainly accepted thedoctrine of prophetic inspiration, and the authority of Muham-mad asthe lawgiver of Islam; he both practised, and defendedon tlleoretical grounds, the ritual worship and religious obliga-tions of his faith. But it cannot be denied that for him, asfor dt e Greeks of old whose writings he knew so well, God'shighest gift to man was not faith but reason. And on one mostimportant point of doctrine h e was unquestionably, gloriouslyheretical: he rejected unreservedly the resurrection of the body,and with it the literal acceptance of those passages in t h e : Korandescribing in graphic physical terms th e pleasures of paradiseand th e tortures of th e damned. For him, as for th e Nco-platonists, th e supreme reward of virtue, th e purest felicityattainable by Illan, was th e intellectual apprehension of God.A thousand yean have gone by since he ducw down th echallenge, and never ill Islam or Christianity h a s th e p:aradoxof a physical rcsum:c:tion b ten more boldly or more forlornlyexplodecl.To reac lAw. :a .a O A . ~ . as m e ~ h a s b e a t . . ..IOpcscatJailb. die C . . . . . . p.i s . ~a.. of........

in the presence of one of the profoundest and most courageousthinkers in history. He was a Muslim, and the crown of hisachievement asa speculative philosopher was to extend Aristote-lian metaphysics, asinterpreted by the Hellenistic commentators,so asto embrace the fundamental doctrines and practices of thereligion he professed. His arguments required but little elabora-tion to adapt them to an equally powerful defence of basicChristianity and Judaism. So far as the present writer can see,his casefor a reasoned monotheism, for the immortality of thesoul, and for the lofty beatitude of intellectual contemplation,isnot unacceptable even to-day, a millennium after he was born.Surely his greamess needs no further advertisement.


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AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AVICENNAMy father was a man of Balkh, an d he moved from there toBukhara during the days of Nii~ ibn Man~ur; in h is reignhe was employed in the administration, being governor of avillage-centre in the oudying district of Bukhara called Khannai-than, Near by is a village named Afsballa, and there my fathermarried my mother and took. up his residence; I W a s also bornthere, and after me my brother. Later we moved to Bukhara,where I was put WIder teachers of the Koran and of letters.By the time I was ten I had mastered the Koran and a greatdeal of literature. so dtat I was marvelled at for my aptitude.Now my father was one of those who had responded to theEgyptian propagandist (who was an Ismaili); he, and mrbrother too. had listened to what they had to say about theSpirit and the Intdlcct, after the fashion in which they preaand understand the matter. They would therefore discuss thesethings together. while I listened and comprehended a ll dtat theysaid; bnt my spirit would not assent to their argument.. Pre-sendy they began to invite me to join the movement, rollingon their tongues talk. abou t philosophy, geometry. Indian arith-metic; and my father sent me to a certainvegetablc-KUer whoused the Indian arithmetic, so that I might learn it from hma.Then there came to Bukhara a OWl called Abu 'Abd AlIiItal-Nitili who claimed to be a philosopLer i my fa ther invite41him to stay ip. our house, hop in& tha t Iwould learn &om h i J J aa l s o . . Before h is advent I had already occupied my self will. ... .. .. .. ju riiprudcucc. a t t e n d Q a c Ismi"il & h e so IwasaDCIQIIeot C I M f I i r c : t , . . - - - f u e i I i u . . . . . . . .


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AUTOBIOGRAPHY Of AVICENNA II10 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGY naturally Iexcelled in it in a very short time, so that qualifiedphysicians began to read medicine with me. Ialso undertookto treat the sick, and methods of treatment derived from practicalexperience revealed themselves to me sucb as baffle dcscription.At the sametimeIontinued between whiles to study and disputeon law. being now sixteen years of age.The next eighteen months I devoted entirely to reading;Istudied Logic once again, and all the parts of philosophy.During all this time Idid not slccp one night through. nordevoted my attention to any other matter by day. Iprepareda set of f il es ; with each proof Iexamined, Iset down thesyllogistic premisses and put thcm in order in the files, thenIexamined what deductions might be drawn from them. Iobserved methodically the conditions of th e premisses. and pro-ceeded until the truth of each particular problem was confirmedfor me. Whenever Iound myself perplexed by a problem,or could not find the middle term in any syllogism. Iwouldrepair to the mosque and pray. adoring the All-Creator. untilmy puzzle was resolved and my diffICultymade easy. At nightIwould return home. set the lamp before me. and busy myselfwith reading and writing; whenever sleep overcame me orIwas conscious of some weakness. Iurned aside to drink aglass of wine wtil my strength teturned to me; then Iwentback to my reading. If ever the least slumber overtook me,Iwould dream of the precise problem which Iwas consideringas Iell asleep; in that way many problems revealed themselvesto me while sleeping. S o Iontinued wtill had made myselfmaster of all che sciences; Inow comprehended chem to th elimitS of human possibility. All that Iearned during that t imeis exxdy as Ibow it now; Ihave added n o c h i n & more 1 0 0my b o w l c c l s e to .dlis day.t wa s ROW a m asu r of Losic; . . .. . scic:nca an4 .......

of postulation and the techniques of rebuttal according to theusages of the canon 1a~ers. Inow commenced reading thelsagoge (of ~~rphyry) WIth al-Natili: when he mentioned tome ~e dcfuut1o~ ofgelllls asa term applied to a number of thingsof different sp~CI~sin ~nswer to the question .. What is it ? ..I set about verifymg this definition in a manner such as he hadnever heard. He marvelled at me exceedingly. and warned myfathe~ that Ishould not engage in any other occupation butlearning ; wha~everproblem he stated to me. I showed a bettermental conceptIon of it than he. SoIontinued untilIad readall the str~ghtforward parts of Logic with him; as for thesubtler pOlllts. he had no acquaintance with them.Fr~m then onward Itook to reading texts by myself Ist~died th e co~ment.ari~. unnl Ihad completely mastered ilieSCle~ of LogIC. Stmilarly with Euclid Iread the first fiveor SIX figures with him. and thereafter undertook on my ownaccount to solve the entire remainder of the book. Next Imoved on to th e Almages t (ofPtoleany); when Ihad finishedthe prolegomena and reached the geometrical figures al-Nitilitold me to go on r~ding and to solve the problems b~ myself ;!s~ould merely revlSCwhat Iead with him. so that he mightII~ to me ~hat wa s right and what wa s wrong. Thetruth 15that h e did not really teach this book; Ibegan ,0 solveth e work, and many were tL c complicated figures of which he~d no knowledge until Ipresented them to him, and madehim wderstand them. Then al-Nitili took leave ofme settingout for Gurganj. Inow ~ied myself with nwtering the various texts andcommcnWtes on natural science and metaphysics, until all th e~ ~f k n o w I c d s c wac o pen to 1I1C. Next I d es ir ed tostucly~~. ~~ to read. th e boob that hav e ..wnuaa 011 .. snIjIa. M c d i c : i e e is not a 4icul t sc icuce . . . . .


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12 AVICBNNA ON THEOLOGY AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AVICENNA 1 3through the catalogue of the works of the ancient Greeks, andasked for those which I required; and I saw books whose 'Verynames are as yet unknown to many-works which ( had n~erseen before and have not seen since. Iead these books, takingnotes of their contents; Icame to realize the place each manoccupied in h is particular science.So by the time Ieached my eighteen~ year Iad exbaus~eda ll these sciences. My memory for learning was at that periodof my life better dian it is now, but to-day I am more matu~e;apart from this my knowledge is exacdy the same, nothingfurther having been added to my store smce then. ,There lived near me in those days a man called Abu l-~asanthe P ro so disr ; he requested me to compose a comprehensive

work on this science, and Iwrote for him the Moj" , i t C ' Com-pendium ") which I named after him, including in it all thebranches of knowledge except mathematics. At that time Iwas twenty-one. Another man lived in my neighbourhoodcalled Abu Bakr a1-Barqi, a Khwarizmian by birth; h e wa sa lawyer at heart, his interests being focused on jurisprudence,exegesis and asceticism, to which subjects he was extremelyinclined. He asked me to comment on his books. and Iwrotefor him ol-lPli ' ",o ' l -t tuJtsi; ' rTh e Import and the Substance ")in about ~cnty vol~, as well as a work on ethics calledtJ -Bi r r ",o' l-i t"" C ' Good Works and Sin tt ) i these two booksare only to be found in his library, and are unknown to anyonee ls e, s o that they have IlC!VCI' been copied.Then my father died, all~ my circumstanceS chauce'!- 1a c c c p r . e d p o s e in t h e Sultan s emp I oymmt . a n c I wa s o W i S C dto move from Bukhara to C u r " where A bu .~a l - S a b J i . . ~ '. m i u i s & u b e i a l . ~~""' .lOdrac~l."'~.'.o t h e ~ . , A I " _ " ' ' ' '' + ' '' ' ' '',. . . ~ . . t I * ~ 4 . , I l~~k",.~-rf'_a.-_;;,~ ::~~ " c_

