XXXIX
Now it appears from many passages of Bar Hebraeus' works that the philosophers and the teachers of the church are considered by him as inferior to the prophets and the true mystics. The latter possess knowledge founded on revelations and this knowledge is of a prophetic nature ').
Within the mystic stages however the Initiated are contrasted in numerous passages with the novices Kicvix., just as the ^jjk. is contrasted with the Ju^.. Isaac of Ninive acknowledges a stage which lies between the two 2).
It is in concordance with the term r«ilèvs*.G.T., that the Knowwhole mystic system is called that of K&CuèWo**, of Gnosis. le ge In the Ethikon the education of the novices is treated. They are admonished to be anxious about the higher knowledge which by its possessors is called Gnosis s). And in the Book of the Dove the writings of the mystics are called books of Gnosis4). The term is also used by Isaac of Ninive 3).
I have already said, that the term Gnosis, though undoubtedly betraying the spiritual ties of mysticism with gnosticism, does not give us a right to identify the mystic system with any of' the gnostic ones. It is not the aim of the mystics to acquire knowledge of things which interested the gnostics; neither the origin of the world, nor astrology are mentioned a single time in the literature we are dealing with as desirable goods. We have already seen that Ghazalï and Bar Hebraeus distinguish two valuable kinds of knowledge: practical and speculative knowledge. The former deals with the practice of man in his relation to God or with ethical behaviour, the latter with knowledge of what is true and false or with insight into the spiritual world. When the system is called a system of Gnosis, this term is applied only to the latter sort of
i) Sentence 50; 51. 2) p. 121 sq.
3) p. 320: rVcScuoS.SÉ.ox» ca*Hsa ^na róY^ta »cn.i K'cVv^.'Vi.i K'ArC'
4) P- 55»- 5) P- 483-



XL
knowledge: its object is chiefly knowledge of God. In the Ethikon an example of prayer typical for the mystics is mentioned : Maker of all and Founder of all, Thou that superatest all by Thy great power, tie the mouth of the Rebellious one '), that he, the reprehensible, may not speak with the souls of Thy 'servants against Thee and against Thy servants. And elevate their mind unto the place of knowledge, where the winds of doubt do not blow 2). And in sentence 79 Bar Hebraeus confesses that light has not yet dawned for him; then he formulates his mystical aim in this way: And I desire and beseech, that somewhat of the true light óf the Beautiful one may dawn for me; in order that I may no longer adore Him that I know not, but Him, that I know in Spirit and Truth.
And in the Book of the Dove, in the section on the delight of knowledge3), the author declares that the knowledge of God is a delight greater than any other delight. In the corresponding section of the Ethikon he says that by the delight of this knowledge, God has made man the equal of the Angels 4). And Ibn 'Ata'allah calls the knowledge of God the utmost aim of the mystic 5).
Here again the consanguinity between the Hellenistic religions and mysticism is evident. According to Reitzenstein in the former the aim is everywhere yvüvxt beév °). And he cites: tovto (a.óvov o-ocTviptov <zv%pu7rc? ia-rlv, $ yvüiri? roïi Seov ').
ï) Satan.
2) P. 21: r£A\ rCst\ v^»*x=» Aah rdJcV\èia»3a Aa.t rV.iftai»
r^i&neA ^OjcajaeaA ,cnAi.o vy-».Ta*. A^.o v^A*. rcA.v»-
c<A rciA
3) III, 6. v fggS! w
4) P- 481.
5) I, 9: 0$) l\i J, Ji\ Vyu,
6) Hellenistische Mysterienreligionen, p. 113.
7) ib., p. 122.



XLII
Bar Hebraeus' opinion is that, all Christians adhering to the Nicene credo, the mystics have to stick to it, without further entering into this subject % They attain the depth and the abundance of God's wisdom without the intermediary of complicated deliberations 2). He warns against trying to understand God by syllogisms 3): For as long as you think to know God from information, signs and testimonies, you are forging cold iron and as yet even no faith like a grain of mustard is in you 4). Partly this aversion from dogmatics may have been influenced by the old dissension between the practical and the speculative method, which we have discussed above. Love So Gnosis, though one of the designations of the mystic system, proves to be a term which has to be understood in a special sense. And it is not surprising, after these investigations, to find that it is practically nearly synonymous with a term that, at first sight, seems to have a very different sense; I mean love. Yet the intimate connection between knowledge and love of God is clearly indicated by the mystics. The knowledge of God - says Bar Hebraeus — in the pure soul resembles the pure seed thrown in good groundj And from the seed of knowledge love is born and grows up 5). And in another passage he says that, the knowledge of God being the cause of love unto Him, in accordance with knowledge being more or less, love is more or less °).
Bar Hebraeus, in this conception, proves anew to be Ghazalï's pupil; this appears from the fact that the comparison between knowledge and seed thrown into the soul is to be found in
1) Ethikon, p. 342 sqq.; Book of the Dove, Introduction to the sentences.
2) Sentence 12.
3) Sentence 90; 95.
4) Sentence 9.
5) Ethikon, p. 484- , . .
6) P. 485: <_=*J cnAcawi *A*_ »«> r<éa-W:i eo*xv.."w.i












BAR HEBRAEUS's BOOK OF THE DOVE
TOGETHER WITH SOME CHAPTERS FROM HIS ETHIKON
TRANSLATED BY
A. J. WENSINCK
WITH AN 1NTRODUCTXON, NOTES AND REGISTERS
PRINTED FOR THE TRUSTEES OF THE „DE GOEJE FUND"
N°. IV
LEYDEN — E. J. BRILL 1919



OP
Printed by E. j. BRILL, Leyden.



CONTENTS
PREF ACE Py'
CONTENTS vu
REFERENCES xi
INTRODUCTION. xm
Bar Hebraeus and Ghazsli cxi
THE BOOK OF THE DOVE r
Introduction 2
Chapter I. On the bodily service in the monastery 5
Section I. On man's alienation from the world. . . . v 5
Section II. On repentance 6
Section III. On renunciation. . 7
Section IV. On humbleness 8
Section V. On patience g
Section VI. On the love of the brethren 10
Section VII. On the offences of the tongue 11
Section VIII. On the novice's turning backwards 15
Section IX. On directing the novice in his course .... 16
Section X. On the tokens of [good] direction 18
Chapter II. On the psychic service which is accompli shed in the cell 19
Section I. On the duties of the cell 19
Section II. On solitude 20
Section III. On fourfold asceticism: prayer, invocation,
recitation, meditation 22
Section IV. On ritual prayer and the division of times.. . 23
Section V. On the reciting of Psalms and vigils 25
Section VI. On fasting 27
Section VII. On manual work 28
Section VIII. On abiding abroad 30
Section IX. On evil passions 32
Section X. On good qualities 40



VIII
Page
Chapter III. On the spiritual rest ofthe perfect . . 46
Section I. On the beginning of the inclinations of perfection 46
Section II. On the progress of the inclinations of perfection 47
Section III. On the conclusive inclinations of perfection . 48
Section IV. On the unification of the mind 49
Section V. On the causes of love 51
Section VI. On the delight of knowledge 52
Section VII. On the augmentation of the love of God . . 53
Section VIII. On the knowledge of God 54
Section IX. On the varying states the perfect have to go
through 56
Section X. On the fall of the perfect 58
Chapter IV. A tale of the author's progress in teachings and some sentences commu-
nicated to him in revelations 60
ETHIKON, Book IV, Chapter XV. OntheloveofGod. 85
Section I. Sayings of the fathers concerning the love
unto God 85
Section II. The definition of love, its divisions and its causes.
Section III. On the love of God as being justified in view 87
of all causes mentioned 89
Section IV. On the delight of the knowledge of God being
greater than any other delight ....... 91
Section V. On the delight of the knowledge of God which
happens after rather than before departure . . 93
Section VI. On the causes corroborating the love of God. 94
Section VII. On the dinerent ranks of those who love God. 96
Section VIII. Why the creatures do not know the Creator. 97 Section IX. On the manners in which the soul longs
after God. 99
Section X. On the distinctive marks of those who love God. 100 Section XI. On consolation in God and freedom of speech
with Him 103
Section XII. On the troubles the Initiated bear through the
love of God 105
Section XIII. On the stages of the Initiated concerning
their love 107
Section XIV. On the varying states the perfect have to go
through II0
Section XV. A collection of scattered sayings concerning love. 113



IX
Page
Book I, Chapter V. Onmusic. . . ■ 118
Section I. On the views of those solitaries who reject music. 118 Section II. On the worldly view of those who, alohg with
music, also declare musical instruments and
dance allowed 120
Section III. On the true view of those who declare music
partly allowed partly forbidden 121
Section IV. Since when and by whom singing has been
introduced into the Syriac church . . T . . . 124 Section V. On the causes through which music has been
introduced into the church 125
Section VI. On the cause of the delight springing from music. 126
Section VII. On the natural foundation of music 127
Section VIII. On the ranks of intelligence concerning the
reciting of Psalms and their sentences .... 129
Section IX. On the influence of music on the souls ... 132
LIST of technical terms in Syriac, Arabic and Greek 135
GENERAL REGISTER 143
CORRIGENDA. . . I52






REFERENCES
Abü Talib al-Makki, Knt al-Kulüb (Kairo 1310).
Basilius, Opera omnia, ed. Garnier (Paris 1722).
A. Dieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie2 (Leipzig and Berlin 1910).
Pionysius Areopagita, Opera omnia, ed. Lansselius (Paris 1615).
Euagrius Ponticus, ed. Frankenberg in Abhandlungen der
kgl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, phil.-hist.
Klasse, Neue Folge, Bnd. XIII, n° 2. Euagrius, Nonnenspiegel und Mönchsspiegel, ed. Gressmann
in Texte und Untersuchungen hgg. von Harnack und Schmidt
III, 9, 4.
A. L. Frothingham, Stephen bar Sudaili (Leiden 1886).
Ghazalï, Ihya' 'Ulüm al-Dïn (Kairo 1282).
Ghazalï, al-Munkidh min al-Dalai, ed. Schmölders (Paris 1842).
Ibn al-'Arabï, Kunh ma la budda minhu li '1-murïd (Kairo 1328).
Ibn 'Ata'allah, Hikam with al-Rondï's commentary (Kairo 1310).
Isaac of Ninive, De perfectione religiosa, ed. Bedjan (Paris 1909).
Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, ed. Kuster (Amsterdam 1707).
Jamblichus, De mysteriis, ed. Parthey (Berlin 1857).
Jehuda Chasid, Sefer Chasidim (Cracov 1581).
Johannes Climacus, Opera omnia, ed. Raderus (Paris 1633).
Kushairï, al-Risala fi'l-tasawwuf (Kairo 1287).
Plotinus, Enneades cum Marsilii Ficini interpretatione castigata
iterum ediderunt Frid. Creuzer et Georg Henricus Moser
(Paris 1855).
Pofphyrius, Ad Marcellam, ed. Angelus Maius (Milano 1816). Porphyrius, De abstinentia ab esu animalium, ed. De Rhoer (Utrecht 1767).



XII
Porphyrius, Vita Plotini in Plotini opera omnia, ed. Crèuzer (Oxford 1835).
R. Reitzenstein, Die hellenistischen Mysterienreligionen (Leipzig and Berlin 1910).
R. Reitzenstein, Historia Monachorum und Historia Lausiaca in Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur das alten und neuen Testaments, Neue Folge, Heft 7.
R. Reitzenstein, Poimandres (Leipzig 1904).
Die sogenannte Theologie des Aristoteles, ed. Dieterici (Berlin 1882).
Thomas a Kempis, Opera omnia, ed. Pohl (Freiburg, 1902 sqq.). G. Wetter, eine Untersuchung über hellenistische Fröm-
migkeit (Uppsala and Leipzig). E. Zeiler, Die Philosophie der Griechen4 (Leipzig).



INTRODUCTION
Bar Hebraeus may perhaps be called the best known of Bar He*
. braeus as
Synac authors in Europe. This popularity is due as well to a mystic his agreeable style as to the variety of his vast knowledge; nearly every Semitic scholar will find among his wprks one or the other which is interesting to him. It has however hardly been observed that this brilliant man with his brilliant career has gone through a religious crisis which made him appear before himself no longer as the high dignitary of the Jacobite church, but as a poor and humble beggar for religious Iight, a soul which on its way unto the union with God had only reached the stage where light is still dim and shadows are prevalent.
Yet this crisis has not to be concluded from scanty biographical notes; it has been described by himself in plain terms and the present translation of his Book of the Dove will make this clear to every reader. In the introduction to the one hundred sentences which form the fourth chapter, he tells how he got wearied by theological and ecclesiastical quarrels; how he was not satisfied either by the science of the Greeks, and how he passed into a spiritual abyss in which he would have perished if God had not saved him. Gradually and slowly he turned to the mystic authors and finally to mystic life. The outcome of this concluding period ofhisbodily and spiritual career are his mystic writings which hitherto have not met with the recognition which they deserve; one



XIV
of them, the commentary upon the Book of Hierotheos, has
even not yet been edited.
Mystic Xhe other two, however, are accessible to readers since works
some years. The book of the Dove has been twice edited: by G. Cardahi *) and by Paulus Bedjan, by the latter together with the Ethikon2); these texts may be called very satisfactory as a basis for a translation. Besides these three works of some extent there is still a small mystic tract edited by Bedjan together with the Ethikon and the Book of the Dove 3) entitled: A Narrative on the youth of the Mind.
From a note in Codex Rich n° 1794 in the British Museum it appears that the Ethikon has been written by Bar Hebraeus in the year 1590 i. e. 1278 A. D., 8 years before his death. It is probable that the Book of the Dove was composed after the Ethikon, it has even been called an abridged edition of it. I have objections against this qualification, as may be seen further on, but so much is true, that nearly all the materials out of which the first three chapters of the Book of the Dove are composed, are to be found in the first three chapters of the Ethikon. And the fourth chapter of the Book of the Dove seems to betray in its personal tone something of the approaching departure. So the work may have been composed after A. D. 1278,
Now the author tells us in the introduction to the sentences that he has devoted seven years to the study of mystic authors. With this date we may combine a note in Cod. 7189 Rich in the British Museum, in which a reader tells us, that he has spent ten years in enquiries after the volume containing the Book of Hierotheos with the commentary of Theodosius. All researches were in vain till, by an act of Providence, the Katholikos Bar Hebraeus, the light of the East, was gained for the sake of research and then the present copy was found,
I) Rome 1898. 3) P- 600 sqq.
2) Paris 1898.



XV
and, because it was well nigh worn out, bound together in
the year 1580 of the Greeks, A. D. 1268.
Now this Book of Hierotheos has been set into a clear light
by the researches of Frothingham; and Merx has shown
how great its influence has been on Oriental mysticism '). Bar
Hebraeus' acquaintance with it dates from 1268 and this may
have been the year, in which his thoughts were directed
towards mysticism; probably it has been a mighty impulse to
the religious crisis he describes in the Book of the Dove. He
wrote a commentary or notes to it; it is not known in which
year; and, no doubt, it has also turned his attention to the
other mystic authors of which he quotes a good many in his
Ethikon and — some of which he does not quote.
Bar Hebraeus was perhaps too old to change his career and
adopt the way of life typical for the Eastern mystic. He
has feit this discrepancy between his conviction and his life.
one time he speaks of it, in the Book of the Dove, p. 548^
where he maintains that it is better for the mystic not to be
dependent upon others and to earn his bread by manual work,
as the Fathers have done. Then he goes on: Here the author
confesses his guilt, saying j I teach but I do not learn: I write
but I have neglected; I preach but I do not practise; I ad-
monish but I have sinned.
In other passages he speaks very modestly about his mystical Modesty
career. In the introduction to the sentences he relates how conSg
the crisis has passed away and light is dawning; but he pravs their ex" 4. j.1 .1 . , perience constantly that the screen which impedes his sight may be
removed. And in sentence 79 he says that the sun of mystic
illumination has not yet risen above his horizon.
We may acknowledge the honesty of such confessions but,
at the same time, it has to be observed that they are not
seldom found in the works of the eminent leaders of mysti-
1) Idee und Grundlinien einer allgemeinen Geschichte der Mystik (Heidelberg, 1893).



XVI
cism. It is worth while to quote the following passage from Isaac of Ninive, one of Bar Hebraeus' spiritual authorities: This [viz. the preceding passage on mystical experience] I have written, to the pront of myself and of every one who comes across this book, as something which I have grasped from the contemplative mysticism to be found in books and from the mouth of veracious men; but a small part of it is the fruit of personal experience ').
And Porphyry in his Life of Plotinus says that this great master has only four times reached the aim of all mystics, the union,with God, as long as he has known him; he himself only one time2). This scarcity of mystical experience even extends to whole generations. In the Introduction to the Book of the Dove Bar Hebraeus complains of the fact that the Syriac world in his time is without a mystic leader. Ghazall says that the mystics of his time do not know how to be familiar with God 3) and that the countries are devoid of a shaikh whose knowledge and works are to be taken as an example *). Kushairï 5) and Abü Talib al-Makkl °) speak in the same way; Isaac of Ninive says that the entrance into the divine mystery is scarcely accessible to one man in each generation '); and Johannes Climacus thinks that the divine gifts which were imparted to the ancients do not occur in his
1) Ed. Bedjan, p. 127: -A-staa »L».i ndi-i.KXaA &\s&\& ^Aen Kfcn r^-.-iorc'cS ^jsa è^i.irV.i yaxx v^»rV rdJoo rds&u&s
2) § 23.
3) P, P- 204: ÜJ\ ^ J-«£ L,
4) ib.: 0Y\ & y>L)\ ^Sé> ft^j «Je j Ai ÉltóUj fei
5) P- 3- 6) €| 161.
7) P- 167: [r<duA.i r<cScA^ ps.ijoiiso rei'»4jrCr<'fir<'^»S OciA rCèv^-.T_* rC'.tcoA aiaj is TTra ma>&\.s90 j.aa.tx.saA AeaAo
rVcrArX'.i cncViQ-i iYn



XVII
time '). — Notwithstanding Bar Hebraeus' modesty concerning his spiritual experience, the hundred sentences which form an important part of his book, are styled by himself as being founded upon revelations. Indeed they are the most original part of the book, and they give it a serious counterweight against the Ethikon. The number of these sentences seems to have been chosen in accordance with a well known Eastern predilection. Euagrius Ponticus, one of Bar Hebraeus' admired spiritual teachers, has written a book, entitled Centuriae, consisting of six times a hundred sentences. Zamakhsharï's Golden Necklaces are a hundred in number; and on the authority of cAlï a collection of hundred sentences is current in Arabic literature. — The other chapters of the Book of the Dove con- influence sist each of ten sections; here Bar Hebraeus seems to go back w^^f directly to Ghazalï's example, whose Ihya' also consists of four books, each containing ten chapters. The literary relation between Ghazalï and Bar Hebraeus will be discussed further on. Here some general remarks may find their place.
Ghazalï seems to have been the first to divide the subject óf mystical ethics into four books, each of which has its distinct aim. It is at least not known to me that any of his predecessors has resorted to such a division; moreover he explains his reason for doing so in his introduction: the usual division of the fikh into four parts has been his example. So this is a novum. Those four parts are: I ritual and corporeal acts; II adab, social acts; III the purifying of the soul from vices; IV the providing of the soul with excellent qualities. This is exactly the same division as that of the Ethikon. The general parallelism between Ihya' and Ethikon may further be shown in a striking way by the juxtaposition of the chapters of the third books:
*) P- 338: Tfly Si 3j«/>;«7i<ÉT»v ceurcóv oix Af-iovpévii.
1



XVIII
Ihya' Ethikon
1 On the heart i On the soul
2 On the training of the soul 2 On the training of the soul
3 On lasciviousness and sen- 3 On wantonness
suality 4 On lasciviousness
4 On the tongue 5 On the tongue
5 On anger, rancour and envy 6 On anger, rancour and envy '6 On the world 7 On worldly desires
7 On avarice 8 On covetousness
8» On bluff 9 On ambition
8b On false appearance 10 On hypocrisy
9 On pride 11 On pride
10 On self-deception 12 On boast
This general parallelism appears in other cardinal points. Every chapter in the Ihya' and the Ethikon opens with a section containing the utterances of Scriptures and Tradition on the subject treated in it. Both go on with a definition of the subject, called jo or ajLb- by Ghazalï, ri£sacu>&i by Bar Hebraeus. Further Ghazalï divides the works into three states: that of knowledge (^Jc), action (Ai1) and disposition (Jlo) '); this division is also that of Bar Hebraeus who calls the states: speculation (róiotVèx), practice (rc&oici*J») and disposition (Qaifl0cr>è\r£.i) 2)« Both Ghazalï and Bar Hebraeus maintain that there is a_L U.\ ^, KèuaJ^niA rCcW.T_. and ic K'èviaj^*iot<'è\ r<&Uh.:i* and both say expressly that they will only treat of the former 3).
From this parallelism in capital points it may already be clear, that Bar Hebraeus, as to the general lines of his work, was dependent upon Ghazalï. This parallelism exists chiefly between the Ihya' and the Ethikon. The Ethikon and the Book of the Dove have really different aims.
The Ethikon, like the Ihya', has been written in order
1) Ihya' IV, p. 208. 2) Ethikon, p. 420. 3) Ihya' I, p. 4; Ethikon, 1.



XX
Nearly all of them are to be identified with certainty. Indeed, Euagrius Ponticus proves to be one of the most favourite; very often he is called ^i^ar<' rïlai, Evxypiog b f&éyix?, as Greek authors would say '); he is also called the father of the Initiated, rtüi&\^.a.T»:i KiarV2); or the masterof the Initiated, Klïèvi^osii rïlaï3); usually he is quoted as Father Euagrius, oa»'i\or<' KlarV4). As far as I see none of his works is ever mentioned by name.
Gregorius Theologus 5) and the holy Basilius °) are also sometimes called ps^bÏ; Gregrorius of Nyssa is much less quoted ').
One of the oldest and most quoted authors is the man who is usually called ^curc', John the prior. His identity is
absolutely certain, for in the Ethikon, p. 413, his rdiaxnsa r£a&\& or Liber Scalae is mentioned. This is of course the famous Scala Paradisi and so John proves to be Johannes Climacus, the abbot of the monastery of Raitun in the Sinaitic peninsula. One time8) he is called rVift^s rVv.vci .JCUpï' nf-ièuM, the excellent prior of the monastery of Tar. Till the present day the old Raitun is called Tör or Tor 9).
Dionysius the Areopagite is quoted once in the Ethikon 10), once in the Book of the Dove ").
These are the originally Greek authors; Syriac translations of their works are preserved in the European libraries; that of Euagrius' works has been edited by Frankenberg ,2).
1) Ethikon, pp. 218, 223, 235, 309, 322, 325 sq., 327 sq., 349, 448, 481.
2) Ethikon, pp. 45, 105, 228.
3) Ethikon, pp. 29, 34.
4) e. g. Ethikon, pp. 19 sq., 28, 47, 102 sq., 183, 185, 241,246,250,255,272, 278, 285, 293, 304, 306, 312, 317, 324, 341 sq., 410, 419, 433, 447 sq., 468,474.
5) Ethikon, pp. 227, 317, 366, 483.
6) Ethikon, pp. 250, 328, 330, 432, 451 sq., 474.
7) Ethikon, pp. 350, 452.
8) Ethikon, p. 511.
9) John is mentioned e.g. Ethikon, pp. 14, 19, 39, 43, 97, 102 sq., 142, 236, 246, 255 sq., 272, 286, 293, 305 sq., 354, 356, 364, 411, 413, 508. Book of the Dove, p. 527.
10) p. 487. 11) p. 568.
12) In the Abhandlungen der Göttinger Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften.



XXI
Of orjginally Syriac authors the following are mentioned: Hierotheos, whose book was sought in the Syriac libraries and found A. D. 1268 and on which Bar Hebraeus wrote a commentary, is quoted two times only; once in the Ethikon '), where he is called r^laï; and once in the Book of the Dove, where he has the epithet of Initiated 2). Frequently we find Mar Isaac, ,the excellent Mar Isaac'3), ,the chaste Mar Isaac'4). That this is Isaac of Ninive appears from the quotation in the Book of the Dove 5), which is to be found in the works of Isaac in Bedjan's edition °).
Finally another author is to be mentioned whose identity is, as yet, not easily to be stated. I mean John de Dalyata '), alsö called Saba de Dalyateh. In Syriac and Arabic manuscripts he is often called rdi^oi «^a>, j\>j^\ 7*^5 so that Wright e.g. always calls him John Saba. The works of John Saba are preserved in the libraries of Cambridge, London, Paris and Rome in Syriac, Karshuni and Arabic. Now the question is: whether the ,spiritual Shaikh' is to be identified with John de Dalyata, as is done in some mss.; or with John bar Pinkayë" as is done in other mss.; it seems to me that this question cannot yet be answered.
A recension of the authors quoted by Bar Hebraeus would be incomplete, without a class of persons who are not authors in the literal sense of the word, but whose sayings and lives were of an enormous influence upon Syriac asceticism: viz. the Fathers of Scete, who are mentioned in every chapter of the Ethikon. Their influence appears prominently in the ascetic parts of Bar Hebraeus' works, but asceticism and mysticism cannot be separated in mystics like Bar Hebraeus. His system
1) p. 449- 2) P- 568.
3) Ethikon, p. 29.
4) Ethikon, pp. 99, 249. — Further he is mentioned e. g.: Ethikon, pp. 8, 14, 19 sq., 27, 34, 102, 255, 279, 306, 321 sq., 332*354, 377, 419, 448, 468 sq., 475, 490.
5) P- 527- 6) p. 499.
7) Ethikon, pp. 272, 305, 312, 332, 441, 448, 475, 490.



XXII
or his ,way' begins with simple asceticism; then, the mystic light begins to dawn here and there, and finally, the reader is in a mystic atmosphere, which sometimes comes near to pantheism.
This statement may be verified by the lecture of the Book of the Dove, the value of which lies chiefly therein, that it means to be and is a handbook for the novice who wishes to become a mystic, and which consequently describes the methods, aims and spiritual experience of Bar Hebraeus; not only of Bar Hebraeus however, but of the whole mystical school to which he belongs. Semiti°f *n '^e f°Howing pages this mystical system will be demysticism scribed in its outlines; then it will be found that Bar Hebraeus is closely akin not only to his Syriac predecessors, but also to Ghazalï and Muslim mystics of his type. So we are brought to the question of the origin of Semitic mysticism and asceticism. This question has been asked and answered several times and in different ways. It is of a very complicated nature and I do not imagine that my small contribution to the solution will be of a nature to answer the question in its entirety. I believe however that I am in a better position in view of it than many of my predecessors, because in the last years only the religi ous elements of the Hellenistic world have been studied and discussed in a thorough way. The name mysticism itself points to that Hellenistic movement which found voice chiefly in the many religions which are called the mystery-religions. Different descriptions and liturgical documents belonging to them have come down to us; their meaning and value have only become clear after the researches of men like Albrecht Dieterich, Reitzenstein and others.
We have a certain right to denote all these utterances with the term Hellenism, perhaps the best comprehensive denomination for these phenomena.
It can be compared with what Babylonian civilization has been for Semitic antiquity and it has served as a basis for



xxiii
Christianity and for Islam as civilizing and also as religious powers.
We can not however be content with such a general term. And it may be said at the outset that we will find two other spiritual movements, which — it is true — can be styled as belonging to Hellenistic civilization — yet have their own very definite meaning: Gnosticism and Neo-platonism, the former being the theosophy, the latter the philosophy of Hellenism. And at the side of these, there is a mighty practical tendency which is found in Neo-pythagorean sects, among Neo-platonic philosophers, and, much more developed, in large circles of Christian society: asceticism, which tends in itselfto mysticism, but has only found its coronation in Christian and Muslim mysticism.
So our study of Bar .Hebraeus' mystical system will lead
us to Eastern syncretism — an other comprehensive term for
the spiritual attitude of those times. This is at the bottom of
the system, there can be not doubt of it. Still, it is to be
observed, that all that is wild in it and connected with magie
practice and heathen theory has been banished or purified,
so that neither Bar Hebraeus nor Ghazalï have ever met with
serious objections on the part of Catholic or Muslim ortho-
doxy. And it may be conceded that both of them have raised
their system to an apotheosis of every-day practice and common
belief, which is far above all we know of Christian and
Muslim juristic, dogmatic and polemic literature. That this
spiritualizing process goes hand in hand with a tendency to-
wards esoterie religion, will be shown in due place.
Now, before we consider these mystic systems, one thing Specula-
m -i- *j tion and
is to be observed. Bar Hebraeus as well as Ghazalï consider practice
their books as books for the practice of religious life, not as
speculative works. Bar Hebraeus says this in the introduction
to the Ethikon. He reasons thus: things to be grasped by
man are either of a speculative nature, as for instance the
knowledge that God is one and that the world will be destroyed ;



XXXI
is only considered as a praeparatory stage for the understanding of the mystic writers ').
So Faith is for the mystic different from what it means for Faith the common believer. Bar Hebraeus considers the well known definition of faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Chap. n, as suiting to all belief; then he proceeds to give his own peculiar definition 2). In the twentieth sentence he discerns between the common belief which he calls the shadowy faith and the faith founded on revelations; the latter is to be reached by the solitaries by means of labour, efforts and apprenticeship.
All these utterances concerning the distinction between common belief, even that of the Fathers and commentators, and that of the Initiated, are again founded upon similar distinctions in older mystics. Very explicit are e.g. the words of Dionysius the Areopagite: Moreover this must be kept in mind, that theological tradition is of a doublé nature: one current is unspeakable and mystic, the other is clear and easy to be recognized 3). And so it comes to be that mystic utterances in intimate interco urse with God, are considered by the common believers to be heretic, as Ghazalï says after Djunaid4). Also Isaac of Ninive distinguishes simple belief from the insight founded on revelations: If the small apple of the eye of thy soul has not been purified, then venture-not to look into the sphere of the sun, lest thou be bereaved even of the wonted visual power which is simple belief and humbleness and the confession of the heart and the small work which corresponds to thy strength5).
1) Book of the Dove, p. 558.
2) ib., p. 559.
3) P- 3°5 : 2ÉA*"( re xai toSto hynfaat xt*l ri Sirriiv elvai tijv tüv SeeAoyain wapioWiv t$v /lh awófptjrov xai liva-Ttxjv ripi Si IpQavii xai yvupipuTtfctv.
4) Ihya' IV, p. 294: ^ ^> J fV=U^ ^^JoM ^ y
Jet-j£"
5) P- 16 sq.: ndA rOoiaa rïd AKh rei-sa-Vi rdxsox. ixa.ajK'-a g.t^sA uisaix



XXXII
So sharp is the distinction made by Bar Hebraeus between initiated knowledge and common belief, that he declares: He who reckons himself among the Faithful without having looked behind the door of the Holy of Holies, lies, even if he confess with his tongue and believe with his heart '). Those who have acquired true belief are baptised with fire and spirit, not with water 2).
Fasting This distinction appears further in the religious practice of the mystics. Fasting e.g., is of three kinds: common fasting, peculiar fasting, which is the practice of the solitaries who not only abstain from food but from every sinful emotion, and more peculiar fasting, the practice of the Perfect who banish every sinful thought3). The number of ritual prayers is seven for common believers; the Initiated however have an eighth prayer4).
Prayer Now prayer is one of the mighty means towards the object of all mysticism: the union with God. So it is described in connection with various experiences and soon the term looses its common meaning. Isaac of Ninive has developed a theory of ,pure prayer' as he calls it, which, no doubt, has influenced Bar Hebraeus. It is of importance therefore to translate one of Isaac's most explicit passages on this subject. As all power — he says — of the Law and the institutions which God has laid down for mankind, have their limit iri the purity of the heart, according to the Fathers, so all sorts and habits of prayer in which mankind prays unto God reach their limit in pure prayer. Sighs and sobs, persuasion and imploration from the heart, sweet tears and all the other habits which are possible in prayer, as I have said, reach in pure prayer their limit and their possibility of being set in motion. As soon as the mind has passed the border of the purity of prayer there
vAiü v^rV.i «Iluaa&q rctVviArA rtf&uaa&io
I) Sentence 17. 2) Sentence 19.
3) Book of the Dove, p. 545 j Ethikon, p. 80 sq.
4) Ethikon, pj 15.



XXXIII
is no longer prayer, nor inclinations, nor tears, nor power, nor liberty, nor persuasion, nor desire, nor longing after anything which may be expected in this world or in the world to come ').
So pure prayer is already a sort of union with God; it has no longer anything to do, as Isaac declares, with the usual forms of prayer. In another description he says that prayer consists in the being dead of the inclinations of the will regarding the life of the flesh2).
Bar Hebraeus has reproduced Isaac's theory of pure prayer paraphrastically: Mar Isaac says: pure prayer is not knowledge and words but the standing still of the intellect and a quiet mind which is concentrated and brought to peace, in silence of the inclinations and the senses. And he further says: the prayer which lies beyond purity, is steadiness of mind, peace of the heart, rest of the thoughts, quietness of deliberations, the contemplation of the new world, hidden consolation, intercourse
1) p. 165: kü.TaCuao rdfloêLsu.i r*Aiu ctAa.i rül^r-/ k&cu&rA oen n£=a.T_^. " *-A
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2) P- 475: ^sa kIIas^.! r<i^.aia rï&oèuös cn-»èu»r<' k&tvA-



XXXIV
with God, communion of the intellect with God through the revelation of his mysteries
Further he alludes to a passage in Isaac and he also quotes a remarkable utterance of Euagrius: The initiated Fatherssay: pure prayer is the glorification of the heart, contemplation in God and ecstasy in Him 2). Those who pray thus are the true adorers in spirit. Those the Father loves, according to the word of universal life. For Aba Euagrius says: strive to set up your mind at the time of prayer, deaf, without speech; so you will be able to pray 3). Pilgrimage This is the esoterie doctrine of prayer. In the Book of the Dove 4) and in the Ethikon 5) we find also the mystic theory of pilgrimage. The perfect solitaries reject it; they are on the way to Jerusalem in heaven and recall the words of the Gospel, which declare neither Jerusalem nor the Gerizim the place of adoration, but acknowledge only the adoration in truth and in spirit.
Such an esoterie theory is also found in Hudjwïrï °), who cites
1) Ethikon, p. 14: c\A rïAu&.'l KdxO-l^.l TSOpC' jx*xaa*r* ,T»JO rdiocno rd^..aWM.'l rCiiAjcu&tt ruri1 oa.oVurc' r<Aüjo redu^jw .=)oós ïsarVet rdx^Jio K?Jt-ai.1 rdnèuo ^XJBOO T*'M kA»co=j rdiiï. kIidcoi rfcV>cvxncV\ ctijA\_.ps' k'cVtcu^.i ïèis.t k&cvA^.i r*/*wW.:i r^ioK'Ai t^.aï.ftjj.i rc&cAjcars rCïü.™ rCjjuJ rtlu* .^cSoèucm K^-nso rVaur*/ )a^..i rcXxl^ rtaüaSk KVtlcis pCcVmu»
>cno\ïr<'.i p^li\\p KferAr*/ )a^_
2) Cf. Isaac, p. 166.
3) Ethikon, p. t3sq.: rVcVicA^i ^isorc*r«ilè\Sb.ö.T» .aocV rC'èuuaK'G rCcoAr^Las K"vu)0 K'&u.n \ r^/iVi f*n-\* Ai cra_»cH_«r<' rcèvi&.i ne'.'tö.^oo ^OJre* ^aim ^A^sa r£l*tcn.l ^Acncv ms.i rctawèVo
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CüA~s*A
4) 11,8. 5) p. iii sqq. 6) p. 327.



XXXV
Muhammed ibn al-Fadl: I wonder at those who seek His temple in this world; why do not they seek contemplation of
Him in their hearts? If they are bound to visit a
stone which is looked at only once a year, surely they are more bound to visit the temple of the heart, where He may be seen three hundred and sixty times in a day and a night. But the mystic's every step is a symbol of the journey to Mecca, and when he reaches the sanctuary he wins a robe of honour for every step.
In sentences 30 and 31 Bar Hebraeus expounds his theory Trinity of the Trinity: what the church calls Father, Son and Spirit is really Cause or Essence, Word and Life. This theory goes back to a Hellenistic system. In the Corpus Hermeticum we read: ovro yya&i • rb iv <ro) j3Xs7rov kx) xkovov Xoyog xvplov, ê Sf vovq irxTvip 3eó$' ov yxp 'SittTTxvTXt xtt' akXyXav • êvuo-ig yxp tóvtuv êtrriv $ £»>j '). Here the triad is: Mind, Word, Life. The Noü? is also called cSyf&wvpyés 2).
There is further a difference betw een the common knowledge Knowof God and the esoterie one. The former recognizes God from e^od° the creatures; the Initiated go the inverse way: they first know God; then, en account of this knowledge, they- recognize the creatures 3).
It is important to find, that Isaac of Ninive also gives an Crucifixion
esoterie doctrine of the crucifixion in one of his sentences.
The ascension to the cross — he says — consists of two things:
firstly the crucifixion of the body, in the second place the
ascension unto.contemplation; the former is a matter of freedom,
the latter of influence 4).
•c- 11 j r ■ Object
r inally a good example of esoterie doctrine is given in of mystic
aims
1) ed. Reitzenstein I § 6 (p. 329). 2) I § 10.
3) Book of the Dove, p. 572; sentence 73; Ethikon, p. 484.
4) p- 223: rc'.'u* . rc**ii\gl.i rtf&inflosa.i rï&cajso ^xire* ^èViix
redtas.iaik=733 rc'éVuuièS rï&oirtful Kftusosa



XXXVI
the theory concerning the object of the mystic aims. While the common Christian and Muslim doctrines are content with the distinction between this world and the world to come, the latter being declared the only worthy occupation for the thoughts of man, Bar Hebraeus distinguishes three worlds: the present one, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. In sentence 58 he advises to clèanse the mirror of the mind and to recognize the way towards the kingdom of Heaven and then (ne^r*) towards the kingdom of God. These three realms correspond to three classes of men: the low ones seek this world, the high ones the world to come, the highest seek their Lord alone, Himself, not what is His l]J This is more sharply said in sentence 83: If you will possess the secret mysteries, then hate the two worlds [i. e. this world and the world to come] and let the dead bury their dead ; seek only Him who lives eternally and if you shall eternally be anxious to seek Him, you will live for ever and ever. — Consequently Paradise and its enjoyments cannot be the object of the longing of the mystics. This is said by them expressly. In his paragraph Paradise on purity of deliberations Bar Hebraeus declares every deliberation of which the object is not familiarity with God and divine things, not to be pure but troubled. Further he proclaims that the desire of the pleasures of Paradise rises from troubled deliberations2). So Paradise does not really belong to divine things. The same distinction is made in the section on renunciation. Those who renounce the world are divided into three ranks: the'lowest, consisting of those who renounce on account of fear from Heil; the middle one comprising those whose motive is desire of the enjoyment of Paradise; the highest being formed by those who seek the Good one alone 3). This highest rank is that of the Initiated 4).
1) Sentence 84.
2) Book of the Dove, p. 563.
3) Book of the Dove, p. 525; Ethikon, p. 412. *
4) Ethikon, p. 413.



XLI
This knowledge — as it is to be expected — is not of an intellectual nature. In a description of the consolation of the mystic in God, Bar Hebraeus speaks of vision and knowledge of Him whose glory is exalted over the world, without visible vision and without knowable knowledge % Hudjwïrï gives a good description of it: Gnosis (ma'rifa) is the life of the heart through God, and the turning away of one's inmost thoughts from all that is not God. The worth of every one is in proportion to gnosis and he who is without gnosis is worth nothing. Theologians, lawyers and other classes of men give the name of gnosis to right cognition ('ilm) of God, but the Sufi Shaikhs call right feeling (hal) towards God by that name 2).
This is also the point of view from which Hellenistic religions consider knowledge. I may again quote Reitzenstein: Denn die yvrni? bsoïi um welche Christ und Heide betet, ist weit weniger ein Wissen als ein inneres Schauen oder Fühlen 3). And further: Und diese höchste Schau {bi») heisst yvmm beiv. Die yvSmq ist unmittelbares Erleben und Erfahren, ist eine Gnadengabe Gottes (%xpi<rpt,x) *).
A further proof of the non-intellectual character of the knowledge of God, lies in the small value attached by Bar Hebraeus to dogmatics and his rejection of dogmatic disputes. In the Ethikon he relates that of the Fathers some thought that disputes could have the same value as venemous medicines when prescribed by a physician. But others rejected dogmatics wholly. When Aba Poman was visited by a famous recluse who came from a far distant place and asked him concerning spiritual and heavenly things, he answered: I am earthly and I speak of earthly things. When he asked concerning the snasfy of the soul, he rejoiced and said: this is a good subject3). —
1) Ethikon, p. 492.
2) p. 267.
3) Poimandres, p. 158.
4) Mysterienreligionen, p. 38.
5) P- 345 sq.



XL VIII
We have hitherto found the aim of the mystics described in a twofold way which provéd to be one: the system is one of Gnosis and of Love, but both coincide, one is the jmmediate consequence of the other. Now there is a third qualification of the ultimate term the Initiated can reach: sight of spiritual things and — finally — sight of God Himself. Sight In the beginning of the second chapter of the Book of the Dove, Bar Hebraeus says that the solitary, when beginning his abiding in the cell, has to put before his eyes his aim. This aim consists in expecting the divine charisma, which is illumination of mind and the aptitude to see spiritual things in their nature and to have communion with them. In the Ethikon he says that this takes place in the middle stage of love and here he mentions also receiving revelations as equal with the sight of spiritual things ').) Generally speaking the difference between the Initiated and the non-Initiated concerning spiritual things is a difference as between seeing and hearing. This is ■stated plainly in sentence 68: Some of the teachers who are perfectly trained in the holy scriptures and their explanation are not willing to learn the way of the kingdom from the Initiated who are not trained in their professional knowledge. They do not understand, that their knowledge, however clever they may be, is one of hearing; that of the Initiated, however rustic they may be, one of seeing.
At the end of the Book of the Dove Bar Hebraeus declares his sentences only profïtable for him who is trained in the knowledge of divine and hurnan practice, longing to see in revelations those things which his contemplation has understood 2).
This sentence brings us again to contemplation, of which I have already spoken. It is here the place to give a close definition of it and to see what the mystics themselves say of it. Isaac of Ninive mentions it several times. The delibe-
1) P. 497.
2) Sentence 98.



Lil
tiated, however, sees, but only some of His beauties; not all of them, for they are unlimited *). Sight and Whether seeing God as He is may ever take place, is a Death question that is not always answered in the same sense. In one of the sentences Bar Hebraeus says that it is an error to think that the mind freed from the body, will see the Adorable Highest 'as He is 2W But on the other hand he says that, true sight of God only happening after departure, it is necessary that, like Paul, the mystic longs after death 3). And in another passage he maintains that, when God said to Moses, Thou canst not not see my face, He meant to say that this was impossible during his life, but that he would see Him after his death 4).
In another passage of the Ethikon Bar Hebraeus gives an explication of this discrepancy. Longing of love can be of two kinds; the first after seeing the beloved one who is not present; the other after seeing wholly the beloved, who is present, but seen only partly. So is the longing of the soul after God. It consists of longing after seeing Him; and this desire will be fulfilled in the spiritual world, after death; for there the lover and the Beloved meet. And it consists of longing after penetrating into God's being; and this desire can never be fulfilled wholly; for there always remains a distance between the limited capacity of the human mind, even after death, and God's unlimited essence and qualities 5)..
Ghazalï in his Ihya' speaks repeatedly of the seeing of God, which he usually calls the seeing of God's face. So he declares the pleasures of Paradise not to be an object of desire on the part of the true mystics; they only seek the pleasure of
l) Sentence 89. 2) Sentence 88.
3) Ethikon, p. 489: r_t_Clx. i_v_p r^èSAx-.cH-»» r-cViv-»* AA^-sao rc___9 cnijaaA.i r__i_-re' re_»n_v_i ooccAasAi re^-Are* c-_c\en
ièvS-sA -^^i retocoJ eochcv_»n-d
4) Ethikon, p. 482 sq. 5) IV, 15,9.



LUI
looking towards the face of God", for this is the highest happiness and the greatest pleasure '). In another passage he even declares it impossible to harmonize the pleasure of the delights of Paradise with that of looking towards the face of God 2).
But Ghazalï has given a whole section of his work to this subject, a section that, being too lengthy to be translated, may follow here in a succinct form 3). It bears a heading that is already significant of the nature of the sight of God, showing sight and knowledge or gnosis to be closely akin one to the other. This heading runs: On the reason why sight, among the delights of the world to come, increases on account of gnosis [acquired] 'in this world. — This means that gnosis in this "world is only a preparation for sight, its complement in the other world. The reasoning of the section is this. Things grasped by the human mind are of two kinds: i° things caught by apperception and preserved in imagination or memory, as animals and plants. 2° things known but not by apperception and imagination or memory as God's being, knowledge, will etc.
The difference between the apperception of the first kind of things and memory or imagination is a gradual one only, not an essential one. But also the second kind of things can be grasped in a higher and a lower way. Bodily nature is an impediment for plain sight. Therefore God says unto Moses: Thou canst not see me. This means: in this world.
Now when the soul départs the body, it is stained with dirt. In the other world, before resurrection, it is cleansed, and being purified sufficiently, it will behold God, according to
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3) Ihya' IV, p. 267 sqq.



LIV
the degree of its purity, as a mirror will reflect things more clearly in accordance with its state of purity. This revelation is called sight but it is exalted above direction (*>^) and
place (j-C). So knowledge acquired in this world will be completed in the world to come: between knowledge and sight is only a gradual difference. And, equally, the delights of man in the world to come 'will be different according to his.present nature and preference. Whosoever longs after meeting God, longs after death; but he has not to forget, that the true preparation for meeting God is a life of obedience; here lies the value of life.
This short résumé may be given not only as an exposition of Ghazalï's thoughts concerning our special subject, but at the same time as a specimen of his lofty way of seeing things worldly and spiritual. It is, however, not to be forgotten, that Ghazalï is not the first to think.this way of thoughts. According to the exposition in the Theology of pseudo-Aristoteles the soul that has not been stained by the stains of the body will, after death, at once return to its pure state; but the soul, that has been tied with strong bonds to the body and its sensual nature, has to bestow much trouble upon the task of cleansing itself in order to be able to return unto its original sphere
The thoughts of Isaac of Ninive, Ghazalï and Bar Hebraeus, reproduced here, are to be found in cognate forms in several other mystic authors, Christian and Muslim. Al-Kushairï answers on the question whether man in this world can already behold God, in the way of a charisma, that the idjma' thinks not, but that al-Ash'arï has given two different answers in his book on sight2).
Ibn 'Ata'allah thinks, like Ghazalï and Bar Hebraeus, that
1) p. 6 sq.
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LV
the true mystic longs after death: One of the signs of love is longing after meeting the Beloved one face to face, and after revelation in the abode of salute, the place of being near [God] '). And the completion of delight consists in looking towards His benignant face 2). In this world the süfï's see God in the created things, but afterwards they will behold Him face to face 3). He also reproduces a tradition on the authority of the Apostle of God on the authority of Djibrïl who received it from Allah Himself. Allah asked the angel: O Djibrïl, what is the reward of him whose eyes I take away? Djibrïl answered! Beware, we only know what Thou teachest us. Allah: His reward is the eternal abode in my habitation and looking towards my face 4).
These evidences may suffice for our purpose. It is however to be remarked, that the idea of seeing God as the aim of the mystic, goes back to Hellenism just as the other ideas we have discussed above, to Hellenism. in its religious and in its philosophical expressioh. Jamblichus says, that the soul by seeing the divine visions acquires new life: èv yxp rep bewpelv tx (ixKxpix bexfixrx vi «AAijv %coviv xXXxrvtTXi 5). And in the
Theology of pseudo-Aristoteles it is argued that the soul, when in its own intelligible world, does not act nor speak, because it has only to gaze at the things in that world °). Nay, it is already in this sensual world, that the soul is able
2) II, 41 : f£\ J\ J_A rJ\ f\jt*2
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5) De mysteriis, p. 41.
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LIX
already a cause of dispute. Bukharï's tradition is the answer of ancient orthodoxy; opposition came from the side of the Mu'tazilites, as was to be expected in a sect that even went so far as to deny the existence of Allah's qualities. Orthodoxy could not remain content with a simple affirmation as it is given in tradition, implying a rather crude solution of the question. The solution of orthodox dogmatics may be seen e.g. from Kastallanï's commentary. He explains the words 'you will see Him in the same way', thus: Without dispute, clearly and openly, the Most High will reveal Himself to His servants, in this way that the relation between this revelation and His peculiar being is the same as that between sight and these material objects of sight. Yet He is exempt from a description of His contemplated image and from being reached by the rays, and from juxtaposition, direction and place; for though these things are implicated in usual sight, yet intellect makes an exception in this case ').
The attitude of mysticism in this question has been giyen above and may be called characteristic not only for this question, but also for its aptitude to answer religious questions in a religious way.
After these general ideas concerning Semitic mysticism, we Man have to give a survey of the system. In the first place we according have to ask, for this is a principal question, what our mystics mystic. think of the subject of mysticism, manJlt will be observed, that in the translation of the Book of the Dove the spiritual
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LXIX
A*
As is to be expected, the same comparisons are current among Muslim mystics. Ghazalï oalls the fruit of the knowledge of .practice' the medicine of hearts and spirits by which life everlasting is acquired '). And he compares his advices concerning the correction of morals with the practice of medicine 2). Ibn 'Ata'allah's commentator calls the healing of the diseases of the heart a duty of the novice 3).
Now what are the diseases of the soul that have to be healed ? Affections They may be called by a general term klü,, a translation of ?n*9-jj'. The Syriac word, like the Greek one, has the general meaning of passion; in mystic terminology it means affections. Porphyry says: wó&yi 5è votrnfixrav xp%xr ipvxfc 5s vóo-v^x xxxlx *). And: xevog èxeivov Qitoo-óCpou hèyog u<p' oiï ptfh irxbog xvSpimov SepxTrsvtTxr'). Jamblichus says that Pythagoras by teaching music accustomed people to subdue their ir&v °). This is again
a Stoic terminology: Die Affekte sind Störungen der
geistigen Gesundheit und, wenn sie habituell werden, förmliche Seelenkrankheiten ').
So the combating of the affections was the aim of the Stoic sage; it was likewise the aim of the mystic. Bar Hebraeus cites a passage from Euagrius: The work of asceticism is this: not to indulge in the use of meat, water or sleep. To combate steadfastly all affections with vigour and wisdom and with beseeching of God. To be constant in reciting and service and prayefs; to be occupied with recollection of the word of God. Then apathy will dawn for you and you will see during prayer the mind shining like a star 8).
1) Ihya3 I, p. 4: fJ)J: ;U j( J^U ^Yl, Qjto ^ W&d
AVI jA
2) Ihya' III, p. 44, 53.
3) 1, h: j. 11 Ac _I_A
4) Ad Marcellam, IX. 5) ib. XXXI.
6) Vita Pythagorae, p. 50.
7) Zeiler III, 1, 226 sq.
8) Ethikon, p. 20: kL______.i i___rrt\ c_t__i_ivorc' r-Larf ,_u.



LXXVII
it likes, the cloud of the body is lifted up that sereens the soul; and in the solitaries, by the worn out state of their body and by its weakness, a steady spirit is renewed in their inner being; and the philosophers, by the schematic windows of syllogisms attain what they wish to attain. And the teachers of the church, by opening the windows of the intellect and by submitting the body to hard labours, acquire veracious knowledge of the spiritual world' ').
So the body is often called the riding animal of the soul2); or the shoe of the soul3), or its yoke 4).
We have already seen that the mystics consequently long Purificaafter the moment that will deliver them from the body; and U°n that the value of life lies in the opportunity it gives to prepare the soul for meeting its Lord. This preparing of the soul may be called, in conüection with the mystic theory concerning its nature, a process of bringing it back to its original purity and a continual purification. That which it has to be purified from are chiefly the affections.
Bar Hebraeus when enumerating the means that may corroborate the love of God, mentions as the second one: that man stretches himself forward and becomes strong in the knowledge
of God and becomes enlightened when the heart has
been purified from evil passions5). And Euagrius says: Purity is the apathie state of the logical soul °).
In this point mysticism is again in accordance with Hellenism: ,so wird es also deutlich, dass die Sünde (denn das bedeutet TrccSfyiiJMTx) als etwas der Materie zugehöriges, dem göttlichen Menschen nicht zieme. Er muss ,rein' sein; um das Göttliche empfangen zu können, muss er sich .reinigen'. So
1) p. 215 sq.
2) Ethikon, p. 209; sentence 4, 70; Goldziher, Streitschrift des Ghazalï p 92
3) Kook of the Dove, p. 567; sentence 14, 70.
4) Sentence 88.
5) Ethikon, p. 484.
6) P 6o4: r^fcUsa rdx^J.i ,m nCcWeis*, red nCcVcUA*



LXXVIII
kommt leicht auch die Askese hinein' '). It is curious to see that this theory, already a central point in Hellenism, is called the nucleus of the esoterie doctrine by the mystics. One of the rules the mystic pupil has to keep according to Bar Hebraeus is to acquire a good deal of the hidden doctrine of the purification of the inner being, of which the accomplishment is the beholding of God2). Likewise the süfï is called he that keeps a pure heart towards God 3).
As in Hellenism, so in the mystic system asceticism is the way in which the soul is to be purified. This is said very clearly in the seventy fourth sentence of the Book of the Dove: The Initiated possess another more peculiar knowledge, which is acquired by purity of deliberations, by subjecting the body to asceticism, by shutting the senses and by cutting the bonds.
How difficult this way is, is also said by Bar Hebraeus: Know that the heart cannot be purified easily; but by difficult struggle and by troublesome work evil is eradicated from the soul4). And the pure mind is defined as that, which by éxercises and training has been cultivated and has become enlightened and made clear and purified 5).
Isaac of Ninive makes a subtle discrimination between the purity of the mind («Li^i) and the purity of the heart: The purity of the mind is something different from the purity of the heart, just as there is a difference between a member of the whole body and the whole body itself. The mind (rdJU^ï) is one of the senses of the soul. The heart dominates the inward senses, it is the sense of the senses, viz. their root. And if the root is holy, then also all the branches are holy. Not so, if one of the branches is sanctified. By a short intercourse with the scriptures and small work consisting in fasting
1) Wetter, <J>#5, p. 92.
2) Ethikon, p. 323; cf. 317.
3) Nicholson in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1906, p. 331.
4) Ethikon, p. 226.
5) ib-, P- 465-



LXXIX
and solitude, the mind forgets its former occupations and is purified when it refrains from intercourse with foreign things; but easily it becomes stained again.
The heart is only purified by much painstaking and by deprivation from every intercourse with the world, combined with becoming dead in regard to everything. And when it has been purified, its pure state is not stained by superficial meeting with [wordly] things; this means that it does not fear hard strife, for it possesses a sound stomach, that easily digests all sorts of food, that are difficult for others whose interior is sick ').
In the works of the Muslim mystics the terms purification of the heart, pure soul and the like abound 2). How high the state of purity is estimated may appear from a saying in Abü Talib al-Makkl: Purity of the heart promotes the mystic some degrees in the domain of sight3), so that only thoughts of truth rise in his heart 4).
Likewise Euagrius and Johannes Climacus often speak of the KxSrxpx tyv%vi, xxSrxpx xxpSlx and voüg nx^xpóg 5).
The terms and their meaning as we have found them explained in the Syriac mystics appear to have been already in vogue among Neo-platonic philosophers. Plotinus says that to purify means to banish anger, desire, sorrow etc °). Pythagoras is described as having acquired purity of soul by means of small food and waking: g$ ykp rSóv teirrüv kx) AxvdMruv nfi[MTpySeï? kxk tovtov oXiyoünvixv kx) tTrxypixv kx) \pv%fc KxSrxpÓT^tx k-nvrAftem7). And he who lives as it is becoming > ftóvtp ii
1) p. 29.
2) Ihya' I, p. 64, 109, 287; Ibn Ata'allah I, 51.
3) Sight in the meaning discussed above.
4) 1, 80: ^ >W VA aJ* >jê n| ^ oyJ\ sjuAi- j oVAl. ^ jai -\u»j
5) Scala, p. 454; Mönchsspiegel§§8, 44, 65, 107, 133; ed. Frankenberg, p. 152, 460. 6' r
6) Enneads I, 2 § 4 sq.; III, 6 § 5.
7) Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, p. 10.



xc
heart said unto me: till how long will this folly and this torment of my spirit last?
The ninth change of the Perfect is described as that of becoming fire. Here the mystic burns with fire from the sole of his foot till his brain and his body is made glowing like iron in fire. For the blessed Palladius says concerning Aba Arsenius that while he stood praying in his cell a brother, looking through the window saw him, being wholly like fire ').
States like this are also described as madness 2) and drunkertness 3). The sight of God feeds the heart and the food of the heart renders that of the body superfluous 4). Drunken- The state of drunkenness is very often mentioned. Isaac of Ninive describes it in the following way: [By the wondrous workings of the Holy Ghost during prayer, prayer itself is cut offj and the mind is absorbed in ecstasy and the desire of what the mystic prayed for is forgotten. His motions are immerged in a deep drunkenness and he is no longer in this world. Further there is no discrimination of the body, nor of the soul nor remembrance of anything 5).
Ghazalï cites. a line by al-Shiblï: The love of the compassionate one has made me drunk: have you ever seen a lover who was not drunk?0). And Kushairï defines it thus: Drunkenness is a state of unconsciousness by a strong 37); it has
1) Ethikon, p. 502.
2) Ethikon, pp. 503, 75 5 Isaac, p. 59.
3) Book of the Dove, p. 567; Ethikon, pp. 74, 475, 505; Isaac of Ninive, pp. 174, 202, 220, 333, 337, 504.
4) Ethikon, p. 500.
5) p. 174: cnèWs.i rc'èx-l^ic» .sAncVv-Sq rdjoco re'icoèuao «cootKAo ,caöv.o\ ^_*.vü>» rc*cV\ni*ns. rVtVcuaiac» rcLar—jcVca riAa ~j»<y rilix-ioa rd\ AiAïwo . rdJco nf.m Isa
rflxSkl.l. Further: p. 202.
6) IhyaD IV, p. 301: Jfj\ v_^s-J\ *_^\ 0\
ul£- V* A»j yt 7) P- 44: iSjï ïj\j> Kfi- _^Alj



C1I
makest Thy beloved taste the sweetness of being familiar with Thee ').
O*
The terms rfè>c\_.èV*=) and uj\ correspond with the Greek o-vvovo-ix, found in Johannes Climacus 2) and Plotinus 3) and with the latin familiaritas, occurring in' the Imitatio Christi 4).
There is another term in Syriac mysticism denoting nearly
the same idea as rC&cuèVus, viz. KciArtia reW&cta, consolation in
God. Bar Hebraeus' definition of it is parallel to Ghazalï's
definition of as cited above. He says: The joy and
gladness which happens to the Initiated on account of the
multitude of divine revelations and the frequency of spiritual
visions, is called consolation in God. When this consolation
has taken hold of the enviable, the blessed friend of God, he
is only. content with quiet solitude 5).
The state of consolation or familiarity is closely akin to Freedom J J
ofspeech that of freedom of speech. Bar Hebraeus describes it in the
same section, without concealing that not all mystics declare
it allowed: From the thus called consolation freedom of speech
is born. Though it is bad, because of the boldness which
accompanies it, and by the sages called a scorching wind,
still, when it is practised by those who are experienced in
paracletic consolations in God, it is not to be rejected.' —
The continuation of the passage may be read in the translation.
This state of freedom is called by Bar Hebraeus by the
term rd_flocni& borrowed from the Greek; not by himself,
however; for it is already used in the Syriac translation of
Euagrius, who speaks of freedom of speech at the time of
prayer °).
These theories concerning familiarity or consolation in God and freedom of speech in their mutual relation and their
1) ii, 96: ^'y.iji^ AJ o* \ '
2) p. 429. 3) Enneads VI, 9 § 7. 4) II, I. 5) Ethikon, p. 491.
6) p. 564.



cm
importance, are already found in Ghazalï s Ihya': Know, that if the state of familiarity lasts and becomes strong and Consolidated without being troubled »by the emotion of desire or interrupted by fear of alteration or of being screened, it gives birth to a kind of boldness in words and actions and intimacy '• with God. This is of a disapproved aspect, on account of the audaciousness and the lack of respect that is in it; notwithstanding this, it is tolerated on the part of those who have obtained their place in the state of familiarity; but he who is not in this state, and yet imitates those who are in it, in action and speech, perishes by it and comes near to a state of unbelief'). — Ibn 'Ata'allah also warns against it: Jc
The state of familiarity is closely akin to what is the highest aim of our mystics: the union with God, which they call indescribable 3), yet is described by them by various symbolic expressions. One of the most frequent in Syriac mysticism is that of ,entering into the cloud'. The Cloud
In his introduction to the Book of the Dove Bar Hebraeus says that the third chapter treats of the spiritual rest which the consoling Dove imparts to the Perfect, elevating them to royal rank and introducing them into the divine cloud where ' the Lord is said to abide. In another passage he calls it the cloud öf inaccessible light where God abides 4).
Those who have entered the cloud have full insight into divine things and do not want the ordinary forms of religion: As hunger is not satisfïed by water, nor thirst by bread, .so the Initiated, who wishes to look within the Sinaitic cloud,
1) IV, p. 293: ^ L, yjA\ j)i Aiyo L, pr-]^ fV> VA ^jvA ö\
«ü\ ^ -A>u\, JW% jy-A i U-jY\ & Vy *Ai J^ü[, tJU
j? *>. ^ A«S\ i ^ Ai\ j f. } lh'A
2) I, 63. 3) Ethikon, p. 502. 4) Ethikon, pp. 487, 498.



CIV
gains small pront by hearing the scriptures being read '). And: Those who enter the cloud attain the depth and the abundance of God's wisdom without the intermediary of complicated deliberations2). In the Ethikon Bar Hebraeus cites an anonymous author: When the solitary reaches the divine cloud and enters the harbour of all service and sees with his mind, face to face, the glory of the Lord and is made radiating by it, and is transformed into His likeness — then his mercy is poured out over all, like that of God 3).
Isaac of Ninive is also acquainted with this term. In a passage on the effects of divine revelation on human nature, so that it looses its liability towards deviations, he says that this state of likeness with God is called by some the cloud 4).' He also uses the term himself: ... you will find the wings of the mind, germinating from the womb of chastity, the wings on which the mind is elevated unto divine Love, by which it ventures to approach unto the cloud 5).
Further John de Dalyata has been intimately acquainted with the term, as appears from two quotations from his writings in the Ethikon. It may be permitted to translate them here. The first runs: Who wishes to taste the sweetness of Christ, has to strive after becoming familiar with prayer, which, more than any other of the works, brings near unto God. For during prayer the mind may be mingled with God and become the image of its creator and the receiver of His gifts. By prayer the mind opens the gate of the treasures of the Lord and becomes His treasurer and the divider of His precious things. By prayer the mind is made worthy to see His glory and to abide in the cloud of the light of His majesty, within the
l) Sentence 7. 2) Sentence 12.
3) P- 505. 4) P- 193-
5) P- 217: óir-si-soa.i reüacm re_i_^ ^jso cVi-irc* ««1 y-n
cns.i 000 rSjcrArC* relrjcv-wA n/Vs.cVv50 ^_ocrir).i k'oScU——J.i



cv
place where the spiritual beings abide, in obstupefaction and silence, freed from the motions, in ecstasy; there it gazes in wonder at the shining of the light of many rays that dawns over it, which is the life and the delight of the spiritual beings ').
The second passage is this: So we will strive to enter into ourselves in order to find our kingdomj that is concealed in our heart, this means: to see our God who is hidden in vapours and in clouds of light, that are the glory of His person, the glory by which He is hidden from the sight of all eyes2).
It is to be remarked that in all these passages cloud is a translation of the Syriac n-d^i-. which could also be rendered by gloom, whereas the usual Syriac expression for cloud is re_u_.. This peculiar term and the peculiar sense in which it is used prove that it is a technical term of the mystics. Its origin is found in the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite. The first chapter of his De mystica theologia bears the title: rg è Sreïo? yvècpog; and in the fifth of his letters, he says: the divine gloom is the inaccessible light in which God is said to abide 3).
In our discussion concerning ecstasy we have seen that the Transition transition of the mind into that state is expressed by the Syrians by derivations from the root .3^, to drag away, and that this transition corresponds to what the Muslims call «li. Usually refceiAj-^» and Aj do not denote the transition into ecstasy but into a cognate state, viz. that of union with God. In the first place it is to be observed that ^aq,.^,. and are described in the same way. Some passages describing \ the state of transition may follow here in translation. In the Ethikon the entrance of the soul into the cloud is continued in this way: While the face of the Lord is detected before it, it becomes stupefied and is made radiant by the rays of His beauty. And there takes place transition (K^ciai-»,)
I) Ethikon, p. 10 sq. 2) p. I03 sq.
3) P- 283: 6 <*7,5 7vó<poc êrri rö 4.5)5 h $ vcrowh 6 AeV,™.
Cf. 1 Timothy 6, 16.



CVI
which is described by our holy fathers, so that it is impossible for the soul to return from its delight. And if its Lord loosened it not from union, it would forget its partner, the
body And when the mind returns again to the Lord, the
body is almost borne along with it and the soul can scarcely shake it off when it is elevated. And so it rises from glory to glory by the Lord the Spirit and it forgets not only what is here, but also its self. And because of the divine light with which it is clad, it sees itself as the likeness of God ').
In the section on the varying states the Perfect have to go through, transition is mentioned in the first place: The first [state] is that of the baptism of the mind. For as soon as transition takes place, the mind is baptized in the heart and deliberation stands motionless, even without stam mering glorifications, but silence rules over the motions of the spul and the body 2).
That this theory has not been borrowed by Bar Hebraeus from Muslim examples appears from the fact that it was already known to Isaac of Ninive and expressed by him in a parallel way: As the saints in the world to be do not pray when the mind has been swallowed up by the Spirit, but abide in ecstasy in that delightful glory, likewise the mind, when it has been deemed worthy to perceive that future blessedness, forgets itself and all that is on this earth and further it is not set in motion by the care of anything, therefore one may venture to say with confidence: all excellency, whatevei it be, and all orders of prayer whatever they , may be, of a bodily or of a spiritual nature, are governed and set in motion by free will, they as well as the mind that reigns over the senses, But when the influence of the spirit reigns over the mind that governs the senses and the deliberations, freedom is taken away from nature and further on it is governed, not governing 3).
1) Ethikon, p. 498 sq.
2) Ethikon, p. 499 sq. 3) p. 170.



CVII
And from another description of the highest state by Isaac the following is taken: In truth, my brethren, another feature of this state is sometimes, that the mystic does not remember that he himself is clad with a body, and that he does not know that he is in the world
These utterances of Christian mystics are êxactly parallel to those of the Muslims concerning I take two out of many: When it is said he looses consciousness of his self and of creatures, then his self subsists and creatures subsist; but he does not possess knowledge concerning them nor concerning himself, nor apperception, nor communication ... but he is unconscious concerning his self and the whole of mankind; he does not perceive neither his self nor mankind 2). And this from Ibn 'Ata'allah: Abd Sa'ïd ibn al A'rabï was asked concerning transition. He said: Transition consists therein, that [divine] greatness and majesty overcome the mystic' and make him forget this world and the world to come and all states and ranks and stages; and dhikr's render him unconscious concerning all things, concerning his mind and concerning his soul3).
Now.the Christian theory concerning transition is already found in Plotinus in exactly the same terms. Describing the moment of the soui's union with God, he continues: Then the soul does no longer perceive that it is in the body, nor does it claim to be any other thing, neither man, nor animal, nor
1) p. 338: relL-, ta\ ^vn rCcW rC.icfiA.i I*jr<' cV_.rfi_.ix. .cooèurV r<-&al___.:i .-.."w re_\o tu_A rCi^i cneacua i&.ièea
2) Kushairï, p. 43: ^ tj££ ^ ^\ jjpL ^ jj* ^ ^ |V
«—ü- of- Ai\t «Öj ^% •jj.^j^ ^ OJ^j.
3) Ibn Ata'allah I, ,8: -U\ JV_Ü .U\ ^ ^ ^ ^
^J&\ó IfW, Ui\ ^ j- j& ö\
cf-j «Ifc- cf-j '*£ $ Cf- Vi" j£>%



CVIII
being, nor all '). Further the term kAiciSli^-*» goes back to the Greek xpitxZpiv; and xpwx^cii have exactly the same
meaning. It is again Plotinus who uses the term: #AA' wWé/j xpitxo^s)? $ èvSovrixo-xg Jf<ru%}5 Iv èpyfiu kxtxgtxosi ysysv^rxi xrpel/.sl rfj xvtov ovtrix 2).
Again Plotinus' appears to express favourite ideas of Hellenistic religions. From Dieterich's Mithrasliturgie I cite: utrre xtto rij? tov bsx(/.XT0? föoviji; kx) rij? %xpx? to irvsvpxx o~ov o~WTpé%siv kx) xvxfixlvetv 3). And, following Wetter, from the Corpus Hermeticum: TrspiKx^xv Sè itxvtx tov vovv kx) tyiv oXyv \pvxhv xvxXxfiTrei kx) xveXksi xwo tov o~c!)/iXTO? kx) oXov xvtov si? ovg'ixv Sfeov f&STxfixXXst 4). Union Here we are already in the centre of the union of man and God, the aim of Syriac and Muslim mysticism, and of a great many other mystic systems. The chief feature in the descriptions of the union is this, that the mystic is said to have become the likeness of God; that he describes his relation with God in the same terms as the relation between Christ and God are described in the Gospel; that he acquires the likeness of the light without quality; that he mingles with the godhead and that in this union there is no longer two but one; it is even said that he has become God. A few quotations may illustrate this statement/
In the section on the conclusive inclinations of perfection the elevation of the mind unto the divine sphere and its beholding the angels is described. ,And while it is established in the sight of them, their magnificence and their joy, it becomes like them' 5).
In his Ethikon, Bar Hebraeus cites a passage describing the union: And when the solitary reaches the divine cloud and
1) Enneads VI, 7 § 34: xai oVts o-wpurot 'én aio-dmereu Vti irrh èv a!/t$ otire éavryv 'aXKo ti hèyti ovx csvSfcuTov ov %tjiov ovx 'óv olrde ffafv.
2) Enneads VI, 9 § 11. 3) p. 10.
4) Wetter, *ö$, p. 77 cites Corpus Hermeticum 10, 6.
5) Book of the Dove, p. 567.



CIX
enters the harbour of all service, and sees with his mind, face to face, the glory of the Lord and is made radiating by it and is transformed into His likeness, then his mercy is poured out over all, like that of God '). Then the mystic may say with Christ: I am in my Father and my Father is in me and I and the Father are one 2).
One of the varying states is that of likeness, while the mind is illuminated by the light without quality and is changed into its likeness 3). And the tenth state does not leave room for two or three, but one is solved and two is subtilized and the sustenance of the two becomes one 4).
It has been said: Look at the fire which becomes one with the iron in the furnace. The iron alone is not to be recognized there, because it has assumed the likeness of the fire, in the union. So you see not two images but one, no discerning being possible though the two substances remain separated. In the same way the children of God see themselves as the image of God £ so they become, all of them, gods, by the grace of their creator 5). — Bar Hebraeus expresses the state of union with two terms rC.-wcu» and rCèW-ru», corresponding respectively with x?-j and „Wl
This theory is already found in the book of Hierotheos. This appears from the passage from it preserved in the Book of the Dove, in which it is said that in the state of union the lover and the beloved have become one and that this union is to be compared with the unity of the sunlight and the air °). But that this theory has not originated with Stephen . bar Sud Ailë appears from the fact that the hcco-ig xvSpcmov t xx) Ssoü occurs already in the work of Johannes Climacus ') and that for the neo-Platonic philosophers as well as for the Hellenistic religions the union with the godhead is the zenith of
l) above, p. CIV. 2) Ethikon, p. 499.
3) P- 574 sq. 4) Ethikon, p. 502.
5) Ethikon, p. 506. 6) Book of the Dove, p. 568. 7) p. 429.



CXVI
this is one of the many symptoms of Ghazalï's dependence upon Christian examples.
4. Concerning the wearing of garments, minute details are given in the Ethikon (IV, 10, 5). They regard the quantity (re&cuoaa.) and the quality (rrfhcuo*rC). The same distinction is made in the Ihya' (IV, p. 1971 JijüS). As to the quality both authors hold the view that the lowest (or highest) dress consists of hides (nf-Ujas, -^«U); the middle one of wool, the third one of rough cotton (rClsOA vas*. Uil. Jaïll).
5. Food. Ethikon (IV, 10, 4) and Ihya' (IV, p. 196) open the section concerning the abstention from food with the remark, that food has length and breadth. Length, Ghazalï continues, as regards the length of life, in so far as food for one day is not sufficiënt for it; breadth regarding the possibility of diminishing the quantity, the quality and the frequency of meals. The same distinctions are made in the Ethikon (p. 414).
As regards the diminishing of length there are, according to both authors, three classes of renunciators. The highest one is, according to Bar Hebraeus, that of people who provide themselves with food for one day only; according to Ghazalï, that of people who take food only if they are very hungry and wish to avoid illness; having taken breakfast they do not provide for supper. Ghazalï's second class consists of people who take a supply for a month or forty days. The former of these terms is taken over in the Book of the Dove, the latter in the Ethikon.
The lowest class consists, according to both authors, of people who provide themselves with food for a year.
Regarding the quantity of food, renunciators are again divided into three ranks by both authors: 1° those who take half a rail or half a manya every day; 2° those who take one rail or one manya; 3° those who take a mudd, respectively one manya and a half.



CXVII
The further classificatie-ris of both authors are also, more or less, in accordance one with the other.
6. Dwellingplace. As to the classification of renunciators in the matter of dwellingplace, the Ethikon and the Ihya' (IV, p. 200) draw the same lines. The highest class is that of people who have no fixed dwellingplace but reside in churches or mosques j the middle one that of people who abide in a hut or a cavern; the lowest, that of people who possess a cell, which may not surpass, according to Bar Hebraeus, 12 spans, according to Ghazalï 6 cubits, in the three dimensions.
7. The relation between the Ethikon and the Ihya' is elucidated strikingly by the sections concerning furniture. Bar Hebraeus tells (p. 416), that an Initiated who possessed only a comb and a water bottle, once saw a man who combed his beard with his fingers; immediately he threw away his comb. Then, seeing a man who drew water from the river in his hand, he threw away his water bottle. Exactly the same story is told in the Ihya' (IV, p. 201), where Jesus is its hero.
But, according to Bar Hebraeus, such persons do no longer exist in his times. Therefore the highest class of renunciators of this species consists of those who use earthenware only. So thinks Ghazalï.
The middle class is formed by those who use furniture that is not fragile. Ghazalï places here people who confine the use of utensils to one solid piece. According to both authors the lowest class consists of people who possess utensils for several purposes.
Patience (I, 5) Ethikon (IV, 5) and Ihya' (IV, p. 53) have an analogous division of sections, as may appear from the subsequent survey:
Ethikon Ihya' § 1. Traditions concerning p. 53. Traditions concer-
the excellence of patience. - ning the excellence of patience.



cxx
that this book was not written for lay people, but for monks.
Further it is to be remarked that in the section of the Ethikon (p. 435) the term c.JoJ.\ occurring in the corresponding section of the Ihya', being a usual Muslim term meaning litterally ,those who proclaim novel theories', is rendered by KditViKu oact -d^Ci-taoico rui l» e.: he shall not be a heretic nor one who proclaims novel theories.
2. As to the various estimation of friends, Ghazalï's section on the subject is easily to be recognized as Bar Hebraeus' example (Ihya' II, p. 144): The lowest degree is that of placing your friend on the same level with your slave or your servant and to supply his want from what is abundant to yourself. If, at a certain moment, he wants anything and if you possess more than you want you give him at once without obliging him to ask; if, however, you oblige him to ask, this is the utmost limit of scantiness among brethren.
The second degree is that of placing your friend on the same level with yourself and of letting him share with yourself in your possessions and have the same place as you have, so as to grant him equal share with you. Hasan [al-BasriJ says: One used to share his izar with the other.
The third and the highest degree is that of placing your friend above yourself and to reckon his want before yours. This is the stage of true friends and the limit of the ranks of those who love each other. And to the fruits of this degree belongs even to offer one's life.
3. Regarding not concealing the qualities of a friend, the Ethikon and the Ihya' have each two sections (Ethikon, p. 438, Ihya' II, p. 47 and 150. Bar Hebraeus again agrees with Ghazalï in minute details.
4. No to be burdensome unto a friend. The corresponding section in the Ethikon (p. 441, § 11) bears the title: The duties of a friend as regarding removing annoyant things. That in



CXXIII
§ ii. On jest. p. 109. On jest.
§ 12. On ridicule. p. m. On satires.
p. 112. On divulgating secrets.
p. 112. On false promisès.
§ 13. On falsehood. P* f*Jj 0n lie"
p. 115. On permitted lies.
p. 117. Precautions against
lies by ambiguous expres-
1 sions.
p. 119. On backbiting.
p. 120. Definition.
p. 121. Not confined to the tongue.
s t„ n, u 1 u-^- P- I22- Causes.
8 14. On backbiting. I
p. 124. Remedies.
p. 126. Defence of thinking evil.
p. 127. Excuses.
p. 128. Expiation. § 15- On sycophancy. p. 129. On sycophancy.
p. 130. Definition. § 16. Doublé dealing. p. I32. Doublé dealing.
§ 17. Flattery. p. I33. Flattery.
§ 18. Rudeness ofsPeech. p. I34. Inadvertent
speech.
§ 19. Unprofitable inqui- p. I35. Unprofitable theo-
nes" logical inquiries.
In his section on silence (P. 256) Bar Hebraeus distinguishes speech of four kinds: i° that which is entirely profitable, 20 that which is entirely obnoxious, 30 that which is partly



CXXIV
profitable, partly obnoxious, ^° that which is neither profitable nor obnoxious. Ghazalï (III, p. 98) has the same division:
1° {j&fi jj^ > jiJ > 3° jj^ *j* > ^° 4jl*~* JL/10 *s* lt. •
2. The causes of vain speech are enumerated in the Ethikon (p. 257) in the same way as in the Ihya' (III, p. 99): 1° the tendency to mingle with the affairs of other people under the pretext of affection; 2° the desire of filling up time.
3. Speech which is indirectly sinful. Though Ghazalï's denomination of his corresponding section (Ihya' III, p. 101) deviates from that in the Ethikon (III, 5, 5), both treat the subject in the same way.
4. Litigation. In the Ethikon the following definition is given (p. 260): Fighting with words, set up for the sake of the retribution of money or other things indebted. Compare with this Ihya' III, p. 103: Litigation is fighting with words in order to effectuate the repair of money or some other right intended.
Neither Bar Hebraeus nor Ghazalï condemn every litigation, but only that which is set up unjustly.
5. Curse and malediction. Bar Hebraeus' definition is also that of Ghazalï (III, p. 106): ^\ ^ .iW-Jj .iJUM ^p- lj\s-
According to the Ethikon (p. 262) the Fathers of the church have declared malediction allowed against three kinds of people: infidels, heretics and evil-doers. It is remarkable that this theory, ascribed to the Fathers of the church, is exactly that of Ghazalï (III, p. 107): ^i-jJ^ ScjJjj^f>j\ 55^ lyü>\ <u*aül\ o\jL-3[j.
The holy solitaries, adds Bar Hebraeus, declare malediction only allowed against demons, for the three classes of persons mentioned may be converted to truth or a better life. That such an opinion is rather sympathetic to Ghazalï may be seen from his further treatment of the subject.
'6. Jest. Cf. Ihya III, p. 109: djjjj lj€j



C XXVII
Ethikon Ihya'
/. Instruction. 7. Teaching and instruction.
2. Knowledge.
ï HelP from others- 2. Utility and Profit.
4. Helping the weak.
5. Training and exercise j. Getting accustomed to in intercourse with dis- enduring disagreeable peoagreeable people. pje_
6. Guidance and being ^ Sociability. guided.
7. Consolation.
8. Reward on account of 3. Reward on account of good works. helping others.
p. Humbleness. 6. Humbleness.
10. Wisdom on account of 7. Experience.
of experience.
Reciting ofPsalms and. Vigils (II, 5)
H The causes helpful towards remaining wake are treated elaborately in the Ethikon (I, 3) and in the Ihya' (I, p. 295). Apparently Bar Hebraeus is here also dependent upon Ghazalï. Both begin with stating that the causes strengthening the power of waking are to be divided into outward and inward causes. The outward ones are, according to both authors: i° lessening food; 20 avoiding fatigue; 3° sleep during noontime. Concerning the fourth cause they differ; according to Ghazalï it is avoiding sins; according to Bar Hebraeus, praying with the community.
Concerning the inward ones they agree entirely: 1° The heart being free from wrath; 20 fear of future things; 3° knowing the excellence of vigil#uid the damages of sleep; 4° love of God, and this is the principal cause.



CXXVIII
The concordance between both authors holds even true in details. This may be seen from the fact that they support their defence of much food with the argument that eating much causes thirst and drinking much causes sleep.
The concordance further appears strikingly in the fact, that they even adduce the same anecdotic saying of one of the ascetics in praise of vigils (Ethikon, p. 40; Ihya' 1,295): When one of the Initiated was asked: what is your relation with night?, he answered: it shows me its face only; then it disappears without staying with me.
Fasting (II, 6) 1. The precepts for peculiar fasting are in the same sequence enumerated in the Ihya' (I, p. 201). Ethikon (p. 82—84) and Ihya' give however some other ones:
Ethikon Ihya'
4. Retaining hands and 4. Retaining hands, feet feet from sin. and other limbs from sin.
5. Complete refraining 5. Avoiding much food from food of unjustness. during the permitted time.
6. Accompanying fasting 6. Being between hope with mercy, in the case of and fear, concerning the fastrich people who fast. ing being accepted by God.
7. Avoiding to make a show of fasting.
Manual Work (II, 7)
Ethikon and Ihya' begin with enumerating the different forms of commerce. Then (Ethikon, p. 188; Ihya' II, p. 57) they wam against bad practices in commerce as speculating in corn, using false money. Further they give rules for honest commerce: 1° not to praise the merchandise; 2° to show the defects of the merchandise; 3° to give full weight and measure; 4.0 to be honest in fixing the prices and not to lie concerning the price for which one has bought the wares himself.