maries. Iherefore returned to metaphysics; Iead the Me ta -physico (of Aristode), but did not understand its contents andwas baffled by the author's intention; Iead it over forty times,u ntil I had the text by heart. Even then I did not understandit or what the author meant, and ( despaired within myself,saying, .. This is a book which there is no way of understand-ing." But one day at noon Ihanced to be in the booksellers'quarter, and a broker was there with O l volume in his handwhich he wascalling for sale. He offeredit to me, but Ieturnedit to him impatiendy, believing that there was 110 use in thisparticular science. However he said to me, .. Buy this bookfrom me: it is cheap, and Iwill sell it to you for four dirhams.The owner is in need of the money." So I bought it, andfound that it was a book by Abu Na", al-Firabi 0,. t h e Ob j ec t so f t he M e ta p hy sic a. Ieturned home and hastened to read it;and at once the objects of that book became clear to me, forIhad it all by heart. Iejoiced at this, and upon the next daydistributed much in alms to the poor in gratitude to AlmightyGod.Now the Sultan ofBukhara at that time was Niih ibll MansUr,

and it happened that h e feUsick of a malady whlch baffled allth e physicians. My name was famous among them becauseof the breadth of my reading; they therefore mentioned mein his presence, and begged him to summon me . Iattendedthe sick-room. and coUaborated with them in treating the royalpatient. SoIcame to be enrolled in his service. One day Iasked h is bve to enter their library. to examine di e contentsand read the boob OIl medicine; he granted my request. andIntered a mansion with nlanY chambers . each chamber havingc h e s t s ofboob p i I c c I one upon~. la _aputmcnt wereboob .. """". - , u I . pocttY~ia a " " '" ! ~ . ~ . . . .,;cada........ L~ /: '~ .I . . . . .

"__ - _ - _.: '.~; -"-":"_ .'- - ."i _ ,- - _


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14 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYwrap; they f!Xeda handsome salary for me, amply sufficientfor the like of me. Thcn Iwas constrained to move to Nasa,and from there to Baward, and thence successively to Tus,Shaqqan, Samanqan, Jajarm the frontier-post of Khurasan, andJurjan. My entire purpose was to come to the Antir Qibus;but it happened meanwhile that Qibus was taken and imprisonedin a fortress, where he died.After this I went to Dihistan, where I fell very ill. I returnedttl Jurjan, and there made friends with Abu 'Ubaid al-Juzjani.

BIOGRAPHY OF AVICENNAB y A bu 'U baid al-J uzjani

(In ,o ",i" "a tio n o f th e .. A uto bio gr ap hy tt)FIlOMthis point Imention those episodes of the Master's lifeof which Iwas myself a witness during my association withhim, up to the time of his death.There was atJurjan a man called Abu Mu\tammad aI-Shirizi,

who loved these s ci en ce s ; he had bought for the Master ahouse near where he lived, :md lodged him there. Iused tovisit him every day, reading the Almag t s t and listening to himlecturing 011 Logic; he dictated to me a l -M u kh ta ft 'r a 1 -d us a ~(" The Middle Summary tt) on that subject. For Abu Mubam-mad ai-Shirazi he composed a l -Mabda ' . ,' a 'Haa ' i I I C ' The Originand the Return tt) and a l- A r. iI I a l- lt ul li y. f'The GeneralObservations "]. He wrote many books there, such as thefant p an of al-Qinin rThe Canon tt), th e Mulch t a fa r a l -Ma j is l iC ' Summary of Almagest It) and many essays. Then he com-posed in the Jebel country the rest of h is books.After this the Master removed to Raiy, where he joined th e

service of aI-Saiyida and he r son Majd aI-Daula; they knewofhim because of the many letten he brought with him contain-ing appreciations of h is worth. At that .time Majd ai-Daubwas overcome by melancholy, and th e Mas te r ap~lied himselfto treating him. At lUiy he composed the Kiiib "_M.'jJrBook of t h e : & ctu rn " scaying there until S h a m s a 1 - D a u I aaaxked t h e : ciry followina t h e : slaying of HiIII ibn Badr . .. . . . . w a i h _ d ie . . . of th e . .. . dad.-y. 11acrc:.iu

I S


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AVICENNA ON THEOLOGY BIOGRAPHY OF AVICBNNA 17circumstances conspired to oblige him to leave Raiy for Qazwin,and from Qazwin he proceeded to Hamadhan, where he enteredthe service of Kadhbsnuya in order to investigate her finances.Shams al-Daula then became acquainted with him, and sum-moned him to his court because of an attack of colic whichhad afflicted him; he treated him, until God cured him of thesickness, and he departed from his palace loaded with manycosdy robes. So he returned home, having passed forty daysand nights at the palace and become one of the Amir's intimates.Now it came to pass t hat the Amir went up to Qarmisin, tomake war on Anaz, the Master accompanying him; but hewas routed, and returned to Hamadhan, They then asked him

to take the office of vizier, and he accepted; but the armyconspired against him, fearing for themselves on his account;they surrounded his house, haled him off to prison, pillaged hisbelongings, and took a ll dlat he possessed. They even demandedof the Antir that he should put him to death, but this he refused,though he was agreeable to banishing him from the State, beinganxious to conciliate them. The Master concealed himself forforty days in the house of Abu Said ibn Dakhdiik; at th e endof which time Shams a1-Daula was again attacked by colic,and sent for him. He came to court, and th e Amir apologizedto him profoWldly; so th e Master applied himself to treatinghim. As a result he continued ilJhonour and high considerationat court. and was appointed vizier a second time.Then it was that I asked him to write a commentary on theworks of Aristotle ibu t he remarked that he had not th e leisureat that time. adding ... Ifyou will be satisfKdfor me to composea book setting forth th e parts of t h o s e sciences which I believeto be SOUDd.not disputing therein with aay opponents noetroubling to RpIy to thrir argumcaus . Iwil l g la dly do ro."TIaii .. . I...I*d._Jaeltepa ... oe ... . . ~ ... .

of the Kitab al-Shifii' C ' Book of the Remedy"). He hadalready composed the.first book of the Qiilllln; and every nightstudents gathered in his house, and by turns I would read theShift and another the Qiillun. When we had finished theallotted portion the various musicians would enter; vesselswere brought out for a drinking party; and so we occupiedourselves. The studying was done by night because during theday his attendance upon the Amir left him no spare time.We continued after this fashion for some while. Then the

Amir set out for Tarm, to fight the prince of that place. Uponthis expedition the colic again visited the Amir near Tarm; theattack was severe, and was aggravated by complications broughton by his irregular habits and h is disinclination to follow theMaster's advice. The army feared he would die, and at oncereturned towards Hamadhan carrying him in a cradle, but hedied on the way. Shams a1-Daulasson was thereupon swornin as Amir. and th e army now requested th at th e Master shouldbe appointed vizier. but this he declined i he corresponded insecret with 'Alai a1-Dau1a,seeking to come to his court and joinhis service. Meanwhile he remained in hiding in th e house ofAbu Ghilib th e Druggist. I requested him to complete theShifj. and he summoned Abu Ghilib and asked for paper andin k i~ being brought, th e Master wrote in about twentyparts (each having eight folios) in his own hand th e main lopiato be d i s c u s s e d i in two days he had drafted a U th e topia.without having any b o o k at hand or source to consult. accom-plishing th e work entirely from memocy. Then he placed t h e s eparts before h im . t o o k paper. and began to examine e a c h t op i cand write his comments on it. Each day be wrote fifty leava.until he had completed th e aatural scicna:s an d m e t a p h y s i c saYe foe di e boob of z o o I o s J an d bowIy! He. C O I b I P C " K C 4 lwork '* _ . a o p ; c.c .. of"'; .. thca11


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18 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYaI-Mulk suspected him of corresponding with 'Ala' al-Daula,and disapproving of this instituted a search for him. TheMuter's whereabouts were betrayed by an enemy, and he wascommitted to a fortress called Fardjan, where he remained forfour months.Then 'Ala' al-Daula attacked an d captured Hamadhan ; Taj

al-Mulk was routed, and passed into the very same fortress.Presently 'Ali' al-Daula withdrew from Hamadhan ; TIjal-Mulk and the son of Shams aI-Daula returned, carrying withthem the Master, who took up his lodging ill the house ofaI-'Alawi and busied bimself with composing the logic of the. S I . i f ij ' . While imprisoned in the fortress he had written theK it ab a l-H it /a ya (" Book of Guidance "), the R isa la lja iy ibnYaq{ :a ll ( " Treatise of Living the Son of Wakeful") and theK i la b a l -Q i il a nj ( " Book of Colic It) : u for al -A t /aviya ta /~a lb i la(" The Cardiac Remedies "), this he composed when be firstcame to Hamadhan.So some time elapsed. and T I J ai-Mulk was al l the while

cncouraging him with handsome promises. Then it seemedgood to the Muter to betake himself to Isfahan; be went forthin disguise. accompanied by myself. his brother and two slaves,in tM habit of Sufis, and so we rcached Tabaran at the gate ofbfaban. having suffered great hardships on th e way. Friendsof th e Muter. and courtiers of 'Ali' al-Daula came out towelcome him; robes were brought. and fine equipages. and hewu lodged ill a quarter called Gun-Gunhadh at the house of'Abd Allah b. mba ; his apartment was fUOlishedand carpetedin the most ample malUler. At court he was received wim th erespect and coosidft"atioll which he so richly merited; and'Alia1-Daula appointed every Friday night a meeting for learned_~beforc _t.obe~lty._tthoIanaccordins10 .. n r i o u s : . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. Mil 'Ali ..... d Icaa