CXXIX
Abiding abroad (II, 8)
U The two kinds of travelling are thus described by Ghazalï (II, p. 199): bodily travelling from the usual abode towards steppe's and deserts; travelling of the heart from this lowest of places towards the kingdom of heaven. In his Ethikon (p. 103) Bar Hebraeus quotes a saying by John de Dalyata: Happy is the soul that at every moment travels from this country towards the country to come etc. So Ghazalï in his turn seems to be dependent upon Christian thought.
2. In the Ethikon Bar Hebraeus enumerates eight rules for travellers (p. 106). They concord largely with those given in the Ihya' (II, p. 205):
Ethikon Ihya' /. Settling pecuniary af- 1. The same.
fairs and paying deposits and debts before departure.
2. Choosing pious compa- 2. The same. nions.
3. Saying farewell to fa- 3. The same. mily and relations.
4. To pray the prayer for 4. To perform the salat in travels in the church. view of the travel.
5. To say eulogies when 3. The same. leaving home.
6. To travel during the 6. To travel during the morning and to make halt morning.
when the day becomes hot. 7. Not to make halt before
the day is hot.
7. To have compassion p. The same. with the riding animal.
8. To give presents when 11. To practise several returning. things when returning.
9



cxxx
8. Not to leave the caravan.
10. To take five or six enumerated things with him.
3. The invocation on the way is also prescribed in the Ihya' II, p. 209.
4. Concerning the rules for the intercourse with the holy persons visited, Bar Hebraeus .is in accordance with Ghazalï. II, p. 209: ^ ''j\y. &\ ójr »^Jiuj H U, Jóo USj'
_/lJ_, *;^jup\ VW^b _/S>So bU.>J\
Evil Passions (II, 9)
1. The profits of hunger are enumerated in the Ethikon (p. 237) and in the Ihya' (III, p. 74). The lists are identical in both authors; 1° purity of the soul and illumination of the mind; 2° the faculty to enjoy spiritual pleasures; 3° humbleness; 40 remembrance of the poor; 50 being liberated from every sinful desire; 6° repulsion of sleepiness; 70 leisure for the ritual service; 8° health; p° lessening expenses; 10° the opportunity to feed the poor.
It is further to be observed that in the Ethikon six sections concerning hunger are inserted into the chapter on wantonness. This is also to be traced back to Ghazalï's influence who, in the Ihya', combines the discussions on wantonness and on gluttony (Ihya' III, 3).
2. Lessening the quantity of food gradually. The same method is recommended in the Ihya' (III, p. 78).
3. Anger. In the Ethikon (p. 272) the nature of anger is explained thus: As the creator has created man, like the other



cxxxi
animals, susceptible of damage, He has given him anger as a weapon, that he should be able to ward off all that would do him harm. This sentence has been taken from the Ihya' (III, p. 138): Know, that when God created the animals susceptible of damage and corruption in consequence of inward and outward causes, He graciously provided them with a means to protect themselves against corruption and to remove them from destruction, unto a certain point defined in His Book. — Further Ghazalï also mentions anger as a means of protection.
4. The causes strengthening anger. Some more are enumerated in the Ethikon (p. 273) and the Ihya' (III, p. f43).
5. The healing of anger is treated in the Ethikon (p. 273) and the Ihya' (III, p. 144) in a parallel way.
6. ,If he is not able to attain his oppressor* etc. The whole of the following passage is in the Ihya' (III, p. i4o).
7. Praiseworthy zeal is discussed in the Ethikon (p. 276) and the Ihya' (III, p. 156) in the same way.
8. ,A man envies' etc. The passage is also in the Ethikon (p. 276) and in the Ihya' (III, p. 159).
9. The relation of man towards the world is treated in the Ethikon (p. 279) and the Ihya' (III, p. 178). Bar Hebraeus compares the world with:
1° a passing shadow; also in Ghazalï.
2° a man who dreams etc; also in Ghazalï.
3° a woman who makes herself attractive, but after marriage spends her husband's possessions; also in Ghazalï.
4° as sickness prevents desire of delicious food, so lusts prevent love of knowledge.
5° as delicious food becomes stinking in the end, so it is with desires; also in Ghazalï.
6° the lifetime of man is, compared with eternity, not more than a moment; also in Ghazalï.
7° man is like people who travel in a plain without water, not knowing whether they have already reached the middle of the way; also in Ghazalï.



cxxxv
7° not to point towards subtle questions. 8° to practise his own teachings.
Some of these precepts are already found in Basilius (Opp. II, 390 and 395).
In the Ethikon, seven qualities of a good teacher are enumerated (IV, 1, 8):
i° that he. does not seek worldly glory. Also in the Ihya' I, p. 52 sq.
2° that he is not subject to desire of luxury. Also in the Ihya' I, p. 59.
3° that he does not visit go vernors. Ihya' I, p. 61.
4° that he is not quick in answering. Ihya' I, p. 62.
5° that he meditates more upon the hidden science of the purification of the heart than upon exoteric knowledge. Ihya' I, p. 63.
6° that his only aim is the consolidation of faith. Ihya' I, 64.
7° that he meditates upon heil and is mournful and is emaciated. Ihya' I, p. 67.
3. Grace. In the Ethikon (IV, 6, 3) five signs of grace are enumerated:
1° things profitable in this and in the other world. Ihya' IV, p. 87.
2° things profitable in this world only. Ihya' IV, p. 88. 3° desired possessions. Ihya' IV, p. 88.
4° things desired are either profitable or beautiful or delicious. Ihya' IV, p. 89.
3° things not profitable in themselves. Cf. Ihya' IV, p. 89 and 91.
4. Asking. Ethikon and Ihya' mention the question whether asking is allowed or not. They consider asking only allowed in case of want (Ethikon IV, 8, 5; Ihya' IV, p. 180). For: /° Asking usually implies accusations of God who causes poverty; 2° he who asks confides in man or humiliates himself before man ; 3° he who is asked, is usually morally damaged.
5. Confidence. Ethikon (IV, 11,8) and Ihya'(IV, p. 241 sqq.) speak of the rules for confidence:



CXXXVI
i° who confides in God has to shut his door. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 241.
2° he has to remove from his house objects of value. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 241.
3° if this be impossible, he shall console himself with the thought that, his things being stolen, those of others will be preserved. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 241.
4° if his possessions are stolen he shall bear this gladly. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 241.
j°. he shall not curse the thief, but pray for him. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 242.
6° he shall mourn at the fact that the thief has excited God's anger. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 242.
Further the Ethikon (IV, 1 [, 10) and the Ihya' (IV, p. 244) enumerate the motives of those who reject being healed in case of illness:
1° the fact that man's end has been destined by God. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 245.
2° the sick is occupied with the stains of his soul. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 245.
3° often the sick confides in the medicines. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 245.
4° the just often expect a remuneration for a long illness; so they do not wish to be healed. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 245.
5° the sick hopes to pay for his sins by sickness. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 246.
6° passions are lessened during sickness. Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 247.
The question whether healing is allowed is already treated by Basilius II, 397.
6. Remembrance of death. In the Ethikon (p. 509) two causes are mentioned that make man forget death; love of the world end ignorance. Ghazalï mentions them also, Ihya' IV, p. 395:



THE BOOK OF THE DOVE



13
thing alien to God. The latter, a man's praying for the evil of an other one. The Initiated, hearing: Bless and maledict not '), will neither curse nor maledict.
Singing is composed of words which excite lascivious emotions; the passion of fornication is hidden in it. Therefore it is reprehensible. He who is sick by singing is healed by its opposite: the reciting of Psalms.
Jest2) is a word which excites laughter 3) deadly for the heart and defiling honesty. Its cause is frankness of speech, which by the Initiated is called the scorching wind damaging the vegetation during harvest. It is healed by: Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep *).
Ridicule is showing a man's stains mockingly, in the way of disdain and disregard. It is healed by: Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones 5).
Detraction0) and taunt is showing stains in the way of hatred and rancour '), they are healed by: Blessed is he who sitteth not in the seat of the scornful8).
Falsehood9) is affirming what is not, as if it were; and that which is, as if it were not. It is healed by: Thou shalt destroy those who speak falsehood l0). Know, that it is not sinful if it be the cause of psychic pront2); as it was not in 532 the case of Rahab when she hid the spies and said: they are not with me. Therefore one of the Fathers") has said: It is possible to make use of it, but cautiously.
1) Romans 12, 14.
2) Introduction, p. CXXIV.
3) Cf. section X.
4) Luke 6, 25.
5) Matthew 18,10.
6) Scala, Gradus X: nep) xaTa\uj\la$.
7) Scala, p. 186: xaraKaïJot \uriv avoxvmix pttcov^.
8) Psalm 1, 1.
9) Introduction, p. CXXV; Scala, Gradus XII. 10) Ps. 5, 7.
II) Scala p. 196: rifc Pzzfi fitptijTijv eavriv rsxfix/pto'Qai tysvioxX&o'Tvit avijp xai $t' avutetxs oixsiati rijv érépav VMTyptay Kèysi irpaypuerevtrdai • ótrórav ^evèov$ gjg £vav xadapeva-apiev tóts avro fiêra $6(iov xai xaipov xxKov-jtoc, viréïiöwptsv.



Backbiting') is mentioning the trespasses of others unto others, the calumniated not being present. Its cause is usually this that the backbiter, by detecting the faults of others, means to be estimated blameless. Backbiting happens also in the way of amazement or compassion, when one says: I wonder at the mind of so and so, how has he fallen into adultery. And: I am sorry for so and so, that he has been entangled in theft. This sickness is healed by enumerating the virtues of him that trespasses; afterwards the backbiter will not calumniate again if he be intelligent.
Sycophancy2) is mentioning evil unto him concerning whom it has been said or done. Its cause is the tendency to denigrate him who has said the evil, or to natter him concerning whom it has been said. If the latter be honest, he will not believe the sycophant, but despise and reprimand him and not go far with him into these things; then the sycophant will go away ashamed.
Doublé dealing3). The wretch who practises it will praise either of two litigants to his face and detract him behind his back. It is healed by: The Lord shall destroy doublé dealing 4).
Flattery3). The flatterer falls into four evils. Into false533 hood when he calls bitter sweet. Into hypocrisy when he often flatters. Into error when he says what he does not know exactly. Into guiltiness °) when he gladdens the unjust.
He who is flattered falls into two damages: into boastrng and into haughtiness. Either of them is healed by silence.
Rudeness of speech'). If for instance one says: But for so and so, the wolf would have eaten me. Whereas he
1) Introduction, p. CXXV.
2) Introduction, p. CXXVI.
3) Litterally: divided Ups. Introduction, l.c.
4) Ps. 12, 4. 5) Introduction, l.c.
6) Reading with Cardahi and Ethikon, p. 269 rcL-ljCVu instead of k!_VX-CVm
7) Introduction, p. l.c.



22
the sight of rich women and their instruction, promising the knowledge of the future ') and the examination of hidden things. Finally their cells beame the meeting-places of the inhabitants of towns and villages, and so they feil from an enlightened life into the behaviour of blindness 2).
SECTION THE THIRD
On fourfold Asceticism: Prayer, Invocation, Recitation, Meditation3)
Prayer. Forgiving the faults of him who has sinned against him, turning eastward, elevating his hands, and looking to the earth as if being ashamed before his Lord, the solitary shall begin his ' prayer by saying several times: O God, be merciful to me, a sinner 4). My Lord, have mercy upon me. My Lord, endow me with those things which Thou knowest to be profitable to me. Then God will give him that of which he has no idea to ask.
Invocation3) of God consists in repeating ten sentences °) from the glorifications of the blessed children 7), six of those beginning with Blessed be thou, and four beginning with Bless ye. The smallest number of repetitions is three; the middle, seven; the complete, forty, according to time and wise 8).
1) Reading with Cardahi's text pC'oS.T.ïcHi».! instead of r^oS^cVl^l
2) Cf. Ibn 'Ata'allah's commentator II, 64 who cites Suhrawardï: \ Jöo ^»
^jico pS Jc- <zt>\ oAio jij ^j_^3iA\ <Sc Jóo Jjio J "}Li*
3) This sequence is already in the Ihya-' I, p. 279: ljs~\ i»jjY\ ^JvÜaJh e\j *J3 y & J; '°J*> M Aji\ ö£ iA J^. 3&\> &J?b f^h
a^jujY\ «Aa ,Jx- öjLaM -Ui ^rA» öjLai\ i_tJi, ^ ^\ji>\ Juu . Further
Ethikon I, 2.
4) Luke 18, 13. 5) Introduction, p. XCIII sq.
6) Ghazalï also reckons the as consisting of ten sentences (Ihya'I, p. 277).
7) Daniël 3, 52—90.
8) The last restriction is also added by Ghazalï I, p. 276.



23
As £o the reciting of the New Testament, though the soul may not perceive the delight it gives, in the beginning, yet it traces in the mind spiritual meditations instead of carnal phantasies, and so, gradually, the mind aquires purity '). It 54* is becoming to recite every day seven chapters: from the Gospels, one from every one of them, one from the Acts, one from the catholic epistles, one from the epistles of the blessed Paul. At the end of every chapter the reciter has to kneel three times before the cross, which is the symbol of our Lord, The book has to be laid on a chair. He who is not a reciter, shall meditate upon the works of God.
Meditation is of three kinds. The first, that one meditates his sins, for if man does not demolish his soul, it cannot be built. The second, that man meditates upon the justness of God's judgments and the torments destined for the wicked. So the fear of God will become strong in his heart. The third, that one meditates upon the effusions of God's mercy and the goods promised to the good; then thanksgivings will be multiplied in his mouth and his thoughts will be made to abide in the spiritual world and he will have spiritual intercourse with the Angels of light and the souls of the just.
SECTION THE FOURTH
On ritual Prayer and the Division of Times2)
If Moses, the Great, could not draw near the thorn-bush before having put off his shoes from his feet, [in order to meet] Him who is outside all sensual apperception, how could it be possible for the mind to speak in prayer, if it had not been concentrated from divagation ? Though in the beginning the mind is not easily concentrated, yet, after steady exercise and after receiving the sweetness of prayer it is easily con- j42
1) Introduction, p. LXXVII.
2) lljya' I, 4; Ethikon I, 1.



24
ducted towards the treasury of the heart '),.abiding with God in ecstasy 2).
Pure prayer 3) is inconsistent with a multitude of words, for when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking 4). Obligatory prayer is this: to stand, the face turned eastward, the hands folded, to concentrate the mind and to say three times the prayer of Holy art thou, o God. Every time he who prays shall prostrate himself and make the sign of the cross on his face. Then he shall say three times: Our Lord, have mercy upon me. Every time he shall kneel down. Then he shall say: Glory to thee, our Lord, glory to thee, our Lord, glory to thee, our hope for ever. Then, standing upright he shall proceed with Our father which art in heaven. Then prayer is finished.
The fixed ritual prayers are seven. The first, morning prayer, at sunrise. After it the solitary shall recite four chapters from the Gospels. Until the completion of the third hour he shall be occupied with prayer 5) and meditation. Then he shall pray the second ritual prayer, that of the third hour, and until the completion of the sixth hour he shall fatigate himself with manual work; if he has not such work, he shall be occupied with meditation. Then he shall pray the third ritual prayer, that of noon, and sleep a little, because this short sleep is helpful for vigils °) and because it frustrates the strife of the demon of weariness 7) (who at this time of the day forces the
1) Introduction, p. LXIV.
2) Introduction, p. XCVI. " 3) Introduction, p. XXXII. 4) Matthew 6, 7.
6) Litterally so in Ghazalï I, p. 280: JJ3\ f Vi Jc \^ o^-t
7) Basilius II, 383: Eï iv tï t% 'ixry Spa kxtx pilpiviiiriv tüv dyi'm avuyxalav that rijv wpoyei/^ijv sxxpfoaitev, tSm hxyóvrm io-ictpav xai irpiïi xai iieo-yfifiptaf ityyviiTcnai xai üirayys*.& xai sla-axouiTai t?{ <j>«vi)« fiov xai SSo-rt §vo-Sijvai airo aviivrüiutroi xai iaifiovlov itso-ypPpnov' U/ia xai roü tyaXpoS ro6 hiititxoirroO Asya(lêvov. Cf. Houtsma in Verslagen en Mededeelingen IVe Reeks, 2e deel, p. 22 sqq.; further Theol. Tijdschrift 1913, p. 258 sqq.



25
solitary to look perpetually into the sunrays) as the solitary assumes an immovable or nearly immovable attitude.
Then again he shall do manual work until the completion 543 of nine hours. Then he shall pray the fourth ritual prayer that of the ninth hour, and recite the other three chapters and until sunset be occupied with prayer'). Thereupon he shall pray the fifth ritual prayer, evening prayer, and until the completion of two hours of the night be occupied with prayer ]) and meditation. Thereupon he shall pray the sixth ritual prayer, that of compline. Having slept until midnight he shall pray the seventh ritual prayer. If he is overwhelmed by sleep, he shall indulge in it by stealth2), sitting»), until the completion of the tenth hour of the night. Then he shall sleep no more, but repeat invocations.
SECTION THE FIFTH On the Reciting of Psalms and Vigils4)
Before every one of the four ritual prayers of the day and that of the evening, the solitary shall regularly recite two of the fifteen parts of the Psalter; before compline one; before nightprayer four.
Vigils are to be lengthened and shortened according to the state of the solitary B). For many watch during a third part of the night, two hours in its beginning and two in its end; during two thirds they lie down to sleep. Others watch during
2) Cf. Ihya' I, p. 284: ,y)\ «Ai ^ V. Alfii And Ibn al-cArabI, FlkunhmSla budd lilmurïd minhu, p. 44: «At. ^ ^Vc "Jj
3) Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, p. 13: <S« s7#<v iv t% iSpeu'a xai aruXsirtji iietpiov^ xzréSccpSe (3px%ü,
4) Also combined in Scala, p. 267; Thomas a Kempis, Opp. II, 424. Cf. further Ihya' I, 10; Ethikon I, 3 and 4.
5) Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, p. 13: 1$ èvó{ rt xai toS uvtoü o-%ïjitxroe Siéiteive Svo vixrug *«ï rpéïg vitiépui; pi^re Tpt>q%* pifrt votoS ntTX<r%iïv h$ts flmov. Cf. p. 56.
II



26
half the night and lie down to sleep during the other half. The perfect, as Aba Arsenius, in the evening preceding Sunday turn their back to the sun and stand till it rises before them.
544 Helpful') towards vigils are spare food and small labour and a short sleep at noon. Therefore the body shall be burdened with labours only with measure for we are ordered to destroy passions, not life2). So, whosoever has got an indigestion by labours, shall give rest to the body and its powers, then return to his labours. Some perform forty kneelings after the prayer of compline; others forty more after morning prayer.
The reciting of Psalms has to take place with weeping. The cause of weeping is the contrition of the heart and the burning of the soul with love of God. A certain solitary dreamt that he was reciting Psalms before David the son of Isai, who said to him: I wonder at you; how have you learnt to recite Psalms without having learnt to weep?
Weeping cannot be without distinction. Therefore it has been said: it is very necessary to shorten the recitation of Psalms somewhat, that the soul may stick to distinction, remaining lucid. On account of this some solitaries absolve the Psalter one time every week; others every month. The weak, however, do not shorten their reciting of Psalms for the sake of increased distinction, but by the influence of the demon of dejectedness, who makes strife against them. For the like it is sufficiënt to recite only the short Psalm O, Praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise him, all ye people3). For the Lord of the vineyard regards only the readiness of the
545 will, not the quantity of the work and he pays the hire to the labourers of the eleventh hour as well as to the first ones
1) Introduction, p. CXXVII.
2) Cf. Kor'an 4,33: j£y C j€" <A c>\ <£-iü \ ^ % and Bukharï, Tayammum, b. 7. Ghazalï I, p. 284 has the same argument on behalf of sleep: ^i.
3) Psalm 117, 1.



27
who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. Some solitaries who do not belong to the exquisite, reckon the offering of the eucharist in solitude as belonging to the labours. But they do not take into consideration that sayings from the anaphora as i As often as you are assembled in my name, and: To thee thy servants bow their heads, and many other sayings are only applicable to the community.
SECTION THE SIXTH On Fasting')
If a multitude of stinking viands, by the vapours they cause, obscure the eyes of the soul without giving it the opportunity to see any spiritual thing — by refraining from them the mirror of the mind 2) becomes enlightened and it acquires the aptitude to reflect spiritual images 3).
In fasting there are three ranks: the common, the peculiar and the more peculiar 4).
The common one is this: absolutely not to eat nor to drink during the day, as is the custom of the Easterns. Or: only not to eat animals or what is related to them, during the day, as is the custom of the Westerns. They take vegetables and herbs, the former in the evening, the latter by day also.
This first, common way of fasting has several ritual precepts: the faster, from morning-time onwards, shall have the inten- tion to fast; for many do not eat accidentally, yet they are not reckoned as fasters. He shall beware from any food or
1) Ihyg' I, 6; Ethikon I, 6; Paradisus patrum, p. 465—479.
2) Introduction, p. LXXIV sqq.
3) The sentence is in its essential points in Porphyry, De abstinentia ab esu animantium I § 47: tS)« Si rov ttoAASh Seto-^aiapSe/o-xi; alriaf xai roO wkfaovs r&v e'to-ayopévw ei( ro o-Spta TepiaipeSévrav roO re P&povs riïv avaSiSopémv xovQio-Sévruv, eteviepov ri 'ipipia xecmov xai xvpiaros roB o-aptarixoO éxrot xuSappiitrptéiiov ytyverm. Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, p. 10: tj) y&p riïv Aexrüv xai evmecSóruv iiaSfi trvpiperpiiStic. xix roirov hhiyovmlmi xai Ivayplav xai tyvxfli xuiapónira xryo-iftevoi;.
4) Introduction, p. CXXVIII.



28
546 drink passing through his throat. He shall not use his spittle except in case of sickness.
Peculiar fasting2) is that of the solitaries, fasting in which not only the stomach but also the senses refrain from culpable inclinations. It has also ritual precepts: shutting the eyes from unchaste looking; binding the tongue against all sinful speech; occluding the ear against listening to impure words.
More peculiar fasting is that of the Perfect; fasting in which not only the stomach and the senses but also the soul refrains from impure deliberations. It has one ritual precept: to eradicate .all worldly meditations from the depth of the heart. The elevation unto this rank, though difficult, becomes easy by training. As it has been said: Nature is easy and giving an opportunity to all sorts of change. It has the power of receptivity according to the measure in which you force it3).
The Apostolic constitutions command: If any member of the clergy be found to fast on Sunday or Sabbath, excepted' on the Sabbath preceding Passover, he shall be dismissed 4). In the same way the Fathers who were assembled at Gangra have said: If anyone on account of pretended asceticism shall fast on Sunday, he shall be anathemised. Therefore the solitary shall break his " fasting on Sunday and Sabbath at the third hour, albeit by a crumb; further he shall take food in the evening hours in order to comply with the commandment, not because food is meritorious.
547 SECTION THE SEVENTH
On manual Work5) That manual work is excellent is affirmed by the Initiated.
1) Also a Muslim precept.
2) Introduction, p. CXXVIII; Abü Talib I, 74; II, 113.
3) Verses of 12 syllables.
4) The Jewish law also forbids fasting on the Sabbath, Islam at official, religious feasts. ï-i» J
5) Basilius II, 3S1 sqq.; Ihya' II, 3; Ethikon II, 5; Introduction, l.c.



29
When Aba Antonius was stricken with dejectedness there appeared unto him an angel who sat and spun threads; then the angel rose from his work and prayed ; again he sat down and worked, and again rose and prayed. Then he said: do the same, Antonius, and be saved. Aba Atir said to Aba Anbistion: make small your stomach and increase your manual work. An% other has said: accept no favour from anyone; but let your hands be sufficiënt for your sustenance.
To those who say: it is not becoming to work ') because our Lord has commanded us to become as the fowls of the air, which sów not, nor do they reap, and because he praised Mary who did not work, above Martha who was anxious about work — we give the answer: these commandments are apt for the Perfect, who have acquired spiritual work. And the solitary who has not yet acquired this, would not be able to bear [the abode] in the cell on account of the passions and desires idleness awakes in him. And though Paul, the blessed, would have been entitled to be sustained by the people, because he was their head, yet he would not even eat the bread of the Thessalonicians gratuitously, but day and night he toiled at saddlery, lest he should become burdensome to any of them. And the other apostles were fishermen. Some brethren of the desert used to reap with the husbandmen; others braided baskets and mats.
It is however the duty of the solitary not to praise that which he sells and not to conceal but to show its stains. He 548 shall not ask an immodest price and he shall sell to the needy and indigent.
To the members of the clergy it is allowed not to work; for those who work in the sanctuary are sustained by the sanctuary. And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar2). And though it be allowed to the Fathers to supply
1) As, for instance, Isaac of Ninive, p. 566 sqq.; cf. Reitzenstein, Historia Monachorum, p. 195.
2) I Corinthians 9, 13.



3°
their wants at the cost of their flocks, yet is it more profitable for them to work without accepting anything from anyone. Here the author confesses his guilt, saying: I teach but I do not learn; I write but I have neglected; I preach but I do not practise; I admonish but I have sinned.
SECTION THE EIGHTH On Abiding abroad')
Abiding abroad is divided into two kinds: the bodily and the spiritual one 2).
The bodily one is bodily departure from paternal home to a foreign place. The spiritual is intellectual departure from the corruptible world towards the kingdom of heaven in which the angels dweil. Bodily abiding abroad which does not take place on account of psychic need and the desire to acquire spiritual profit, is to be rejected.
Psychic need consists of four kinds: the first, persecution on account of one's confession 3); the second, offence on the part of the brethren, when he who is the stumbling block is not able to justify himself4) before them; the third, immoderate praise being spent on the solitary in the place where he has i9 become renowned5), as Aba Euagrius says: If your cell becomes a trodden soil, flee from it; the fourth, the strife of fornication in the place where the brother dwells °).
Spiritual profit [to be gained by abiding abroad] is of three
1) Scala, Gradus III; Kushairï, p. 152 sqq.; Ihya' II, 7; Ethikon I, 8; cf. Reitzenstein, Historia Monachorum, p. 50 sqq., 196.
2) Introduction, p. CXXIX.
3) Ihya' II, p. 200: \jj h.j, £\ Jou ggl.
4) Litterally: to cleanse his heart.
5) Scala, p. 33: é Tffii/ TÓ-xm vipiSiii «v«%»/»f(r<{ 'iara ei( t« &itupctx)wTixÜTepx xai &xevo$o%ÓTtpa xai TavsivÓTepa ttêpH. Ihya' II, p. 200: «V*: jji, J AiA
and II, p. 240.
6) Scala, p. 30; Ihy5 II, p. 200: iui y-



3i
kinds: the first, necessary teachings '); the second, seeing excellent men; the third, the beneficial influence of holy places 2). These are the meritorious motives of abiding abroad. If it has other motives — pleasure, fleeing from the trouble of reclusion or from need, or the solitary being disdained in his place — it is to be blamed 3) and its cause is the demon which makes man wander about4). For this demon instigates the mind of the solitary to wander from place to place. At first he soothes him by making his intercourse with others bear a harmiess character; afterwards he causes him- to fall into the hands of the demon of fornication, or of anger, or of distress and despondency.
It is the duty of him who goes to visit one of the Fathers, to occupy himself with the invocation of God on his way 3), and not to neglect any of the ritual prayers. At any village or town he reaches, he has first to present himself at the church °). He shall not remain longer than three days in the same village or town '). And when he has reached the cell of the Father 8) [he wishes to visit], he shall not knock at his door, but sit down till he will perceive and call him. Then he shall draw near humbly and greet him becomingly, without speaking before he is asked. In accordance with the question he shall give his answer, quietly, without adding anything.
1) Ihya' n, p. 200: j5A\ ^Jls J ^iJ\ JjV\ ^J>\.
2) Also in Ihya' II, p. 200.
3) Ghazalï distinguishes three categories of travels; that which is blamable, that wich is praised and that which is allowed (Ihya' II, p. 203).
4) Scala, p. 30: t-evirevav' ao-fyaklfov tov yvpevrïjv xai QikySmov Safpova. i yap t-evire/a atyoppiijv aïiTia SlSctrt. The passage in the text has been borrowed from Euagrius, see Ethikon, p. 105.
5) Introduction, p. CXXX.
6) Cf. Kushairï, p. 153: \\j "\j*>\ {J*»> «J j\i Jöj £\&>\
• ^-*r^ *y J£ dj* lA
7) Ghazalï II, p. 209 says that the traveller shall not remain longer than a week or ten days in any place; if he visits a brother, not longer than three days.
8) Introduction, l.c.



32
When he asks for a commandment, he shall request modestly. 55° He shall not stay with him longer than one day. Being asked after the state of his place, he shall teil the stories of its just and excellent men. He shall not mention its many gardens and trees nor the opulence of its fruits and products, lest he be blamed for love of pleasure and gluttony.
The Initiated reckon the third kind of profit to be [of] secondary [importance], saying: the divine power inhabiting the bones of saints reaches all places. When to a certain Master his disciple said: I wish to go to Jerusalem, he said to him: You err greatly; for every man strives to ascend unto Jerusalem on high, and you unto Jerusalem beneath ? For the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. For God is spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth '). Stay therefore in your cell and strive to see in yourself Him who is near to all.
SECTION THE NINTH On evil Passions
Now it is becoming to speak of the impure passions attacking the solitary in the cell from which he has necessarily to be purified. They are, as we have said above:
Dej ectedness 2). At times when the solitary is not able to perform the usual service, the demons compel him to perform it, and, though his body is weary, to rise and to recite Psalms. At these times the solitary who vexes himself with labours, resembles a man who draws water and empties it into a leaky bucket. Therefore it is profitable for him to give 551 his body some rest and to. interchange his bodily labours with spiritual ones. For many have performed great labours, but because they have not laboured with distinction they have not attained the way of God.
1) John 4, 21, 24. 2) Scala, Gradus XIII: iripi imiSiag.



39
their fellows, thinking their own exellence to be the deficiency of others.
The causes of haughtiness are boast, rancour and envy; for these do not permit a man to humble himself before his fellow, nor to be his equal in rank.
Its signs are '): love of finery and driving, of being saluted in the streets, of sitting in a high place at meals; dislike of going alone, of visiting a more excellent man; entertaining an aversion to lepers, dropsical and ulcerous people; not to do a thing with one's own hands; not to carry one's things, but to have them carried.
Its healing has been mentioned in the section on humbleness.
Boast2) is man's self-exaltation on account of a good that he possesses, be it knowledge, good works, beauty, wealth, strength, affinity, righteousness, the pretended true confession. Haughtiness is distinguished from boast thereby, that the former is 558 caused by man's comparing himself with others, the latter not. The relation between boast and haughtiness is like that between boy and man.
The inclination to boast is healed by knowing that whatever accomplishment a man may possess it comes from the Lord and not from himself. Therefore he shall not boast and, if so, he shall boast in the Lord3). When Aba Poman heard a brother saying: since how many years have I not entered the village, he said to him: if I had dwelled in its neighbourhood, I would have entered and circumambulated it during the night, in order to prevent my deliberations to boast: I do not enter it
Reprehension4). Directing others is the work of the shepherds, not of the solitaries who have only to be charged with the care of themselves. For Aba Poman said: when I see a brother sinning, I do not vituperate him. And when
1) Introduction, p. CXXXIII.
2) Ethikon III, 12; Ihya' III, 10; Introduction, l.c.
3) 1 Cor. 1,31.
4) Ethikon IV, 2 this feature is considered in hernam partem.



40
my Lord vituperates me, I say to him: thou hast taught me: first cast out the beam out of thine eye, then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye ').
SECTION THE TENTH On good Qualities
Those ornaments by which the rational soul is made worthy of the spiritual festival on which dawn rises and the Beautiful 2) spreads his rays, are the following as we have enumerated them above:
Teachings3). There is nothing so sufficiënt to banish bad customs from the soul, as burning with love of teachings 4). He who is instructed shall begin with the Psalms, then he shall train himself in the books of initiated knowledge, the 559 aim of which we have described here briefly. These will teach him to limit the care for the maintenance of his body, and to subdue it by strict exercises; to eradicate from the roots of his soul defiling stains and to supplant them by adorning customs.
If he wants a teacher, he shall be a good one 5). His signs are: that he is not subject to desires0); that he does not visit governors'); that he is not quick to answer; that he teaches more by actions than by words 8); that he teaches first what should not be done; then what should be done.
1) Matthew 7, 5 ; Luke 6, 42.
2) Introduction, p. XLV sqq.
3) Ethikon IV, 1; Ihya' L 1.
4) Introduction, p. CXXXIV.
5) Introduction, l.c.
6) Johannes Climacus, Opp., p. 470: Tetelut «Iitx IfyttMt rit iri$n 6 Iterpoe ixSÓTcco-Sai. Ibn 'Ata'allah II, 64: jlsï ^J. oó» j Ju^il J-Sj
7) Ihya' 1} p. 61; Ibn al 'ArabI, Kunh ma la budda minhu lilmurïd, p. 48.
8) Already in Basilius II, 389 E.; Ihya' L p. 53, 56.



41
Faith ') is, according to Paul the blessed, conviction concerning things hoped for, as if they existed really and the evidence of things not seen 2). It is clear that this definition applies to all faith. If we intend to define our faith peculiarly, we say: Faith is the concordance of the mind with the teachings of the Gospel, which is accomplished by oral confession and the observance of the commandments. Because all Christians of this our time concord with the orthodox faith as it has been established in the Nicene confession, the solitary has to stick to it and to abstain from the quarrels concerning the natures and the hypostases. The true solitaries speak about behaviour only, without ever scrutinizing faith.
Thanksgivings3) are thanks for grace shown or expected4). Their cause consists therein that man recognizes its quantity and quality, in order to thank its giver accordingly.
Grace is either essential or secondary. Essential grace is 560 either sought for its own sake, as the indestructible enjoyment in the spiritual world; or for the sake of some other thing, as true knowledge and excellent practice which are sought for the sake of indestructible enjoyment.
In the same way secondary grace is either sought for its own sake, as life, strength, health and beauty; or for the sake of some other thing, as honour, wealth, kindred, servants which are sought for the practice of life.
As the knowledge of grace is the cause of thanksgivings, so ignorance of grace is the cause of lack of thanksgivings 5), just as many people who do not perceive the good air, do not give thanks on account of it. If it is withdrawn from them
1) Ethikon IV, 3.
2) Hebrews ir, 1.
3) Ethikon IV, 6; Ihya' IV, 2».
4) Introduction, p. CXXXV.
5) Abü Talib I, 208: ï^V. Jfe/l _£A\ slï A-j,.
12



42
they are suffbcated '); when it returns to them they recognize the gift of grace and give thanks on account of it.
The excellent2) thank God, even in trouble, because they know that every trouble could have been a different, a greater one. So they thank God because he has not exposed them to a greater trouble. They thank God further, because by temporary trouble they are saved from eternal trouble.
Hope3) is the longing of the soul after acquiring the possession of what it loves. And because the divine Beloved 4) is never-ceasing joy, we have first to prepare its conditions which are: being content with little 5), ascetical subduing of the body, purification of the heart, adornment of the soul; then we may expect it.
Hope is strengthened by man's deliberating and thinking: if God has bestowed endless acts of grace upon the main61 tenance of the body, which becomes worn out and is to be destroyed, how should He withdraw His acts of grace from the soul which is excellent ?
Fear of God0) is the sorrow of the heart on account of the consciousness of the trouble to come '). Its cause is the knowledge of faults. Its signs are, corporeal: a pale face and emaeiation; or psychical: hate of sin, as trouble is either corporeal or psychic. Fear of the former is rejected by the Initiated 8) who say: we have not received a spirit of fear °), and
1) Even this example has been taken from the Ihya' IV, p. 109. In the Ethikon, p. 390, concerning this point an anecdote is told, that is also found in the IhyS' IV, p. 110.
2) Ethikon, p. 391; Ihya' IV, p. 112 sqq.
3) Ethikon, IV, 7; Ihya' IV. 3; Abü Talib I, 213 sqq.
4) Introduction, p. XLV.
5) Litterally: obsonia.
6) Ethikon IV, 8; Ihya' IV, 3; Abü Talib I, 225 sqq.
7) Ihya' IV, p. 134: ^ £j \\ # ^A 0\ U JLU~Y\ 3. The Ethikon (IV, 8,3) and the Ihya' (IV, p. 136) have parallel sections on the degrees of fear.
8) Scala, Gradus XXI. Illlli
9) Cf. Romans 8, 15.



43
therefore we are not to be afraid even if heaven should cover the earth. But fear of the latter trouble is praised by them; they say: he who does not fear God, often fears his own shadow. If fear gets strong it even withholds man from many actions which are not worthy of blame.
Poverty') with patience is honoured by the Initiated above opulence with compassion. They say: the rank of the solitaries is higher than that of almsgivers. Lay people judge contrarily. The poor man who is worthy of the beatification of the Gospel bears his poverty without grudging2). He is magnanimous, not a flatterer 3). If he gets his want without asking, he will not ask 4); if it is more than he wants, he will give the indigent of it 5). He does not accept from evildoers and boasters 3). And on seeing one more indigent than himself, he Iets him.accept. If he is able to work, he does not accept °).
If anyone gives alms 7) he shall bestow them before being 562 asked. As far as is possible for him, he shall conceal his alm 8),. by putting it into the hands of a blind man, or by throwing it in the way of the poor, or by binding it in his garment. He shall take it from [what he has earned by] honest work. He shall give it to those who have no strength to go out and ask.
Asking9) is sin, because he who asks does not trust in God b ut in man; usually he is a cause ofharm to other people.
Confidence10) is trusting the Creator's government with the provision for human wants. Man's confidence in his Lord
1) Scala, Gradus XVII; Ethikon IV, 9; Ihya' IV, 4.
2) Ihya' IV, p. 176; Abü Talib II, 193.
3) Ihya' IV, p. 177.
4) Abü Talib II, 193.
5) Cf. Ihya' IV, p. 177.
6) Cf. Ihya' IV, p. 181: & -rf J£J1 ^ jVa) ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
«A5_/\ U\ _A1= jjcJ
7) Ethikon II, 6; Ihya' I, 5.
8) Ihya' I, p. 195 sqq.: UjV>^ ÜJlJ\ 'VmJ 0L .
9) Introduction, p. CXXXV. 10) Introduction, p. CXXXV sq.



44
either resembles a youth's confidence in his tutor, as when the heir, being still a boy, is under tutorship until the time fixed by his father; or a boy's confidence in his mother, as in the case of him who has said: Thou art my confidence from the womb, and my hope from my mother's breasts'); or the cattle's confidence in their master, 'as in the case óf him who has said: foolish was I and ignorant: I was a beast before Thee 2).
Th? first sort of confidence is weak; for the youth knows that when he shall grow up, he shall no longer confide in his tutor. The second is stronger than the first; for the boy does not know that he shall no longer confide in his mother when growing up. The third is stronger than the second; for there comes no time that cattle confide in themselves and not in their lord.
The just confide in the Lord not under circumstances which necessarily will harm, but under circumstances which possibly may do harm, being things which sometimes are noxious, sometimes not; therefore God has commanded: make battle563 ments for thy roof3). The elect alone, however, confide in God their saviour under the former circumstances, as Daniël in the lions' pit and Hananya with his companions in the blazing furnace.
Purity ofdeliberations4). Every deliberation the object of which is not familiarity 5) with God and divine things, is not pure but troubled. To such a degree that if he, whose deliberation is pure, deliberates on the purity of his deliberation, it does not remain pure. So desire of the pleasures of Eden rises from troubled deliberations c). Aba Poman has said: as nies do not come near to a boiling kettle, so impure deliberations ') do not come near to the heart that" is fervent with
1) Psalm 22, 10.
2) Psalm 73, 22.
3) Deut. 22,8. 4) Ethikon IV, 14; Ihya' IV, -]è. 5) Introduction, p. C sqq. 6) Introduction, p. XXXVI sqq.
7) In the Ethikon, p.47osq. the following evil deliberations are enumerated: wantonness, fornication, love of money, trouble, anger, tediousness, vain glory,
haughtiness. Euagrius, p.. 472 gives saturation instead of wantonness. Some



45
the love of God. The same has said: Does the axe chop without one who chops with it? Do not minister unto deliberations, then they will vanish. Further he has said: if you throw evil deliberations, as if they were a snake or scorpion, into the vessel of the heart and then shut it, they will die immediately. To Aba Arsenius a certain brother said: why do you, who are wisë, ask this villager, namely Aba Macarius, concerning deliberations ? He answered: I know the lore of Greeks and Romans, but the alphabet of this villager I have not yet learnt.
Remembrance of death1). No one who is acquainted with the remembrance of death, will easily sin 2). A certain Father has said: when I let down the spindle, I put my death before my eyes before pulling it up 3). The cause on account of which a man does not bethink him of his death, is the love of temporary life; for he who loves a thing, whatever it be, hates its opposite and does not like to meditate upon it. 564
This sickness is healed thereby that a man bethinks him of the fact, that man in this] world resembles a dream and the night of a bird, whose way leaves no tracé in the air; and a ship which makes no furrow in the water; and the morning dew which vanishes and is exsiccated before the noon; and the flower which, scarcely open, withers. So the love of temporary life decays, but death does not vanish from the memory and so sin is rejected.
Fathers of the church give seven principal sins; the discrepancy is mentioned 'by Johannes Climacus, Scala, p. 275. He speaks of the óxrii *aytvfuh this is the origin of the Syriac term r<La.X.CUi. The subject has penetrated into Islam; cf. Muslim, Sahlh, Kitab al-ïman, tradd. 141—149.
1) Ethikon IV, 16; Ihya' IV, 10; Scala, Gradus VI; Imitatio Christi I, 23 (Opp., II p. 44): De meditatione mortis. Introduction, p. CXXXVI.
2) Jesus.Sirach 7,36.
3) Kushairï, p. 161: j\y oA\ ^ jfAjft ^ jl J.\ U ö\ JuJ Jjj UUA «i-jy 'j$ai ö\ L And Ibn "Ata'allah II, p. 66: «15^1 a» 0, ^ J,_A.1 'U (j\ L;A\ jf '\iA ïx\<f3 oAl t#, Introduction, p. Lil sqq.