BIOGRAPHY OF AVICENNA 19in these gatherings he proved himself quite supreme andunrivalled in every branch of learning.At Isfahan he set about completing the S/liJii'; he finishedthe logic and the A lmages t . and had already epitomized Euclid,the arithmetic and the music. In each book of the mathematicalsection he introduced supplementary materials as he thought tobe necessary; in the A lmages t he brought up ten new figureson various points of speculation, and in the astronomical sectionat the end of that work he added things which had never beendiscovered before. In the same way he introduced some newexamples into Euclid, enlarged the arithmetic with a numberof excellent refinements, and discussed problems on music whichthe ancient Greeks had wholly neglected. So he finished theS/l ifa ' . all but the botany and zoology which he composed' inthe year when 'Ali ai-Daub marched to Sabur-Khwast; theseparts he wrote ell rou l t . as well as th e K i ti b a l- Na ji l rBook ofDeliverance ).The Master had now become one of the intimate counienof 'Ali a1-Daula. When th e latter determined to attackIhmadhan. the Master accompanied him; and one night adiscussion took p l a c e in the Amir's presence concerning theimperfections that occur in the astronomical tables accordingto the observations of th e ancients. The Amir commanded theMaster to undertake observations of the stars. supplying himwith all th e funds he might require; so he began this new work,deputing me to select th e instruments and engage the skilledassistants needed. So many old problems were elucidarcd. itbeing fowld that th e imperfcaiolis ill th e former observationswere ductotheir bcingconduct td in t he couae ofmany jourDcJs.wida all th e imped imena resnkina therefrom.At ..... chI!'" "WroIC.thc 'AlIi ( a l a ~uancc l. a . . .. . . ) . N o w _ o l . ~ " "


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10 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGY BIOGRAPHY Of AVICENNA arthat the letters had really been composed by the Master, andthat he had been induced to do so by the affront he had offeredhim that day; he therefore extracted himself from the situationby apologizing to the Master. The latter then composed awork 011 philology which he entitled Li sa" a l-'A ta b (" TheArab Language tt), the like of which was never composed;he did not transcribe it into a fair copy, so that at his death itwas still in th e rough draft and 110 man could discover a wayto put it in order.The Master had many remarkable experiences in the courseof the various treatments he undertook, and he resolved torecord them in the Qat iUn; he had actually annotated these onsome quires. but they were lost before the Qa";;n was completed.AtJurjan he had composed a l -Muk l ,t a t d t a l - 4 fgha t rThe SmallerEpitome tt ) on Logic, and it is this that he ~terwards pl~cedat the beginning of the Najil. A copy of this came to Shiraz.where it was examined by a group of scholars; they tookobjection to a number of points, ~d wr?te their observatio~upon a separate quire. Th e Cadi of. Shiraz was ?ne .? ~theirpersuasion, and h e forwarded the qwre to Abu I-Qaslm at-Kinnini, th e friend of Ibrihim ibn Bibi a1-Dailarni, who hae lmuch to do with esoteric matters; th e Cadi enclosed a letterof his own to Abu '1-Qisim. and deliverea the two documentsinto th e hands of a post-messenger, with th e request that heshould present th e quire to t he Ma st er and elicit from him h isanswers. Abu 'l-Qisim came to th e Master when th e sun wasydlowiq upon a IUDlJDCr'S day; he showedhim th e Icttc.and th e quire i th e Master rcad th e former and rcturoed it toAbu ' l -Q is im. whi l e the Iaucr b e k ep t befoic him. examiaina,it while a&eocnl coovcrsation was in progress. Thea Aha' ( . . Q i s i m weIllout; and.u..r ~lDCto -.~,.." _ aadCIK IOIIIC ....... 1 . . . . , . . . ~

about the Master was, that during the twenty-five years I accom-panied and served him I never saw him take a new book andread it right through; he looked always for the difficult passagesand complicated problems and examined what the author hadsaid on these, so as to discover what his degree of learning andlevel of understanding might be .One day the Master was seated before the Amir. and Abu

Man,iir al-Jabban was also present. A philological problemcame up for discussion; the Master gave his views as theyoccurred to him, whereupon Abu Man,iir turned to him andremarked ... You are a philosopher and a wise man; but youhave never studied philology to such an extent that we shouldbe pleased to hear you discourse on the subject." The Masterwas stung by this rebuke, and devoted the next three years tostudying books on philology; he even sent for the T"hdllibaI-lug/I" of Abu Man,ur aI-Azhari from Khurasan, So heachieved a knowledge of philology but rarely attained. Hecomposed three odes full of rare expressions, as wen as threelcttcrs-one in th e style of Ibn aI-cAmid, one after the fashionof al-~a!Ub, and th e third imitating a1-~abi i then he orderedthese to be bound, and the binding to be rubbed. So he sug-gested to the Amir that he should show this volume to Abu~iir a1-Jabbin, remarking that .. we found this volume indIe desert while hunting, and you must look it through and teUus what it contains". Abu Man!ur examined the book, andwas haIRed by many passages occurring in it. The Mastersuggested to him that c.all you are ignorant of in this book youcan find mentioned in such-and-such a context in the works onphilology .'. naming boob well known in that science; forhe had memori%ed these p_ascs from them. Abii M a n f i i rme r d y c"edas t o . w o r d s w I U c h tile Mas te r inttoduccal.w i d a o u c _,-rcal ccrtaibIy as....... DI; thea 1 M : ~


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22 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGY BIOGRAPHY OF AVICENNA 1 3him, each of ten folios of a gellerous format. We prayed theevening prayer; candles were brought, and the Master ordereddrinks to be laid out. He made me and his brother sit withhim and drink, while he commenced to answer the questionsth~t h.adbeel~propounde~ to him. So he continued writing anddrinking until half the night was gone, when I and his brotherwere overcome by sleep; he therefore bade us depart, In themorning a knock came at th e door, and there was the Master'smessenger summoning me. Ifouud him at his prayers, andbefore him the five quires completed. . .Take them," he said,.. and go with them to Abu 'l-Qasim al-Kirmdni ; tell him Imade haste to reply, so that the post-messenger might not bedelayed.It When Ibrought the communication to him he wasmost astonished; he dispatched the messenger, and informedhis friends of the circumstances of die matter. The storybecame quite an historic occasion.While engaged upon his astronomical observations the Masterinvented instruments the like of which had never been seen

before; he also composed a treatise 011 the subject. I remainedeight years ~ngaged .upon this work. my object being to verifythe observations whaeh Ptolemy reported on his own account,and in fact some part of these were confirmed for RlC. The~as,:;r also composed the Kilib "'_I'~if I"Book of Rectifica-non ), but on the day when Sultan Mas' od came to Isfahanhis.3[my plundered the Master's luggage; tLis book was partof It, and was never seen again.The Master was powerful il' a ll his faculties, aud he was

es~ciaI~y strong sex~ly; this ~Ildeed was a prevailing passionWith hllll, and he IIldulged It to 5UClt an extent that h isconst~tut~on was afti 'C.ted: yet. he rcliedupoll his pow\.'IfuiComtltUllOll to pull him t b r c . l I a p . At last in the YClJ 'whca" A I i - a I -O a u I a ( .. .. . T _ . . . . at th e pta of a R t a r w a . .

the Master was attacked by the colic; because of his eagernessto cure himself-being afraid the Arnie might suffer defeat, inwhich case his sickness would not allow him to travel back-he injected himself eight times in a single day. sothat his intestineswere ulcerated and the abrasion showed on him. Yet he mustneeds accompany 'Ala' a l- D au la ; so they made haste towardsIdha], where the epilepsy which sometimes follows colic mani-fested itself. Despite this he continued to treat himself. takingityections for the abrasion and the rest of the colic. One dayhe ordered th e mixing of two dallls of celery-seed in the in-jection, desiring to break the wind of th e colic; one of thephysicians attending him put in five dirhams of celery seed-Iknow not whether purposely or in error, for I was not withhim=and the sharpness of the celery aggravated the abrasion.He also took ".ithr"Jat"IfI for the epilepsy; but one of his slaveswent and threw in a great quantity of opium, and he consumedthe mixture i this being because they had robbed him ofmuch money from his treasury. and they desired to do awaywith him so that they might escape th e penalty of theiractions.In this state the Master was brought to Isfaban, where heconnnued to look after himself. though he was now soweak that

he could no longer stand; ncvcnheless he went on trearinghimself. until he was able to walk. He once more attended thecourt of'Ali' al-Daula; however, hewasincautious and indulgedh is sexual appetite too far, so that he:was never wholly cured,suffi.ringrepeated relapses. Then' A1i'al-Daula marched to-wards Hamadhan, and th e Master went with him; the samemalady rc:visircdhim upon th e way. alld when he 6n al ly reachedHamadban b e : knew dw his strength was exhausted and noIon..- :ulequarc.to repel tb e dRasc. He t b c I ' c : f o c c gave upt r c aU n c .1 I i a a sd E . . . ~ to~ ". ' l l I r ! t . . . . . . U t C c l


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AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYto manage .me is incapable of managing me any more; so it isno usc trymg to cure my sickness."So he conti~ued some days, and was then transported to thePresence of his .Lord. He was buried at Hamadhan, being

S 8 years old; his death occurred in the year 428.ON THE NATURE OF GOD

That t I ,ere Is II Nt , t s~ary BeiugWHATEVER has being must either have a reason for its being.or have no reason for it. If it has a reason. then it is contingent.equally before it comes into being (if we m a k e this mentalhypothesis) and when it is in th e state of being-for in thecase of a thing whose being is contingent the mere fact of itsentering upon being docs not remove from it the contingentnature of its being. If on the other hand it has no reason forits being in any way whatsoever. then it is necessary in itsbeing. This rule having been confirmed, I shall now proceedto prove that there is in being a being which has no reason forits being.Such a being is either contingent or necessary. If it is neces-sary. then the point we sought to prove is established. If onth e other hand it is contingent. that which is contingent cannotenter upon being except for some reason which sways thescales in favour of its being and against its not-being. If thereason is also contingent. there is then a chain of contingentslinked one to th e other. and there is DObeing at all i for thisbeing which is the subject of our hypothesis cannot enter intobeing so long as it is not preceded by an infinite successionof beings . which is absurd. Therefore contingent beings endin a Necessary Being.O J lite U I I k i I r oj c.IIIt is not p o s s i b l e inan y w ay that th e NccesIary B c i o a shouldbe cwo. Dc : ~ .. . .. .. . .. d a c r c is aao r I I a

a s


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AVICENNA ON TIlEOLOGYnecessary being: one must be distinguishable from the other.50 that the terms" this" and" that" may be used with referenceto them. This distinction must be either essential or accidental.If the distinction between them is accidental. this accidentalelement cannot but be present in each of them. or in one andnot the other. If each of them has an accidental element bywhich it is distinguished from the other. both of them must becaused; for an accident is what is adjoined to a thing after itsessence is realized. If the accidental clement is regarded asadhering to its being. and is present in one of the two and notin the other, then the one which has no accidental clement isa necessary being and the other is not a necessary being. If,however, the distinction is essential. the clement of essentialityis that whereby the essence as such subsists; and if this elementof essentiality is different in each and the two are distinguishableby virtue of it, then each of the two must be a compound;and compounds are caused; so that neither of them wiD be anecessary being. If the element of essentiality belongs to oneonly, and the other is one in every respect and there is no com-pounding of any kind in it, then the one which has no elementof essentiality isa necessary being, and the other isnot a necessarybeing. Since it is thus established that the Necessary Beingcannot be two, but is All Truth, then by virtue of His EssentialReality, in respect of which He is a Truth, He is United andOne, and no other shares with Him ill that Unity: howeverthe All-Truth attains existence, it is through Himself.l'lwt GIHI is Wid."" CauseA necessary being has 110 cause whatsoever. Causes arc of

four kinds: tIw from which a thing h a s beillg, or d1c activecause,that OIlaccount of w J U c h a d U D s h a s b e i n & . or .. finaland~'~; ..... iawlaidl . . .. . . .. . . . . i

ON THE NATURE OF GODmaterial cause; and that through which a thing has being. orthe formal cause.The justification for limiting causes to these four varieties isthat the reason for a thing is either internal in its subsistence, ora part of its being, or external to it. If it is internal, then it iseither that part in which the thing is. potentially and not actually.that is to say its matter; or it is that part in which the thingbecomes actually, that is to say its form, If it is external, thenit can only be either that from which the thing has being. thatis to say the agent, or that on account of which the thing hasbeing, that is to say its purpose and end.Since it is established that these are the roots and principles

of this matter, let usrest on them and clarify the problems whichare constructed upon them.Demonstration that He has no active cause: This is self-evident: for if He had any reason for being. this would beadventitious and that would be a necessary being. Since it isestablished that He ha s no active cause. it follows on this line ofreasoning that His Quiddity is not other than His Identity, thatis to say. other than His Being; neither will He be a subsistenceor all accident. There calUlot be two, each of which derives itsbeing from th e other; nor can He be a necessary being in onerespect. and a contingent being in another respect.Proof that His Quiddity is not other thall His Identity, butrather that His Being is unified in His lleality: If His Beingwere not the wne as His Reality. then H is Being would be othertban His Reality. Every accident is caused, and every thingcaused requires a r ca so n . Now this reason is either externalto His Quiddity, or is itself His Quiddity: ifit is exremal. a : h c nHe is not a II'aSary being, and is DO C exempt from al act ivecause; while if th e reason is irsdf th e Quiddity. then rhc l 'CaSiDIl. . . ~ . . . i c s e I f a ~ .b c : i a a - - die'. 'e


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28 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYbeing of. another l:n~y result. from it. Quiddity before beinghas no being ; and If Ithad being before this. it would not requirea sec~nd being. Th~ question therefore returns to the problemof being, If the Being of the Quiddity is accidental. whencedid this Being supervene and adhere? It istherefore establishedthat the Identity of the Necessary Being is His Quiddity. and~ha~He has n.oa~tive cause; the necessary nature of His BeingISlike the quiddity of all other things. From this it is evident~hat the Necessary Being does not resemble any other thing'" any respect wh~tsoe~er; for with all other things their beingIS other than their quiddity.Proof that He is not an accident : An accident is a being ill a

lo~us. The locus is precedent to it. and its being is not possiblewithout the locus. But we have stated that a being which isnecessary has no reason for its being. . Pr~of that there cannot be two necessary beings. each derivingIts bemg from the other: Each of them. in as much as it derivesits being from the other. would be subsequent to the otherwhile at the same time by virtue of supplying being to theother, each would be precedent to the other: but one and thesame thing cannot be bo t h precedent and subsequent in relationto its being. Moreover. if we assume for the sake of argumentth~t the other isnon:existent: would the first then be a necessarybeing, or not? If It were a necessary being. it would have noconnexion witb the other: if it were not a necessary being. itwould be a contingent being and would require another neces-sary being. Since the Necessary Being is One. and does not~ve ~ts being from any 0I1~.it foUows that He isa NecessaryBeing m every respect; while anything. e l s e derives its being&om a no ch er.Proof .. He aaaot he a N c c c s s a r : y . :Beial in one ~_ a COIIIiapt Ixiag in anocher rc$pccC..: Suda a hrias. in iI

t

ON THE NATURE OF GODas much asit isa contingent being. would be connected in beingwith something else. and so it has a reason; but in as muchas it is a necessary being, it would have no connezions withanything else. In that case it would both have being and nothave being; and that is absurd.Demonstration that He h a s no material and receptive cause:The receptive cause is the cause for the provision of the placein which a thing is received; that is to say. the place preparedfor the reception of being, or the perfection of being. Nowthe Necessary Being is a perfection in pure actuality. and is notimpaired by any deficiency; every perfection belongs to Him.derives from Him, and is preceded by His Essence. while everydeficiency. even if it be metaphorical, is negated to Him. Allperfection and a U beauty are of His Being; indeed. these arethe vestiges of the perfection of His Being; how then shouldHe derive perfection from any other? Sinceit isthus establishedthat He has no receptive cause. it follows that He does notpossess anything potentially. and that He has no atuibute yetto be awaited; on the conuary. His Perfection has been realizedin actuality iand He ha s no material cause. We say" realizedin actuality .'. using this as a common term of expression. mean-ing that every perfection belonging to any other is non-existentand yet to be awaited. whereas a U perfection belonging to Himha s being and is present. His Perfect Essence. preceding a Urelations. is One. From this it is manifest that His Attributesare not an augmentation of His Essence; for if they were anaugmauation of His Essence. the Attributes would be potentialwich reference to the Essence and th e Essence would be th ereason for the Atuiburcs. In that case the Attr ibutes would besubsequent to a pcc:cedcnt. so that they woUld he inone r e sp e c taccic _ i a . . . . . . . r c c c p ti v c ; .dn e i D a aaivc . w o u i d . be~ . . . . _ a s p o a of ......... ~; ........