CHAPTER THE THIRD
ON THE SPIRITUAL REST OF THE PERFECT
SECTION THE FIRST
On the Beginnings of the Inclinations1) of Perfection
When, by the hard labours of asceticism, the body has been cleansed and the mind purified 2), the windows of the senses have been shut and the room, the heart, is enlightened3), then the dove will show herself to the mind, not lastingly however, but as a flash of lightning4) which appears and vanishes, she shows her beauty, making sweet her fruit to the palate. So [the mind] is stupefied by her appearance and captivated by desire of her, and everything, even itself becomes to it as if not existing5). And the soul, on account of the burning fire of love towards her, thinks to perish. When it has reached this stage, great humbleness is sown in it. Here the solitary estimates himself to be dust and ashes and he sheds tears of joy and pain: of joy, because of the gift; of pain, from fear. Therefore he will be zealous in frequent reci565 ting of Psalms and in kneelings. During his long service, great delight will happen to him and the recollection of the saints
1) Introduction, p. LXXI sqq.
2) Introduction, p. LXXVII sqq.
3) Introduction, p. LXXXI sqq. Beneath, sentence 11.
4) Introduction, p. CIV.
5) Introduction, p. CVI sq.



47
will occur to him and he will be anxious to imitate them. He will bestow care on comforting the troubled and nursing the Üj. Because these offices fall to his lot on account of his intercourse with the dove, he will afterwards return unto solitude and silence. If he is questioned without necessity, he will not answer. The speech of mortals he will hate like intercourse with enemies.
While he is practising these things, the youthful dove, which is older than generations and families, will again visit him. And if he does not give himself wholly to her, she will scold him severely >). Then, according to his warmth or coldness, she will remain with him or withdraw from him.
For also youths who are in love with worldly girls, know a token resembling this fact, which is poetically described thus: if the beloved perceives true love, this is the token: she comes on her head, not on her feet2).
SECTION THE SECOND "
On the Progress of the Inclinations3) of Perfection4)
After the inclinations of the initial actions of perfection, the dove changes her workings on the mind and makes it apt to behold what every contemplative soul beholds and to the receiving of revelations5). So she begins with illuminating6) the intellect by the distinction of the created things, in this way, that, as sensual things ') become visible to the bodily eye by the medium of the visible sun, so intellectual things
1) Ibn 'Ata'allah II, 60: ^ % H J, £ i±\ SJ^.
2) Verses of 12 syllables.
3) Introduction, p. LXXI sqq.
4) Ethikon IV, 15, 13.
5) Introduction, p. XCVI1I sqq.
6) Introduction, p. LXXXI sqq.
7) Litterally: natures.



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are discerned by the- psychic eye by the medium of the spiriS66 tual ') dove. Then, the mind abhors the environing things and turns its face away from all that is in heaven and on the earth 2). It burns with love of the dove and desires to become familiar 3) with her alone. And she, perceiving its burning love and its being tried like gold in fire 4), will no longer appear unto it as lightning, vanishing quickly, but as a star, [a star], however, hidden in a cloud; especially at the time of prayer, which vision cuts off, enflaming the soul and stupefying the mind, so that the solitary falls on the ground as dead. Then he will rise again and prepare himself for vision and little by little the cloud will be removed and the eye become enlightened. At this stage the perfect, when awake, becomes as if he were sleeping; when sleeping, he is reckoned as being awake 3).
SECTION THE THIRD
On the conclusive Inclinations of Perfection0) When, by the things mentioned, the soul has become cultivated and accustomed, the mind acquires perfect freedom of . speech 7) with the dove and placidly gazes at her and has intercourse with her. And she does no longer appear momentarily like lightning8), nor dimly, in a cloud, but as abiding in her nest, the heart. And as what she is, namely life, the cause of all causes 9), she shows her self to the mind and wonderful mysteries she speaks in it. Then the mind acquires also knowledge of the word (which was in the beginning, and all
1) K&uuocn&ca
2) Enneades VI, 7 8 34: ahhct xai ra 'af,/\a rrmra oT( Vfh tfSsTo, apxaïs ïj i'vvx'itso'iv y 7rAouTotc. >j Kuhtefiv ij siriffTtjitxti TxvTot vwsptaovaa Kéysi.
3) Introduction, p. C sqq.
4) Cf. above p. 21. '■■ yig&éi
5) Introduction, p. XCI.
6) Ethikon IV, 15, 13.
7) Introduction, p. CII.
8) Introduction, p. XCIV.
9) The Cause that spreads life is also in the Theology of Aristoteles, p. 104.



49
has come into existence by it), namely of essential wisdom and of all the angels of God, who are ministering spirits, that 567 prostrate themselves before Him and praise Him. And while the mind is established in the sight of them, their magnificence and their joy, it becomes like them. And when the dove spreads her wings together with the angels and the souls of the just administering her, the mind accompanies them in their night ') and in a moment it reaches with them the cloud 2) of inaccessible light, enters it, is hidden in it and dignified with the state of Moses, being made radiant3) in stupefaction, by the beauty of the Lord, the Lord of the Universe.
On account of the delight it possesses, it cannot return to its former place, save only if its Lord loosens it from its union with Him4). And when it returns it baptizes the members of the body with the fire of the Divinity, which has remained in it. When it desires to ascend again, the body is near to be dragged along with it, so that it can scarcely be shaken off like a shoe 5).
SECTION THE FOURTH On the Unification of the Mind When °) the mind becomes united 7) with the Good one it
1) Cf. Corpus Hermeticum I § 26 (cf. XIII § 17) where the voyage of the soul is- described: Ka) róre yvpcv^eig a*i tüv ri?« appov/ag hepywxTw y/vsra, e*, rïv iySoaS.KÏv riv IS/av «fep,, 'êXm koI <W o-vv To1g óitri tov TraTspa o-vyXa,povo-, Sb oi vapóvrsg tovtov vapov,/* Ka) épcom^g Toïg <rvvoSo-,v aroóe, xa, r.vm Svva^v Mp ri/v oySoaS,kv,v Qóo-,» o'vo~Sv <J>a„jj „„, ö^ovoSv tov
*?J " r"l" &véfX°VTa' T>3« % ***** **> «trol s',g Svva^.g éavToig vapahSóao-, Ka, Swa^g yevójisvo, iv SeS y/vovTx,. The parallelism is evident.
2) Introduction, p. CIII.
3) Introduction, p. LXXXI.
4) Dieterich, Mithrasliturgie, p. 10: iSo-re üvo rijg tov SrexputTog iïovïg kou r?{ xap&g to nvsBpia crov rvvTpéXe,v xxi ivapTa/vetv. And Enneades VI, 9 § 7:.
fJ iSétei pémv 'ava, Ihrep xai t$ no*b ÏSóvr, yévo,r\ av itiSntpta.
5) Introduction, p. LXXVI sq.
6) Ethikon, p. 499.
7) Introduction, p. CVIII sqq.



5o
ascends from glory to glory by the Lord the Spirit, forgetting not only the things of the world, but also its self '), and in the light, with which it is clad in that apartment, it sees itself in the likeness of God 2). And on account of the full cups it drinks in that room, it looses its senses and in this drunkenness 3) it says: I and my Father are one, and my Father is in me and l am in him, with other things which the Dove warns to conceal4), saying concerning them: there is a mystery 568 between me and my housemates 5). When the blessed apostle became acquainted with these mysteries, he said that he had heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter °). And his disciple Hierotheos has transmitted to his disciple Dionysios: When the mind becomes united with the Good one, it drops the name of love and affection, for here the lover and the friend become the same person as the Beloved and ' the Comrade. So it is with all terms denoting dualism, as fathership and sonship, praiser and praised, for at this stage the mind is not praising nor being praised.
The unification of the mind has been proved by the same Initiated with examples from the material world: As water is collected in a number of vessels and the sunrays in a number of windows and fire in different fuel in which it is enclosed, and the air in a number of pouches in which it is retained — and when these containing things are taken away their contents again become the one substance of water, sunrays and so on —
1) Introduction, p. CVI sqq.
2) Introduction, p. CVIII sqq. Cf. the Theology of Aristoteles, p. 8: aaS^ Ui
'JM u*.Ji\ i ^ ^ ru o/ü
£_UA «#8 % <io > o-i^ ^ 'Vk o* ^
3) Introduction, p. XC.
4) Introduction, p. XXVII.
5) Abü Talib II, 59: J.\Aj JaA <j£ V._j \±o JJi! U ^j* -Ui o*3
6) 2 Cor. 12,4.



5i
so the minds, when the bodies are taken away, all of them become one. And as the body has its origin in the elements and returns to them, so the mind, which has its origin in the divine being, returns to it, that God may be all in all '), as our teacher and our leader on the way has taught us.
SECTION THE FIFTH On the Causes of Love2) The causes of all love are five3): the maintenance of the 569 person; practising a good thing; outward beauty; inward beauty4); a hidden likeness. That in view of all these, the Love of God is justified5), appears from the following. If man naturally loves the maintenance of his person0), he necessarily loves Him who maintains him, namely God in whom we live and move and have our being '). And if man °) loves his benefactor without expecting remuneration, how much more must he love God the adorable who provides him with innumerable good things, I mean the rise of the sun, the moon and the stars, the variety of air, the water of clouds, rivers and fountains,' the fruits of the field, the animals and cattle and other things without end. And if outward beauty 8) is loved, how should not He °) be loved who shows himself to the pure in heart in a habit shining like snow, with hair like pure wool, sitting on a flaming throne with radiating wheels, a carriage with four sides? In truth, every one who is deemed worthy to behold him, will reject the love of every creature, and his desire will be unto Him alone.
1) I Cor. 15, 28.
2) Ethikon IV, 15,2; Ihya' IV, 6.
3) Also in the Ihya' IV, p. 253—256.
4) On outward and inward beauty cf. the Theology of Aristoteles, p 49 sqq. 5; Ethikon IV, 15,3.
6) Ihya' IV, p. 257.
7) Acts 17, 28.
8) Ihya' IV, p. 258. 9) mtroduction, p XLVJ



52
And if inward beauty '), which is caused by the knowledge of hidden mysteries and by alienation from sinful passions and by communion with the works of righteousness, is worthy of love, who should not love Him who sanctifies the saints, who purifies the defiled, compared with whose knowledge the 570 knowledge of all creatures is ignorance?
And if a hidden likeness2) is a cause of love, then that man would be a wretch who did not love his Lord who has made him in His image and after His likeness.
SECTION THE SIXTH
On the Delight of Knowledge3)
As peculiar delight happens to man in concordance with the powers which make him attain sensual things — namely touch, taste, sight, hearing and smell — so in concordance with the mind which makes him attain intellectual things, peculiar delight happens to him. And because in all intellectual things there is nothing more wonderful, amazing, stupefying and perfect than the Lord and God of beings, the delight caused by knowledge of Him surpasses all other delight4). And he who has not tasted it, will not desire it, as the deaf, who has never heard the sound of the either, will not long after hearing it. In the same way many persons will not suffer from the annoyance of their not knowing God, though this ignorance causes more suffering than any painful sorrow, just as a torpid member is not affected by fire or cold.
1) Ihya' IV, p. 259.
2) Ihya' IV, p. 262.
3) Ethikon IV, 15,4.
4) Ihya' IV, p. 263: «^bÜ_, a\ üjjS' _^A^ 3-Ü % J>j% ^\y^\ o/U,. And p. 264: JjJ Jp £^-A 0\ j dki 0\
ui,U\ JA y £&&JA 3-C s_WU U.V\ ^ytf ^sju jWU ^yJ\



57
speaks to his ears, whilst he hears him playing on the either. Thereupon the words are retracted from the ear, but the thoughts remain behind in the intellect ').
The fourth is that of outbursts of tears, without compulsion and involuntarily. But the fire of love warms the heart and makes tears flow from the eyes. The fifth is that of the knowledge of Judgment. And here the love of mankind is born in the soul, which has the same regards for all. Here is neither righteous nor sinner, neither slave nor free man, neither circumcision nor foreskin, neither man nor woman, but it asks mercy for all and concerning all. The sixth is that of the mind's becoming radiant 2) with the rays of the angels, rays composed of light and fire. The mind burns with desire to be united with their hosts and to be mingled with their orders.
The seventh is that of hearing the sanctifications of the Seraphs, which can not be embodied in spoken 3) words, but are defined in intellectual sounds. The eighth is that of likeness, while the mind is illuminated by the light without 575 quality4) and is changed into its likeness, as the elegant and dense cloüd near the sun is transförmed into the likeness of the sun. The n i n t h, that of becoming like fire, while the whole body is plunged into fire. In this likeness Aba Arsenius was seen, while he stood [praying inj his cell. The tenth, that of unification s), is called undescribable by the Initiated, all numbers vanish in it. Here no human weakness remains, nor prayer, nor beseeching; no remembrance of what is on the earth nor of future things, because the mind has become here as receiving all prayers, no longer praying itself; as granting questions, no longer asking itself. The eleventh is that of joy without being conscious of its motive. The mind only knows that it rejoices here, not why it rejoices. The twelfth
1) Cf. Introduction, p. XCIII sq.
2) Introduction, p. 'LXXXI sqq.
3) Litterally: breathed forth.
4) Introduction, p. LXXXIV. 5) Introduction, p. CVIII sqq.
13



58
is that of outbursts of speech, of explaining hidden things, of searching the things to come which are written in the archbook' which is the book of the knowledge of God.
SECTION THE TENTH
On the Fall of the Perfect
Though the body is sanctified, the heart purified and the mind made bright in the rank of perfection, still, if the perfect is not cautious against the snares laid by the Evil one, he will quickly fall from that height of elevation, as also Beliar has fallen. He is however drawn away from evil ') deliberations, 576 as soon as he, beatified by wonderful revelations2), rejoices at himself and desires to reveal those gifts which no eye has seen, which no ear has heard 3) and of which he has been deemed worthy. So 4) he is zealous to go to towns and villages as a teacher and a redeemer of souls, as an edification and an example to be imitated by many. And he imagines demons which howl and complain of him, saying: What have we to do with you, servant of God, that you are come hither to torment us 3) ? And further his imagination sees people being healed and a crowd pressing near to touch his garments. And he places at his door those who seek him, and if he is not willing to go with them, drag him along with ropes.
If he is allured thus, he is on the way to return to the world. Then, if he sees one of his colleagues, whose speeches are in better favour than his and whose'teaching is more beloved, he envies him and begins to hate him, as for instance Heron of Alexandria, the punctual in behaviour, who used to take
1) Litterally: left-hand.
2) Introduction, p. XCVIII sqq.
3) I Cor. 2, 9; cf. Introduction, p. XXVIL
4) Cf. with the following passage the description by GJiazalï; IfcyS' IV, p. 327.
5) Matthew 8, 29.



59
food once every three days. When he was captivated by selfexaltation, his intellect was blinded and he began to disdain Aba Euagrius, saying: Those who follow your teaching, err; for they want no teacher besides Christ. For He has said: Call no man your master on the earth ').
And when Satan incited him to go to Alexandria and he had come there, he immersed himself in the mud of fornication so that his genitals became rotten and had to be resecated. And when he was healed, being without those members, he 577 returned anew unto steadiness of mind.
Therefore, even if a man reaches perfection, he has constantly to beseech his Lord: Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy holy spirit from me 2).
1) Cf. Matth. 23,8 sq.
2) Psalm 51, 11.



CHAPTERIV
A TALE OF THE AUTHOR'S PROGRESS IN TEACHINGS AND SOME SENTENCES COMMUNICATED TO HIM IN REVELATIONS
From my first youth ') burning with love of teachings, I was taught the holy scriptures with the necessary explanation, and from an exquisite teacher I heard the mysteries contained in the writings of the holy doctors. When I had reached the age of twenty, the then living patriarch compelled me to receive the dignity of a bishop. Then it was inevitable for me to engage myself in disquisitions and disputations with the heads of other confessions, interior and exterior. And when I had given my thoughts and meditations to this business during some time, I became convinced, that these quarrels of Christians among themselves are not a matter of facts but of words and denominations. For all of them confess Christ, our Lord, to be wholly God and wholly man, without mixture, nivellation 578 or mutation of natures. This bilateral likeness is called by some nature, by others person, by others hypostasis. So I saw all Christian peoples, notwithstanding these differences, possessing one unvarying equality 2). And I wholly eradicated the root of hatred from the depth of my heart and I absolutely forsook disputation with anyone concerning confession. So I zealously turned to attain the power of Greek wisdom, viz.
1) Litterally: from tender nails. The following tale of Bar Hebraeus' conyersion has a strong likeness with Ghazalï's religious experiences as told in his Munlfidi.
2) Bedjan says in a note: this theory is not true.



6i
logic, physics and metaphysics, algebra and geometry, science of the spheres and of the stars. And because life is short and teachings long and broad, I read concerning every branch of science what was the most necessary.
During my studies in these teachings, I resembled a man who is immersed in the ocean and stretches forth his hands towards all sides in order to be saved. And because in all teachings, interior and exterior, I found not that which I sought, I almost feil into complete destruction.
I feel not justifïed to describe the snares and nets in which I was entangled, because hearing this 'might do harm unto many feeble ones. In short, if the Lord had not sustained my little faith in those dangerous times, and if He had not led me to look in the writings of the Initiated, as Aba Euagrius and others, occidental and oriental, and if He had not picked me up from the gulf of destruction and ruin, I would ere long have despaired of psychical, if not of bodily life.
I meditated on these works for seven years, during which 579 I hated other sorts of knowledge, though I had to occupy my thoughts superficially with some of them, not for my own sake, but for the sake of others who wished to profit by me. During this space of time, many offences made me miserable and caused me to stumble. Sometimes I feil into unbelief, saying: How loud is the sound of the bells of these solitaries, and how is their mill devoid of meal, viz. their words contain simple thoughts, remaining without effect. But sometimes my mind reprehended me, saying: Do not speak idle words and think not that all what you know not, does not exist. For what you know is much less than what you know not.
During this dubitation I halted between two opinions '), till' some of the rays of the light without quality 2), in the way of lightning3) which does not remain, enlightened me, and
1) Cf. above, p. 16, note 5. 2) Introduction, p. LXXXIV.
3) Introduction, p. XCIV.



62
some of the scales which covered my eyes, feil off and they were opened, so that I saw, although partly. But without a break I pray, that I may see more, while I hope, that the screen which impedes my sight, may. be destroyed wholly, that, no longer as in darkness, but eye to eye I may behold the unseen Beloved ').
The following few sentences, which I arrange here, are a part of what the flash of lightning revealed unto me in the nightly darkness.
1. The pure soul2) inquires into knowledge, not for the sake 580 of glory which the knowing acquire in the world, but that
its longing after the face of the Lord 3) of the universe may be augmented, and that it may be able to enter and to be hidden within the divine cloud 4).
2. Those, who penetrate into exoteric and esoterie teachings 5), without caring for the purification °) of the heart'), and think to have reached the rank of perfection — err. For what is the profit of the wonderful structure of a mirror 8), which is encompassed with pearls and jewels, if it is not cleansed from dirt ? But the mirror which is cleansed, will perform its service well, even if it is of a simple structure.
3. He who knows by hearsay 9) the quality of the structure of the Solomonic temple, how could he be compared with
• him, thas has entered it himself, and has beheld it with his own eye, and has counted its winding stairs, its barred windows and its windows of narrow lights, its narrowed rests, its chambers in the walls, its carved work, its nets of checker
1) Introduction,- p. XL1V sq.
2) Introduction, p. LXXVII sqq.
3) Muslim expression.
4) Introduction, p. CIII.
5) Introduction, p. XXIX Sqq.
6) Introduction, p. LXXVII sqq.
7) K&ircdi
8) Introduction, p. LXXIV.
9) Introduction, p. XLVIII sq.



63
work, the wings of its Cherubs, the covering of its porches?1)
4. Many teachers and Fathers have occupied themselves with gathering riches and other desirable things, saying: We provide the cattle with straw, i. e., the body, which is the animal ridden by the soul 2), with food 3). These things cause no damage to people like them, as those who have a sound constitution are not harmed by food which is obnoxious to patients, especially those whose fever has become hectic and whose [pathological] diagnostics are caused by badness of constitution and who, moreover, are not aware of their suffering.
5. He who thinks that the various colours of the rainbow 581 are the various rays of the sun, errs. They are only caused by the various parts of the cloud: density and rarefaction, compactness and transparency.
6. He who thinks that the sun rises over the lightless things and illuminates them, in order to be glorifïed, praised and elevated, his opinion is false. For the illuminated acquires glory, praise and elevation by the illuminating, not the illuminating by the illuminated.
7. As hunger is not satisfied by water, nor thirst by bread, so the Initiated, who wishes to look within the Sinaitic cloud, gains small profit by hearing the Scriptures being read.
8. The relation between God's knowledge and ours is the same as that between His strength and ours 4).
9. God is the all-governing, how could He be comprehended by the mind? For the included comprehends only a part of the including, not the whole.
10. As long as you think to know God from information,
1) Most of these terms are borrowed from the description of the temple in the first book of Kings.
2) Introduction, p. LXXVI sq.
3) A similar expression occurs in the Jewish philosopher Abraham ibn Da'ud as cited by Husik, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, p. 203.
4) Cf. Corpus Hermeticum I§3i: Uyiog el ó irao-ttt om&peug ;a-£t/poVe(0{; and the tradition in the Introduction, p. XXVII, where it is defended to meditate upon God, because we do not possess His power.



68
. reflexes, but, according to its purity and cleanness images of things outside it appear in it — so the mind is devoid of images, and according to its being purified ') from the stains of matter, immaterial perceptions are reflected in it.
37. The two kingdoms, that of heaven and that of earth are, compared with the king of kings, the god of gods, the lord of lords, as the figures in a mirror compared with those without it.
38. As the reflexes of a mirror have no real essence in themselves, büt their essence depends upon the essence of the things reflected, so the two kingdoms — that of corporeal and that of uncorporeal things — have no true essence in themselves, but their essence depends upon the first essence, their cause 2).
39. The real, first essence is not subject to the category of time, so that it could be said: It was, nothing being with it. But when this is said, it is said by uncultivated minds 3).
40. He who sucks milk like a babe, shall not use the food of the perfect. And he who sees in the wise of a bat 4), shall not look in the sun. He must leave the foregoing section, he shall not reject nor accept it. Or he may preserve it in his heart, till his time be fulfilled.
587 41. When the window of your heart is opened, you will fly towards the kingdom of God. There you will behold all these things eye to eye, without feeling the need of hearing
1) Introduction, p. LXXXVI.
2) This theory which considers the universe as a reflex of God is already found in the Corpus Hermeticum I § 31: Uyiot el ou nxo-x <pva-ii elx&v 'é$v. And XVHI: rx Iv to7$ èo-óirrpoic. <p«ivóptevx aaipcxTX xo-tè/AXTX ou Soxel o-oi elvxi; Abü Talib says (II, 14) : UA <A ^é> U "lS* Jf> ani^ *bn Gabirol, Fountain of Life (ed. Munk, Memar 5 § 64) has the following passage: PIT "ÜD "I1DTI "Ü
-non rrrw Yfaao piyon rrmb na-ion bvp ïimno miun bnpi ^on
iTratn uöd bipw DXir? bipa
3) This sentence seems to contain a polemical tendency against a Muslim tradition: »^ ^ JS\
4) Cf. above, p. 56.



69
them described; and you will no longer be unbelieving, but believing.
42. In accordance with the different positions of the moon regarding the sun, its radiance varies. And according to the duration of the position the light of the moon continues. But if the former vanishes, the latter vanishes too.
43. As the position of the moon regarding the sun does not continually remain the same, but varies at every moment, so the radiance of the mind augments or diminishes according to the various states it is subjected to ').
44. Though, in the two worlds, the essences of the beings are subjected to various states, yet the more the mind has intercourse with matter, the more its variations will be augmented on account of its manifold sensibility. But when it has been made free from its dependency upon matter, its various states will diminish and its radiance will not diminish but be augmented by the great sun of righteousness 2).
45. The essence which before appeared unto heaven, earth and all that is in them, is different from that, which appears now; the latter, from that which is expected to be. For the first. has vanished; the present is renewed, the future one will be renewed 3).
46. In view of the fact that all essences which manifest themselves in time, participate, all of them, of ideas4), it is falsely thought, that they have a personal identity. As when 588 anybody, seeing John and afterwards James, would think James
to be the same as John whom he had seen before, because they participate of the common human nature.
1) Cf. Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 104: ^ji-h ^ j$ V\ ^yi>\ ^3 Vj
,V.i-Y\ ^jili^o and Introduction, p. XCV.
2) Malachi 4, 2.
3) Cf. the diverging sentence of Ibn 'Ata'allah (I, p. 32): «Ü\ £j%
4) r<jL\\r£ = IM**



7°
47- Those who have a puerile intellect, when seeing the uniform name of a lamp, think that the flame has one essence, from the beginning until the end. But the manly mind knows, that with every atom of oil which is extinguished, the essence is annihilated; and that with every atom which is attracted, the essence is renewed ').
48. It is very difficult for the mind to conceive the annihilation and renovation 2) of the essences. And after frequent exercise and steady study, it is scarcely able to attain these things, but only dimly. The Initiated however, on account of their glorious revelations 3), see manifestly and know clearly, that at every moment the creator is creating a new essence for all creatures. Wm&r.
49. Those who with their spiritual eyes behold the annihilation and the renovation of essences, cry with a voice like thunder: It is one God, which works all in all 4). And in Him we live, and move, and have our being 5). In Him and through Him are all standing still and motion, all life of mind and soul and that of all beings.
50. The knowledge of the perfect is founded on revelations 3). All revealed knowledge is of a prophetic nature.
51. The knowledge of the perfect is of a prophetic nature. And no part of prophetic knowledge can be learned and acquired by reading the Scriptures.
52. The receiver of revelations 3) is sometimes of blunt speech and of difficult tongue; sometimes however he is a herold with a loud voice, who makes streams of living water flow
1) This and the following sentences as well as sentence 45 seem to have been written under the influence of Muslim atomistic doctrine.
2) Cf. ,A_il^j xl>$h, a term frequently found in Muslim philosophers and going back to the Greek yéveo-ic. xai cpSopz.
3) Introduction, p. XCVIII.
4) I Cor. 12,6.
5) Acts 17, 28.



7i
from mouth; all along with the various states to which he 589 is subjected.
53. Who has not tasted the sweetness of the love of his Lord, cannot discern the power of the words of the Beloved '), because they are of a designating nature. And spiritual words cannot be uttered but in mysterious designations.
54. Who writes the mysteries of the spirit, without the spirit's dictating them to him, is a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal2), because the spirit does not mix its sweetness into his words.
55. Who learns the mysteries of the spirit from the spirit, his audience will gather all enjoyments from his words; and his utterances will eradicate all passions from their hearts.
56. For the seeking, who wishes to knock at the gate of the kingdom, it will be sufficiënt to take with him a small portion of the words of the Initiated, in order to distinguish the marks on his way. On these he must frequently meditate and these he must constantly repeat in his mind. But with books of broad instructions and of long contents he shall not spend his days, nor waste his time.
57. If he who has provided himself with a small portion of the instructions of the perfect, meets an Initiated, he shall let himself be guided on his way by his words. Else he must cleanse his inward pupil by asceticism, and it will see all ways, the smooth and the rough ones.
58. How long will you seek a guide, in order to open in the wall of your heart the window towards the kingdom? Cleanse the mirror of your mind 3) from stains, then it will show you the images of the two kingdoms and the ways that will le'ad you towards that of heaven and, further, towards that of God.
59. As long as the thirsty is not able to go towards the S9Q
1) Introduction, p. XLIV.
2) 1 Cor. 13, 1.
3) Introduction, p. LXXIV.



74
71. The rational soul is a receptacle of material apperceptions; but no material thing is a receptacle of intellectual apperceptions, because the latter are indivisible, but every material thing is divisible. And the indivisible cannot dweil in divisible things. '
72. Not a single rational soul is material; but all that is corruptible is material. Because there necessarily must be in it something like an idea which will decay; and something like matter, which is the receptacle of the decay of the idea ').
73. To recognize from the creatures their creator, as from the building its builder, is common and simple knowledge, for it is also found in the possession of the simple. But the subtle speculation of the sages possesses a different, peculiar knowledge, by which from the being he whose being is necessary 2) is recognized 3). In the same way, if he that is, is necessarily being, this is what is requisited. If he is potentially being, he wants a necessarily being; so there is a necessarily being.
74. The Initiated possess another, more peculiar knowledge, which is acquired by purity of deliberations 4), by subjecting the body to asceticism, by shutting the senses5), and by cutting the bonds. And when the tabernacle of their heart is illuminated 6) by it, the kingdom of God is represented in them, and it becomes existing within them; and it is not sought on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem ').
75. When the mind that is enflamed by the love of its Lord,
the section ,On the Soul' in the Theology of Aristoteles, p. 4: l_iA ^>\ . .
J;U\ iaAJl oA^ \i* i j£ % A-ï % oy V^L. 'ji
A_iS\j o-i £sL)\. Cf. further p. 30, 120 sqq.
1) Cf. with this sentence the Theology of Aristoteles, p. 120 sqq.
2) =^\
3) Cf. III, 8 and Ethikon IV, 15, 10.
4) Introduction, p. LXXVII.
5) Introduction, p. LXXX sq.
6) Introduction, p. LXXXI sq.
7) Cf. John 4, 21.



75
is directed under Him as it were by the plummet, its name will quickly become straight; and being set to flame in a 593 moment it will be enlightened, as an extinguished torch is kindled by one that burns.
76. Above and beneath, before and behind belong to the peculiar qualities of bodily things, not of not-bodily things. But on account of the inevitability of names and the necessity of words, he who speaks must necessarily use these secondary things.
77- He who is guided by the light of his lamp, will dweil in nightly darkness and walk in obscurity, without knowing where he goes to. But he whose lamp is outshone by his sun, will walk in daylight, without stumbling.
78. How quick is the time and how fast passes the duration of this light, how short are its days, how few are its hours. And some only, the very few, have been deemed worthy of it. I, at least, have seen it in my present darkness as the sun at the beginning of day-break at the horizon, and as a flash of lightning that passes away
79. My sun is in relation to me still in the sign of Caper only, even more to the South than Caper, and its ascension has not yet reached my horizon. And I desire and beseech that somewhat of the true light of the Beautiful one 2) may dawn for me; in order that I may no longer adore Him that I know not, but Him, that I know in spirit and truth.
80. A blessed Initiated told me, saying: When I was a novice, it happened to me that I imagined that I was in the inaccessible light3). My limbs relaxed, my mind vanished, and I resembled a man who is riding a skittish stallion, that
is running as fast as it can, and nies through the air, without 594 knowing whether he is in his body or without it. When this
1) Introduction, p. XCIV.
2) Introduction, p. XLIV sq.
3) Introduction, p. LXXXIV.



76
emotion ') abated, my wits came back to me and my tongue began to stammer, saying: there has passed what passed, but I do not say what has passed. Hear me, hear me and be silent. But say not to me: explain and describe J).
81. The same told: When I became stronger, the love of my Lord burned more vehemently in me. And often it did not let me finish my service. But as dead I would fall on my face 3), while my body burned and my sighs were multiplied. And my heart said to me: Till how long will this folly and torment of my spirit [last] ? What does the remembrance of the Beloved4) profit, while the lover is in the cage of separation ?
82. The same said further: When I had reached the stage of perfection, there went out a decree from the highest king, whose power is everlasting, and whose kingdom is unto generations, that it should be permitted to me to enter. And at once the eagle, the mind, broke its cage as if being mad and flew to its former nest and stood before the king ofkings, the God of Gods, the Lord of Lords and it was with Him in freedom of speech 5).
83. Be cautious, that .your youth °) may not deceive you and you should think that these words give you the possession of the [corresponding] insight. No my brother, no my brother. If you wish to be master of hidden mysteries, you must hate
595 the two worlds 7). Let the dead bury their dead, and seek the ever living alone. And if you have wearied yourself for ever with seeking Him, you will live for ever and ever.
1) Kl^O\ Introduction, p. LXXI sqq.
2) Introduction, p. XXVII. These words go back to an Arabic verse quoted by Ghazalï in his Munkidh p. Ir, cf. Barbier de Meynard, Journal Asiatique
VII, 9, p. 63: ^ JÜ % c^i >f'*\ ^~i C-
3) Cf. above, p. 48.
4) Introduction, p. XLIV.
5) Introduction, p. CII.
6) Spiritual youth; cf. Barhebraeus' ,On the youth of the mind'.
7) Introduction, p. XXXVI.



77
84. Those who are low seek this world; and those who are high the world to come. But those who are still higher, their Lord, not themselves, viz. Him, not what belongs to Him '). And from His love neither things present, nor things to come, nor other creatures can separate him. The more they are scorned on account of the love of His beauty 2), the more they thirst after it.
85. Every .clear soul3) seeks its original country, and directs itself towards it4) on the straight way, which is the nearest. The righteous pass. as it were a bridge of fire, because fire burns upwards in a straight line, without impediment.
86. The unstained mind 3) psalmodies on the way i Cause me to know the way wherein I should^ walk 5); and ,save me in Thy ways'. And when it has reached the goal it beseeches its Lord: Keep me as the apple of Thy eye and hide me under the shadow of Thy wings °), against the forces of the body, those sinners that have plundered me, and against impure passions, the enemies of my soul, that have risen against me.
87. The understanding of the eye is sometimes true, as for instance, when it observes the sea to be greater than a pool; sometimes however, false, as for instance, when it sees the sun as a shield and a star as a dareikos '); and this is because it sees them at a distance, not near.
88. The knowledge of the mind is sometimes true; as for instance, that God is one, and necessarily being8) and the eternal creator; sometimes however false, as for instance, that the mind, if freed from the yoke of the body,"will see the 596 adorable highest as He is.
1) Introduction, p. XXXVI.
2) Introduction, p. XLIV sq.
3) Introduction, p. LXXVII sqq.
4) Introduction, p. LXIV.
5) Psalm 143,8. 6) Psalm 17,8.
7) This example is also given by Ghazalï as a proof of the senses being untrustworthy, Munkidh, p. Y.
8) Cf. sentence 73.



78
89- As the bat does not see the sun at all, and man, though he sees it, does not see it as it is, so he hears theories concerning the highest one, but he does not see Him. The Initiated, however, sees, but only some of His beauties; not all of them, for they are unlimited
90. Accustom your soul to believe what you hear from the true one2). And if you recognize not His true essence, do not search after His cause by syllogisms3). For by this belief it will be apt for the gift4) [which will be given] by the Paraclet, the spirit of truth, which will come to you and guide you into all truth 5); he will bring all things to your remembrance and teech you all things 6).
91. The resurrection of the body takes place by the second unification with the soul. The resurrection of the soul ') by the dissolution of the unification with the body. And the one as well as the other takes place after much trouble. Sun and moon — the eyes — will be obscurated; the stars — the senses — will fall from the sky — the head. The forces which move the body will be moved themselves and all the families — the limbs — will dance. And the pious soul, which has risen from its fall will be conducted by the light of the sign of the son of God, towards the apartment which it has been promised, in heaven.,
92 8). From the bodies of the horse, the buil, the ape and man the differences of their souls are recognized. The Initiated recognize from the inclinations9) of every human soul the apartment for which it is apt. They discern between that of
1) Introduction, p. LI sq.
3) Introduction, p. XLI.
4) So Cardahi's text; Bedjan: ardour.
5) John 16,13. 6) John 14,26.
7) Scala, Gradus XXX.
8) Cf. with this sentence the Theology of Aristoteles, p. 156 sq.; De Boer, Geschichte der Philosophie im Islam, p. 85.
9) Introduction, p. LXXI sqq.



89
SECTION THE THIRD ')
On the Love of God as being justified in view of all Causes mentioned
When we scrutinize the five causes of love which we have enumerated in our foregoing section, we find that God alone possesses them all j what is outside Him, only a part of them, not the whole. And on account of this question and its affirmative answer the thoughts of those are to be reprehended, who are not able to love God, because they are not acquainted with His name.
The first cause (love of man, his maintenance and his person) is known to justify the love of God, because every man who is acquainted with his own nature and with the power of Him, who has created him, will know that without his God he has no strength to remain standing during one moment. Therefore, if the love of his self is necessary to him, the love of Him, in whose hand his self is, must be even more necessary to him 2).
The second cause, doing well, justifies all creatures, endowed with mind, in loving nothing excepted the creator, because He alone is their natural benefactor; and all that is besides Him, is only an intermediary and a mediator, by whom good is conducted from the Good one.
He, for instance, who gives alms and makes a meal and the 479 like, spends his wealth in view of the remuneration he will acquire here or there, so he does well to others in order to acquire good for himself. And because his benefactor and that of the man mentioned is really God, who does not expect
1) Cf. the Book of the Dove III, 5.
2) The thoughts of this passage are expressed also in two sentences of Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 71: A^ v-ï V^u ÖJC j£i J. Sjj ^ gttff \»
15



90
any remuneration, the Initiated will not hesitate to love Him alone, with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his strength.
The third cause, that of outward beauty, though only found with corporeal beings, not with incorporeal, still, to the saints, pure in heart'), who have not yet been loosened from the bonds of the body, the Good one will show Himself, when He appears' with majesty in such a form that His beauty excells all other beauty: in a habit shining like snow, with hair like pure wool, on a flaming throne with radiating wheels, the chariot with four sides on which He is pompously borne; a thousand thousands of powers, and ten thousand myriads of angels stand before Him, repeating three times and redoubling the sanctifications which are becoming to Him, though not sufficiënt. Therefore he who has been deemed worthy to cast a short glance on such things, looking through the crevice of the gate, will resecate and reject all race and family and become a stranger to all other love, that, on swift wings, he may fly to reach the love of the amazing beauty. Also the use of food is estimated superfluous by him, because the sight of his Lord fulfills his need.
The fourth cause, that of inward beauty, is that which 480 is found with the blessed prophets, apostles and the other perfect. We see that a beauty like this has three causes, on account of which it is loved2). The first is their profound knowledge of the divine mysteries. The second is their having power to show the way, without erring, to the common people. The third is their being adorned with the property of accepting excellent qualities and of pushing away bad ones. And as the knowledge of all creatures is ignorance with God, and their wisdom folly, and their strength exhaustion as compared with His and all their righteousness is as the cloth of an unclean woman before Him, according to the opinion
1) Introduction, p. LXXVII sqq.
2) Litterally: its beauties are loved.



9i
of Isaiah — how should not the Initiated love Him more than them? And if this is the case with the beautiful, what love can be attributed by the intelligent to those who are not beautiful ?
The fifth cause, that of a hidden consanguinity and a secret likeness between God and mankind, is found to be a more intrinsic one, as is justified by the divine word, which shows man to have been created in the image of God. Therefore, if the nature of all beings, animated and inanimated, longs after what resembles Him, wretched is the man who, in love of his Lord who has honoured him with His image, is inferior - to inanimate and irrational beings.
SECTION THE FOURTH
On the Delight of the Knowledge of God being greater than any other Delight1)
It is clear that delight is caused by attaining a delicious thing2). That the living possess such powers of attaining in 481 multitude, is likewise known3). Therefore they get peculiar delight according to the power of attainment they possess 4). And since the adorable creator has raised the nature of poor man above the dunghill of the irrational beings5), and by the recognizing °) soul, with which He has endowed him, has made him sit among the grandees of spiritual people, He has made
1) IhyS' IV, p. 263.
2) Cf. Ihya' IV, p. 263: S^fe ^jffi 0\ U.
3) Ihya', ib.: tfjfy ^\ ^ iLi óUyV,.
4) Ihya', ib.: j ijfcjidfl VA, ^aU UL j l^j> ^ ''>->.jh b>
5) Isaac of Ninive, p. 32 speaks of bodily man, who has left his dunghill and seeks heavenly things: «AitV.I ncili^al ^V»» V^D ^imèxo
6) avocVi^.a.i» •



92
him, by the delight of this exalted knowledge, a fellow and colleague of the angels. And because, in accordance with the greatness of the beauty of the recognized, knowledge becomes more opulent and delight more abundant, anyone who knows that among all beings there is none more admirable and amazing, more exalted and wonderful, more complete and perfect than the Lord and the God of the beings, it is not possible to deny that the knowledge of the greatness of the Highest, is higher than all other knowledge, and that the delight, caused by the knowledge of the mysteries of His wisdom, is more desirable and exalted than any other delight. As Euagrius the Great says: If among things to be tasted, there is none sweeter than honey and honeycomb and the knowledge of God is much sweeter than these, it is clear that nothing among all things on the earth gives a delight to the soul as the knowledge of God does.
And another Initiated has said: If any one's mind has been captivated by the beauty of the lord of the universe, it is impossible that it should be captivated anymore by the love of anything in the world. If anyone's mind has been bound 482 by care for God, it never will be bound by passing care. There is nobody who has found God and become acquainted with Him, without having forgotten the world wholly. Another has said: When the mind has been salted in the sea of God's love, it will not be troubled after having reached the harbour of life. If it has stripped off the habit of the servants of -the desire of matter, it has acquired its warrant of liberty, which never will be rent asunder'). The same has said: When my lips serve Thy honoured name when reciting, it begins to show to the mind, Thy captive, the wonder of my reciting Psalms. My lords have become my servants, since Thou hast become my lord; and since they know this, they have absolutely not further attacked me.
1) Verses of 12 syllables, like the following.



93
SECTION THE FIFTH
On the Delight of the Knowledge of God which
happens after rather than before Departure Things to be attained are of two kinds, sensual and intellectual '). Sensual things are again of two classes; the first is that of things, which, being far off, become sensual by secondary imagination; the second is that of things, which, being near, become really sensual by sight, hearing and the other senses. In the same way intellectual things are of two classes; the first is that of things, which, being far off, become intellectual in this world, but dimly; the other is that of things, which, being near, become really intellectual in the spiritual world. As2), by shutting the eyelids, the seeing is shut off from the seen, in the same way, the soul, as long as it is included within the body, is precluded from beholding intellectual things in their essence; as God said to Moses: Thou 483 cannot not see my face: for there shall no man see me and live 3). This means: when thou hast departed this body, then thou wilt see [me]. The same is express.ed by the divine apostle Paul, saying: For now we see as through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part, but then I shall know even as also I am known4). And the holy Gregorius Theologus says: I am convinced of the words of the sages:
1) With the following passage is to be compared Ihya' IV, p. 267.
2) Ihya3 IV, p. 267: ^!&\ fVt . £ oVA J-kï 0\, ijW «\ fe, ö\
} V> ^ y*p S S 'i& ^ k Ü$ <3)\
V. (_rii\ ö\ JU; w\ Cm illlö \£\ ijt- Ao^\ 4,vA of £j ^•"51 o* V> Ji o\^A\ 0jJ\ y i*W J\i JjL\ 40 oV.>U J «UI), sj*U1 £\
J tjl . It is ch;ar, that the whole passage in Bar Hebraeus was taken from the Ihya3, inclusive the example of Moses. See Introduction, p. LH sqq.
3) Ex. 33, 20. 4) 1 Cor. 13, 12.



94
Every good and God-loving soul, as soon as it will have been loosened from the body to which it was bound and have been liberated from this world, will be abiding at once in the apperception and the contemplation of the good which awaited it; because that which obscured its vision, has been purified away and put aside. Else I should not know that it is becoming to say: this amazing delight is delicious and exuberating ').
SECTION THE SIXTH On the Causes corroborating the Love of God2) It must be known, that no single believing heart is devoid of the root of the love of God. But as to the growth of the tree of the love of God, the splendour of its flowers and the burden of its fruits, of these things many faithful are devoid. According to the Initiated, there are two causes by which the root of love sprouts from the heart of the righteous as a palm and its sprigs and twigs shoot forth as the cedars of Lebanon. The first is3), that man turns his face away from 484 all that is on the earth, and hates all desire, seeking and desiring the One only, growing in hope and belief, becoming strong in abstention and patience. So, while his inner being 4) is cleansed, his mind is purified, he becomes one of the pure in heart 5), that see God. And by this sight, the fire of love is kindled. The second is °), that man proceeds on and becomes strong in the knowledge of God 7), being illuminated 8)
1) Ghazalï speaks in nearly the same terms; but he maintains that this clear sight of the soul will only be reached after resurrection (Ihya' IV, p. 268,10 sqq.). Cf. with the whole passage Plotinus", Enneades VI, 9 § 9 and 10.
2) Ihya' IV, p. 70.
3) Also Ghazalï's first cause, Ihya' IV, p. 270.
4) r<dnr<&t.
5) Introduction, p. LXXVII sqq.
6) Also Ghazalï's second cause, (Ihya' IV, p. 271).
7) Introduction, p. XXXIX.
8) Introduction, p. LXXXI sqq.



95
and instructed by it, after the purification of the heart from impure passions '). For the knowledge of God in a pure soul resembles the pure seed thrown on good ground. And from the seed of knowledge love is born and grows up.
The knowledge of God is acquired in a twofold wise; either the creator is known first, then, through Him the creatures. Or the creatures are recognized first, then, from them, the mind is exalted towards Him 2). Though the first way is difficult and steep and even the athletes of the knowing are scarcely able to go it, it is more essential, high and exalted. One of the Initiated has described it with these words: Through my God I have known my God; and, but for my God, I would not have known my God 3). Another has said: I knew God before the worlds. For His knowledge, which has called the worlds into existence; has dawned in my mind, and has founded my knowledge, before the universe came into existence. The same has said: I knew Christ before I knew my- 485 self. The knowledge of Him has preceded in me the knowledge of what has come into existence by His spirit.
The truth of this is mysteriously affirmed by the divine David, in this word: With The'e is the fountain of life: in Thy light we see light 4).
It is clear, that the second way is easy and everyone who is zealous will be able to use it, even if he be weak and dark of mind. It is described by the same Psalmist with the words: The heavens declare the glory of God 5) etc.
1) ihys- iv, p. 271: Vj-A Aily, gr cs ~Aü\ ^kï >j illy,.
2) With the following passage compare the Book of the Dove III, 8.
3) Even this sentence is in the Ihya3 IV, p. 272: Jj ^öm) Jiai *juj
^J" tsO XAj &j>. crfj ^-V" kÜj , ^ij- f J. Kushairï, p. 167 ascribes it to Dhu '1-Nün.«
4) Psalm 36, 9.
5) Psalm 19, 1.



96
SECTION THE SEVENTH On the different Ranks of those who love God')
It has already been shown that the knowledge of God is the cause of His love 2). Therefore, in accordance with knowledge being more or less, love is more or less 3). And because men have set up opinions contrary to truth, concerning the denominations of God they found in the holy scriptures, some of them have believed in these denominations as they have accepted them from their teachers, in the way of simple tradition, without their distinction. But others, though few, have been deemed worthy of mastering the height of essential knowledge, through the good gift, with which they have been endowed in fulness from above, by the father of lights 4).
There are found three ranks of those who love God.
The first, the lowest, is that of heretics who do notglorify the truth in truth. They are those of the left hand 5). 486 The second, the middle one, is that of the simple faithful. Though they belong to the lambs, those of the right hand, yet, in accordance with their simple knowledge, their love is superficial. And because it has no firm root in their heart, they are in danger of becoming rotten0).
The third, the highest, is that of^the Initiated, who are even higher than those of the right hand. Because they know the good one as He is, and they are not stained with conflicting thoughts and they are really elevated above traditional blindness, neither fire nor sword is able to separate them from the love of their Lord ').
1) Cf. Ihya' IV, p. 274.
2) Section VI.
3) Introduction, p. XLII.
4) James I, 17. The above passage concords almost litterally with Ihya' IV, p. 274.
5) This class is mentioned by Ghazalï in less strong terms IV, p. 274.
6) Ibidem.
7) Ibidem.



97
SECTION THE EIGHTH
Why the Creatures do not know the Creator')
That the adorable God is more manifest and clear than any of the existing things2), is known from the fact3) that there is no part of the world that does not bear a sign of its maker. This is mysteriously denoted by David the harpist when he says: There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard 4). This proves that the knowledge of God is necessary and natural to us like the other kinds of necessary knowledge3). As all that is unknown to us, is either hidden from us on account of its deep darkness, or because our mind shrinks from observing it on account of its being too manifest °) — as our eye shrinks from looking at the sun — so the last reason hinders us from knowing God, as has been 487 taught by the great Dionysius the Areopagite, who says: The divine cloud is the inaccessible light, wherein God is said to abide '). And though He is, He is invisible because of His being illuminated to a high degree. This proves that our mind, as compared with essential light8), is like the bat as compared
1) Ihya' IV, p. 275.
2) Ihya' IV, p. 275: gtf Ji\ ^Ujjfytf ö\ AA. Ibn 'Ata'allah II, 98: $ ^ >J. ^ \i >J. J£J ^ «J^ «J\ ^ rfJJl ^ "J" J^5 *J y £ d&l j -J- y j and II, 99: u£
.j*m\ ufr\ ^y
3) Cf. Book of the Dove III, 8.
4) Psalm 19,3.
5) ihya' iv, p. 275: j\ £\ ^ ög 0\ \^ ^
. A* Wij fViV\
6) Ihya'.IV, p. 275: j 0-\ü- ^JpA 0U* Ai Uys- cf- ^ C^
. ioy^j y^. \* y^\^ ^ vAij>_j
7) Introduction, p. CIII sqq.
8) Introduction, p. LXXXIV.



ios
visions '). If there were an umpire between us, that might lay his hand on our mouth 2)! with other sayings of the same kind. Some have escaped danger by them; for grace does not bear everyman in the same way 3). Saul, for instance, was rejected from the royal rank and the flame of prophecy, being hated because he had shown mercy towards Agag the king of the Amalekites and he had not slain him; and he had spared the beauty of the oxen and lambs and he had not destroyed them. Whereas David had stained himself with bad adultery and spilt the innocent blood of Uriya the Hittite; but as soon as he said: I have sinned before the Lord, through Nathan it was said to him i The Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die *).
SECTION THE TWELFTH 494
On the Troubles the Initiated bear through the Love of God5)
The exoteric sages define philosophy as meditation upon death. With this the esoterie Initiated concord, saying: Excellence is meditation upon death, for the sake of the love of God; namely: this is excellence, to bear troubles for the sake of the love of God. And with words, broad and long, they have proved this, saying: He who is clad with zeal on the way of excellence, does not know that he is invested with a body, but he seems to be incorporeal in view of all the difficulties. Even to renunciate life will be light to him and not too burdensome. So the deliberations of him, whose soul has received the taste of divine consolation, will be borne by love of Him at all times, and his heart will constantly be elevated °) by recol-
i) Cf. Job 7,13 sq. 2) Cf. Job 9, 33.
3) Ihya' IV, p. 294: ^ ÖJ> ^US\ ^ jfcYj, U-jiY\ \&.
4) 2 Sam. 12, 13.
5) Cf. Ihya' IV, p. 298. 6) Litterally: fly.
16



io6
lection of Him. And he is already, as it were, in the kingdom of heaven, and it is as if he does not abide on the earth. And continually the word of the apostle is vivid in his heart: Wat shall separate me from the love of Christ? shall tribulations or persecutions, or sword, or nakedness ') ? And he thinks also further, with Paul: For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor things present with their terrors, nor things to come with their glory, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of my Lord 2). The Initiated bear oppressions for two reasons3): either they do not perceive them, because they burn with love of their Lord. As Aba Benjamin, who healed many who were swollen and hydropsic, without thinking of his being swollen and hydropsic himself. When he was asked concerning this, he said: my brother, the blow from the beloved one gives no pain. Or they bear them because they are complying with the will of their beloved, when He will put them to trial. As in the case of the excellent Job, who endured innumerable blows without murmuring. It is also said, that one of the faithful, during the persecution of the pagan emperor Maximinos was beaten with a thousand blows without crying or weeping. When some one said to him: Why have you not cried ? he answered: I saw Christ, for whose sake I was beaten, standing before me and looking at me, while he admonished me not to weep.
Though this strenuous patiënt one was great, yet he was not so great as Stephanus, the first deacon. For this firstborn of martyrs did not only refrain from shrieking, but when dying he prayed for those who stoned him, who were the cause of his being crowned with martyrdom.
I) Cf. Rom. 8,35. 2) Cf. Rom. 8,37 sq.
3) This is also in the Ihya' IV, p. 298.



io7
SECTION THE THIRTEENTH
On the Stages of the Initiated concerning their Love
The holy solitaries teach that there are three measures, namely states of the Initiated concerning the growth of their love: the first, the middle, and the third, the last one being 49-6 that of accomplishment. And as they have found that at any of the three there are peculiar experiences, they have taught us concerning them. Therefore, borrowing their words, we give concerning any of them a passage as short as possible. The first state1). When, in the beginning, grace casts a small spark of the love of the Lord in the heart of the novice, it sows in him great humbleness, so that he thinks himself dust and ash, and remembering his trespasses he sheds tears of sorrow and joy, of sorrow, because of his stains; of joy, because grace has born and sustained him like a compassionate mother. Then it makes reciting of Psalms and frequent bending of the knees sweet to his heart and it gives him delight during his long service; and it makes him to remember the saints and incites him to imitate their labours. Then it incites him to love deeds which serve to give rest to his brethren, and pity towards the oppressed, and serving the sick. It gives him silence and solitude in order to cut off the passionate inclinations 2) in his heart. Some solitaries are, on account of their care, made perfect by grace in all these things, others in some only. But from time to time it withdraws from the solitary its workings, in order that he may be chastised by trials and become exercised; then troubles and evil passions direct their power against him. But if he be cautious against trespassing, grace will visit him anew with consolations, much more pro-
1) Cf. Book of the Dove III. i.
2) Introduction, p. LXXI sqq.



io8
497 fitable and elevated than the former ones, because it exercises him and does not withdraw from him. In this state the novice is in great need of a leader, because many are brought to fall by this trial and stray away from the place they occupy.
The middle state '). After its workings of the former kind, grace changes its influences upon the soul, purifies and sanctifies it and makes it apt for spiritual sight and the receiving of revelations. In the first place it enlightens the intellect by distinction of the creatures. Then the mind will be brought to giving up the distraction of deliberations and be fascinated by the creator only". And the intellect of the Initiated will meditate upon the highest one, to such a degree that, when being awake he will seem to be asleep; and, when sleeping he will be thought to be awake 2).
And when he has passed a space of time with such meditations, his Lord will show Himself to him. But only as a flash of lightning 3) which bursts forth and disappears; or as a star whieh of a sudden is covered by a cloud. This happens especially during prayer; so that sight often breaks off his service and stupefies him. Then his spirit is tormented continually 4) by hot inclinations5) and the love of his Lord burns in his heart as the fire in a furnace seven times fiercer than it is wont °), so that his soul is enflamed, his limbs are relaxed and he falls on the ground. Then he risês again and prepares himself for vision and it is not withheld from him; but he begins to lengthen the duration [of this state] from day to day, and his mind is enlightened7) so as to see hidden things and gradually he becomes familiar8) with hidden mysteries and
1) Cf. Book of the Dove 111,2.
2) Introduction, p. XCI.
3) Introduction, p. XCIV.
4) .
5) Introduction, p. LXX1 sqq.
6) Daniël 3, u).
7) Introduction, p. LXXXI sqq. JSjSSh
8) Introduction, p. C.



IOQ
unspeakable visjons. And the feverish inclination of the first 498 state is changing into calmness and accomplished love.
The state of accomplishment From here, then, begins the entrance into the bridechamber2), and abiding in the apartment and lying down in the room and intercourse with Him 3), who appeared to the eye like a flash of lightning, but at whom the mind is gazing now peacefully 4). The inhabitants of that place are enlightened by the sight of the beauty of the king, with a light not mingled with a reminiscence of darkness. There to the soul its natural beauty5) is revealed and it sees itself as it is, namely in the likeness of its creator. And from sight to sight it is changed, and by the essential light 6), with which the universe is clad and which penetrates the universe T), it beholds without impediment all the ends of the creation and farther, and is elevated above all heavens 8).
And as the bodily eye, by the created light, sees the bodily objects, so the eye of the mind, by the uncreated light, sees the angels in their nature. And when the soul is established in the sight of the glory of their classes and their beauties, their harmony and joy, it becomes with them like them. And in a moment it passes towards the cloud of inaccessible light, where God is said to dweil 9). And while the face of its Lord is detected before it, it becomes stupefied and is made
1) Book of the Dove III, 3.
2) Plotinus, Enneades VI, 9 § II, compares this moment with entering the adytum of a temple.
3) Cf section XIV.
4) Introduction, p. XCIV.
5) Introduction, p. LXIV sqq.
6) Introduction, p. LXXXIV.
7) The idea is already expressed by Jamblichus, De mysteriis, p. 31: oVtu xai riïv deüv ri tfiüt i\h&pvxu %xpio-rüt, iv iaxiTfy rt fiovlput; iSpviiévov 7rpo%ttptH
$ta TfüV 'ÓVTÜ1V öAWV.
8) Book of the Dove III, 7. How familiar such ideas are to neo-Platonic philosophers may appear from the following quotation from Ibn Gabirol's Source of Life (ed. Munk, Mélanges I, 4): y-|ntï> DD bil FppD "|D2JJ? tt^jnn TK1
.iwiriD -inv rvnviDa ab^n ba FpPD "psy nxini mia
9) Introduction, p. CM.



I 10
radiant by the rays of His beauty. And there takes place transition '), which is described by our holy Fathers, so that it is impossible for the soul to return from its delight. And 499 if its Lord loosened it not from union, it would forget its partner, the body. And when it returns to it, it imparts to the limbs some of the divine fire, which has remained in it, so that they also participate in the enjoyment of the spirit. And when the mind returns again [to the Lord] the body is almost borne along with it, and the soul can scarcely shake it off when it is elevated. And so it ascends2) from glory to glory through the Lord, the spirit, and it forgets not only what is here, but also its self. And because of the divine light with which it is clad, it sees itself in the likeness of God 3). And it does not shun saying, in freedom of speech 4): I am in my Father and my Father is in me, and I and the Father are one, together with other things which (5 perhaps Master Hierotheos and the like venture to interpret 5). But concerning these things the Holy Ghost says: There is mystery between me and my housemates, and it warns them to hide such things and not to divulge them, and it does not permit them to scrutinize them, except in personal intercourse °) with the housemates '). And this last stage is called by the exoteric sages .likeness with God as much as this is possible for man'.
SECTION THE FOURTEENTH On the varying States the Perfect have to go through8) When the perfect have reached the state of perfection,
1) Introduction, p. CV.
2) Book of the Dove III, 4.
3) Introduction, p. CVIII sqq. 4) Introduction, p. C1I.
(5—5) This is the reading of some Mss. The text has: ,the soul dares to utter in such a drunkenness; and perhaps they will disdain Master Hierotheos and the like who venture to interpret.'
6) Litterally: a living word. 7) Cf. Section XI.
8) Cf. Book of the Dove III, 9. Introduction, p. XCV.



I11
grace works in them twelve varying states caused by its amazing influence, from their first reaching the apartment till their definite entering the bride-room and their lying with the beloved in the room
These varying states are the following. The first is that 500 of the baptism of the mind. For as soon as transition 2) takes place, the mind is baptized in the heart, and deliberation stands motionless, even without stammering glorifications, but silence dominates the inclinations 3) of the soul and the body. And by the food the mind receives from within, the body is sustained too. With this same baptism Moses has been baptized on the top of the mountain. Being in this state, the perfect is not only not able to meet any creature, but he can even not bear the sound of a bird i). The second is that of the influence of distinctions. When the mind has acquired purity of deliberations, it recognizes itself and it distinguishes the height of its rank and the loftiness of its race. And here too it guards silence and it does not permit itself to divagate upon distinctions without it. And when it is overwhelmed by divagation, it forces itself to the reciting of the scriptures and the Psalms and obeisance before the cross. And when it has been strengthened thus, it binds itself within the inner gate of the heart. The third is that of the love of reciting Psalms5). This love burns so strongly in the heart, that even at the time of the meals the mind is occupied with the Psalms. The fourth is that of outbursts of tears. These tears are not caused by compulsion, and the will has no dominion over them. But when the fire of lové burns the soul within, the body sheds tears without. The fifth is that of the knowledge of Judgment and of care. And from this under-
1) Cf. the previous section.
2) Introduction, p. CV.
3) Introduction, p. LXXI sqq.
4) Cf. Section XI.
5) Read r^ïcXSJVS3.1 cf. Book of the Dove III, 9, third state.



112
501 standing there is born in the soul the love of mankind and constant prayer in behalf of their conversion, because he sees them all as his equals and like himself. In this state there is no righteous and no sinner, no slave and no free man, no circumcision and no foreskin, no man and no woman, but Christ appears to be all and in every man. The s i x t h is that of the emotions of the heart, in which the mind is made radiant by the angelic rays, which are composed of light and fire. Then it burns with desire to be united with the spiritual hosts and it is ardent to be mingled with the orders of fiery beings. The seventh is that of simple ') apperception. Here the mind hears the voice of the spiritual beings who glorify with subtle sounds, sounds which cannot be embodied in composed spoken2) words and are only to be denoted in intellectual, simple sounds. Of these sounds the new glorification in the new world is made up, and with this glorification the spirit prays, as Paul says, for the saints3). The eighth is that of likeness4). In this state the mind is brought. to silence, when it sees the True one 5) eye to eye and it is illuminated by His light and is changed into His likeness. And as the elegant and dense cloud, when it is near the sun receives its light and its form and appears like it, so the pure mind °), even though tied in the dense body, will become like essential light when
502 it has become familiar with it. The n i n t h is that of becoming like fire. In this state man is kindled by fire, from the sole of his foot to his brain and his body is made glowing like iron in fire. The blessed Palladius says concerning Aba Arsenius, that while he stood praying in his cell, a brother,
1) Here used in the sense of direct, immediate.
2) Litterally : breated forth.
3) Cf. Romans 8, 26.
4) Introduction, p. CVIII.
5) =
6) Introduction, p. LXXVII.
7) Introduction, p. LXXXIV.



"3
looking through the window, saw him being wholly like fire. The t e n t h is that of unification This state is called undescribable by the Initiated. They say that the sign thereof is, that there are no longer two or three, but one is solved and two is subtilized and the sustenance of the two becomes one 2). The eleventh is that of joy which also knows tears. Its cause is unknown to the Initiated; he knows only that he rejoices, but not why. The twelfth is that of outbursts of speech and prominence of the scrutinizing of things to come and explaining of things hidden, those which are written in the archbook, which is the book of the knowledge of God. And to the mind, when reading them, they are here revealed.
SECTION THE FIFTEENTH
A Colle-ction of scattered Sayings concerning Love3)
One of the Initiated, being asked what love is, answered: Love is the divine fire which burns in the elect and banishes and destroys from their hearts every other desire which is impure.
An other has said: Love is fulfilling the will of the beloved. Another: Love is the power which springs from nature and superates the will. The mind cannot attain it, nor can the tongue explain it.
Another wept till he had become blind, stood till he was 503 bent, fasted till he was wholly abstinent, and prayed till he was exhausted. During all this he did not become wéary nor tedious, but he said: I swear by Thee, Lord of Lords, if there were a stream of fire between me and Thee, I would pass through it towards Thee as if it were water. The same said:
1) Introduction, p. CVIIÏ.
2) Cf. Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 32:
ijk f Vs iW f Ö "A li
3) Ghazalï's chapter also ends with a collec-tion of sayings concerning love.



h4
The love of my Lord has alienated me to mankind and human things.
The same said: At the banquet of Love I have drunk goblets as it were from a nood; and as wine was not exhausted and I did not get drunk, I was overwhelmed by ecstasy 1). From desire of Thee I watched the whole night until twilight. And if I had looked at anything besides Thee, I would have been blinded.
An other has said: When the love of God is awake in the heart, it is wholly filled with burning fire, and in an insupportable way it is kindled with joy, and it longs after the sight of the hidden things.
A certain brother said; When paternal mercy2) dawned unto me and took3) my mind from me, it was, before being swallowed up in ecstasy and stupefaction, swimming in a sea of light and plunging into and emerging from its waves, ascending and lying down, rejoicing and exalting at the floods of its greatness. It beheld there radiating angels who were praising and it became familiar with them and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Zebaoth 4). And again the mind was 504 taken 5) and penetrated into the light of many rays and was stupefied by the sight of the Beautiful6) and captivated by the love of the High one and all, even itself, became as not existing 7). This state of the mind, namely the entrance without
1) Cf. Ibn 'AttfallSh II, 81: tj? 5b)\i Jf\y: J. 'j and Kushairï, p. 45 : MÉj % Jtjiü & V? J< J»! V-'< J^J. and Abü Talib I, 235 : *AS lijitt öS M O* "A ^ cX ^ J-i ^ Introduction, p. XC.
2) Psalm 103, 13.
3) ^-e^\<" , Introduction, p. XCVI sqq.
4) Cf. Corpus Hermeticum, p. 336.
5) 3\*tbaa.
6) Introduction, p. XLIV.
7) Cf. Kushairï, p. 39 who quotes the following verses:
*± ik,, j ^ J>. V. ar- U V- ^ «i ^A % ^ Aa $J 4** } rji L+jJ, y*J\ ^ ^Jc $
And cf. Introduction, p. CVII sqq.



knowledge and the absence of impulses ') will sometimes last a short moment, sometimes one hour, or a whole day, according to the will of the spirit. Also after its return from that state it will remain without inclinations during nearly a whole week. And now the mind will be dark, and then it will be radiant. At first there will dawn in the heart something like a star with many rays and of wonderful beauty, then it will appear as a column of light and thereupon the mind will ascend and enter and be hidden in the cloud 2). And from that time gifts consisting in revelations3) and visions, prophecy and power of healing, are given to it.
Another has said i Morning dawns and gives joy, light radiates and gladdens, the friend speaks and enflames, the good incites and exalts and shows Himself and what is His, in joy. m&, Another has said: The fire of love does not permit him who burns with it, to accomplish his service. For as sopn as he is standing to pray, his heart will begin to glow till it burns and enflames the whole body, so that.he is not able to stand upon his feet but falls on the earth as dead; and his either is broken and he lives only in madness4); he thinks himself and what environs him to be in a fire, because of the living fire which is blown in him by Him who lives eternally. 505 For the Lord is my witness, that several times I have heard one of the brethren crying, when he was in the drunkenness"5) of the love of Christ, so that he could not restrain himself because of the divine fire that burned in him: O, how burning is Thy love, my Lord and my God, my life perishes from love of Thee, I cannot bear it! O, for Thy unspeakable beauty °), let me enter Thy chamber, o king, that I may rejoice and exult with Thee! — with other things which are not to be
1) Introduction, p. LXXI.
2) Introduction, p. CIII.
3) Introduction, p. XCVIII.
4) Introduction, p. XC.
5) Introduction, l.c.
6) Introduction, p. XLV.



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described. Further it has been said: Love makes the body and the senses silent, it elevates the mind so as to gaze on the inaccessible light of the beauty of the Desired. Mercy dawns unto it and takes it to the place without place, the world without denomination, the nature without beginning. And when the solitary reaches the divine cloud ') and enters the harbour of all service, and sees with his mind, face to face, the glory of the Lord and is made radiating by it, and is transformed into His likeness. — then his mercy is poured out over all, like that of God. And the beloved above all shows him love, and the beasts of prey, cattle, the birds and obnoxious reptiles do not harm him, because they smell from him the scent of their creator 2). Even stones and wood and all inanimate beings are dominated by him. Even rebellious demons show themselves obsequious unto him, because of the fear which is laid upon them. Wonderful is also the love shown 5o6 unto him by the angels and the cry they utter unto him : Now let the heart rejoice of those who have sought the Lord in distress.
It has fürther been said: Look at the fire which becomes one with the iron in the furnace. The iron alone is not to be recognized there, because it has assumed the likeness of the fire, by their union. So you see not two images but one, no discrimination being possible, though the two substances rêmain separated. In the same way 3) the children of God see themselves as the image of God; so they become, all of them, gods, by the grace of their creator. And when their nature grows in glory, they are not aware of increase, even as those who grow up are not aware of the growth of their bodily stature; but they observe only that the glory of their person has become greater. And as it proceeds on, love increases. It has further been said *): If anyone writes the mysteries
1) Introduction, p. CM.
2) Cf. Book of the Dove, Sentence 96.
3) Introduction, p. CVM sqq. llsïlP'
4) Book of the Dove, Sentences. 54 and 55.



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of the spirit, without the spirit's dictating them to him, it will not mix its sweetness into his words and therefore they will not be loved by those who read them nor give delight to those who hear them. But if anyone learns the mysteries of the spirit from the spirit, writing what it dictates to him, then the spirit will mix itself into all his words and all those who hear him will smell its odours and their hearts will be filled by these words with life and their sound will eradicate the passions from them. And this is the pen of the ready writer ') with which he writes his holy book.
i) Ps. 45, i.



BOOK I, CHAPTER V
ON MUSIC1)
SECTION THE FIRST On the Views of those Solitaries who reject Music2)
They say, that every bodily delight, which does not serve unto the necessary maintenance of the body, is from the evil one. And that music belongs to the kinds of delight which are not necessary, is known from the fact, that continual deprivation of it, does not harm the body in any way. And 59 when the divine word has permitted the ancients the use of songs, this has not been done on account of the spiritual profit to be gained from them, but on account of the heathen leaven with which they were leavened. For he who is accustomed to a thing is difficult to be changed and he does not comply with a sudden transition. Therefore God has for instance permitted the children of Israël to make use of every kind of offerings, on account of their imperfection and their inclination towards the fear of the idols caused by their long abode in Egypt. For He knew that if He absolutely forbade them offerings they would not have obeyed. Therefore He commanded, that they should offer to Him alone and thereby He restrained the unbridled impulses towards polytheism. Till, when they had reached the accomplished view, He said to them, as it were,
1) Ihya' II, p. 219 sqq.; Kushairï, p. 177 sqq.
2) Ghazalï also opens his chapter with the views of those who reject music.



H9
by the mouth of David: I will take no bullock out of thy folds ]). And further i I will not eat the flesh of bulls, nor drink the blood of goats. Offer unto God thanksgiving 2). And further: For Thou desirest not sacrifice: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a humble spirit3).
Likewise God allowed them musical performances with cymbals, harps, cithers and other musical instruments, because they had been brought up with songs and banquets, with demoniacal insanity, with feasts and festivals and dances. At last however He had proclaimed by the prophet openly: I will cause the sound of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy 60 harps shall be no more heard 4).
And from all these things it appears, according to them, that musical performances and songs are not allowed, and that we have to praise without any songs, as our Lord has taught his disciples and as also Moses cried to God in silence, and as it is becoming to make comparisons with unspeakable words and with those groanings with which the spirit prays on behalf of the saints5), as the divine apostle denotes it mysteriously. On account of this, they say, those monks are reprehensible, which descend into the world because of the impure sign of desolation which is love of money, a phenomenon which is to be seen in all holy places. But because they are accustomed to boisterous music from their youth onward and have splendid voices, they do not care much about blessed mourning, but they are only anxious to celebrate common festivals and feasts. They know not that, on the contrary, it is becoming for us to worship God in spirit and truth and in holy silence, of which sanctifications are stronger than all voices.
Therefore, if it is allowed to speak frankly, we advise them not to indulge indecently in musical outbursts, but to strive after occupying their mind with mystic understanding, which
1) Ps. 50,9. 2) Ps. 50, 13.
3) Ps. 51, 16 sq. 4) Ezekiel 26, 13.
5) Rom. 8,26. - W%M



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directs them towards being insatiate with the teachings of the Saviour and towards heavenly praises which are more to the good pleasure of Christ.
6l SECTION THE SECOND
On the worldly1) View of those who, along with Music, also declare musical Instruments and Dance allowed
These people say, that every class of rejected things, is rejected either on account of deliberation, or on account of the scriptures 2). That deliberation 3) does not reject music is known from the fact, that the relation between sound and ear is the same as that between colour and eye, or between odour and smell. Therefore, as the sight of a superb colour and the smell of a delicious odour does not bring guilt upon the seeing and the smeiling, so hearing agreeable sounds does not bring guilt upon the hearer.
They further say4): Every sort of music proceeds either from the throat of irrational birds, or from that of rational man, or it is caused by playing musical instruments. Now it is manifest that to hear the voice of a bird does note guilt; so the same holds true in the case of the human voice and the musical instrument.
That the scriptures do not reject music either, appears, according to their opinion, from the fact, that in Hebrew traditions it is written, that David, the elect, appointed four singers, skilied in various sorts of music, and that he caused every one of them to join with himself seventy two singers in order to praise with glorifications.
1) Reading of P. The text has: puerile.
2) This passage is parallel to the opening passage of Ghazatfs section on music being allowed (Ihya' II, p. 221).
3) This is what Ghazalï calls the following passage reproduces exactly Ghazalï's view Ihya' II, p. 221.
4) Parallel to Ihya' II, p. 222.



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Concerning instrumental music they say, that if it were impure, the holy Fathers would not have made use of it, and that they have made use of it, is manifest. For Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with 62 drums. And Miriam sang to them '). And David says: The chiefs advanced, holding harps, among maidens which beat timbrels, namely those Hebrew women which sang: Saul has slain thousands, and David tens of thousands 2). And further he says: Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and cymbal: praise Him with the sweet stringed instruments. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him with the loud voice 3). And many other utterances.
Concerning dance they further say: How should we reject it? For he who is more excellent than we, has danced: David, who has been surnamed the heart of God, when he went before the ark of the Lord and played 4). And because of the words 5): We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented °), which are spoken reprehensively in the Gospel, they say: these words prove, that it is becoming to accompany the song with dance, and the bewailing of the dead with lamentation.
SECTION THE THIRD
On the true View of those who declare Music partly allowed, partly forbidden
These people say: Not every kind of music is apt for the divine sheepfolds; neither is the church to be alienated from
1) Exodus 15,20 sq. 2) i Sam. 18,7.
3) Ps. 150,3 sqq. 4) 2 Sam. 6,5.
5) These words are also quoted by Ghazalï, Ihya' II, p. 230 in favour of music.
6) Matth. 11, 17.
17



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every song. For some melodies are spiritual, and these are apt for the church. Others have only artistic value and these are not apt fór the church, But alien. Spiritual musical texts are demur, mournful and causing sadness and afterwards a
63 chaste desire, while the soul washes away with tears the stains of sin. Sometimes however they even cause encouragement and raise the deliberations unto fortitude. In this way Jeremiah sang sadly and lamented over the devastation of Jerusalem, mysteriously denoting thereby the intellectual struggle of souls. The same holds true for every one of the prophets, which have sung spiritually.
Artistic melodies are effeminate and_ voluptuous and the passion of lasciviousness is lurking and hidden in them, till it lays a net for the soul in which it becomes luxuriant and effeminate. As a doctor has said: Till the present day I never saw an artist who repented from the depth of his heart or beat his breast or, on account of a plague, upbraided the inward inclinations which make impure, or bent his knees and moistened the earth with his tears j on the contrary: they stand upright, move their head, turn their neck in all directions, gesticulate, beat and clap their fingers one at the other and often stamp the ground with their foot. And those who .listen to them or sing with them, being inwardly effeminate, look upwards with a yawning palate, and are transported with a false and foreign delight, without showing any of the fruits of a repentant heart.
Euagrius the great has further said, distinguishing between demoniac songs and the canticles of the church: Demoniac songs excite our desire and throw the soul'into impure imaginations. But Psalms and glorifications and spiritual songs direct our intellect towards the recollection of excellent things,
64 quench the fire of our anger and extinguish the desires. Therefore it is not becoming to mix together things which are not
' to be mixed, but we have to sing our glorifications chastely, like that great man Moses, and the children of Israël who



123
sang a wonderful song of praise, saying: We will praise the majestic Lord, for He is to be praised gloriously '). Further from that great song of praise in which he says: I will publish the name of the Lord 2), while he shows that Enosh, who was the first to call upon the name of the Lord and to sing praises, assumed and made songs of praise — the church of God has been taught to make use of spiritual songs. Proceeding with the history of Moses one will further find a small song entitled: On the well3). Reading it, one will understand clearly, that they sang not only accompanied by the timbrel, as it was • played by Miriam, but also with a plain song, which beautifully ascends unto the godhead, encouraging and exhorting one another, singing: Spring up, o well!
Concerning musical instruments it is to be acknowledged, that the holy ghost inspired David, his servant, when he was the youngest among his brothers and a boy in the house of his father, so that his hands rqade a flute and his fingers played the harp harmoniously, as he says4). But because they are used nowadays at voluptuous festivals and drinkingbouts, it is not becoming to use them. Perhaps it is no cause of guilt fT one rarely makes use of that pipe-organ, which is sometimes found in Roman churches.
And that dance in a circle, which is performed by the Greeks, 65 the Romans, the Syrians and the inhabitants of Tagrit, is allowed to boys, but only to those who belong to the lay-people. Not however always, but only on feastdays, on which joy is wanted.
Of the women only those who belong to the clergy are ordered by the canons to sing songs and hymns among themselves in the church.
1) Cf. Ex. 15, 1.
2) Ex. 32,3.
3) Numbers 21, 17.
4) Ps 151,I sq.



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SECTION THE FOURTH Since when and by whom singing has been introduced into the Syriac Church Since the time of the holy synod which assembled at Nicea, the holy Mar Ephraim, our compatriote, began to produce holy musical songs and homilies against the heresies of his days And also other doctors, as Isaac 2) and a certain Balai3), composed a multitude of hymns based on texts taken from David. And also in the time of the synod of Ephesus, some potters, who were exquisitely pious, burned spiritually and produced a multitude of songs. Then, after the synod which assembled at Chalcedon, our Master Severus, that exquisite dogmatic, composed from all his Greek hymns which had been translated into Syriac, the responses to be sung, after he had corrected them and endowed them with sound views. 66 And in the time of the pious Jacob of Edessa and of the elect George, the bishop of the Arab tribes, originated those glorifications, which are called the Greek canons, from a Damascene author, called Cyrene bar Mansür, and from a monk, who among monks was surnamed Aba Kusma, who was the inventor of the cyclic hymns, hymns which are more delightful than those by the former. And because Cyrene, though belonging to the party of Chalcedon, was not minded to mention the points of dispute which have given rise to the schism, in his songs, his canons have gradually found their way into our church, into its Eastern and Western section, as we learn from the pious Eleazar bar Sabta 4).
How it may be, the accomplished, who possess the spirit of Christ, do not want any kind of boisterous music, because
1) Cf. Ephraim's Biography, in bis Opera, ed. Benedictus and Assemani III, p. LH.
2) Of Antioch
3) Cf. Overbeck, S. Ephraemi Syri, Rabulae, Balaei... opera and Zettersteen, Beitrage zur Kenntnis der religiösen Dichtung Balai's.
4) Flourished 829 A.D.



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they constantly cry unto their Lord only with unspeakable, namely intellectual words, and so have intercourse with Him. But to those among us who are in the puerile stage, being still somewhat materialJ) and partly sick, and in want of accessory musical clamour, — the holy Fathers have allowed music, on the condition that they should praise God, that Christ might be preached, be it under a pretext or in truth.
SECTION THE FIFTH
On the Causes through which Music has bèen introduced into the Church
There are known to me two causes on account of which the holy Fathers have permitted spiritual glorifications to be performed with musical accompaniment in the holy churches. 67 The first is, that music, by the delight it causes, makes light and easy the burden of the labours of asceticism; because it occupies the senses so as not to be aware of time and inclination. And when man is not aware of time and inclination, he is not aware -of trouble itself either. This conclusion can be promptly observed in the case of troublesome babes who, when crying on account of annoying pain, cease to cry and become quiet by the soft melodies sung by their mother. And, as regards the irrational animals, we see manifestly that camels, loaded with heavy burdens, accompanied by the regular songs of their Midianite drivers, travel over vast plains without perceiving the trouble of the way2). The second cause is this, that music is very profitable unto understanding the words of spiritual glorifications. And this on account of two reasons. The first is, that a canon, while the text is uttered slowly and the enuntiation is prolonged, not being murmured superficially and hastily, gives the intellect the opportunity of
1) Litterally: thick.
2) Even the examples of the babe and the camel are in Ghazalï, Ihya' II, p. 224.



I2Ó
understanding the spirit of the text and of grasping its meaning. The second is, that the text, being pronounced with the delight inherent to it, is more easily accepted by the soul
68 and so becomes an object of love. On account of this the soul will not shrink from scrutinizing the sense of the text, it will be zealous to examine it, being unsatiable in contemplating its tenor.
SECTION THE SIXTH On the Cause of the Delight springing from Music
Concerning the cause of the delight springing from harmonious music, the sages say, that every delight happens by sensual apperception to him that receives sensual impressions and is akin to the delight. Akin as a master is he who is in the possession of all his accómplishments. But if anyone does not possess all, but only a part of them, the delight he is able to grasp will be greater or lesser according to the accómplishments being greater or lesser.
The delight gathered from harmonious music will be attained in a higher degree by the souls which are trained and exercised in subtle distinctions than by those rude and fooi ones, which are material, because an increased delight is caused by the returning of the delightful after the pain of separation. Therefore, when a sweet melody touches the senses and vanishes, another, similar one takes its place and drives away the pain caused by the vanishing of the former. And when the latter disappears also, the companion which follows it, consoles him that has been bereft of it. So every pain is followed by a consolator, and after every trouble delight will be corroborated. So the trained souls, which have been subtilized by their essential attaining the departure and return of the delightful thing, will grasp the delight effused by music. But the troubled
69 souls which are material, being devoid of apperception, will neither groan over that which départs, nor be calmed by that which returns.