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30 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYsequence dley would possess two mutually exclusive aspects.Now this is impossible in the case of anything whatsoever ;when a body is in motion. the motivation is from one quarterand the movement from another.Ifit were to bestated that His Attributes are not an augmenta-

tion of His Essence. but that they entered into the constitutionof the Essence. and that the Essence cannot be conceived of asexisting without these Attributes, then the Essence would becompound, and the Oneness would be destroyed. It is alsoevident, as a result of denying the existence of a receptive cause,that it is impossible for Him to change; for the meaning ofchange isthe passing away of one attribute and the establishmentof another; and if He were susceptible to change, He wouldpossess potentially an element of passing-away and an dementof establishment; and that is absurd. It is dear from this thatHe has no opposite and no contrary; for opposites are essenceswhich succeed each other in the occupation of a single locus.there being between them the extreme of contrariety. But Heis not receptive to accidents, much less to opposites. And ifthe term .. opposite" is used to denote one who disputes witltHim in His Rulership, it is clear too on this count that He h a sno opposite. It is further clear that it is impossible for Himnot to be ; fOf since it is established that His Being is necessary.it follows that it is impossible for Him not to be; becauseeverything which exists potentially caJmot exist actually, other-wise it would have two aspects. Anything which is receptiveto a thing does not cease to be receptive when reception hasactuaRy tahn place; if this were not so, it would result in th eremoval of bo th being and not-being, and that is unk.-nable.This rule a p p l i e s to every essence and every unified reality. suchas angels and human spirits; they arc DO susceptible to not-b c i n s at all, siacc i J&y are frft from ~ ~

ON THE NATURE OF GOD 31Demonstration that He has no formal cause: A formal,

corporeal cause only exists and is confirmed when a thing ispossessed of matter: the matter has a share in the being of theform. in the same way that the form has a part in the dispositionof the matter in being in actuality; such a thing is thereforecaused. It is further evident as a result of denying this causeto Him, that He is also to be denied all corporeal attributes,such as time, space, direction, and being in one place to theexclusion of all other; in short. whatever ispossible in relationto corporeal things is impossible in relation to Him.Proof that He has no futal cause: The final cause is thaton account of which a thmg has being; and the first Truthhas not being for the sake of anything. rather does everythingexist on account of the perfection of His Essence, being con-sequent to His Being and derived from His Being. Moreoverthe fmal cause, even if it be posterior in respect of being to allother causes, yet it is mentally prior to them all. It is the flnalcause which makes th e active cause become a cause in actuality,that is to say in respect of its being a final cause.Since it is established that He is exalted above dlis last kindof cause too, it is dear that there is no cause to His Attributes.It is also evident that He is Pure Benevolence and TruePerfection; the meaning of His Self-Sufficiency likewisebecomes manifest. namely that he approves of nothing and dis-approves of nodling. for if He approved of anything, thatthing would come into being and would continue to be; whileifHe disapproved of anything. that thing would be convertedinto Ilot-being and would be annulled. The very divergencyof t h e s e beings pro~ th e nuDity of sudt a proposition; fora thing which is one inevery respect c:amlot approve of a thingand of Hs o p p c * t c It~ ..; 0 not D C C C S S a r ) ' . C P r . . Him to ethe _ of ~ 4 I e a v . y Of of ~.as ....


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3 2 . AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYQualitarians have idly pretended; for if His acts of expediencywere obligatory to Him. He would not merit gratitude andpraise for such acts. since He would merely be fulfilling thatwhich it is His obligation to perform, and He would be to allintents and purposes asone paying a debt; He would thereforedeserve nothing at all for such benevolence. In fact His actsproceed on the contrary from Him and for Him. as we shalldemonstrate later. H is A tt rib ut es a s I nt er pr et ed A c co rJi,'l to t he F o re go itl g P rin cip le sSince it is established that God is a Necessary Being, that He

is One in every respect. that He is exalted above all causes. andthat He has no reason of any kind for His Being; since it isfurther established that His Attributes do 110t augment HisEssence. and that He is qualified by the Attributes of Praise andPerfection; it follows necessarily that we must state that Heis Knowing. Living. Willing, Omnipotent, Speaking, Seeing,Hearing. and Possessed of all the other Loveliest Attributes.It is also necessary to recognize that His Attributes are to beclassifiedas negative. positive. and a compound of the two: sinceHis Attributes are of this order, it foDows that their multiplicitydocs not destroy His Urtity or contradict tbe nccessary natureof His Being. Pre-cternity for instance is essentiaDyth e negationof not-being in th e f i rs t place; and th e denial of causality andof primality in th e second place: similarly the term One meansthat He is indivisible in every respect. both verbaDy and actually.When it is stated that He is a Necessary Being. this means thatHe is a Being without a c au s e. and that He is th e Cause of otherthan Himself: this is a combination of th e negative and th epositive. &amp Ies of th e positive Attributes arc His beingCreator. Oripnator. Shaper. and th e CRt iR AttriblltCS ofAcIion.As for .. C:otapoa4 ol b o t h . this kiad is ... , .. by .. II

ON THE NATURE OF GOD 33being Willing and Omnipotenr, for these Attributes are acompound of Knowledge with the addition of Creativeness.Go J' s K tW l vl eJ geGod h a s knowledge of His Essence: His Knowledge. His

Being Known and His Knowing are one and the same thing.He knows other than Himself. and aD objects of knowledge.He knows all things by virtue of one knowledge. and in asingle manner. His Knowledge does not change according towhether the thing known has being or not-being.Proof that God has knowledge of His Essence: We have

stated that God is One. and that He is exalted above aDcauses.The meaning of knowledge is the supervention of an ideadivested of all corporeal coverings. Since it is established thatHe is One. and that He is divested of body. and His Attributesalso; and as this idea as just described supervenes upon Him :and since whoever has an abstract idea supervening upon himis possessed of knowledge. and it is inunaterial whether it ishi s essence or other than himself: and as further His Essenceis not absent from Himself: it follows from all this that Heknows Himself.Proof that He isKnowledge. Knowing and Known: Know-ledge is another term for an abstract idea. Since this idea isabstract. it follows that He is Knowledge: since this abstractidea belongs to Him. is present with Him. and is not veiledfrom Him. it follows that He is Knowing: and since thisabstract idea does DOt supervene save through Him. it faDowsthat He is Known. Th e terms employed in e a c h case aredifferent iocbcrwisc it might be said that Knowlcdcc.lCnowingan d Known arc. inrdatioa toHis Esscace. one. Take y o u r owncqcricncc .~ a .. ~. If you b o . , y o und f . .. o l l j c c t . of"' __ ~~Of~dIc; i f _


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34 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYobject of your knowledge is something other than yourself,then you do not know yourself But if the obj.ect of yourknowledge is yourself, then both the one knowmg and thething known arc your scl If the image of your selfis impressedupon your self, then it is your self which. is th e know~edge.Now if you look back upon yourself reflectively, you will n?tfmd any impression of the idea and quiddity of your self 11 1yourself a second time, so as to give rise wi~in !~u to a ~nsethat your self is more than one. Therefore since It ISestablishedthat He has intelligence of His Essence,and since His Intelligenceis His Essence and docs not augment His Essence, it followsthat He is Knowing, Knowledge and Known without anymultiplicity attaching to Him through these Attributes; andthere is no difference between .. one who has knowledge" and.. one who bas intelligence", since both are terms for describingthe negation of matter absolutely.Proof that He has knowledge of other than Himself: Who-ever knows himself, if thereafter he does not know other than

himself this is due to some impediment. If the impediment isessential, this implies necessarily that he docs not know himselfeither, while if th e impediment is of an external nature, thatwhich is external can be removed. Therefore it is possible-nay, neccssary-that He should have knowledge of other thanHimself, as you shaD learn from this chapter.Proof that He has knowledge of all objects of knowledge:Since it is established that He is a Necessary Being, that He isOne, and that the wuversc is brought into being from Himand has resulted out ofHis Being ; since it is established furtherthat He has blOwlc:dge of His Own Esseuce, His Kliowlc:dgeof His Essence being what it is, namely that He is tlae Originof all . - c a I i t i c s an d ofa D th in gs th at have being; it followsthaa aorhin, ia h c a Y C D or e art h reanote from His Knowlcdse

ON THE NATURE Of GOD 3S-on the contrary, all that comes into being does so by reasonof Him: He is the causer of all reasons, and He knows that ofwhich He isthe Reason, the Giver of being and the Originator.Proof that He knows all things by virtue of one knowledge,

in a maimer which changes not according to the change in thething known: It has been established ~hatHis ~owledge ~oesnot augment His Essence, and that He ISthe ?nglll of al l thingsthat have being, while being exalted above accident and changes;it therefore follows that He knows things in a manner unchang-ing. The objects of knowledge are a consequence of. HisKnowledge; His Knowledge isnot a consequence of t~e thingsknown, that it should change as they change; for HISKnow-ledge of things is the reason for their baving being. Hence it ismanifest that Knowledge is itself Omnipotence. He knows a llcontingent things, even as He knows all things that have being,even though we know them not; for the contingent, in relat~onto us, is a thing whose being is possible and whose not-beingis also possible: but in relation to Him one of the two alterna-tives is actually known. Therefore His Knowledge of genera,species,things with being, contingent things. manifest and secretthings-this Knowledge is a single knowledge.Atts EII I t I .wing f r om GodSince you now know that He is a N~ Being, that H.cis One. and that He h a s no Attribute which augments His

Essence (for that would imply a. succession of v~ious ac~.whereas th e Act of God is the vestlges of th e Perfecnon of HisEssence): this being so. it follows that His first Act is ~.for if there bad clnanatcd from Him two acts. the emanauonwould have b e e n in two difCrcnt manners. for duality in theact implies duality ia theapt. He who acts b y ..Yinuc of h is. . . . . . . . . . C S I C I K 'C 0Iae oaIy oaeacc . .. .. .. arcs r r o . .