127
SECTION THE SEVENTH
On the natural Foundation of Music
The ancients, who were the inventors of the musical art, have founded it upon four elements, according to the number of the four qualities: heat, cold, humidity and drought'). Now none of these can occur in simplicity, without being mixed up with another one, as is to be seen in the physical and chemical elements. For that which is hot, is either humid, as air and blood, or hot2), as fire and brown-gall. And again, that which is cold, is either humid, as water and phlegm, or dry, as earth and black gall. So the kinds of music are necessarily limited within the number of twelve. For music which is akin to heat and humidity, will be either composed of the two equally, or it will possess moderate heat and plentiful humidity, or vice versa. And that which is cognate with heat and drought, will either be abundant with the two equally, or it will possess moderate heat and much of drought, or vice versa. And that further, which participates of cold and humidity, will be akin to both of them equally, or to cold moderately and to humidity plentifully, or vice versa. And that further, which is composed of cold and drought, imparts equal strength to both of them, or to cold in a moderate measure, to drought 70 in a large measure or vice versa. And so Persian musical artists have discovered twelve sorts of music, which it is however not apt to mention and to enumerate with their designations, in this place. The churchmen however, Greeks, Syrians and others, have hated and rejected those sorts which contain two of the qualities without moderation of strength, as being unchaste and voluptuous excitements. They have given their sanction only to eight sorts of music and called them akadias 3) and have tried them practically.
1) Cf. Zeiler III, I, 186.
2) read: dry. 3) From Greek yxe'v-



128
The first and the fifth give a large place to heat and humidity. But in the first, humidity, weak and soft, which is very delightful and exhilarating, is found. And therefore the canon of Christmas is composed in it, because it is a feast of joy, of which the gladness is abundant and exultation is plentiful, and in it the joy which is imparted to the whole world, is proclaimed. Likewise the canon of Easter, because on it the women have proclaimed [the resurrection of Christ] to the disciples. And because mournful heat is strong in the fifth sort, the canon of Ascension is composed in it; for when the Lord had been separated from His disciples and had been taken up into heaven, they burned with the fire of longing and blazed with desire of Him and glowed with love. But for the burden of their body they would have been elevated in the air with Him.
The second and the sixth have a strong mixture of cold and humidity. But the cold, which. makes humble in a moderate measure, is found to a larger degree in the second. And 71 therefore the canon of Baptism is composed in it. For though on this occasion the Lord condescended to be baptized by a servant, the height of His greatness was attested through the ghost of God which came upon Him and through the voice which was heard, saying: This is my beloved son. And because humidity, which is more tending towards sorrow, and more weak and tearful, is stronger in the sixth, the canon of the holy Pentad is tuned in it, likewise that of Good Friday and the Saturday following it; because they are days of sorrow.
In the third and the seventh heat and drought are abundant. But harsh and angry drought is strong in the third. And therefore the canon of our Lord's entrance into the temple is composed in it, because on that occasion old Simeon spoke with the virgin with words which were very harsh, as for instance : A lance shall pierce through thy own soul. And because fiery heat, urging forth with force, is strong in the seventh the canon of Whitsuntide is set in it. For on this occasion



129
the holy ghost manifested himself unto the disciples in the likeness of tongues of fire, and took possession of them.
The fourth and the eighth have strong elements of cold and drought. But cold akin to fear is prevalent in the fourth. Therefore the canon of Annunciation is composed in it. For on it the virgin who had never experienced marriage was frightened by hearing of pregnancy and birth, fearing that the serpent which had seduced her mother should also seduce her. For, said she to the angel of the annunciation, as the serpent has taken possession of my mother between the trees, so I fear that you speak words of seduction to me. Like- 72 wise the canon of Hosanna. For on it the king who was wont to ride pompously on Cherubs, rode in his humiliation on a miserable colt.
And because benumbing and harsh drought is prevalent in the eighth, the canons of the Martyrs, who despised torments and showed heroism of soul, have been tuned in it.
These are the foundations upon which have been built the sorts of music by the ancient sages. But those who came after them and who had not mastered the height of knowledge of their predecessors, have been zealous to be abundant and broad in this art and so they have composed for every sort of tune a canon, haphazardly, without asking whether it was akin to the tune.
SECTION THE EIGHTH
On the Ranks of Intelligence concerning the reciting of Psalms and their Sentences1)
Three are the ranks of intelligence concerning the reciting of Psalms. The first is that of plain people, those whose simple soul is only delighted at the text which is sung without
I) Ihya' II, p. 235 sqq.



130
intending to fix its intelligence on any of the sentences. The like will not gain the least profit nor. in any way be damaged by a change of the tendency of the texts. The second rank is that of those who enjoy the text in the same measure as the harmonious music. If they are youths who are ensnared in bodily desires, they will apply the words of love which are sung, not to divine love and the longing of the soul after 73 its Lord, but to the human passions which lurk in their heart; especially when their ears are struck by those hymns, taken from David and Solomon, which in a symbolic way describe the beauty of women, and are composed in view of the church and the soul, such as: ,the daughter of the king which rose in glory, and her maiden companions which followed her with offerings'. And ,the beauty of the cheeks, as beds of spices' '). And ,locks like the king's purple'. And ,the elevated neck, like a tower' 2). And ,hair, like a flock of goats and teeth like a flock of shorn sheep, which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them'3). And ,eyes like the pools of Heshbon' 4). And ,the roof of the mouth like the best wine'5). And .return, return, O Shulamite, that we may look upon thee'0). And ,thou hast encouraged me with the look of one of thy eyes, which have frightened me'7) and so on, — they apply them to a peculiar person; and thus desire becomes mighty in them and the spirit of voluptuousness rages in them. So, instead of profit, they gather no small loss from hearing music.
The third rank 8) is that of accomplished and perfect people, such as possess the spirit of Christ and whose thoughts are
1) Cf. Cant. 5,13.
2) Cant. 7,4; cf. 4, 4.
3) Cant. 6, 5 sq. 4) Cant. 7, 4. 5) Cant. 7,9. 6) Cant. 6, 13.
7) Cf. Cant. 4,9.
8) Ihya' II, p. 235 concoids nearly litterally with the following sentences, save only that they are applied by Ghazalï chiefly on the novices.



i3i
girded with the love of God. These persons apply every word of love they hear, to the love of the soul unto its Lord and to that of the church unto its Saviour. Therefore the words ,the maidens love thee' are understood by them in connection with the praised souls which love Christ; and ,1 am black' l) in connection with the stains caused to the soul by 74 passions. ,1 am beautiful'2) in connection with its elevated nature, being offspring of God as appears from i ,Let us make man in our image, after our likeness'3). And in ,they brought me to the wine-house, they fixed over me love'4), they find mysteriously denoted the drunkenness of the soul of the Initiated. And by ,behold, he standeth behind our wall' they are taught, that the body is a veil between the soul and its Lord; by ,he looketh forth through the windows, bending through the lattice'5), that divine revelations and visions take place by clarifying the heaviness °) of the body. By ,the watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me' '), they understand the demons which observe the heel of the soul and bereave it of its glory; by the .little foxes that spoil the vines 8)' the excitations of the body. So every word they meet, they connect and explain by some spiritual distinction, though he who spoke these words did not intend such a connection. As Aba Macarius did: when he passed through the streets of Kairo, he heard a boy saying to his mother: A rich one loves me, but I hate him; and a poor one hates me, but I love him. Then he said to the disciples with him: Indeed; for God is the rich one, and He loves us, but we are not willing to listen to Him. And Satan is poor and he hates us, but we love his evil deeds. And a certain excellent brother, who heard a boy murmuring the 75 sentence: .Return, o my soul, to thy rest' sighed, saying: How
i) Cant. i, 5- 2) Ibidem.
3) Gen. 1,26. 4) Cant. 2,4.
5) Cant. 2,9. 6) Litterally: thickness.
7) Cant. 5,7. 8) Cant. 2, 15.



132
often I say to it: Return, but it returns not. And when a certain Initiated heard the song: ,To the moon which changes constantly, and whose light varies from day to day, resemble the beautiful beauties of my friend, the superb of splendour' — he said: The beautiful beauties of Christ are without change, nor is there any variation in the splendour of His images; but in the change of the intellects which receive Him there arise changes by His revelations. And all along with the variations of those who see Him, change the images in His visions.
SECTION 'THE NINTH
On the Influence of Music on the Souls
Apart from the delight caused to the soul by hearing music and understanding the words on which it is composed, various workings appear in it, workings which vary all along with the preparation and the aptitudes the soul possesses. For instance: encouragement and intimidation, joy and exaltation, sorrow and distress, repentance and consolation, dilatation and contraction ') and other painful qualities and pains. And so strong are these workings in it, that it compels the limbs of the body to participate in its emotions. Thus man enters a state which resembles madness; as the holy Fathers say, that at times of ecstasy, in which the heart is transported with 6 the divine love which unites it to Christ, man leaves his state, so that he cannot restrain his soul, which is ardent to fly away, from the supernatural delight and heat, in its ardour to abide in that glorious vision towards which it' is striving. So it also draws along with it the limbs of the body: the flesh, the bones, the joints, so that they are also plunged into that sweetness. It is clear that this same love influenced David to order all peoples and tribes of Israël to clap their hands
i) kIdoSlDO rO^Z& , cf. List of technical terms,



133
and to rejoice and to exult and to play before the ark of the Lord on the wood of cedar and cypress, on cithers and harps, on timbrels and drums and cymbals.
But, because moving the limbs is a token of madhess, though it be not an impure one, as the love of the Lord is its efficiënt, and their being in rest is a token of the mind [being sane], he who exults with joy has the duty to keep his limbs quiet as much as it is possible for him, especially if he belongs to the priestly rank '). •
That dancing makes those who practise it, foolish and ' voluptuous, and bereaves and deprives them of their honour, is known from the fact that Mikal, the daughter of Saul, when she looked from the window and saw David rejoicing and playing before the ark of the Lord, despised him and ridiculed him saying: How glorious was the king of Israël to-day, who uncovered himself in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows. And because she spoke the truth, he did not accuse her of lying, but he inculpated her in another way saying: It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israël: 77 therefore I have made mirth before the Lord. And I have been still more vile than thus and I have been base in mine own sight: and with the maidservants which thou hast spoken of I shall be had in honour 2). And from these things it appears, that play and dance are tokens of want of honour and of voluptuousness.
1) ihya' li, p. 249: J'jSsty jAyMi jfL 0jC •
2) 2 Sam. 6, 20—22.






LIST OF TECHNICAL TERMS
IN SYRIAC, ARABIC AND GREEK






LIST OF TECHNICAL TERMS IN SYRIAC, ARABIC AND GREEK
i- KkoèurC, essence, Jawna, p. 567 '); sentence 24. Usually, like = God, sentences 24, 29, 30, 34, 38, 39,
44—49, 7°-
ne&oèurc' >g\rf, sentences 73, 88 = *y?^\ . 2. rAft.èvo, ,èu.=cVr«', familiarity, to become familiar, Jawna, p. 563; sentence 16. = 4hI u-M, Ihya' I, pp. 274, 278; II, pp. 183,
204; IV, 286, 292 sq.; Kushairï, p. 39; Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 67; II, 96.
= mvov<rlct, Plotinus, Enneads VI, 9 § 7; Scala, p. 429.
3- relaia, lightning, Ethikon, pp. 20, 232, 497 sq.; Jawna,
pp. 564, 566, 579, 593. = cV' ?u§iai"> P- 47; Ihya' IV, p. 374.
4- r<\ %\\^, revelation, Ethikon, pp. 488, 491, 497 etc.; Jawna,
sentences 93 sq. etc. = Sii^S, S^öW, ÊXftViw., Ihya' I, pp. 63, 279;
Kushairï, p. 45; Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 43. 1 = xttokxXu^i? , Scala, p. 218.; nxpovaix (= üaUw, ö^èW)
Plotinus, Enneads VI, 9 § 4.
5- re'iis»^, the perfect, Ethikon, pp. 59, 80, 108 etc. = jj6m, Ibn 'Ata'allah II, 25; cAbd al-Karïm al-Djïlï's
= réteioi, Scala, pp. 175, 205, 315, 331, 445; Euagrius, ed. Frankenberg, p. 460.
1) The pages of Ethikon and Jawna refer to Bedjan's text.
18



138
6. rdiOlV, bride-rQom, Ethikon, pp. 498 sq.
= vupiCpwv, Euagrius, Nonnenspiegel § 42; Dieterich, Mithrasliturgie, p. 128.
7. r^cu&.i, tAX, purity, purification, to purify. Ethikon,
p. 484; Jawna, sentences 1, 25, 36, 58, 62, 74 etc; Isaac of Ninive, pp. 8, 16, 27, 29.
= ^_iil\ iSj, w^' sSjêi >J>^\ t_r*J\, Ihya' I, pp. 64, 109, 287; Theology of Aristoteles, pp. 6, 15, 21; Abü Talib I, 80.
= x,x&xpx 'pv%vi, xxpèix; vovg xxSrxpóc, Plotinus, Enneads I, 2 § 4 sq.; III, 6 § 5; Scala, pp. 304, 454; Euagrius, ed. Frankenberg, pp. 152, 460; Mönchsspiegel §§ 8, 44, io7> '33 etc; Corpus Hermeticum XIV § 7; Porphyrius, Vita Plotini § 22; Dieterich, Mithrasliturgie, p. 210.
8. K&cu.sn, likeness, Ethikon, pp. 478, 480, 499, 501;
Jawna, pp. 567, 574. = h{t,o'm(si?, êfioiÓTiji;, Corpus Hermeticum I § 26; Plotinus, Enneads VI, 7 § 34; VI, 9 § 4.
9. Klawëi, inclinations, emotions, impulses, Ethikon, pp. 3,
10q., 46, 55 etc; Jawna, pp. 537, 564—566 etc; Isaac of Ninive, passim; Euagrius. ed. Frankenberg, pp. 462, 464.
==o\5^>-, Ihya' IV, p. 4; Kushairï, p. 166; Abü Talib I, 84, 236; Ibn al-'Arabï, Kunh ma la budda li'l-murïd, p. 45; Theology of Arisfpteles, p. 44.
= x/i/!?(7/?, Plotinus, Enneads VI, 1 §§ 16, 18; Dionysius Areopagita, p. 194.
10. rV.i*cu>, redtCU.TM, unification, union, Ethikon, pp. 492,
498; Jawna, pp. 567 sq., 575; Isaac of Ninive, p. 8. = Ju>^, ils^\,Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 3, 40. = £V«(r($, Scala, p. 429; Dionysius Areopagita, pp. 234,
272; Reitzenstein, Mysterienreligionen, p. 18; Historia
Monachorum, p. 97.



r39
ii- rVèuvMSa, mirror, Ethikon, p. 21 ï; Jawna, pp. 545, 554; sentences 36, 58; Isaac of Ninive, p. 455. = A_^, Ihya' III, p. 67; IV, p. 268; Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 16; II, 65.
= so-OTrrpov, Corpus Hermeticum XVIII; Scala, p. 455. 12. Kd»oA*\*», transition, Ethikon, pp. 498, 500, 503 sq.; Isaac of Ninive, pp. 171, 220.
= >_.j, .U, Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 18; Kushairï, p. 43 etc.
= xprx^u, Plotinus, Enneads VI, 9 § i r. 13- rtlaUiax., varying states, Ethikon, p. 498; Jawna, p. 573; sentences 43, 53; Isaac of Ninive, pp. 108, 112, 495 sq.
= OsA>, jUA, Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 104; II, 45, 74, 95; Kushairï, p. 48. J4- affections, Jawna, sentences 24, 55 etc.
r<&<\x.axu r<A,} Ethikon, pp. 20, 253; Isaac of Ninive, p. 494; Euagrius, ed. Frankenberg; pp. 326, 332, 566, 572.
==7nxSryj, xttx^i;, xxx&eix, Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, p. 7; Scala, pp. 319, 321; Euagrius, Mönchsspiegel §§ 6, 31, 66—68, 105, 118, 119; Nonnenspiegel § 51. 15- r<la^, the Good one (God), Ethikon, pp. 478 sq., 486, 504.
= 5 xyxbèg, Plotinus, Enneads, passim; Dionysius Areopagita, passim.
16. rtüAiJ».ö.T,, the Initiated, Ethikon, pp. 28—30, 34 etc. • Isaac of Ninive, pp. 162, 361, 391, 470, 573, 627. = 0>j^5 Ihya' L PP- 54, 278; II, p. 184; IV, pp. 136, 355 etc; Abü Talib I, 37, 81, 84; Kushairï, p. 166; Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 18, 39, 61—63, 67. = yvüi<TTMoi, Scala, p. 225; Euagrius, ed. Frankenberg, p. 546; Mönchsspiegel § 121; Reitzenstein, Historia Monachorum, p. 113 sq.
l7- rcAiLA» (rdx^j), the rational soul, sentences 33,70 72.
= 3-»ku\ ^^iA, 5iloU\ y-ibM, Theology of Aristoteles, pp. 6, 32, 68, 120 sqq.



140
--- \pv%>) koyiK>i, Plotinus, Enneads V, 9 § 7; Porphyrius, De abstinentia IV § 20. 18. r<xji»3, veracious, essential, Ethikon, pp. 3, 79; Jawna, pp. 523, 528, 537; sentence 29. ' = *j,C Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 42. = xvpiac, Scala, pp. 292, 464. 19- K'iena.i, ieraicW, light, illumination, Ethikon, pp. 484, 487, 497 sqq., etc; Jawna, pp. 545, 564 etc; Isaac of Ninive, pp. *6, 8, 17, 22, 52 etc.
— jyi O^y^ï Abu Talib I, 99, 119, 133, 245; Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 16 sq., 104; II, 95, 72; Ihya' I, pp. 64, 108; II, pp. 197, 274; III, p. 67 etc.
= (pa?, cpdiTia-^og, ixxay^ic, Plotinus, Enneads I, 2 § 4; VI, 7 §§ 22, 24; 9 § 9; Corpus Hermeticum, I §§ 21, 32; XIII (XIV) §§ 9, 18 sq., 21; Scala, pp. 309, 336, 438, 456; Euagrius, Nonnenspiegel, § 53; Porphyrius, Ad Marcellam § XIII; Dieterich, Abraxas» pp. 4, 48 sq.; Mithrasliturgie, p. 8; Dionysius Areopagita, pp. 2, 190; Reitzenstein, Mysterienreligionen, pp. 29 sq.; 38, 106, 113, 119; Goldziher, Ma'anï al-Nafs, p. 44*; Wetter, cpüg, passim.
20. K'cWia.^Jto, practice, Ethikon, p. i; Jawna, p. 529; Isaac
of Ninive, p. 7; Euagrius, ed. Frankenberg, p. 546. = 2\Xl. , Ihya' I, pp. 278 sq.; II, p. 184; IV, pp. 3, 69, 373. == wpxxTMÓg, Euagrius, Mönchsspiegel §§ 31, 64, 109, 118,
121, 132; Reitzenstein, HistoriaMonachorum, pp. 20, 96.
21. ~Aov^ the cloud, Ethikon, pp. 487,498, 504 sq.; Jawna,
p. 522; sentences 17, 26, 92 etc; Isaac of Ninive, pp. 193, 217.
= ,\c- Asin Palacios, Abenmasarra, p. 112, note 2.
— ■yvó0og, Dionysius Areopagita, p. 283 and De mystica theologia, Chapter I.
22. pcij»cnT^> freedom of speech, Ethikon, pp. 45, 53, 499;



I4i
Jawna, p. 566; sentence 82; Isaac of Ninive, pp. 14, 151; Euagrius, ed. Frankenberg, p. 564. = JaLu;V^, Ihya' IV, p. 293; Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 63.
23. and oo^n, Ethikon, pp. 43, 75; Jawna, p. 565; Isaac of Ninive, p. 319.
= Ja«j, {jaa, Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 62, 101—103; Kushairï, p. 38.
24. Qo&n, vid. n° 23.
25. re'cWix^Ji;*} «il, Isaac of Ninive, pp. 155, 174, 391. = 5»^, Kushairï, p. 43.
= xvxi&vio-ix, Scala, Gradus XVIII; Reitzenstein, Mysterienreligionen, p. 116. ï'-jf'r
26. «"oScuoi, drunkenness, Ethikon, pp. 74, 475, 499, 505;
Jawna, p. 567; Isaac of Ninive, pp. 59, 174, 202, 220, 333, 337, 504-
=jC, Ihya' IV, pp. 289, 301; Kushairï, pp. 44 sq.; Ibn 'Ata'allah II, 80.
= tt,eSv£tv, jtif&uir&f/?, Plotinus, Enneads VI, 7 § 35; Dionysius Areopagita, p. 310.
27. r<ilx-, solitude, Ethikon, p. 500; Jawna, pp. 529, 537 sq.,
565, 572; Isaac of Ninive, pp. 566 sqq. = ^k>} aJjp, Ihya' II, p. 6; IV, p. 4; Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 14; II, 63.
28. pg'ii^T,, r^i&cxz., the beautiful, beauty, Ethikon, pp. 253,
479, 481 etc.; Jawna, p.'558; sentences 15, 79, 84 etc. = x,xXé;, rb %x\ov, %xXXoc, Plotinus, Enneads V, 8 § 68; 9 § 2.
29. rdnèvx., silence, Jawna, pp. 529, 533, 565; Isaac of Ni¬
nive, pp. 450, 470. = >i-^\, Kushairï, p. 67; Ihya' IV, p. 4. = aiyvi, Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, p. 13; Dieterich,
Mithrasliturgie, p. 6 sqq.



142
3°. p^iap*^, contemplation, speculation, Ethikon, pp. 93 sqq.; Jawna, p. 529; sentence 70; Isaac of Ninive, pp. 7, 17, 128, 260 etc.; Euagrius, ed. Frankenberg, p. 218.
= iü,K*, Ihya' I, p. 278; IV, p. 369 and passim.
= $£ap!x, Euagrius, Mönchsspiegel §§ 109, 118 sqq.; Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, pp. n, 18; Dionysius Areopagita pp. 3, 197; Plotinus, Enneads IV, 4 § 44.
31. r^cocS, refcrasaè*, ecstasy, Ethikon, pp. 503 sq. etc;
Isaac of Ninive, pp. 18, 43, 125, 155, 174, 259, 471. = üjio, (_r*^j ö^rp-, Kushairï, pp. 170, 172. — sKo-rxTtKÓi;, êt-t<rTX[t£vos, Jamblichus, De mysteriis, p. 117; - Dionysius Areopagita, p. 199.
32. «'icn&i, vid. n° 31.



GENERAL REGISTER






GENERAL REGISTER
V' ■
Abiding abroad, pp. CXXIX, 19, Asceticism, pp. XXII sq., LXIX,
30 -h LXXVIII, LXXX, 9, 19, 22, 36 sq.^
Abraham ibn Da'ud, p. 63, note 3. 46, 54,57, 102; sentence 74.
Abu Sa'ïd ibn al-A'rabï, p. CVII. al-Ash'arï, p. LIV.
Abü Sulaiman al-DSranl, p. 53, Asking, pp. CXXXV, 43.
n°te ** Atomism, p. 70, note 1.
Abu Talib al-Makki, pp. XVI, Attitude (deceitful), pp. CXXXII
XLV, L, LXXIII, LXXIX, LXXXII, 38.
XCII,CXIII; 6,notes2,3;7,note2; Authorities quoted by Bar He-
9, note 3; 10, note 2; 21, note 5; braeus, pp. XIX sqq.
28, note 2; 33, note3; 41, note 5; Backbiting, pp. 14, 21.
42, notes 3, 6; 43, notes 2, 4; 50, Balai, p. 124.
note 5; 55, note 1; 64, note 1; 68, Baptizing of the mind, pp. 56, t'Ê note 2; 98, note 1; 99, note 1; 101, Bar Hebraeus as a mystic, p.XIII; note 5; 102, note 7; 103, note 1; | his mystic works, p. XIV; scarcity 114, note 1. of myst;c experience, p. XV; depenAim of the habitation of the cell, p. i9. dence upon Ghazalï, p. XVIII, CXI 'Ali b. Abl Talib, p. XVII. sqq. and different notes to the transAf fe c tions, pp. LXVI sq., LXIX sqq., lation; further pp. 30, 60—62; senLXXIII sq. See also list of technical tences 78 79.
terms, n°. 14. Basilius, 'pp. XX, CXXXVI; p. 11,
Ahenationfromtheworld,pp. 5,114. note 4; p. l8j note I; p. 24;p.28,
Alms, p. 43. note j. p_ 4Q) note g. p g^
Anchorites, p. XXVI. j Bat, pp. 56, 97 sq.; sentences 40, 89.
Anger, pp. CXXX sq., 19, 34, 122. B e au t y,pp. XLV, LI, 10, 51 sq., 87 sq
Annihilation and renovation, sen- | 90, 99, 109 sq., 115, 132; sentences
tences 47-49- 15, 84,89, 95. See also list of tech-
Apathy, pp. XXVI, LXIX sq. nical terms, n°. 28.
Appearance (false), p. 20. Boast, pp. CXXXIII, 20.39.
Apperceptions (material and in tel- Body and soul, pp. LXXVI, 49,110-
lectual), sentence 71; simple apper- sentences 4, 14, 70, 88.
ception, p. 112. Book of Hierotheos, vide s. v. Hiero-
Ascension of the soul, p. 49. theos.
1) The Roman figures refer to the introduction; the Arabic figures to the translation.



146
Book of the Dove, its date,p. XIV; I Desires, pp. CXIX, 9, 16, 20,33,36,
relation to the Ethikon, pp. XIV, 40, 122, 130; sentence 60.
XVIII sq.; its aim, p. XIX. Detraction, p. 13. Brethren (love of the), pp. CXIX, 10. j Dhu '1-Nün, p. 95, note 3; p. 103, Bride-chamber, brideroom, pp. 109, ! note t.
in. See also list of technicalterms, Dilatation and contraction, p. 132.
n°. 6. See alsó list of technical terms, n° 23.
Cause of all causes, p. 48. Dionysius the Areopagite, pp.XX, Cell, pp. 19 sqq., 30, 32, 54, 101. \ XXVII sq., XXXI, XLIV,LXXXVI,
Chat tering, p. 12. XCI, CV, 50, 97, 103, note 6.
Church, p. 31. Direction, the tokens of good direc-
Cloud, pp. LI, CIII, 3, 49, 62, 97, 1091 tion, p. 18.
115 sq.; sentences 7, 12—15,17,26, Disdain, p. 37 sq.
92. See also list of technical terms, Distinction, pp. 26, 32, 56, 111. See
n°. 21. also s.v. Intelligence.
Coenobites, p. XXVI. Distraction, pp. 56, 108. See also
Cold, p. 127 sq. s.v. Divagation.
Concatenation, p. 100. Di vagation, pp. 23, 111; sentence 65.
Concentration, pp. 23, 56; sen- See alse s.v. Distraction.
tence 65. Djunaid, p. XXXI.
Confidence, p. CXXXV, 20, 43 sq. Dress, p. 7. See also s.v. Garments.
Consolation inGod,pp.CII,I03sqq. Drought, pp. 127 sq.
Contemplation, pp. XXVI, XXXIII Dru nkenness,pp.XC sq., 50,86,115.
sq., XLVIII—L, 10. See also list of See also list of technical terms, n°. 26.
technical terms, n°. 30. Duties of the faithful, p. CXXI; ofa Corpus Hermeticum, pp. XXXV, 1 teacher, p. CXXXXIV.
LXXX, XCII, CVIII, 19, 49, note 1 ; Dwelling-place, pp. CXVII, 7.
p. 53, note 6; p. 63, note 4; p. 64, Ecstasy, pp. XXXIV, LXVI, XC,
note 2; p. 68, note 2; 114, note 4. XCVI sqq., CV sq., 24, 114. See also
Covetousness, pp. CXXXII, 20,34, list of technical terms, n°. 31.
36 sq. Eleazar bar Sabta, p. 124.
Crucifixión, its esoterie meaning, Emotions, pp. LXXI sqq., 18, 112,
p. XXXV. 115; sentence 80. See also s.v. Incli-
Curse, p. 12. nations.
Cyrene bar Mansïir, p. 124. Enjoyment (spiritual), pp. 20, 41.
Dance, pp. 120 sq., 123, 133. Envy, pp. 20, 35 sq., 39.
Dealing (doublé), p. 14. Ephraim Syrus, p. 124.
Death, pp. Lil sqq., 53, 93, 101; sen- Erotic terms, p. XLIV.
tence 88. Remembrance of death, Esoterie character of mysticism, p.
pp. CXXXVI, 20, 45, 105. XXIX; sentences 2, 94.
Dejectedness, pp. 19,26,29,32. Essence. (God's), sentences 29 sq.,
Deliberations. Purity of delibera- 38 sq. Annihilation and renovation
tions, pp. XXXVI, 20, 34, 44 sq., 56, of the essences, sentences 47—49.
111; sentence 74. Complicated delibe- Cf. list of technical terms, n°. I.
rations, sentence 12; evil deliberations, Ethikon, its date, p. XIV; relation to
p. 58; disturbed deliberations, p. 20; the Book of the Dove, ib», XVIII sq.
passionate deliberations, pp. LXXII, Euagrius Ponticus, pp. XVII, XIX
CIV. sq., XXVI, XXXIV, XXXVIII, XLIII,



f47
XLVII, XLIX, LVIII, LXV, LXVIII I Haughtiness, pp. CXXXIII, 8 sq.,
sq., LXXI, LXXVI sq., LXXIX, 12, 20, 34, 38 sq.
LXXXII, XCVII, CII, 30, 31, note 4; Healing, p. CXXXVI.
35, 36, note 3; 38, 44, note 7; 61, Health of the soul, pp. LXVIII sqq.;
86, 92, 122. sentence 22.
• Faith, its esoterie meaning, pp. XXXI, Hearing as contrasted with sight, pp.
41; sentences 17—20. XLVIII, 55; sentences 3,15,41,68.
Falsehood, p. 13. H e a r t, p. LXI. Treasury of the heart, p. Familiarity with God, pp. XXXVI, J 24. Windows of the heart, sentence 11.
C sqq., 44, 48, 108. With the members' Heat, pp. 127 sq.
of the kingdom, sentence 16. Cf. list Heel, p. 100.
of technical terms, n°. 2. Hellenism and mysticism, p. XXII
Fasting, pp. XXXII, CXXVIII, 19, sq.; and Gnosis, p. XL sq.;concep-
27 sq. tion of God in Hellenism, p. XLVI;
Fathers of Scete, p. XXI. H. and erotism, p. XLVII; and sight,
Fear of God, pp. 20, 42. -p. LV sq.; on purity, p. LXXVII;
Fire, pp. XC, 57, 110 sqq., 115 sq. and asceticism, p. LXXVIII, LXXX;
Flattery, p. 14. and light, p. LXXXIV sq.jon sleep,
Food, pp. CXVI, 7, 33, 90. p. XCII; and imconsciousness, p.
Forgetting one's self, pp. CVI, 50, XCIII; and transition, p. CVIII.
II4- Here tics, p. 96.
Fornication, p. 33. Heron of Alexandria, p. 58.
Freedom of speech, pp. CII sq., 48, Hierotheos, pp. XIV sq., XXI,
103 sq., 110; sentence 82. See list of XXVHI, XLV, CIX, 50 no.
technical terms, n°. 22. Holy men, p. CXXX.'
Friends, pp. CXX, 10 sq. ; Hope, pp. 20, 42.
Furniture, pp. CXVII, 7. Hudjwïrï, pp. XXV sq., XXXIV, XLI.
Garments, p. CXVI. Humbleness, pp. 8s q., 33,46,107.
George (Bishop),vp. 124. Humidity, pp. 127 sqq.
Gerizim, p. XXXIV. Hunger, pp. CXXX, 33.
Ghazalï, pp. XVI sq., XVIII,XXIV, Ibn al-'Arabï, pp. 25, note 2; 40,
XXVI sq., XLII sq., XLIX sq., LH note 7.
sqq., LXI sqq., LXVH, LXIX, LXXV Ibn 'Ata'allah, pp. XXVIII,
sq., LXXXI sq., Cl, CIII, CXI, CXII, | XXXVIl', XL, LIV, LXXVlj
CXIV sqq., CXIX sqq., CXXIV, I LXXXVII, XCI, XCIV, Cl, CIII,
CXXVI—CXXXVI. See also s. v. I CVII; p. 7, note 4; 15, note 3 522;
•ya - P- 33; note 6; 37, note 7; 38, note
Glory (vain), pp. CXXXIII, 5, 20,33, 2; 40, note 6; 45, note 3; 47, note
3'- I; 55, note 10; 69, notes I, 3; 80,
Gnosis, see s.v. Knowledge. „ote 1; 89, note 2; 98, notes 1, 3;
Gnosticism, p. XXIII. 101, note 2; 113, note 2.
Good (the Good one), see list of Ibn Gabirol, pp. 68, note 2; 109,
technical terms, n°. 15. note 8; 114, note 1.
Grace, pp. CXXXV, 41. Ibrahlm ibn Adham, p. CL.
Gregorius of Nyssa, p. XX. Ideas, sentence 46.
GregoriusTheologus,pp.XX,53,93. Ihya', its inHuence upon the Book of
Guide, sentences 57—60 See also s.v. the Dove and the Ethikon, p. XVII.
Leader and Teacher. See also s.v. Ghazalï.



148
Illnessof the soul, p. LXVIII sq. I Jest, p. 13.
Illumination, pp. XLVIII, LXXXI Johannes Climacus, pp. XVI, XX,
sqq., 19, 46sq.,49, 57, 94, 97,108sq., XLVII,LXVII sq.,LXXIX,LXXXVI, 111; sentences n, 16, 43 sq., 74 sq. | XCII, C, CII, CIX, CXIV; p. 5, note
See also list of technical terms, n°. 19. 1; 6, notes I, 2; 7, note 2; 8 and
'Imad al-Dïn al-Umawï, p. LXIII, j notes 3, 4; p. 9, note 1; 12, note 1; 13,
LXXIII. notes 6, 7, 9, n; 17, note 3 ; 20 note
Imitatio Christi, pp. XIX, 5,note 1; " 3; 25, note 4; 30, notes 1,5,6531,
8, notes 3, 4; 10, note 2; 11,notes note 4; 32, note 2; 34, note 1; 36, note
4, 5; 45, note 1; 64, note 4. See also 5 ; 37, notes 5, 6, 8, 10; 40, note 6;
s.v. Thomas a Kempis. 42, note 8; 43, note 1; 45 ; 78, note 7.
Impulses, see s.v. Emotions. John bar Pinkayë, p. XXL
Inclinations, pp. XXXII, 46 sqq., John de Da 1 yata, pp. XXI, LXXIII,
56, 108 sq., in, 115,122; sentence CIV, 86, 102.
92. See also s.v. Emotions and list John Saba, pp. XXI, LXXXV.
of technical terms, n°. 9. * Joseph and the Egyptian woman,
Initiated, pp. XXXI, XXXV sq., pp. 54, 101.
XXXVIII sq., XLVIII, LI, LXVIII, Kairo, p. 131.
3, 9, 13, 16, 20, 28, 32, 42 sq., 50, 55, Kastallanl, p. LIX.
57, 61, 86, 90 sq., 92, 94 sq., 96, 99 Kingdom of God, pp. XXXVI, 106; sq., 102—104, 105 STq-, 113; senten- sentences 37 sq., 41, 56, 58, 68 sq., 74. ces 7,48, 56 sq., 63, 65 sq., 68, 74, K n o w 1 e d g e, practical and theoretical, 80, 92. See also list of technical pp. XVIII, XXIV, XXXIX. Speculaterms, n°. 16. tive knowledge and revelation, p.
Instruments (musical), pp. 120, 123. XXV. Gnosis, p. XXVII. Esoterie
Intelligence, sentences 21 sq. See knowledge of God, p. XXXV. Know-
also s.v. Distinction. " ledge founded on revelations, p.
Intercourse, pp. XXIV, 21, 101. XXXIX. Knowledge as a designation
Investigation (vain), p. 15. of the mystic system, ib. Non-intel-
I n v o c a t i o n, pp. XCIII, CVII, CXXX, lectual character of knowledge, p.
19, 22, 25, 31. XLI. Knowledge and love, pp. XLII,
Iron. Forging cold iron, sentence 10. XLV, LUI, 95 sq. Knowledge and
Iron and the magnet, sentence 24. illumination, p. LXXXII, XCVIII.
Isaac of Antioch, p. 124. Knowledge of one's self, p. 9; of the
Isaac of Ninive, pp. XVI, XXI, divine nature, p. 20; of God, p. 54
XXXI, XXXIII—XL, XLIII, XLVIII, sqq., 91—95, 97; of the perfect,
L, LXV, LXVIII, LXX, LXXII sq.. sentences 50, 51. Books of initiated
LXXVIII, LXXXI, LXXXVIII, XC, knowledge, p. 40; God's knowledge,
XCII, XCVII sqq., CIV, CVIsq.,8, p.p. 52, 58; sentence 8. Delight of
19, 29, note 1; 89, 91 note 5; 101. knowledge, p. 52 sq. Peculiar know-
Jacob of Edessa, p. 124. ledge, sentences 73 sq. Heights of
Jamblichus, pp. XLVI, LV, LXVII knowledge, sentence 94.
sqq., XCII, II, note 4; 18, note 1; Kor'an, pp. LXXXV, 26, note 2.
25, notes 3, 5; 27, note 3; 56, note Kusma, p. 124.
1; 80, note 1; p. 109, note 7. Kushairï, pp. XVI, XXXVII, L1V,
JehudaChasId, p. CXIX ' LXII, XC, XCIII sq., XCVI, XCVIII,
Jerusalem, pp. XXXIV,LXXXII, 32; C; 6, note 3; 7, note 2; 8, note 3;
sentence 74. 15, note 3; 30, note 1; 31, note 6;



'49
33, °ote 6; 45, note 3; 95, note 3; Money (renuntiation of), pp. CXV, 7.
114, notes 1, 7; 118, note 1. Moon, sentences 35, 42 sq.
Labour (manual), p. 19. Muhammedibn al-Fadl, p. XXXV.
Lamp, sentence 47. Music, pp. 118 sqq.
Lasciviousness, pp. 19, 33. Mu'tazilites, p. LIX.
Laughing, pp. 13, 18. Mystery-religions, pp. XXII, XXIX, -
Leader, pp. XIX, 108, See also s.v. LXXXVII; sentence 83. Mysteries of
Guide and Teacher. the spirit, sentence 55; of God's
Life. Word and life in God, sentences wisdom, p. 92; divine mysteries p. 90.
29—31. True life, sentence 64. Mysticism and Hellenism, pp. XXII,
Light, pp. LXXXsqq., 110 sq. Light LXXX. Origin of Semitic mysticism,
and life, p. LXXXV. God as light, pp. XXII, LXXX.
p. LXXXIV. Inaccessible light, pp. Need (psychic), p. 30.
CIII, CV, 49, 97, 109; sentence 80. Neo-Platonism, pp. XXIII, XLVI,
Light without quality, p. CVIII, 57, LXVII, LXXI, LXXIX sq., LXXXVI,
61. Essential light, pp. 56, 97 sq., XCI, CIX; p. 109, note 8.
109, 112. Uncreated light, p. 109, Neo-Pythagore'an sects, p. XXIII,
light of many rays, p. 114. Eradiated 18, note 1; 80, note 1.
light, p. 98. See also list of technical No ah, p. 4.
terms, n". 19. Novices, pp. XXXIX, 15—18.
Lightning, pp. XCIV, 46, 48, 54, Obedience, pp. 8 sq.
61 sq., 108 sq.; sentence 78. See Offences of the tongue, pp. CXXI
also list of technical terms, n°. 3. n sqq.
Likeness, with God, pp. CIV, CVI, Paradise, pp. XXXVI sq., Lil sq.
CVIII sq., 50, 52, 91, 109 sq., H2, 7, 44.
116; with the angels, pp. 49, 57. Paradisus Patrum, pp. CXII; 6,
See also list of technical terms, n°. 8. note 2; 7, note 2; 8, notes 3, 459,
Litigation, p. 12. note 2; 10, note 2; 27, note 1.
Longing after God, pp. 99 sq. Passions (evil), pp. CXXX sqq.; 19
Love, pp. XLII—XLVIII, 10, 26,46 sq., 32, 107. Impure passions, sen-
sqq., 50 sqq., 57, 85 sqq., sentences tence 86.
23, 53) 75, 81, 99. Patience, pp. CXVII, 9 sq.
Madness, pp. XC, 115. Perfect (the), pp. XXXII, LXX sq.,
Malediction, p. 12. 28 sq., 34,37,46,48,56,58,90,104,
Man, p. LIX sqq. m; sentences 40, 50, sq., 57. See
Manifest (God's being), p. 55. also list of technical terms, n°. 5.
Marriage, pp. 15 sqq., 33, note 6. Perfection, pp. LXXI, 46—48, 56,
Mee ca, p. XXXV. 58; IIO; sentences 2, 22, 82.
Medicine, pp. 3, 20; sentence 4. Pilgrimage, p: XXXIV.
Meditation, pp. 19, 22 sq., 24 sq. Pirke Abot, p. 9, note 2.
Melodies, pp. 122, 126. | Plotinus and his Enneads, pp. XXIX,
Mesalleyanë, pp. LVIII, XCV. XLVI, LVI, LXXIV, LXXIX^
Mind, p. LXI sq. LXXXVI, C, CII, CVII sq., CX; 8,
Mirror of the soul, pp. XXX, LXXIV ; note 2; 48, note 2; 49, note 4; 79,
sqq-, 27, 3i; sentences 36—38, 58. note 7; 94, note 1; 109, note 2.
See also list of technical terms, n°. 11. Porphyrius, pp. XVI, LXIX, LXXX,
M o d e s t y of mystics, p. XV. CX; 8, note 2 ; 27, note 3; 80, note 1.
Monastery, pp. 15, 18, 21. | Poverty, pp. 20, 43.