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AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYit; whereas if he has a duality of essence, he must be a COIll-pound; and we have proved the impossibility of this asregardsGod. Itfollows necessarily that the first thing to emanate fromGod was not a body; for every body is compounded of matterand form, and these require either two causes, or a single causewith two aspects; this being so, it is impossible that these twoshould have emanated from God, it having been established thatthere is no compounding in God whatsoever. Since the firstthing to emanate from God was not a body, it follows that itwas an abstract substance, namely, the First Intelligence. Thishas been confirmed by the true religion, for the Prophet said,.. The fim thing God created was Intelligence," and again,.. The first thing God created was the Pen." The phrase TI,o. ,sha l t ' 1 ( 1 1 ji"d a ny c ha ,a g e ir a t Ile W ay o f God (Koran xxxiii. 62)refers to the perpetuity of the Creation; the phrase TI , ,, ,, s h a lt, w tj i" d a l lY a l lt r a ti o n in t l .e Way o f G od (Koran xxxv. 41) refersto the perpetuity of the Command. Certainly, the Universeemanated from Him in due succession of order and media. Sowhen we say that th is Act emanated from Him through a reason,and that that reason wa s o f Him also, th is implies no imperfectionia. His Activity; on the contrary, totality emanated from Him.through Him, and unto Him. Therefore a U things having beingemanated from Him according to a known order and knownmedia: that which came later cannot be earlier. and that whichcame earlier cannot be later, for it is He Who causes things tobe earlier and later. Indeed. the farst thing having being thatemanated from Him was the noblest; thereafter came a descentfrom t h e : nobler to the lower. wtil the lowliest ofall wa s rcached.First was latell igence; then Soul; c he n th e B od y of H eav en ;tben the materials of th e foUl' Elemellts with their forms (forc h e ir ~ arc ~ to all. only d a c i r f o r m s eWer).T I I e a . . i s . .. .. .. . , ,' . . up &0..__ 10.. aoW at

ON THIi NATURE Of GOD 37the noblest of all ending at a degree parallel to the degree of theIntelligence. Through this process of origination and returningback, God is said to be the Originator and the Returner.

(From a l -lU sa l at a l -'A r s ll ir a . )


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PREDESTINATION(AVICENNAas asked to explain the meaning of the Sufi saying,.. To make known the secret of P/cdestin.ation is an act ofheresy." His reply was as foUows.)This isan extremely recondite problem, and one which cannotbe put 011 paper save in the language of cypher, a matter which

may not be made known except asa hidden mystery: to discloseit in full would work much mischief to the people at large.The fundamental text in this connexion is the saying of theProphet: Predestination is the secret of God: do yc notdisclose God's secret." It is related that a man asked the CaliphAli about predestination, and he answered: .. Predestinationis a deep sea: do not embark upon it." Asked a second time,he replied: .. Itis a hard road: do not tread it." A third timeasked, he retorted: .. It is an arduous ascent: do not undertake IIIt. Now the secret of predestination is constructed upon certainpropositions: first, the fact of an ordered universe, then thedoctrine that Illen's actions will be rewarded and punished, andfu.ally the belief that the soul will be restored after death.First Proposi t i". . . There is nothing whatsoever in the entireworld, and in a U its higher and lower parts, which is excludedfrom th e statement that God is th e cause of itsbeing and itsorigination ill time, that God h a s knowL..dge of it and disposesit, and that God wil ls it to exist. 011 the conuary, th e wholeworld isdisposed and predcternuucd, known and willed byGod ;Ihough it is ncccuary toad d that in ck sc ri bi n g t he matter dw sour iatcAtioa is to cIeKribc it in tenDS confirmed ICCUIMC"

PREDESTIN ATI ON 39by the reason, not after the usage of scholastic theologians.Proofs and logical demonstrations can be offered in confirmationof this assertion. For if this world which we know were notcompounded of the effects of good and evil forces, and of theproducts of both righteousness and corruption in its inhabitantsthe world order would not have been fulfilled completely. Ifonly pure righteousness prevailed in the world, this world wouldnot be the world We know, but another world. But since jtwas necessary that the world should be compounded after thismanner and order, it follows that bam righteousness and cor-ruption prevail in it.Second Propo s ;t ;o " . The ancient philosophers held that .. re-

ward II is the supervening of a certain pleasure in the soul~ccor~ing to t~e. degree to w~ch it achieves perfection, whilepun~Dlent IS th e supervcnmg of a certain pain in the soulacco~dillg to the degrc:c:to which it remains imperfect. TIlecontinuance of th e so ul m a state of imperfection is th e state ofremoteness fr?1ll Go~: that is what is meant by being undeea curse, suffering punishment, encountering Divine Wrath andAnger: .th e pain ~hich ~.soul h a s to endure is a consequenceof tha.t Imperfection. Similarly the perfection of the sou l iswhat IS meant by saying that God is pleased with it that it isncar and nigh wuo God and close to God's Presence. Suchthen is th e meaning of reward and punishment: this and nothingelse.Third Prol"'si t ion. Restoration after death is th e retam of

hl'maD s o u l s to their own world: there(exe God saiel, 0,,141 flst w i t . " ' ' ' r s d / . tttwrn I e) ' '' ' L ord , ~ U pIe_ wdIphsiag (Koran Ixxxix. 21'. These summary sutcmenU r c c p a i r cof course to be supported by logical cInnoostgtions

These ~ .... . ~ ...&....s& a .b Ji s h ed . . . _ _ I:.l ....II'"--...~- ~c III"'-.!C IS~r.s to a c id . . t h e . .. .. ctiIs ....... ;.... w C I d d


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44 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYfor such as disobey Him. So the masses will receive the pre-scriptions, sent down upon his tongue from God and the Angels,with heedful obedience.It is not necessary for him to trouble their minds with any

part of the knowledge of God, save the knowledge that He isOne, True, and has no like; as for going beyond this doctrine,so as to charge them to believe in God's existence as not to bedefined spatially or verbally divisible, as being neither withoutthe world nor within it, or anything of that sort-to do thiswould impose a great strain upon them and would confusethe religious system which they follow already, bringing themto a passwherefrom only those rare souls can escape who enjoyespecial favour, and they exceedingly uncommon. The gener-ality of mankind cannot imagine these things as they really areexcept by hard toil i few indeed are they who can conceivethe truth of this Divine Unity and Sublimity. The rest aresoon apt to disbelieve in this sort of Being. or they fall downupon the road and go offinto discussions and speculations whichprevent them from attending to their bodily acts, and- oftenenough cause them to fall into opinions contrary to the good ofsociety and inCOhsistc:ntwith the requirements of truth. Insuch circumstances their doubts an d difficulties would multiply.and it would be hard indeed by words to control them: notevery man is ready to Wlderstand metaphysics. and in any caseit would not be proper for any man to disclose that he is inpossessionof a truth which he conceals from th e masses iindeed.he must not allow himself so much as to hint at any such thing.Hs duty is to c c a c h men to know the M a P . t Y an d Might ofGod by means of symbols an d p a r a b l e s drawn'from things whichthey regard as mighty and majestic. imparting to t hem s implyd a i s muda. & h a t God h a s no ccpaI. no an d no panncr.Similarly he __ c s t a I J I i s h in t hem th e Idicf in an aftedifr.

ON PROPHECY 45in a manner that comes within the range of their imaginationand will be satisfying to their souls; he will liken the happinessand misery there to be experienced in terms which they canunderstand and conceive. A s for the truth of these matters,he will only adumbrate it to them very briefly, saying that itissomething which .. eye hath not seen nor ear heard ", and thatthere ispleasure awaiting us beyond the grave which isa mightykingdom, or pain that is an abiding torment. God certainlyknows the beneficent aspect of all this, and it is always rigln totake what God knows exactly for what it implies. There istherefore no harm in his discourse being interspersed with sundryhints and allusions. to attract those naturally qualified for specula-tion to undertake philosophical research into the nature ofrdigious observances and their utility in terms of this worldand the next.Now this person, the prophet, is not of the kind that oftencomes into the world, in evcry age: the gross matter able toreceive his sort of' perfection' occurs in but few temperaments.It follows from this that the prophet must devise means ofsecuring the survival of his code and laws in all the spheres ofhuman welfare. There is no doubt tbat the advantage in thisis, that men will continue to be aware of the existence of Godand of an afterlife i and th e danger of their forgetting thesethings. a generation after th e prophet's mission, will be circum-vented. He must therefore prescribe certain acts which menshould repeat at close intervals, so that if the time for the per-formance of one act ismissed there may soon be an opportunityfor performing the next like act while th e memory is still freshan d ha s not yet become: oblite ra ted.These acts mUSI of course be linked up with some means ofcall ing God an d th e aftcrl;fc 10 m ind, t hey will be .. . . :th is . . . .. . . . c a a G i d l y C O D S i s t o E s c c . . . . _ _ ~ .


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AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYset resolves to be intended in the imagination. Men must alsobe told that these acts are means of winning God's favour andof qualifying for a great and generous reward: these acts shouldin fact be of such a sort, and should be like the religious observ-ances prescribed for men to follow. In a word, these actsshould be reminders; and those reminders must be eithercertain motions, or the denial of certain motions resulting inother motions. The former category may be illustrated by theinstance of formal prayers, the latter by fasting; for thoughfasting is in itself a negative idea, it stirs nature violently and soreminds the faster that what he is doing is not meaningless,with the result that he remembers what his intention is infasting, namely to win the favour of Almighty God.He should also if possible mix in with these observances other

interests, in order to strengthen and extend the code, and tomake their practice generally advantageous ill a material sensealso. Examples of this are Jehad and Pilgrimage. He shouldspecify cer tain places in the world as the most suitable forworship, stating that they belong exclusively to God; certainobligatory acts must also be specified as being done for God'ssake only-as for instance th e offering of sacrifices, which areof great help ill this connexion. The place which is advant-ageous ill this context, ifit be th e town where the lawgiver tookrefuge and dwelt, will also serve th e purpose of bringing himto mind, an advantage second only to that of rememberingGod an d the Angels. This single place of refuge cannot beclose at hand for th e whole commwlity of the: Faith; obviouslytherefore it must be prescribed as a place for migration, and forjourneying unto.

T he noblest of t h e s e observances from a cer tain p o i n t of viewis that one inwhich the pnformcr assumes thac h e is a c l c k C S 1 i n gGo d inpri~ CObvatc, that be is t u m i n a toCod and sta.....

ON PROPHECY 47before Him. This observance is Prayer. Certain steps preparatory to prayer .must also be prescribed, similar to thosewhich a man customarily undertakes of his own accord beforeentering the presence of a human ruler; namely, purificationand cleansing. The regulations laid down for these should beeffective and impressive. The act of prayer should further beaccompanied by those attitudes and rules of conduct usuallyobserved in the presence ofk.ings: humili ty. quie tness. loweringthe eyes, keeping the hands and feet withdrawn, not turningabout and fidgeting. For every moment of the act of worship.appropriate and seemly rules and usages should be prescribed.All these conditions of religious observance serve the usefulpurpose of keeping th e people's thoughts fixed firmly upon therecollection of God; in this way they will continue in theirdose attachment to th e laws and ordinances of the Faith; with-out these reminders they will be apt to forget all about it oneor two generations after the prophet's death. These practiceswil l also be of enormous advantage to them in the hereafter,by purifying and lifting up their souls as we have already shown.So far as the elect areconcerned, the advantage they derive

from aU t h e s e prescriptions is mainly connected with the afterlife.We have established above the true nature of the hereafter,and proved that happiness ill the world to come is to be acquiredby cleansing and uplifting th e soul, through removing it farfrom such bodily conditions as couRict witll the means of secur-ing that happiness. Spiritual elevation is achieved through th eacquisition of moral qualities and vinuous habits. which in theirtum arc acquirccl by means of acts calculated to diven th e s O u l .frOnt th e body and th e senses and to remind it of its true:substance.I( souI , i s rn- . .uau. lJ t~ in .,wards i t s d f .i t.wiII~.b e a d C C t c 4 a .y . . . , . . . . . . . . 1 I C C S o r d i a e hO c l y . k "


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AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYbe reminded and helped to do this by acts which are in them-selves fatiguing, and outside the usual habit of the reason;indeed, the reason itself is stimulated by them to undertake thesetasks. They fatigue the body and the animal faculties, destroy-ing their inclination to take things easily, to be slothful andunwilling to go to any trouble, to dull the natural zest andavoid all discipline saVj:for the purpose of getting advantagesin the form of bestial pleasures. The soul will be constrainedto attempt these motions by the very recollection of God, ofthe Angels and of the world of perfect happiness, whether itwill or no; consequently it will become firmly disposed tochafe at the influences of th e body and will acquire the habitof dominating it and not to be merely passive in its control.Bodily actions as they occur will not then affect the soul sopowerfully and habitually as would be the case if the soul weresatisfied and content to submit to the body in everything. Allthis proves the truth of the saying, that good habits drive outevil ones. If a man continues in this course, he will acquirethe habit of turning automatically towards the true, and awayfrom the false; he will become thoroughly prepared and readyto be delivered into celestial happiness when the body is Icftbehind.If a man performs t h e s e acts without believing them to bea duty imposed by God. and in spite of this his each act is accom-panied by the remembrance of God, and a turning away froma U other things. he wiD be worthy to acquire some measure

of this spiritual fervour: how much the more, then. if hefollows this us e knowing that th e Prophet h a s come from Godand h a s been sent to men by God , that it wa s metaphysicallynecessary that he sbouId be sent, an d that all th e laws whichhe -qWist . .d wac d IO IC whi ch he wa s obliged by God to.... _e,_ ..... -altIUs asGOd'sapt. fat .. P l o p l a c c

ON PROPHECY 49was truly charged by God to impose these religious observancesupon his followers: observances which are of benefit to menin that they perpetuate among them the Prophet's laws andordinances, which are the means whereby they live at all, andby stimulating them to spiritual zeal bring them near to thenigh Presence of God ill the world to come.Such a man is richly qualified to dispose the affairs of his

fellows in a manner securing the regular provision of their well-being in this world. and their ultimate salvation in the worldto come: he is a man distinguished above a ll his fellows byhis godliness. (From the Ki tab al-Najii t .)


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ON PRAYER0" the Natllre oj PrayerWilEN G od had created th e animals, a fte r th e p la nt s. t he m in era lsand the clements. and after the spheres. the stars. the unsub-s ta nt ia l s pir it s a nd th e intelligences perfect in them selv es; w henHe had completed H is work of origination and creation , H ed esire d to flllis h H is c rea tio n w ith th e m os t p erfe ct sp ec ie s. e ve nas H e had begun it w ith the m ost perfect genus. He thereforedistinguished M an from out of all H is creatu res. so that as th ebegmning had been with In telligence. so too the conclusionshould be. He began with th e nob le s t o f sub st an ces . I n te ll ig ence .and H e concluded w ith the hoblest of beings. the In telligen t.The high purpose of creation was M an . and nothing else.

H av in g r ea li ze d a ll this. thou must know t h a t Man is theM icrocosm; and as all other beings are graded in their world,so too m Oan is graded according to h is d ee ds a nd hi s nobility.Some men there are w hose deeds accord w ith those of angels ;s om e w ho se acts accord w ith those of dev ils, so that they perish.Fo r Man h a s no t been produced ou t of one thing only , that heshould be subject to a single set o f condi ti on s : God h a s com-p ou nd ed h im of m an y th in gs o f v ariou s so rts , a nd tem pe ra me ntso f d iv ers kinds. God div ided M an 's su bstan tiality in to bodyan d s ou l, the f ormer c on ta in in g his gro sse r a nd the la tte r h issubtler elements. He bestowed upon him sense a nd re as on ,bo t h s ec re t a nd m an ife st; then He adorned hi s outw ard andmanifest part. h is body, with th e five senses in th e amplest degreean d fullest ordero Nat out o f " in warc la ad se cret parts Hec ho se .tJ.e : w lU d a W ! fC I U ' C J & I f !S t . .. .. T I l e , . , . . .~ . S O

N PRAYER 51dem ent H e im plan ted in his liv er. to regu late his digestion ande vac ua tio n (o r attra ctio n a nd re pu ls io n), to b ala nc e the m em be rsand replace by means of nourishment the pans lost throughdissolu tion. The an im al clem ent H e associated w ith h is h ea rt.connected with the facu lties of appetite and anger. to accordwith the congen ial and oppose the uncongen ial: this H e m adeth e fo un ta in he ad o f th e fiv e s en se s. a nd th e so urce o f th e im ag in a-tion an d of m ov em en t. L astly H e fashion ed the hu man . ration alsou l in the brain . w hich H e lodged in the highest situation andm ost appropriate station . H e adorn ed it w ith thou ght, m em oryan d recollection , an d gav e the intellectual su bs tan ce p ow er o ve rit, that it m ight be as it were a commander with the facultiesfor soldiers; the" comm on-sense " served as a courier, to actas an in termediary between the brain and the senses. Th esenses w ere to be me spies of th e brain . each stationed at itsappropriate gate, to sally forth from time to time in to theirown world and pick up all that was let fall by their fellow s.which they should cO llvey to the particu lar m essenger; thelauer would then deliver it, s eale d a nd e nv elo pe d. to th e fa cu ltyof the in telligen ce, to discrim in ate an d choose w hat accordedwith it. and to reject mat which was not genuine.Man w as thus equ ipped w ith these sou ls ou t of all m e w orld,through each facu lty sharing w ith one class or other of liv ingbein gs. B y v irtu e of the an im al sou l he shares w ith the an im als;his physical sou l links him w ith tbe plan ts; hi s hemansoulis a bond between him and the angels. M oreover each of I D t . ' S Cfaculties h a s a )pccial sphere. an d a particu lar function to per-form : accordin g as ou e of th e th ree p re vails o ver th e o th cJtwO, the in div id ua l is d .. .fu ae d b y dut p re va klu sp he re. aa drdated aftel' his pcrcqxiou to 1m ow n pus. Siauilarly each~"' iUo~;~-reif .o~r~d!~iuo!",, , , , , ,.~ . . . . . . .c i ~ . . , ~ - .o ; . . . . . . . ~ . .