Practice, pp. XXIII,XXV—XXVIII, Rudeness of speech, p. 14.
10. See also list of technical terms, Scala, see s.v. Johannes Climacus.
n°. 20. Scarcity of mystic leaders, pp. XVI, 3.
Praise, pp. 37 sq. Scorn, p. 12.
Pray er, pp. XXXII, XC, XCVII, CIV, Scriptures, (reading of the), pp.
19, 22—26, 31, 48. XXX sq.,
Psalms (reciting of), pp. CXXVII, Secrets (mystic), pp. XXVIII sq., 50,
25, 32,40, 46, 56, 107, III, 129 sq. 110.
Pure (the), sentence 62; p. 90. The Sefer Chesidim, pp. 6, note 3; 35,
pure soul, sentences i, 24. note 2.
Purif ic at io n of the mind, heart, soul, Senses, pp. XXXII, LXVI, 46, 104;
eye, pp. XXX sq., XLIII, LI, LXXI, sentences n, 14, 74.
LXXVII sqq., 23, 33, 36, 42, 46, Sentences, pp. XVIII, XXV, 62 sqq.
54, 58, 94sq.; sentences 2, 25, 58, 62. Servant, p. 53.
See also list of technical terms, n°. 7. Severus, p. 124.
Purity of deliberations, p. 44 sq. al-ShiblI, p. XC.
Pythagoras, pp. n, note 4; 80, Sight, pp. XLVIII—LIX, LXXXIX,
note I. 54, 99, 101, 108; sentences 11, 15,41,
Qualities (good), pp. CXXXIV, 20, I 68, 88—90.
40. Silence, pp. CVI, CXXIII; n, note
Quarreling, pp. 12, 34. 5 ; 47, 56, 107, 111 sq., 116, 119; sen-
Rabiya, pp. XXXVII, Cl. tence 95. See also list of technical
Radiance, see s.v. Illumination. terms, n°. 29.
Rainbow, sentence 5. Singing, p, 13.
Raitun, p. XX. Sins, pp. CXI sq., 6, 23.
Rancour, pp. 19, 35, 39. Sleep, p. 25 sq.
Recitation, pp. I9, 22 sq., 25, 32, Sleeping and being awake, pp.
46, 56, in. XCI, 48, 108.
Reclusion, pp. 15, 21. Soli tude, pp.XXIV,LXXIII,CXXVI;
Relaxation of the limbs, pp. n, note 5; 19 sqq.; 27,47,54,56,
LXJCXIX, 108. 101, 103, 107; sentence 95. See also
Renovation and annihilation, sen- list of technical terms, n°. 27.
tences 47—49. Soul and body, pp. LUI sq., LXXVI
Renunciation, pp. XXXVI, CXIV sq.; and the forms of the body, sen-
sqq. 7 sq. • tence 92. Definitions of the soul, pp.
Repentance, pp. CXI sq., 6 sq. LX, LXII. The pure soul, p. XLII;
Reprehension, pp. 20 sq., 39. sentences 1, 24; the clear soul, sen-
Rest, pp. 9, 46 sqq. tence 85. The Stoa and the soul, pp.
Resurrection of the soul, sentencegi. LXIII sq. Ethical nature of the soul,
Revelation,pp.XVII,XXV,XXXIV, pp. LXIV sqq.; its treasures, p. LXV;
XXXIX, XLVIII, XCVIII sqq., 3, health and illness of the soul, pp.
47, 58, 60, 99, 103, 108, 115, 132; XLIII, LXVII sqq.; mirror of the sentences 19 sq., 33, 48, 50, 52, 93 soul, p. LXXIV; purification of the sq., 98. See also list of technical soul, p. LXXVII; incorruptibility of terms n°. 4. the soul, sentence 70; beauty of the
Ridicule p. 13. soul, p. 109. The rational soul, sen-
al-Rondï, p. XXXVII. ,tences 33, 70—72. See also list of
Room (the lightened), sentence n. j technical terms, n°. 17.



i5i
Speculation, pp. XXIII, XXV— 48, note 9; 50, note 2: 51, note4;
XXVII, XXXVIII; sentences 94,98. 67, note 1.5 73, note 5; 74, note ï:
See also list of technical terms, 78, note 8.
n". 30. Thomas a Kempis, pp. LXXIV;
Speech (vain), p. n. Outbursts of 20, note 3; 25, note 4; 37, note 3.
speech, pp. 58, 113. Speech which See also s.v. Imitatio Christi.
is' indirectly sinful, p. 12. Tor, Tür, p. XX,
Spirit, pp. LX, LXII. j Transition, pp. CV sqq., 110. See
Spittle, p. 28. also list of technical terms, n°. 12.
States (varying), pp. XCV, 56 sqq.,- Travellers (rules for), p. CXXIX.
110 sqq.; sentences 43 sq. See also Treasures of the heart, the soul, pp.
list of technical terms, n°. 13. LXV sq., 24.
Steadfast ness of the noviee, p. 18. ] Trinity (esoterie doctrine of), p.
Stoa, pp. LXII, LXVIII sq. XXXV; sentences 28—31.
Stupefaction, p. 49. j U nconsciousness, p. XCII.
Sun, sentences 5, 6, 35, 42 sq., Unification, Union, pp. CVI sqq.,
77—79, 89, 95. 49 sq., 57, 103, 110, 113. See also
Sycophancy, p. 14. list of technical terms, n°. 10.
Syncretism, p. XXIII. Vigils, pp. CXXVII, 19, 24 sqq.
Tagrit, p. 123. Virginity, pp. 16 sq.
Taming of the beasts, sentence 96; I Vision, pp. 48, 99, 103, 108 sq. 115-
p. 116. sentence 94.
Taunt, p. 13. Wantonness, pp. 19, 33.
Teacher, his duties and qualities, pp. Wealth, pp. CXXXII, 36.
CXXXIV sq., 36, 40. See also s.v. Weeping, pp. 19, 26. See also s.v.
Guide and Leader. Tears.
Teachings, pp. 20, 31, 36, 40. Windows of the heart, sentence 41.
Tears, pp. 57, 107, 111, 113, 122. Shutting of the windows, sentence 11.
See also s.v. Weeping. Word and Life, sentences 29—31.
Temptations, p. 9. Work (manual), pp. CXXVIII, 24 sq.,
Thanksgivings, pp. 20, 41. 28 sqq.
Theodosius, commentator of the World, Man and the world, pp.
Book of Hierotheos, p. XIV. CXXXI, 36, 45.
Theology of A ris t o teles, pp.LIV Youth, sentence 83.
sq., LXVII, LXXXIV, LXXXVI, CX; Zamakhsharï, p. XVII.



CORRECTIONS
p. XXVIII in stead of Ibn 'Ata'llah read: Ibn 'Ata'allah. - p. xciv, note 3 in stead of 489 read \ 498. ' p. XCVH in stead of exellent, read: excellent.
p. 15, note 2 read: Cf. beneath, p. 21.
p. 61 in stead of to describe read: in describing.
p. 64 in stead of lighted read: lightened.
p. 70 in stead of herold read: herald.
p. 71 in stead of from mouth read: from his mouth.
p. 80 in stead of make warm his heart, read: make his heart warm.
p. 89 in stead of excepted read; except.
p. 90 in stead of thousands of read: thousand.
p. 107 in stead of ash read: ashes.


















BAR HEBRAEUS's BOOK OF THE DOVE
TOGETHER WITH SÓME CHAPTERS FROM HIS ETHIKON






PREFACE
The present translations are due to the desire to make the sources of Syriac mysticism more accessible, in the first place for its own sake, in the second place because of its intimate connection with Muslim mysticism from its origin up to Ghazalï.
Bar Hebraeus appears to have been largely recipiënt from the side of Ghazalï. I hope that a future translation of Isaac of Ninive and an editiön of the so-cajled John Saba may show to how large an extent Muslim mystics are indebted to the Syrians.
My thanks' are due to the trustees of the de Goeje Fund for giving this book a place among the publications of the Fund, especially to Professor Snouck Hurgronje for the neverfailing kindness and never-failing acuteness with which he read a proof.
I am much obliged to Mr. W. Rollo, M. A., who during his involuntary stay at the Hague, kindly took upon him to correct my English manuscript.
Where the pages of the Book of the Dove and the Ethikon are quoted, those of Bedjan's Syriac text are meant. Quotations from these books and the Ihya', no page being mentioned, refer to books, chapters and sections.






XIX
to regulate the ethical and mystical life of every Muslim and every Christian, as they should bejThey treat of the whole domain of human life; it is not only prayer and love which are described in their forms and religious depth, but also commerce and marriage, the daily meals and the education of children. They are destined to be read by lay people and by monks.
Not so the Book of the Dove. It says it is exoressly .
f J the Book
destined for monks who are devoid of a spiritual leader; it of the
is a real directorium spirituale. This appears also in the dispo- °ve
sition. The first chapter describes the office in the monastery;
the second that in the cell. The third deals with the conso-
lations the Dove imparts to the soul; and the fourth contains
specimens of the revelations imparted to those who are be-
coming initiated. This division may be compared with the
progressive chapters of the Imitatio Christi: I Admonitiones
ad spiritalem vitam utiles. II Admonitiones ad interna trahentes.
III Liber internae consolationis. IV Exhortatio ad sacram
communionem. The parallelism between the Book-of the Dove
and the Imitatio in their outlines is striking enough; it is
easily to be seen that the place which by Bar Hebraeus is
given to revelation, is imparted to the sacrament by |Thomas
a Kempis.
In the introduction to the sentences Bar Hebraeus tells us,
that his acquaintance with mysticism is due to the books of
Aba Euagrius and others, Western and Eastern. This means
that he has gone through his mystical career without the aid
of a guide; so the Book of the Dove has been written for
persons who are in the same condition as the author himself
has been. That this condition is not the one preferred by the
mystics, appears from nearly all mystic authors, also from
the works of Bar Hebraeus; as the Muslims say: He who has
no guide, his guide is Satan.
From the many quotations in the Ethikon we are able to Authori-
ties
see who were Bar Hebraeus' predilected authors in this domain. quoted



XXIV
or they are mingled with practice, as for instance the knowledge that on account of ascetical practice the soul becomes enlightened, and, on account of giving way to the flesh the soul becomes dark. The former kind is called speculative knowledge rcèVvuxi^Liior*/^ re&Uwiv», the latter practical knowledge. The former is occupied with the distinction between truth and error, the latter with the distinction between'good and bad.^Now it is my aim — he says — to deal only with practical knowledge, K&aioAJ»-
Here already Ghazalï proves to be Bar Hebraeus' guide. He says in the introduction to the Ihya': The knowledge useful on the way to the coming world is divided into two kinds: that of iLV** and that of iüKl. I mean with the knowledge of ïii^C. that from which is sought the revealing of the recognized object only; I mean with knowledge of aIA** that from which is sought, besides revelation, practice. The object of this book is knowledge of $LA** only, not knowledge of iü^l, which it is not allowed to trust to paper though it be the utmost aim of the student ').
It is clear that here we are face to face with a distinction which is thought to be important by our authors. In the Ethikon it is discussed another time, in the chapter on solitude 2). Here Bar Hebraeus enumerates the profits of solitude, of which the highest is the spiritual delight consisting in the true knowledge concerning the nature of God, which is received by revelation. The Fathers have said: we shut our selves up, not in order to practise good works but to reach the aim of excellency viz. lonely intercourse and quiet meditation of the
1) I, P. 4: iü&U iUJ.1 f!c ,J\ ^ "v^ «¥9* tfiï\ U\
£. Ai. ^_ikl V. iLV»U ,_jS-l, Aaii f_^«.U Ul!^ A> -Jiaj V. Aii\^il ^.^j
2) P' 93-



XXV
mind in God; whereas our steadfast brothers who live in a coenobium practise good works.
Thus according to Bar Hebraeus speculative insight is only to be acquired by revelation (rdiA^). This is exactly Ghazalï's opinion; in a passage in the Ihya' he says: ... We will leave these definitions for they lie beyond practical knowledge; essential knowledge concerning them is only to be reached by revelation which follows pure meditation '). And so revelation, which gives speculative knowledge and direct insight into divine things, is the last aim of these mystics, but we shall not hear much of it in the Ethikon and the Ihya'. Happily the sentences in the Book of the Dove, which pretend to be founded on revelation (rdiu\\J fill this gap to some extent. It is to be noted that what our authors call practical knowledge does not only mean the practice of good works, but also, and chiefly, the practice of intercourse with God 2).
Finally we may quote Hudjwïrï who also speaks of these sorts of knowledge. He mentions three kinds: Knowledge of God is the science of Gnosis (üU), whereby He is known to all His prophets and saints. It cannot be acquired by ordinary means, but is the result of Divine guidance and information. Knowledge from God is the science of the sacred Law, which He has commanded and made obligatory upon us. Knowledge with God is the science of the .stations' and the ,Path' and the decrees of the saints 3).
It is clear that the first and the last kind nearly correspond with' the ^ and the sU*l\ \c.
The distinction we have here before us points to widely diverging tendencies in ascetical mysticism, though Bar
2) Ihya3 IV, p. 373: Hj ^ JuJi Cv. Ü*U1 f>
3) P- 11.



XXVI
Hebraeus and Ghazalï do not turn the differences to the daylight in a polemical manner. But we have a -series of evidences showing two different tendencies. We are able to tracé them back from the time of our mystics to the early Christian centuries; here and there the lines show bypaths.
Hudjwïrï still shows that in his time the difference was deeply feit: Some regard knowledge as superior to action, while others put action first, but both parties are wrongj Unless action is combined with knowledge it is not deserving of recompense. Similarly knowledge without action is not knowledge '). In Christianity however the distinction is more vivid. We hear a good deal of it in Bar Hebraeus' authority Euagrius Ponticus. He equally praises theory (contemplation, speculation, gnosis) and practice; their adherents however are on a footing of enmity; God alone is their mediator: •yvcotrrix.oi; xx) irpxxTixbt; v7nïvTij<rxv xhXfaou;" (ihoq §£ x^orkpm s'nrTviKei tcvpiog 2). He severely judges those who reject speculation: o /tis-üv yvSxrtv Seov xx) x7ru§ov[/.evot; Seupixv xutov o/aoiÓs ieri t$ hoy%>ji vóovovn rijv Kxpïixv xutov 3). And he seeks to reconcile parties by a sentence like the foliowing: ex Trérpx? TrvsupiXTixiji; xToppsÏTrorxpcog' ipv%ii Sf irpxxrixvi irtsrxi xx" xutoïi *). And he admits that practice is useful for acquiring otxaSssix, one of the most desired things: <rxp%sq xpitrroü 7rpxKTixx) xptrx)' b Ss è<r§iuv xutxi; ysvyiosTXi x/KXzfe ). And: Spóvoi; §è xxx^sixg tyv%vi vpxxtikvi °).
We have already seen from Bar Hebraeus' passage on the pronts of solitude, that the distinction between the adherents of speculation and those of practice is, that the former used to shut themselves up in their cell, whereas the latter lived in monasteries and devoted themselves chiefly to good works; and so these divergences go back to the divergence between the anchorites and the coenobites. Or as Reitzenstein defines it after a passage in Cassianus: Anachoret und Klostermönch
i) p. II sq. 3) Ib. § 109. 5) Ib. § 118.
2) Mönchsspiegel § 121. 4) Ib. § 64. 6) 1b. § 31.



XXVII
streben nach ganz verschiedenen Zielen; jener nach yvutrig, dieser nach der Vollendung des Gehorsams, jener ist beuptiriY.it;, dieser TrpxxTixót;').
Traces of the aversion against speculation which must have spread through large circles, show themselves also outside the World of monks. Usually speculation is taken here in the sense of speculation concerning the divine Being. Striking is what the commentator of Ibn 'Ata'llah adduces: It is said on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that the Apostle of God said to people he met: what is the matter with you ? They answered: we meditate upon the Creator. He answered: meditate upon His creatures, but not on the Creator, for you do not possess His Power2). And even a speculative spir.it like Dionysius the Areopagite warns against this sort of speculation: xxSrótov rotyxpoüv oit roXfiviTsov sittsTv outs fih èwoyvxi ts irep) rvj? \mepovtskv xxi xpvCpixg ^sórtjTog wxpx tx becctüg jfüv sx rüv ïepüv Xoyiwv êxTsCpxa-fiévx 3).
As we have seen, however, this is not the attitude of Bar Mystic Hebraeus and Ghazalï. But also these authors shrink from publishing their most intimate mystical experiences, which it is not allowed to trust to paper, as Ghazalï says4). This is not his only utterance in this sense. In another passage he says: When a man's heart is with God, the majesty of the divine presence is revealed to him, the divine reality lies open before him and to him appear divine things of such an intimacy that it is not allowed to describe them,' nay, which absolutely can not be adequately described5). Later on he
i) Historia Monachorum, p. 20.
è n, p- 74: y\a p V. jfc ^ ^\ \fa 0i jj & ^
3) P- 155 > Goldziher, Ma'anï al-Nafs, p. 54* sqq.
4) . Above p. 12.
5) in, p. 69: «j & LyJ\ ijU\  j& ^ e ^ VAi



XXVIII
speaks of the experience of the Initiated and goes on: Knowledge of the sort alluded to here, is not allowed to be the common possession of mankind and he who has received something of it by revelation, is not allowed to publish it abroad to people who did not receive revelations; for if this knowledge were the common possession of mankind, the world would perish ').
Bar Hebraeus is of the same opinion as Ghazalï; in his section on freedom of speech he says that the Initiated utters words in his intimacy with God which it is not allowed to write down and to trust to paper 2). In another passage of the Ethikon he again adduces some examples of bold words uttered by the Initiated, but he does not mention other examples, ,which perhaps Hierotheos and his followers venture to describe. But the Holy Spirit says concerning them: there is a secrecy between me and my house-mates and it warns them not to publish these things but to conceal them and it does not allow the house-mates to scrutinize them, save only in oral discussion'3).
This opinion is widely spread among Oriental mystics. Ibn 'Ata'llah considers the conversation between the saints and the learned with God as being embroidered upon secrets which have to be concealed 4). Now these secrets are the real mystic knowledge; they are for the Initiated; the terms used in this regard by Dionysius the Areopagite speak for themselves: These things are mystic and not to be spoken before the public5). He warns that none of the not-Initiated may hear them °).
1) II, p. 289: ^\ iljÜj ö\ yjl. ^ ;jViV\ Jl\ ^U.^ .A» J\U\,
2) Ethikon, p. 494.
3) P- 499- See also the Book of the Dove III, 4. And sentence 80.
4) I, 2 : tja* Ja^ &\, «UJl, «U_,Y^
5) p. 183: [ivTTiy.x xct) u( rots irohhiis 'cifft/ree.
6) p. 272 : TOÓTWV Ss OpX 07TÜJ; tUfSglG TWV &HV$TUV hTTXKOÓrjy.



XXIX
We can tracé this system back to the sphere where it originated. Plotinus also is acquainted with it: This is the purport of the rule of the mysteries ordering not to publish these things among the non-Initiated; it defends the divulgation on the ground that it is impossible to communicate the Divine to anyone to whom it was not granted to see it himself '). And Reitzenstein communicates a defence to him who was to undergo the act of initiation: I conjure you by Him who is above all, the Good one, to keep the secret of these mysteries without telling them to anyone 2). This secrecy is even the cause of much of our ignorance concerning the ancient mysteries. — In this case we have been able to tracé back a prominent feature of the Semitic mystical attitude down to the Hellenistic mysteries. We shall find many similar cases, all of them showing the intimate relation between mysticism and mysteries, a relation to be expected a priori.
On account of all this, it is already clear that the mystical Esoteri<: system of Bar Hebraeus and his spiritual cognates is an esoterie of mf^one. They have experience which the ordinary believers have CISm never dreamt of; they do not describe it, but they make no secret of possessing it. Bar Hebraeus is very explicit on this point, especially in his sentences; he as well as Ghazalï and other mystics have heard what no ear has heard, they have seen what no eye has seen and they are aware of what no mind has experienced, as they express it with Paul3). We must describe this esoterie character in a more detailed way, as it appears in different acts and stages of the mystic path.
In the Introduction to the Book of the Dove, Bar Hebraeus
1) Enneades VI, 9 §11: rovro Sij ifëeAe StfAoöv to töv livtrrviplm tüvSs sxiroiyptt ri fti Ixfyêfttv eit n*l peitvfinévovf <S$ ovk 'éx^ofot sksÏvo Sv airsiire inKovv srpS? aAAov rö Séïov 'dra ttoti uvrii }$$7v svróy^rat.
2) Hellenistische Mysterienreligionen, p. 96: èfivva rov èwcévw %&vrm tov uyxSóv, rvifija-ee: t& fiuirT^fia raüra xui i%eiireiv fiyisvi.
3) Isaac of Ninive p. 12; 316; 519; Ihya' I, p. 17; IV, p. 27. Ethikon, p. 233. Book of the Dove, p. 576; Sentence 26.



XXX
says that the speech of the Dove, a denomination of esoterie knowledge, touches every ear, but few hear her voice; she calls every man by his name, but one of a thousand answers her. This general statement is worked out in several other passages of Bar Hebraeus' works.
In the Ethikon he says that the building of teachings is either peculiar as in the Elect, or common to all Vocated. Peculiar teachings are those of the solitary teachers in the desert, who teach the purification of the table of the heart and the polishing of the mirror of the soul. Common are the teachings of the exquisite teachers of the church '). So it is even the highly esteemed teachers of the church that do not possess nor teach the esoterie knowledge. This is again said' in the sentences: True life is this, that the Perfect suck at the breasts of suprème Providence. And in the teachers of the Law and the Scriptures there is nothing of this life, excepted the description and the name 2).
This exoteric lore is concerned with the Scriptures and their interpretation; esoterie lore with the purification of the heart 3).j
Industrious reciting of the scriptures does not make any man a member of the kingdom4), and no part of prophetic knowledge, i. e. knowledge founded on revelations, can be acquired by reading the Scriptures5).
It is in harmony with this when the reading of the Scriptures
1) Ethikon, p. 317 sq.: Ai^&xx^a r£&(<duL:t ^OOtW.I rduiao r&lA».ia . Kiï-n ^jsorAaA >icv\>_ ore' rClisL^ri »A*i ore*
***a.i.i «jfAJon r<iH=*S) r^M 1 ix« Kiï&Iss.i rtli^Acv» >cna&ur*/
rtfdt.t^.:! rg'ï 1 un r*!ï°A*w:t rdl&icu >enoAv»K' ^>.i r<jja\o
2) Sentence 64.
3) Ethikon, p. 328: ^50 i_,èv. re&irtffo t^a.i.i rduaa** rdifiAeus.1
4) Sentence 21: 7.
5) Sentence 51.



^cxxvrr
Ghazalï has the same appreciation of these sorts of renunciation: He who turns away his desire from all besides God, even from Paradise, without loving anything save God, he is the absolute renouncer. And he who turns away his desire from all luck which he may acquire in the world, without renouncing the same kinds of luck in the world to come, longing after the black-eyed girls and the castles, the rivers and the fruits, he is also a renouncer, but he is lower than the first one; and he who turns away from a part of the goods of the world, but not from another part, as for instance he who turns away from money but not from honour, or from plenty of food but not from a beautiful apparel, he does not deserve the name of a renouncer in its absolute sense; his rank among renouncers is like among repentants that of one who repents some sins; still this is sound renunciation, like repentance of some sins is sound repentance ').
Characteristic is also the foliowing saying cited by Ghazalï: When Rabi'a was asked: what do you think of Paradise, she answered: first the neighbour, then the house. So she expressed that her heart did not seek Paradise but the Lord of Paradise 2).
Kushairï is of the same opinion: The sign characteristic of the Initiated is that he does not care for this world nor for the world to come 3). And al-Rondï, the commentator of the Hikam of Ibn 'Ata'allah says more explicitly: When I [viz. Allah] find in the heart of a servant neither love of this world nor of the world to come, I fill it with love of Me *).
So the esoterie nature of Bar Hebraeus' mystic system may The be called indubitable. This nature appears also in the term Initiated
1) Ihya' IV, p. 186. Cf. p. 193.
2) iv, p. 268: ü\ f JU\ i*L\ J U i*,\J Ai \i
3) Risala,p.i66: Vjoi\ ^ öf>_ 0\ ,_i,U\ i.%



XXXVIII
Initiated which I have used several times as a designation of those who have gone through the different stages of the mystical path and have reached the true spiritual state. The Syriac form of the term is rdjèu».o:v» which could be rendered by Gnostic. I have however preferred the translation Initiated, because Gnostic reminds too vividly of those Oriental Systems which are designated by the name of Gnosticism. As we shall see below, the aim of the mystics is also called Gnosis, but this Gnosis is of a nature different from what is usually understood by the term.
The esoterie meaning of pcliè\^.o.i* appears also in passages where it is contrasted with other terms. In the Ethikon the Initiated are contrasted with the non-Initiated who are called rii'irD ,those who stand aloof' '), and with the common believers 2). The term has not been invented by Bar Hebraeus; it occurs already in the Syriac translation of Euagrius' works. Euagrius gives the following definition: The rïlièw.OT» is he, who is like salt to those who are impure and like light to those who are pure 3). Further it is used by Isaac of Ninive *). It corresponds to the i^sjt. in Muslim mysticism5) and is a rendering of yvuxTTiKÓi;.
In the Ethikon Bar Hebraeus mentiohs four classes of Initiated corresponding to the four manners in which Gnosis can be reached. i° the prophets and apostles who acquire knowledge by divine election. 2° the ascetics who' acquire it by practice. 30 the philosophers who acquire it by speculation. 4° the teachers of the church who acquire it by practice and speculation.
1) p. 489- 2) P. 485.
3) Frankenberg, p. 546: rCVlAda éVoSO.Val OCO «CDoèurV r&èl^O.T»
rdï±l>\ rVïcnCU v^rtb rfrdso^l >enocH»r<'
4) PP- 162, 391, 573, 627.
5) e.g. Ihya' I, p. 54,278; II, p. 184; IV, p. 27, 136, 193, 206, 355, 389; Abü Talib I 37, 81, 84 etc; Ibn 'Ata'allah I 18, 391 61 sqq.



XLIII
the Ihya' in a passage parallel to that in the Ethikon: The second cause of the power of love is the power of the knowledge of God, its spread and its dominion over the heart; and this, when the heart has been purified from all the occupations of and ties with the world, is parallel to the throwing of the seed in the ground after its having been purified from weeds . .. then, from this seed is born the tree of love and knowledge ').
And also in other passages of the Ihya' love and knowledge are closely connected 2); he only loves God peculiarly, who knows Him3). Here again Bar Hebraeus and Ghazalï prove to be dependent upon old-Christian lore: Euagrius has already connected love and knowledge: ré^og Ss xyx^g yvüirig bsoü 4). And Isaac of Ninive is very explicit concerning knowledge and love: Love is sweeter than life. And knowledge concerning God, from which love is born, is sweeter than honey and honey-comb. What is the sweetness of love which is sweeter than life ?
Love is not sorry to suffer ten thousand deaths for the sake of its lovers. Love is the child of knowledge. Knowledge is the child of health of soul. Health of soul is the power which is born from patience during a long time. What is knowledge? Perceiving immortal life. What is immortal life ? Apperception in God. Knowledge concerning God is the king of desirable things. And the heart that has received it, possesses the highest sweetness of all thirigs on the earth. Because with the sweet-
1) Ihya3 IV, p. 271: UXui, VfLiL, <ü\ i"j U\ syj JÜV
Z?j ójr lsJ: Jc-Ui gsr- ^ ju, ,±11 y,. ^
2) IV, p. 315: ijj^iR, öjiS iJ^ cf. p. 252
3) IV, p. 193: tij. ^ Y\ L,\ó. 4Ü1 £4 ^ ^ and III, p. 55: JU Jj£ ^
4) Mönchsspiegel 8 3.



XLIV
ness of knowledge concerning God nothing can be compared'). — Here all the essential thoughts of Ghazalï and Bar Hebraeus concerning knowledge and love are already united. I
Now, as regards love, our mystics are very extensive; their relation with God can be styled as a relation of love; and it is to be remarked, that in the long chapter on love in the Ethikon, nearly the summa of mystic experience, inclusive knowledge, is expounded. Five causes of natural love are enumerated and it is shown that these are to be considered, all of them, as grounds for a man's loving God. Who once has tasted the real love of God, will forget the whole world, without ever returning to it; he who is accomplished in love, will be as a drunken man, he does not see the world, but his thoughts abide constantly in heaven. But this can only be reached by loosening every tie with the world. •
All this may be read explicitly in the present translations. Erptjc Here it is to be remarked, that the descriptions of love are terms 0ften gjven jn erotic terms or images, a practice common among Eastern mystics, chiefly among poets; examples of Persian mystic poems in erotic language are even known through translations in West-European literature. Dionysius the Areo-
i) p. 431: rf-lA^Ctflo KLVmO . reiï-w »JSa v»èu rdacv.** reAu »J93o rdJtol ^sa V*cVu» rAjchre* KisCUi cnrsn rctoArC' A^..i . rtlï_v» «Jsa ,i_»cK_»i Kiacuin rï'cScvA*» >co rcmsa . rcd\_»i&^ eiai cAslsuSoA tcncLn w*w .°Am goA rei»i-2k re*A rd=o_»A ,co rC*iA_i rc'èVu».v» k'cV\^..t..i oen rCa \ » rdacu* . ^_ïcV\o_sa cc&cuvLi.flQsa ^sa.i oen r<A
r<A r<lux rc'èx.x^i Kehs^** ,cn rduacv re'i^fMs re'.nLèvso r<dtcxiz-\jj93 K'cWcüjsa rtlA rctï-u ^oji^ rClusa rc'oSoj.'W ' t^cVj 000 r*-^?3 rVca-Vre* Ai-.t nfcH^-t» rC'cnAr^Ls.l
Aas rCivcuUi cnA >cn re*cV>v»ch_» cn.V3.01 relais ^nu** neA yx=n rVcaVrc* As*.i rVcK^..'Ui pï'cWA.mA:! A^n



XLV
pa'gite already cites iparixo) vpvoi ascribed to Hierotheos').
Christian mystics find points of connection here and there in Biblical literature, in the Song of Songs in the first place, but also in the symbolic language of the New Testament, where the bridegroom and the bride are designations for Christ and the soul.
The relation between the mystic and God is described very often in erotic terms. The true mystics, who reveal their secrets to the Dove, are said to be burning with love and sick with affection2). Ghazalï compares the state of those who travel unto God and who long after meeting Him, with the state of those who are in love 3). The concentration of the thoughts of the mystic upon God alone can only take place when accompanied by sincerity of will and by the dominion of love of God over the heart, so that he resembles the devoted lover, who has only one object, for which he cares 4).
So God is called by Bar Hebraeus simply the Beloved one 5), Beauty the mystic the lover °). Equally common is the epithet of the Beautiful one and often His beauty is spoken of). And Abü Talib mentions a prayer, beginning with the words: O light of the heavens and of the earth, o beauty of the heavens and of the earth 8). The beauty of God is not simply a symbolic expression. This may be seen from the passages in the Book of the Dove and in the Ethikon where it is demonstrated
1) p. 201 sq.
2) Book of the Dove, Introduction.
3) Ihya3 IV, p. 369: ^Ui «ï\il ^ ^\üX\j «U\ J\ o,jU\ JW 0I j«j
4) Ihya3 III, p. 68: Jt &\ :^V\ JAo ^ V\ V >j$\
JV>\j V\ *i ^ jAiM Ijya j (j^ï li*- ~-r^
5) Ethikon, pp. 488, 495, 499, 505. Sentence 53.
6) e. g. Sentence 96.
7) Ethikon, pp. 253, 488 sq., 498, 504 sq. Sentence 15, 79, 84, 99.
8) I, 8 : j,JA3 JW \ j>j^ó ^ \



XLVI
that one of the causes of love, outward beauty, is also a motive for the love of God; for God himself is suprème beauty. He shows himself to the pure in heart in a habit shining like snow, with hair like pure wool, sitting on his flaniing throne with radiating wheels and the carriage with-four sides \]
The description as well as the idea of God being suprème beauty go back to Hellenism. Reitzenstein quotes from Berthelot's work La chimie au moyen age III, 44 a description of Hermes Trismegistos: Un vieillard, le plus beau des hommes, assis dans une chaire j il était vêtu de vêtements blancs...2). And Dieterich quotes from a Paris papyrus a description of Helios: When you have done this, you will see a young, good-looking god, with hair like fire in a white chiton and a purple chlamys, with a crown of fire 3). It goes without saying that here is the example (though not the direct example) of Bar Hebraeus' description, which proves to be a description of Helios. Bar Hebraeus himself would probably have been astonished if he had known this.
Hellenistic religions, in this point, have their philosophic counterpart in the Neoplatonic writers, especially Plotinus. According to him the world is beautiful because it resembles the beauty of its creator4). And the highest sort of men striving to reach the place which is becoming to them, are those who are by nature êpuTtxol and, like lovers, passionately desire to reach the beautiful5). And jamblichus says that beauty itself belongs to the gods °).
Now these lovers, that are the mystics, speak the language of mystical love, borrowed from earthly love. So the aim of
1) Book óf the Dove, p/569. Ethikon, p. 479.
2) Poimandres, p. 361.
3) Mithrasliturgie, p. 10: Vruv oZv toGto woifryt 'ó\psi Ssiv vture'pov siieiSti icvpivórpix» iv xitüivi Aewc^i **' #A«ft(7J/ xoxxhy 'é%ovTce irvpivov a-ré^avov.
4) 5th Enneas, 8th book: On intelligible beauty, passim.
5) Enneads, V, 9 § 2, ... itylxoiro fifo 2v 6 (pórei èpurixós üSi'vav itij
&re ipaiTixo? Trep) ri xxKóv.
6) De Mysteriis, p. 22. See also p. 70 sqq.



XLVII
the mystic, his becoming united with God, is described like the union of love. Bar Hebraeus describes the two kinds of the mystic's longing after God: the former is the longing after seeing Him; the latter after attaining His divine perfections. The latter never ends; the former is quenched when the Initiated and his Beloved meet JJ] One of the Initiated exclaims: O, for Thy unspeakable beauty, let me enter Thy chamber, o King, that I may rejoice and exult with Thee2). In the fourteenth section of the chapter on Love in the Ethikon the varying states of the mystics are described from their first reaching the apartment till their definite entering the brideroom and their lying with the Beloved in' the room. — The heavenly brideroom is already mentioned by Johannes Climacus 3) and Euagrius says that the mouth of the virgins will kiss the bridegroom 4). — The fulfilling of mystic desire is also compared with a banquet and the drinking of wine 5). And Ghazalï speaks of the goblet of love drunk from the sea of affection G).
When Christian mystics use Biblical terms, it is to be noticed that the Bible does not know anything of an erotic union of man with his God; whereas Gnosticism and Hellenism are welk. acquainted with this idea. Reitzenstein mentions that the Valentinians made a real brideroom where the mystics were thought to meet with the Beloved 'j^jWetter quotes from a Hellenistic prayer: evrpkiriaov osxvTVjv ug vvpKpy iKSexofiivy tov WfiCpiov sxurijg, ï'vx ïey b iyu kx) èya b <rv, xxdfèpvo-ov h tó) w(jlCpüvi aov to o-irèpfix tov CpÜTog (p. 9). It will be sufficiënt here to refer further to the well known works of Reitzenstein 8) and Dieterich B).
1} Ethikon, p. 488. 2) ib., p. 505.
3) 6 o&pxvios vvpKpüv, p. 24 and 321.
4) Nonnenspiegel, § 55: nap'Sêvwv itTÓfiet <pi*y<rei vupQiov abrov.
5) Ethikon, p. 503. 6) Ihya' IV, p. 367.
7) Mysterienreligionen, p. 22.
8) Poimandres, p. 226 sq.; Wundererzahlungen, p. 33, 137 142.
9) Mithrastiturgie, p. 121 sqq.



XLIX
rations having been set at peace, the soul is elevated unto purity of intellect. And by a pure intellect man reaches the sight of hidden things Contemplation indeed is spiritual sight 2). Or, according to another definition he gives, contemplation is the apperception of the divine mysteries that are hidden in the spoken things 3). Again he says that the kingdom of heaven is defined as spiritual contemplation4). Euagrius also gives a definition of contemplation : It is spiritual knowledge of all that was and will be, a knowledge that educates the mind and brings it near unto the accomplishment of the image in which it was created 5).
So, according to these Christian mystics, their system is one of sight. This is not only the case with Christian mysticism. Ghazalï cites the following verses, which show that Muslim mystics make the same distinction between the ordinary knowledge which is caused by hearing and the knowledge of the Initiated which is caused by seeing: Take what you see and leave the lore which you hear only; the rise of the sun makes you feel no want of the light of Saturn 6).l — We may here also recur to the the Muslim Srsuplx. We have seen
1) p. 128: rd^-TiZ) cV\cu^z\ rdL^èvsa r£ajLck».i rC.ixx, £aa
rc*cVi»cVujo re*Vu rebcn.i >crA %\rf K-ire* ndajL rd^..TSaao
2) P. 260: jjoti K&vm r^nT^èvaq.i ,00 pcliorc*eVt
3) p- 17: ^»'iisx\.l reti'cnW re*\ïrc*.i r<$uc\j CT_.cK.re' rs_ic\ne_i
4) p- 528: ^__i__are* reduiMCvi pciiorctS re____s_x.:i rc&-i__-_a
ci__civ-rc*rt
5) P- 218: ^o.vsolAa rfiuiuoi r-_v_.:t_» CTi_.cH_.re' rd.iare'cV» ciA r-__»i__sact re*-Jocn_ co_\ r-_=jT_o.i rc'.i.re' rtbcb.io rebcn»
.VdcSk'.i vy^re' cn-ol^a rc___ac\x_
6) h P- 21: ^ju- Vl_ ojj ,\j ie.
4



L
that it is considered by Ghazalï as that higher insight, concerning which it is not allowed to speak. Ghazalï gives a definition of it that contains a new proof of the value he attachés to sight: We mean by SJLi _1\ W, that the cover is lifted up so as to make appear the revelation of divine reality in these things with a distinctness that takes the same place as sight that cannot be doubted ').
Abn Talib al-Makkï, one of Ghazalï's predecessors, has already made the distinction between the knowledge of hearing and that of seeing: Gnosis has two stages; that of hearing and that of seeing, he says 2). This knowledge of sight he defines more exactly: The most constant sight for the heart is that which happens through the eye; the sight of the heart is certainty 3). And further i If the cover of the eye is retected it witnesses the nature of the qualities in its light; and this is an increase of the light of certainty which is the accomplishment of belief4).
This seeing of spiritual things reaches its summit in the Seeing of see}ng 0f Qod; as mystic gnosis is a gnosis concerning God, so mystic sight, as the aim of the system, is seeing God. Thus knowledge, love and sight of God are a chain of mystic acquirements,-or as Isaac of Ninive says: If you know not God, it is not possible that his love be awakened in you. It is not possible that you love God, if you see Him not. You see God as soon as you know Him. Sight of Him is not precedent to knowledge of Him 5).
1) Ihya' I, p. 17: j iAt> 4_i j>- gSji <j\ i«! J-i*
V dii» - iS& eA-^ tSj? iSjè W\_u\ jy'A 01»
2) I, 135: iijka_j £t* i>jA» Oi»-* ^ ó'
3) 1, 157: c*4\ j> -J^ hjj *M k¥jb
4) ïj "5i'• o$£\ jj J»> <i\-~ *»-V< ^
5) p. 222: .__*\èftèV\_»i r&j^sa rcA rctriApc*A tcnC_-_.icV) re__re*



LI
The importance of seeing Gód is indicated by Bar Hebraeus in several ways. If true life — he says — is acquired by the sight of God, it is clear that not seeing Him brings about bitter death'). Seeing God is the aim and summit of ascetical training: One of the rules for those who are learning is, to acquire a great deal of esoterie knowledge consisting in the purification of the heart, of which the accomplishment is the seeing of God2). Purification of the inner being may also be called shutting the senses; in one of the sentences this is called the means to acquire the happiness of seeing God: Beholding God takes place by shutting the senses, by opening the windows of the heart and by withdrawing the veil from the inward eyes 3).
The seeing of God can only take place in the highest stage of intimacy with God, which is called by Bar Hebraeus and other mystics the cloud: The mind in the cloud has unspeakable delight in beholding the Beautiful one. This happens also out of the cloud, but only as to one who hears [the description of the] beauty of the Beautiful one, not as to one who beholds it4). Here again the difference between seeing and hearing; we find it also in another sentence, together with the opinion that even the Initiated cannot see God as He is: As the bat does not see the sun at all, and man, though he sees it, does not see it as it is, so he hears theories concerning the Highest one, but he does not see Him. The Ini-
»cu_èuvu r*Ape' rete\rs__ .cocii-iucWi red cnacu* vy=
r__5__:i_) re__ ,cn_èV__.-_i re!» rCcrArelA tco_èuv** . i*fcnlre_V
cnèV__..vA cnèV»v*»
1) Ethikon, p. 30: reii__5_ rstfArC*! KcSv» ne'H-.-tt. re____> re*
h_-A-*J\-*j re'i.is. re*chc_3- red.1 re_3_^
2) Ethikon, p. 323: re'éVtire'ch ifraffl re_r___> reilsAcu ^so rcl^ouo
cni\*wc\x. pc-rAre*! oen r-ètw»:t ocd
3) Sentence 11.
4) Sentence 15.