, < if . .e


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5 2 . AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYmaintain the parts of the body, and to cleanse the body ofsuperfluities: that is all: it has no business to compete or dis-pute with the function of any other. The purpose of its functionis to keep the body in order and the limbs in proper balance,while supplying strength to the physique. The proper orderof the body is proved by a well-oiled flesh, sturdy limbs anda strong physique; and these are acquired from eating anddrinking. The reward of the physical soul's function is notto be expected in the spiritual world, and does not wait uponthe resurrection, for this soul will not be raised up after death :it resembles a plant, in that when it dies it is dispersed andobliterated, never to be recalled to life.Th e function of the animal soul is movement, imagination,and the defence of all the body by good management. Itsnecessary sphere and particular function is confined to appetiteand anger; anger isa branch of appetite, since it seeks to repress,to overcome, to dominate and to tyrannize; these are thevarious sorts of leadership. and leadership is the fruit of appetite.Th e special function of th e animal soul is fundamcntaUy appetite.and incidcntaUy anger. Its purpose is to preserve th e bodythrough the faculty of anger. and to perpetuate the s p e c i e s~ough the faculty of appetite; fO( the species is perpetuatedalways by means of generation. and generation is regulated byth e faculty of appetite; while the body remains guarded frominjwics by virtue ofits being defended. which mean s to dominateth e enemy. to ba r the gate of harm. and to prevent th e hannfuleffects of tyranny. and all t h e s e ideas are contained and confinedwithin the faculty of anger. Its reward is th e realization of itshopes inthis IowCf world; it is DOt to he expected after death.foc t he a nim al soul dies with th e body. aad will DOt be raisedup at th e resurrection. It r es c m W c s all. th e a n i m a l s . in that itis J JOt pl i f iNl lO I C C C iY c . . ~ ~ _may I lOC

ON PRAYERtherefore expect any reward. When the emanation of a thingis annihilated, it cannot be raised up after death; upon deamits entire existence dies, and its happiness is past.The function of the human, rational soul isthe noblest function

of all, for it is itself the noblest of spirits. Its function consistsof reflecting upon things of art and meditating UpOIlthings ofbeauty: its gaze being turned towards the higher world, it10vc..'Sot this lower abode and meaner station. Belonging asit docs to the higher side of life and to the primal substances,it is not its business to cat and drink, neither docs it requireluxury and coition; rather its function is to wait for therevelation of truths, and to reflect with perfect intuition andunclouded wit upon the perception of subtle ideas, reading withthe eye of inner vision the tablet of Divine Mystery and opposingwith strenuous devices th e causes of vain fancy. It is distill-guished from other spirits by the possession of perfect reasonand far-reaching, all-embracing thought; its ambition andstriving all through life is to purify the.sensual impressions andto perceive the world of intelligible truths. God has singledit out above a U other spirits for the gift of the faculty of reasoa,Reasoning is the tongue of the angels. who have no speech orutterance; reasoning belongs to them especially, which is pc..'C'-ceprion without sensing and communication without w~rd5.Man's relation to the world of Spirit isestablished by reasolllng ;speech follows after it. If a man possesses no knowledge ofreasoning. he is incapable of expressing truth.The function of th e sow is therefore as we have sUlDmarizedit here. in th e fewest possible words. The subject can be greatlyamplified. bu t we have abbreviated its discussioa here. since OIKpu rpose inthis tteaIisc is not to give all accouat. of a L e . .. .. .. .faq8cs.aad6eirfu~. W~havc~~~forwui. . a t e " . " .-rely. whac we . t t q u D d . 'y'-tot p r c : ( a a e ; .


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54 AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYThe function peculiar to the human soul is knowledge and

perception: its use is manifold. To it belong remembrance,humble petition, and worship. When a man knows his Lordby the medium of his thoughts, and apprehends His Essenceth~ough his reason acting upon his knowledge, and perceivesHISGoodness ~ith his intellect acting upon his reason, he con-sider~ attentively the inward nature of creation, and perceivescreation as most perfecdy displayed in the heavenly bodies andsupernal substances: these are the most perfect of created beingsbec~~ they a~e the furthest removed from corruption, im-purmes and diverse compounds. Then he s e e s within hisrati~nal so~ ~ semblance. of that immortality and rationalitywhich subsist m those bodies, Reflecting upon the Creator, herealizes that Command is indeed associated with Creation, as GodHimself declares: Tc) HiIH b t l c ) , ' 1 r i l e Cr~.J'i,m 4 ' . . 1 r l l ( ~ C.", l Ina,uI(Koran vii. S 2 . ) . Knowing thus that the Divine Emanationdescends into creation out of the world of Command (whichis to say. those spiri~ual substances), he desires ardently tocomprehend their several ranks, and iseager to establish relationswith them and to resemble their elevation. So he is everhumbling himself and meditating passionatdy, with prayers andfasting i and he attains to a great reward. For the humansoul has indeed a reward: it survives after the body hasperished, and decays not with the lapse of time; it is raisedup after death. Death is the separation of the soul frolll th ebody iresurrection is its union with those spiritual substances ;the soul's reward and fdicity come after t h e s e events. A manis rewarded according to h is acts; if he is perfect in works,he obtains an anaple reward i but if h is acts are impc:dcCcan dfall short, in like DICasurc is h is felicity impafcct and his reward& U s s h o r t. . .. .. 1 Ie ~ forever s o m n d u I an d 4 o w o c a s t .-y.~"''''''''' I f ~ " " ' _ " " " " ~

ON PRAYERprevail over his rational faculty. he is bewildered after deathand wretched after resurrection; but ifhis blameworthy facultiesarc deficient, and his soul is divorced from evil thoughts andmean passions, if his selfis adorned with the ornament of reasonand the necklace of knowledge, if he has trained himself toacquire all praiseworthy qualities, he wiu remain forever pure,refined and happy; having attained his heavenly reward, hewill abide eternally with his own dear kith and kin.Now that we have finishcd this preamble. we would remarkthat it is prayer which causes the human, rational soul to

resemble the heavenly bodies, eternally worshipping AbsoluteTruth. and seeking the imperishable reward. The Prophet ofGod declared, "Prayer is the foundation-stone of religion II ;and religion is th e purifying of the human soul of all devilishimpurities and carnal suggestions, turned away from meanworldly interests. Prayer is the worship of the first Cause,the One Supreme and Mightiest Worshipful; adoration is toknow Him Whose Being is Necessary. It needs not that weshould interpret the text A,kI j i , I I I s 1 11 11 11 It 1 l w e te f lo t c r ta t t d sav,10 'VlJrsl,ipMe (Koran li, s6)as meaning" to know M e ", forworship is knowledge, and to be aware of the existence of OneWhose Being is l\l.:ssary and absolute. being seized of His]killg with a pur e h ea rt , a spirit undcfdcd, and a soul whollydevoted to Him. The real narure of prayer istherefore to knowAlmighty God inHis Uniqucness, as a Being wholly Necc:ssary,wltose Essence is infmicely exalted and .Whose Qualities arcinfmitdy holy, with babies of sincerity ii, prayer i by whichsincerity Imean, that one should know the Qualities of Godin such a m a n n e r that ..... c remains no opening to a muk ip l i c i l yof gods, no in ren t to join others to His worship. Whoso acts~ . - . a y be sUi to. be truly silacuc i D r n y . : r D O C ~ . :~. . . . f t o a l _ . . . . ; bu t h e ... ta1lOI ..... ~,"' ...


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AVICENNA ON THEOLOGYa liar and a rebel against God, Who is Supreme and Omnipotentbeyond all such confoundings .O f the O llt lv ard F orm a lld l" ,,,a rd TrUl/I o j PrayerWhen thou hast understood al l that we have already stated

in this discourse regarding the nature of prayer, it now becomesnecessary for thee to realize that prayer is divided into twoparts, one being outward (the part of discipline, that appertainsto the body) and one inward (the real prayer, that concerns thesoul). The outward part of prayer is that prescribed by thereligious law and recognized as a fundamental duty of religion:our Lawgiver imposed it as an obligation for every man, callingit laliit and making it the foundation of faith, saying, .. Thereis no faith in him who has no lalit, and there is no faith in himwho is not faithful."The numbers of prayer are recognized, and its times precisely

laid down: th e Prophet counted it as the noblest of devotions,and assigned it th e highest rank among all acts of worship.This outward or disciplinary part is connected with the body,because it is composed of certain postures and elements suchas recitation, genu&!ction and prostration: while the body islikewise compounded of certain pr

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Avicenna on Theology