LVI
to contemplate the spiritual one '). Plotinus has a wonderful passage dealing with the sight of God, happening when the bodily bonds have been dissolved: So that we must make haste to depart from here and be angry because of our being bound to some extent, that we may embrace Him wholly, without any part that does not participate in God. There it will be given to us to behold Him and ourselves, as it is becoming to behold; ourselves radiant, full of intelligible light, or better, as pure light itself, without weight, agile, having become God or being God, burning, but, if we should become heavy again, extinguished.
Why does not man remain there ? Because he has not wholly left [this earth]. But there will be a time that he may behold continually, no longer impeded by any of the impediments of the body 2).
What Plotinus says in his philosophic way, is, in a popular form, also the aim of the religions of mystery 3). The highest moment of the initiation is that in which the seeing of God takes place; and the ,way' of these Hellenistic mystics is only the means to reach this moment. ,Erst das Schauen des höchsten Gottes macht der Bedrangnis ein Ende, und von Lust und Freude des Anblicks gehoben steigt sein Geist zum Lichte empor, zu Helios und Mithras'4). And x.xSrxp<ri$ and"sxcntTslx are ,offizielIe Stufen jeder antiken Einweihung'5). According to Reitzenstein the initiated acquires a pneumatic body, ,nur als 7rvsiïfjix kann man Gott schauen' °).
' i) P- 97-
2) Enneades, VI, 9 § 9 sq.: üa-rs !gsA&e;v o-TeiSeiv hvreSSiv xai ayavaxTeïv aii öxrepx SeSepévovt 'A/a tó ó'Aw ovt&v •xtpncTv^üpi&a xai pttiSiv fiépof 'é%oiftev <o t-c>j eQavTTÓpieSa 5sov, ópxv Sij 'êo-nv evravSa xaxétvov xai iavrhv <ug öp&v -ej-fg, iuvriv pih yiyhaio-ptévov <puri( srAifpij vomtoS juSAAcv Si tyüc, aura xaSapiv, afiapH, xovQov, èeöv ysvófriivov, pt&Mov Si 'óvra, avaQSévra piiv róre el Si n_A<y (lapóvoiro liirirep piapxivóptvov. ouv oh pévet hxei; i) Vti nfau l||eA>)A</~.v ÏA»4* 'écrrai Si Ure xai to o-vve%ig 'êo-TXi xijc olixéTi évo%tovpiévip ouSeplav sv^Atfavv tov a-w/tarot.
3) Reitzenstein, Mysterienreligionen, p. 97.
4) Dieterich, Mithrasliturgie,' p. 165.
5) ib., p. 210. 6) Mysterienreligionen, p. 33.



LVII
So the Christian and Muslim mystics appear to depend Sight in upon the Hellenistic ideas of beholding God. But it is not to the ?ld be forgotten that the question whether man may behold God, TestaÉnent here or in the world to come, has a history within Semitic religions themselves. The Old Testament has a remarkable passage on the subject, a passage that is reflected by Ghazalï and by Bar Hebraeus. Before departing from Sinai Moses expresses his desire to see God. But the answer is: Man cannot see Me and live, and this is the general answer of the Old Testament on the fervent desire of man to behold God. Yet, Yahwe makes a concession to His great servant. Moses has " to place himself upon the rock. While he is there, the god* head passes before his eyes, but Yahwe places His hand upon Moses' face, so that he cannot see. Only when He has passed, the hand is lifted up and Moses beholds Yahwe from behind.' His desire is fulfilled partly. Even the man who is nearest unto God of all human beings, may not see His face, only His back ').
But this is not the only answer given in the Old Testament. When the covenant between Yahwe and His people has been made on Sinai, the law has been read and accepted, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the elders ascend the mountain: And they saw the God of Israël: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness. And -upon the nobles of the children of Israël he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink2).
When Miriam and Aaron are jealous, Jahwe explains Moses' extraordinary position in this way: If there be a prophet among you, I the lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Mbsès is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him
1) Exodus 33.
2) Ex. 24, 10 sq.



LVIII
I speak mouth to mouth, by sight and not in dark speeches;, and the similitude of Yahwe he beholds '). And Jesajah, in his vision, beholds the Lord sitting on His throne 2).
Further the common expression in the Old Testament for the Israelites' regular appearance in the sanctuary is ,to see Yahwe's face'. This expression is either borrowed from and founded upon the practice of the heathen Semites who visited their sanctuaries in order to behold the face of the gods i. e. their images; or it is a reminiscence from an early period in the Israelitic religion itself. At any rate it does not suit the Old Testament practice; and the Masora is so far right in changing this expression into ,appearing before the face of Yahwe' in many places. In the Jewish religion the expression was nearly incomprehensible, all anthropomorphism was banished there.
In early Christianity there have been disputes concerning the question whether the -blessed in Paradise will behold God; the Mesalleyanë taught so, but' they were contradicted by Euagrius 3).
in early Islam in its early period affirmed the question; characteristic Islam -s for mstance a tradition told by Bukharï. People asked the Apostle of God: Shall we behold our Lord on the day of resurrection? "He answered: Do you dispute concerning the full moon in a cloudless night? They answered: No. He said: Do you dispute concerning the sun when there is no cloud in the sky? They answered: No. Then he said: You will see Him in the same way, when He gathers mankind on the day of resurrection 4). In this tradition the beholding of Allah is
1) Numbers 12, 6 sqq.: Q-fo-p JHfonN T^N n«103 Ü32 ITÏT ON
rwrm _) -dik rw no an pw vvct hoi n_»d n_y p tó uSmK
(corrected text) _)>_p nï!T H-V-ffi nTlTD ^
2) Is. 6, 1.
3) Reitzenstein, Historia Monachorum, p. 198 sq.
4) Adhan, b. 129 (cf. Mawakït al-Salat, b. i&, 26) : J^, \ ^ü) ^V- ••



LX
part of man is denoted in several ways: viz. by the terms soul, spirit, heart, mind, to take the most frequent. Bar Hebraeus' Ethikon, in imitation of Ghazalï, has a chapter on this subject '). We shall see that his division of the spiritual faculties of man is not only more or less in accordance with that of Ghazalï but also with that of other mystics; all of them are consequently more or less dependent upon a general system ; and this system is that of Eastern philosophers in general; these in their turn go back to Greek examples.
Bar Hebraeus, however, opens his chapter with pointing to the Holy Scriptures, where the terms soul, spirit, heart and mind are used synonymously; he justly remarks that this synonymity denotes equality as well as difference. | *
The word soul denotes three ideas. i° the power that regulates and accomplishes nutrition. This power is of two kinds; either it is administering, or it is being administered. The administering power either attracts the feeding elements, or it regulates them, or it digests them, or it drives out their rests. The administered power is either productive, or feeding or causing growth. The soul, constituted of these powers, is called the vegetative one. 2° the power by which aniroal beings perceive and by which they are set into motion by their free will. The soul constituted of these powers, is called the animal one. 3° the power by which we discern between truth and falsehood and between good and bad. The soul constituted of these powers is called the rational one 2).
The word spirit denotes three ideas. i° the subtle, ethereal body that originates in the blood of the left chamber of the heart and; by the pulse of the arteries, imparts life, apperception and motion to the whole body 3). 2° the rational soul,
1) III, p
2) The vegetative, animal and rational soul occur in so many Semitic philosophical systems, that I think it superfluous to give examples.
3) According to de Boer, Philosophie im Islam, p. 25, this is already taught in a treatise on the by Kusta b. Lüka; further (p. 52) by the Mu'tazilite Nazzam.



LXI
when it begins to be purified and seeks and meditates things above. 30 one of the adorable persons of the holy trinity.
The word heart signifies two ideas. i° the principal organ that has the shape of a cone and is turned towards the left side of the breast. 20 the rational soul especially when the apperception of the divine things begins in it. The divine psalmist mysteriously denotes the kinship between the ideas heart and spirit when he asks his Lord to create in him a pure heart and to renew in him a steady spirit ').
The word mind (relioeo) comprehends four ideas. i° the aptitude of acquiring natural knowledge, as it is found in children. 2° the presence of this natural knowledge as, for instance, that the whole is greater than a part. 30 the knowledge acquired by experience and training in worldly intercourse. 40 knowledge that attains intellectual things exalted above sensual apperception. This happens to the soul, not in the beginning of its purification, but when it has been wholly purified from the disturbance of earthly deliberations. In this sense also angels are called reiÏGco. The first and the second idea belong to nature. The third and the fourth are acquired by learning. The first idea is the root, the second the branch that sprouts by nature, not by learning. The third and the fourth are branches of the second, rising from learning, not from nature.
The consequence of this is, that the denominations spirit or heart are superior to that of soul. But that of mind is superior to all three 2).
Bar Hebraeus' theory is, to a large extent, parallel to that of Ghazalï. The section 3) of the latter on the subject may be given here in extract. He begins with stating that the terms soul, spirit, heart and mind (JjP-) are synonyms. Heart he explains in accordance with the subject of his book in two senses: i° the organ in the left side of the breast, that has a conic form. 20 a principal, spiritual substance (iiJbl) connected with the
1) Ps. 51.
2) Ethikon, p. 203 sqq.
3) Ihya' III, 3.



LXII
bodily heart and denoting the essence (aLJü»-) of man, viz. his attaining, knowing and understanding part. The connection between these two senses is the same as that between the attributes and the subject of the attributes, between the substrate and the accidens, between the instrument and him that uses it.
Spirit is also used in two senses: i° that of a subtle body originating in the hollow part of the heart and spreading by the pulse of the veins through the different parts of the body. It diffuses the light of life and of the senses and this function is to be compared with the burning of a lamp. Life is analogous to the light of the lamp, spirit to the lamp itself. 2° that of the knowing, attaining part of man.
Of the different meanings of soul Ghazalï mentions the following: i° the force of anger and desire or the principle that unites all blamable human qualities. 2° the substance (iiuÜ) forming the being (oU, üj_>-) of man.
Of mind dj.^) Ghazalï gives two meanings: i° knowledge concerning the being of things. 2° the power that attains knowledge; then it is synonymous with ,heart' in the sense of substance (SjJaj).
It is obvious that Ghazalï and Bar Hebraeus use, generally speaking, the same system. For the sake of clea*rness I will cite two other Muslim mystics who discuss the composite character of man: Jfushairï and Tmad al-Dïn al-Umawï. The former speaks of soul and spirit: Probably the soul is a substance localised in this utensil (the body), and the seat of the unsound properties, as the spirit is a substance localised in this utensil, and the seat of the laudable properties.... the fact that spirit and soul have the form of subtle bodies is to be compared with the fact that angels and devils are also described as subtle beings ').
i) p. 52: j^VA \A_ i iiJal Lr_i\ op O1 jWj



lxiii
Concerning the importahce of mind 'Imad al-Dïn says: The shaikhs say that mind is the light of the heart and by the light of the heart the servant of God looks towards the world to come, in the darkness of passion; then the servant remains stupefied and his limbs become relaxated and desirous after lust and they hasten to tread the path of fatal sins. But when the light of mind grows strong, it radiates and becomes brilliant and then the fire of passion is quenched and its darkness disappears ').
These quotations may sufficiently characterize the anthropology of these mystics; it is beside my aim and above my powers to work out their relation with the different theological and philosophical views of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim thinkers; I will only point to the mass of materials on the subject adduced by Goldziher in the notes to his edition of the Kitab Ma'ani '1-Nafs; the relation of this lore with Greek philosophy is clearly indicated there. It is however to be observed that this relation seems to be closer with the Stoa than with any other Greek system of philosophy. According Relation to the Stoic philosophers the soul of the embryo is a vegeta- rf*"'6 tive one, after birth it becomes an ,animal' nature 2).
Further one of the most remarkable features in the quotations given above is the material nature of the soul. Perhaps this is also to be explained by Stoic influences; for, as Zeiler says in his exposition of the Stoic theories concerning the soul, ,dass die Seele körperlicher Natur war, ergab sich für
ü& y c? ^ j «AJ CJJ\ o» if AAA\
«i\_JÏ\ «_» cAAAl, £%\ o& J *&&\ fWV\ O" L^ÜIJ
1) n, 279: j\ juJ\ jyjJ J| _>S\ ^VAI J\a J_J\ U AjL. Jl jA.-ij ^L^\ ^jij; jjuj ÖU=- ^ &j ^ > i :j^A
OW &'3 ■** >'j^> <Sjj *jy 'UI JU\ jji _ji-T0\i J_tóA\ Ast-,
v-Jljj lS_AA
2) Zeiler, iii, 1, p. 200.



LXIV
die Stoiker schon aus den allgemeinen Voraussetzungen ihres Materialismus'
Bar Hebraeus maintains that the soul discerns between truth
and falsehood; according to the Stoa it is ,die Seele selbst...
welche sich der Wahrheit oder dem Irrtum zuwendet'2). Of
course this parallelism does not imply a direct dependency
on the part of our mystics; but as we shall also meet with
other parallel features beneath, the relation can scarcely be
of a nature to be overlooked.
Ethical Mysticism has a very distinct view concerning the ethical nature of r i ' , r . t.
the soul nature ot the soul, or, of mans inner being in general. Bar
Hebraeus exprésses his thoughts concerning this point in his
usual clear way: Stains in the soul are to be compared with
clouds before the sun; likewise they hinder man from looking
into the sun of righteousness and they do not allow him to
hide himself in the light of His face. But it is clear, that
when the darkening object has been removed, illumination
necessarily must follow 3). And in sentence 85 he says: Every
pure soul seeks its original country and turns towards it on
the right way that is the shortest. — And in the description
of the bridechamber he says that there to the soul is revealed
its natural beauty; then it sees itself as it is, viz. in the like-
ness of its creator 4).
So the heart is often called a treasury 5); and the light that
dawns before man in a high spiritual state is really his own
1) III, 1, p. 197.
2) Zeiler, IJl, I, p. 205.
3) Ethikon, p. 356: rciii__ v^rt* r___£_l ,___rC-_> rC*cr_33cWc__3 ,cns rCcVcvcuiM r___ï rï-X-9-X9 O.i-.-an \o rel____3 - r__u__ ___,pt_a
rc-nax. rdi o_5____è\j_a._ «cocLSire'.i re'icncu.-jo rdS-cU rc&cuicni_V»j rc.nllrc' jöo v^Ui-sa.i oen cr»cu.__0_a___i
4) Ethikon, p. 489; cf. Isaac of Ninive, p. 169.
5) Isaac of Ninive, p. 528; Book of the Dove, p. 542.



LXV
inner light. As Euagrius says: those who, at the time
of prayer, behold the rays of the light of their mind dawning before them ').
Isaac of Ninive's theories concerning the soul are closely akin to the foregoing. It is certain to me, he says, that our mind on account of its nature is inclined towards- good, even without the intermediary action of the holy angels, also without teachings. Without the intermediary action of demons or of the senses, our mind is not able to acquire the knowledge of evil things or to be inclined towards them on account of its nature. In our nature good is implanted; evil not. And all that is foreign and enters from without wants a mediator in order to be learned. That which is implanted within, comes to light by nature, even without teachings, albeit dimly 2).
The identity of the treasures of the soul with those of the kingdom of God, is also taught by Isaac: Make peace with your soul, then heaven and earth will be on peaceful terms with you. Strive to enter the treasury that is within you and you will behold that which is in heaven. For the former and the latter are one and by the same entering you will behold both. The ladder towards the kingdom is hidden within
1) p. 552= rc'icocu.i r*iii_50_. ^>vm rtfètcA^a r____>V-».i ^Acn ..
_^ocnAs. ___.n ^oco-ioco.'t
2) p. 197: fjaa .i_.\ao r_-ocn» >A rc*cH___v_» rC.iona *__s *A A__ ©co j__>icWè_39 cnèv, r-LxA'ivn r<lircA_-3 rc_^cu__^_a .t_A_j rC*cK___3.T (_.coch__.T» . reCisAcu reA.1 Arcto re*cH__\r_»cnA__ Ore* a\-in*wA r-LT-is^ï OrC* pC.ire-i.."! "^<\i\ . T
r_A
rcAr___. isA ^saa ,cn rc'èv.'i-kCU.i A_kO
pd_i__.i cvi^n ^.1 ,03 .juiA) re_-b^sa As. aii-Acu.! re*è_»».___. ov>PC''iocaa ^Svrc* re_t__> oen ck-.'i p«-__Acu pdAs __rc\ Cf. also p. 21.



LXVI
you. Dive into your soul, [purified] from sin and there you will find steps by which you can ascend ').
So the human soul, according to Isaac, is originally and after its true nature, free from affections: No soul, that does not allow her natural being to be invaded by an increase of anxiousness concerning the gathering of goods, will want much care in order to find in itself motions of wisdom concerning God. For its being free from the world, will naturally arouse in it the motion of ideas from which it is able to be exalted towards God and to remain in ecstasy. When waters from without have no access to the fountain of the soul, its own natural waters will spring up, namely those wonderful ideas that are moving towards God at all times. So every time that the soul finds itself without this state, either it will find a point of connectien in foreign recollections, or the senses will cause it to be moved by trouble, on account of its meeting with things [without]. When the senses have been shut off by solitude without break and the recollections have grown dim thereby, then you will see what the nature of the deliberations of the soul is, and what the nature of the soul is and which treasures are hidden in it. The treasures are incorporeal ideas which emerge from their soul without care or trouble being bestowed thereon, concerning which man even does not know that such deliberations are moving in human nature, nor does he know who has been his teacher, or how he knows things of such a kind that he even could not teil his companion
i) p. 12: v' t v\i>___ ^il-cnx-saa v\x°i] pa__. oure' ^tèucrc ,cn--v»v**0 vn \ "aa cu^.i rc*v-ï-^ A._____ A^s-uènrt' rt___ïrc*a r<_-l__sa K'jMao oeoa re_icn »coo_\__r<' &*> r__saz_a.i oca__ r__x_^sa van rc_iG._A._a >Gan re_\___£t> . _j3co_»ï_> rcVuèV
■»_..r _. fjsacha rc_\____» ^.sa vn=j cK_irc* ont <\\ c\^>a
AODoS Oor-3.1 T-LÏxiQa-O èurc*



LXVII
what he knows, or who has been his guide towards that which he has not learned from any other. This is the nature of the soul. Therefore the affections are something additional, present in the soul on account of [outside] causes. But naturally the soul is not subject to affections ').
Muslim theory concerning the soul is in accordance with these Christian views. The heart, says Ghazalï, was created in a state of integrity originally; and every child is born a Muslim; but the integrity disappears by the dirt that covers its surface on account of the dust of the sins and their darkness 2). And a tradition runs: He of you who knows best his own soul, also knows best his Lord3). And Johannes Climacus says: KxSrxpx Cpvcrii; \pu%ij$ i).
This theory is also that of Neo-platonic philosophy: xx) ro> fih xyxbh rijj \pvx% êirrxi èv owix, <7Vfi(3s(3yiKb<; 5f ti to>xxxÓv5). According to Jamblichus the soul participates in the beauty of the gods G). The author of the Theology of pseudo-Aristoteles describes how, at times, he is able to strip off the body and to be alone with his soul; then he perceives in his being .beauty, splendour and brilliancy to an amazing extent' And, before, it had been defended by the Stoics: ,und mag auch die Tugend ein Wissen genannt werden, so wird sie doch zugleich wesentlich als Gesundheit und Starke des Geistes, als die richtige, mit ihrer Natur übereinstimmende Beschaffenheit der Seele beschrieben'8). On the contrary the bad state
1) p. 20 sq.
2) Ihya' IV, p. 12: -eJ^\ ^ % AoVA é $L jlc. cl ■■■
VA? 'jé- es *vrj J*J IjjjC iA%i\ Wij
3) Goldziher, Kitab Macani'l-Nafs, p. 3: ^ <i^.\ <^6,\ or. ^
^ 1—ti, cAlï's hundred Sentences, N°. 6.
4) P- 3°4-
5) Plotinus, Enneads I, 8 § 12. 6} De mysteriis, p. 22.
7) P- 8: L^*_ «1 j,\ _ yl3 ^ & j aJ$ Cf. p. 5I.
8) Zeiler III, 1, 241.



LXVIII
of the soul is called illness. Pythagoras is said to have driven away the diseases of body and soul by teaching music and rythmic songs
Health The purity of the soul is called here health. The influence of the^soul °^ Stoic philosophy, be it a direct or an indirect one, on Semitic mysticism may again be demonstrated by the fact that the whole mystic way could be called a process of healing the soul that, originally sound and pure, has become ill and troubled.; Isaac of Ninive, again, is very clear on this point: If excellency is the natural health of the soul, the affections, however, illnesses that have become wonted to obtrude themselves on nature and to deflect it from its healthy state, it is obvious that health is anterior in nature to the vicissitudes of .illness 2).
The Book of the Dove is compared by its author in the introduction to a medical treatise destined for those patients who have no access to a physician; and the Initiated are the physicians 3). Cognate ideas occur several times 4), likewise in the Ethjkon 5) and in Isaac 6). Euagrius compares the sinner who repents to a patiënt who is on the way of recovering '). And according to Johannes Climacus the abbot of a convent resembles a physician 8). Jamblichus says that Pythagoras xiro tovtccv xtxvtuv Sxif/.oviwg 'ixto xx) xirsxxbxtfe tviv \pu%yv 9).
1) Jamblichus, Vita Pyfhagorae, p. 5°.
2) p. 24: r^.r «Ma rfili.% 000 K-lsaAcu* rï&o"iè\._._a *_..i_r-' .-i^- -n \ rcl_*_k A__. ^__^__S93 __c\—irC* pc_lcoïcv_. K-X.» oco ^a-uo rr*\-7_Ac\jj.i - y a_l_s>-_<x» *-sa oocVcilnS-M-o
rdicnicu-i rc'.ï-.T.^ K_L____
3) P- 534-
4) PP- 538, 55° stl<l-; sentence 4.
5) pp. 45 sq., 223, 228 sq., 251, 363.
6) pp. 16, 18, 46, 113, 115, 314, 343, 414, 433, 455, 472.
7) P- 588.
8) p. 466; cf. p. 385.
9) Vita Pythagorae, p. 58. Cf. De mysteriis, p. 40.



lxx
Bar Hebraeus himself has a section in his Ethikon entitled: On the apathy of the Perfect. It opens thus: The mind of the Perfect -delights in the sea of life and, swimming in the waves of light, it rejoices in the rays of its splendours and exults and burns with love and is changed into the likeness of its wonderful radiance and stupefïed by the sight of the Beautiful one and captivated by the love of the High one and all, even his own being, becomes to him as not existing. He that acquires this divine apperception, he it is that is resurrected before the general resurrecfion in apathy and in-corruptibility
Isaac of Ninive likewise considers apathy as the highest state a mystic may reach on earth. This appears from the title of one of his tracts, running thus; On true knowledge and on temptations and on the necessity of knowing exactly that not only weak and mean and not-trained people but also those who have been deemed worthy of temporary apathy and have
____,£ü<V pCêVax. rcAct ré-L-a r_Ao rc___**\ reA.i cuco rr_AC_.c\l__.i r<,è_3a_L4J__Ci rc*\ i »3 rei___» Aa ,\~mC_A "nCL-ioS r^-i .n^-.n re*__t_5__.__30 rdi.,i_i_j ^_5Qr<_icVo rCcr-ArC* ^jssh r<__._r?l___o ^—>.t->cn v\-_.lcoa,__ K'cQ-.rC'.i rCcVA.'SQ.l rdl_l___jo r<_1CX_l_.C\ r_____c\_k .*rc* jains..-» rfllOCOO -r<&C\_.ClX» r<A vA j-j.lèl
v\<VcA^a pC*v*»-i
i) p. 253: rc!\j__iè\_o r«__*-S rc_s__a rï'ï__»ll\i ^__sa r-JOca ,cnai_.ïern Imso^d j___THk__30 rc'icocx-l .ï V \ r<jj.CD .i__>o, rc*T_cocrt cDCUt.i rfèvccs-t- -AjjcVix-soct rc"_\_ia_>T-> -joSïo toio rc_soii q-sic.ML3 r-lacKjC-sao rc'i-S.x.s ckkVivuo KtaA=>è\_aa oco ,coa_\A v\—»r«' cnV_.i cnèv» ArC* A_t orA ,coocVi.rcb Ta.T-Ql c\_-oeo rc_\_n rC'èv.aArC' rC_lCX___^T_>3 rc'.ico vy»rc'."Ai ~p-n rC-Aj-LucVco rïAo r_Lx.CiXM rtfA rCcWvlC-^ K-VSO-s



lxxi
reached perfection of mind and are near to the stage of partial purity, in so far as it is compatible with mortality, and have reached the state of being elevated above affections, in so far as this is allowed in this world by God in respect of the conjunction of life with flesh that is subject to affections — have their struggle and are assailed by affections because of the body').
Euagrius has the following sentence: o-apxsg %pi<rToü irpxxrixx\ xperxi o 5è ioSiav xurxg yevfosrxi X7rx$)jg2). And XTrxSrvig is he who subdues the flesh 3). So without apathy the heart cannot be elevated: xvev •yxXxxrog oii rpxCpfaerxi irxfèiov, xxi %cop)g xTrxSreixg ov% udióxï&xi xxpSix 4).
That the neo-Platonic philosophers highly esteemed apathy may be seen from Jamblichus' Life of Pythagoras: uv rs foxtet ij sTcpxTTev svièix xx) xfAiftiiTcp nvt yxTdivy (a^ts öp/fi ttots (/.vite •ysXaiTi jCmjts C^Aw jttijTf (piXoysixix (av\ts xhXtft Txpxxy yj irpoirertlx xXivxofuvog 5).
The mystics make use of a term that in many respects Emotions,
irapulses
may be called synonymous with that of affections; it is that of emotions, inclinations, impulses, K___öt. It may be characterized by some quotations. Peculiar fasting, according to Bar Hebraeus, is fasting during which not only the stomach but also the senses abstain from sinful motions0). In a paragraph on lasciviousness he says that the Perfect, whose heart is not
2) p. 494: jj.-U.n ,co A__c\ K_icv_£__ As_.o rCivc.."! rCè\s_..t» As r</-W£__a rfVijiffla rdx-irc* ia ccA.i èV\-»r<__._v_> - 1 —» \ r<cVtc__.CVXu r_A_ cuoèHx.K'.i . »\«nC __rc* r-Arc' r_._.ï.t3J rcAa rc*.v-.C__i cxsi-ao rc"cVv»__icV.i rC-ioi 1 -al^ cxAjsact rVè-_U9i oA^tao pc_i_»*_k rc/cVoèicu-so tq__.i ,00 K&cu-t.-n rCcrArc' rc***i\s rciicarj.i r<l_a_. pcIta» ^sq.i r-Act-A
rïlt-aoS^oS _^OcrA cVurC* K-_.c\__> rCÏfla-s )aj_..l r-L-jj «VcU-S-kS
2) Mönchsspiegel § n 8. 3) § 6. 4) § 66.
5) p. 7. 6) Book of the Dove, p. 545.



lxxii
affected by passionate deliberations (i^ïut» r<i_ix.cu») on
account of the sight of the splendid luminaries in heaven or the glorious flowers on the earth, are not scorched in their heart by exciting emotions (r<-_l-u»<Vcu> r___.ö\) on account of the sight of a desirable face either ').
Sentence 25 runs thus: As cleansing iron from a foreign substance, as gold, silver, brass and lead, is more difficult than delivering it from the grip of a hand and other outward inpeding influences, which do not cohere with its substance, so it is more difficult to purify the mind from brutish customs and animal inclinations, which are cohesive with its nature, than to loosen the ties with wife and children, talents and mine's.
The term already occurs frequently in the works of Isaac of Ninive. The inward motions, he says, are bound up with their apperceptive power by means of the senses that administer them 2). And: From the motions of your mind unto the thing unto which it divagates by its emotions, you can understand the stage of your behaviour, viz. towards which things nature inclines without trouble, and which are the constant motions and which are those that are set in motion by accident and whether the mind is wholly captivated by uncorporeal emotions or whether it moves wholly in the material sphere 3).
1) ib., P. 552.
2) p. 4: .i_=3 ^oa3oSc\vil\jvt7i_j c\l\\.i rd__ö\ _^cunr* ^ï_x_> re
^^ocrtViT *»it *n —\jj
3) p. 19: rcta2k ^cm\s, a rC*oScx_j^ A__ vyi--_i.i re*cVi__l ^__;a ^A-rC A__.i . vN-a'iso.i.i n^_\_>c\jr__o èVurc' v\T1__a ,coö,__ov=3 rc'è>C____!arc'.i recnrxi _^curc' ^A-rcb r_A_i___ reAi rc_i__. jjo.sc K-Ws-il. reAinx. __k'.to _^C\ctA .__.v_a rdJL.T^l ^_CUnf* ^A-reto èurC-Aoco crA_> GrC* rdsn'ir, _v r_A r___.Ö\.i rc*èvE.\i crA_. A_k



LXXIII
In these quotations, which could be augmented, ^Öt and rccoiij are the motions and emotions in malam partem. The terms, especially have however a wider meaning. Bar
Hebraeus has three sections on the inclinations of perfection ') • Isaac of Ninive speaks of r^cWo.v % and Bar He¬
braeus discusses which emotions are sinful, which not3).
But at any rate, the desirable state for the mystic is that of being without emotions, and the opposite of^o, is peilt solitude and rest. In the first state of love, joy imparts tó the mystic silence and rest, enabling him to cut off the pass.onate emotions in his heart«). Bar Hebraeus cites a passage from John de Dalyata on prayer: By prayer the mystic is deemed worthy of the sight of His glory and of abiding in the cloud of His majestic light, in the place of spiritual beings, in stupefaction and silence, freed from emotions in ecstasy, while he is stupefied by the splendour of the light of many rays that dawns on him, which is the life and the enjoyment of the spiritual beings 5).
So the emotions are akin to the affections, but they are of a less vehement nature and not always to be condemned; but the ideal state is to be without them.
Syriac terminology is parallel to that of the Muslim mystics Emotions are naturally inherent in the soul, says Abiï Talib al-Makkï, but it has the duty to be in rest»). The conneètion between the emotions and the passions is tested by 'Imad al-Dïnal-Umawï;,Things which move the hearts by the emotions unto the passions' % And the ,soul in rest' is a
Koranic term frequently. found in Muslim mystics. \
1) Book of the Dove III, i 3.
2) p. 18.
3) Ethikon, p. 219 sq.
4) Ethikon, p. 496.
5) Ethikon, p. iï.
6) i, 84: ojDl jij % ^ Ajj^
7) m Abü Talib 11, 98: ^L,A\ Jl iV^Ü ^\ ^ V,, J\



LXXIV
The connection between the motions and the affections is already to be met with in Plotinus who speaks of rug vpbg rb %xs%sw irouTxg xivyo-etg '); and motus in this technical sense is found in Seneca as well as in Thomas a Kempis. The soul The nature of the heart is also characterized by a symbolic a mirror expressjon occurring throughout Eastern mysticism, an expression that compares the heart with a mirror. The Ethikon contains a section, important not only for the mystic theory of the human heart but also for that of its relation with the world. It bears the title: On the relation between the logical soul and the recognizable things.
,The relation between the rational soul and recognizable things is the same as that between a mirror and things seen in it. As the images of things seen are reflected in the mirror, not these things themselves, so the images of recognizable things are .depicted in the soul, not recognizable things themselves. If this were not the case, it would be becoming that anyene who knew fire would be burned by its fervour. And this is not so.
Of material things, consequently, the soul attains intellectual images. Further: on account of four causes a mirror does not reflect the images of things to be seen. i° on account of their form being not apt to be reflected, as for instance iron before it has been modelled. 2° on account of dirt with which they are besmeared. 30 on account of a screen being between them and the mirror. 40 on account of their forms being perverted. In the same way on account of these four things the images of recognizable things are not reflected in the soul: ' i° the soul being not apt, as for instance the soul of a boy. 2° its stains which are gathered in it on account of desires and render it dirty. 30 the presence of a screen, consisting in a heresy that is before it and hinders the orthodox confession from revealing itself to it. 40 its nature being perverted on account of ignorance concerning the way leading towards the
l) Ermeads VI, 1 § 18.



LXXV
thing to be recognized. For instance: He who does not know that the world is to be dissolved and passing, may attain this knowledge by arranging two truths: i° that this world is of a composed nature. 2° that all which is composed will be dissolved. From these it is inferred that the world will be dissolved. It is clear that, such a fundamental scheme being perverted, the necessary conclu^ion is not to be arrived at. But if such impeding causes as we have enumerated, were absent, every human soul would attain all existing things as they really are. For it has been created in the likenels of the creator and it was made in the image of its maker' ').
Generally speaking.it is the corporeal desires and their consequences that render the. mirror of the heart dirty and prevent man from seeing God. In his section on fasting Bar Hebraeus says that copious food prevents the soul from seeing spiritual things, but abstinence renders the mirror of the heart shining so that it acquires the aptitude of reflecting spiritual images
Two of the sentences are also very instructive: As a mirror is in itself devoid of all images and reflexes, but according to ïts^purity and clearness images of things putside appear in it, so the mind is devoid of images, and according to its being purified from the stains of matter, immaterial perceptions are reflected in it 3j. And sentence S8: How long will you seek a guide in order to open in the wall of your mind a window towards the kingdom? Cleanse the mirror of your mind from stains, then it will show you the images of the two kingdoms and the ways that will lead you towards that of heaven and further towards that of God.
The Muslim mystics are also acquainted with the expression and its significance. Like Bar Hebraeus, Ghazalï considers fasting as a means to purify the mirror of the heart: As to
1) Ethikon, p. 211 sq.
2) Book of the Dove, p. 545.
3) Sentence 36.



LXXVI
waking it cleanses the heart and purifies and enlightens it; this is to be coordinated with the lucidity springing from hunger; so the heart becomes like a shining star and a cleansed mirror in which the beauty of God is reflected
Ibn 'Ata'allah has nearly the same expressions: Your shaikh is he who does not cease to cleanse the mirror of your heart till the lights of your Lord are reflected in it2).
The comparison seems to go back to early mystics as may be seen from a quotation from Euagrius in the Ethikon: As man is not able to behold his likeness in water set into motion, so the mind cannot behold our Lord in its self as in a mirror, if it does not purify the inner soul from the affections caused by the things [of the world]3). It is also used by mediaeval philosophers, e.g. Ibn Gabirol, Mekor Hayyim, ed. Munk, Memar 5 § 65: Toy DÏ2JO npTP "WH rSlfl iUODD D^DD (*<■■ VQTi) ntvm
■rmv nayrm miN uw 2J?
Body and Mysticism is again in accordance with Greek philosophy in soul its views regarding the relation of body and soul. It is worth while to translate a passage in the Ethikon on this subject: ,The soul is confined in the body as in a tent that is shut. As the [cloth of] the tent is sometimes lifted up by a strong blow of the wind so that all that is in it and without it is beheld eye to eye; and sometimes, when its pores are extended on account of the cloth being thin and worn out, light is shining in it, though dimly; and sometimes, when the cloth is not lifted up nor the pores are extended, man helps himself and opens a window towards every visible object he will attain, — in the same way for the prophets and also for the apostles by the blowing of the Holy Ghost, that blows where
1) lliya III, p. 67: J\ düi uAJuS °jy>j <^a>j
S$ &M 'US ^f^jvè y~ W
JW . Cf. also I, p. 17; IV, p. 268.
2) II, 65: 4^ Jtf v *M J~ Ali c\y jfe J\> L iS$ j> i&P
3) P- 278.



LXXX
%$stxi to) xxSrxpsveiv TYiv "hixvoixv '). And in a remarkable fortn such advices are found in the Corpus Hermeticum: xxSrxpxt gexutov &7C0 rüv xXoyav Tyg uXyig ripcupiüv 2). Asceticism So it is not only several doctrines that Christian and Muslim mystics have taken over from Neo-platonic philosophers, but also their whole way of life, their ascetic exercises. And again Neo-platonic philosophy appears to be akin to the religion of the mysteries: Die Askese hat oft ihren Platz auch in den Mysteriën. Sie ist dabei ein vorbereitendes Moment3). Porphyry's De Abstinentia and his Ad Marcellam are really ascetic treatises; and fasting and waking are practices which are reckoned as virtues among Neo-platonic philosophers 4) as well as among Christian and Muslim mystics.
These facts are of some importance for the genesis of Semitic mysticism. It cannot be maintained that it consists of two parts: asceticism and the esoterie doctrine with its very. complicated mystic experience. It has, in other words, not melted these two elements into one system: it has found this system already comprising the two elements; it has not created, it has only continued the work begun by Hellenism. Viewed in this light, early Christian asceticism appears also as an element of Hellenism. This conclusion may be tested in particular points by those who are acquainted with the works of Reitzenstein.
We must leave this subject here and try to sum up the general features of asceticism as it is described by the mystics. The variety of ascetic exercises is reduced to four units by Bar Hebraeus. It is worth while to translate his words: The novice wants to provide himself with four kinds of proviand on his way: solitude, silence, hunger, waking. By solitude all meeting with troubling influences is cut off. By silence all
1) Porphyrius, Ad Marcellam, XXIII.
2) ed. Reitzenstein, XIV § 7.
3) Wetter, p. 40.
4) Porphyrius, Vita Plotini, § 7 sq.



LXXXI
inane occupations are banished from the memory. By hunger the mind is purified. By waking the stains that screen the eyes of the soul are cleansed. And when he has acquired these things, he will be steadfast on the way of his Lord and merely direct his gaze towards heaven and expect help from there, while constantly reciting the words of Jeremiah the prophet, saying: I have not become weary in following Thee, and the rejoicings of man I have not desired, o Lord ').
All these ascetic practices are often symbolically expressed in a sentence that has been widely spread among the mystics: Shut the windows, that the room may be lighted 2).
In this sentence the illumination of the inner man is called illuminathe fruit of asceticism. A similar connection is often assumed tion by the mystics. ,The aim of the abode in the cell is the expectation of the gift of God consisting in the illumination of the mind and the aptitude to behold spiritual things in their nature and becoming familiar with them'3). According to Ghazalï fasting and waking effectuate illumination of the heart4), Here we touch one of the essential points of mysticism: it could be styled ,the doctrine of illumination'. This is true already for Isaac of Ninive. The works of asceticism he considers as the ways towards illumination: If you give yourself to the service of prayer that makes the spirit shine, and to constant waking during the night, in order to acquire a mind clad with light, you must hide yourself from seeing [the things] of the world and cut off intercourse by speech r>).
1) Ethikon, p. 231.
2) Sentence 11 and the note on it.
3) Book of the Dove, p. 537.
4) Ihya' III, p. 67.
5) P- 52: rC&ui*cov»> r^èWA^ ^jjAosA vyr°U èvaca* re r«£»A*. >öv-u vytAl rüv.v^rï' re*iaoc\.i relic.cn
6 .



LXXXII
And: Those who on account of their behaviour are guided by Grace so as to become illuminated, will constantly perceive as it were an intellectual ray running between the words [of the Scriptures] ').
This illumination of the heart or the sight is also a central point in Muslim mysticism. It is called the inner light2), the light of insight3), the illumination of the heart4). And before the Muslims early Christian mystics have known the terms ixhx^it;5) and <pa>Tio-fió$. Euagrius says: kx) "èovkeve xvrcp kx)
(pUTlét TijV KXpèlxV GOV °).
That this theory is of cardinal importance may be seen from those passages that call this light the light of gnosis; for gnosis is the chief characteristic of the mystic system. I recall again Bar Hebraeus' seventy fourth sentence: ,The Initiated possess another, more peculiar knowledge, which is acquired by purity of deliberations, by subjecting the body to asceticism, by shutting the senses, and by cutting the bonds. And when the tabernacle of their hearts is illuminated by it, the kingdom of God is represented in them and it becomes existing within them and it is not sought on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem'. Ghazalï also uses the term light of gnosis 7) and its nature is defined in his saying: When the light of knowledge shines, it will envelop all and the veil will be lifted up8). Abü Talib also sees the connection between gnosis and light:
1) p. 6: c\icoio\=n\ ^—ocoèVöa rc*èV\aja-i\5 ^jsa ^oetx/jaom
rCl»ü^\a è\V>3
2) Ihya3 I, p. 64: Jh\i\ jj4\
3) Ihya3 I, pp. 108, 274: 5^wJ\ jy-
4) Ibn <At53aIlah I, 16: j\^\ • Ihya3 III, p. 67: J^SjT^
5) Johannes Climacus, pp. 309, 336.
6) Nonnenspiegel §1.
7) Ihya' IV, p. 368,
8) Ihy53 II, p. 197: .VU\ ^ JLr1 1*1 p jy>



LXXXI1I
Knowledge is a light that God casts into the heart ■). And: The servant of God cannot reach direct communion with the knowledge of unity save only by the knowledge of gnosis which is the light of certainty 2).
Having stated that the soul of the Initiated is -enlightened by the light of knowledge, as soon as it has been purified by asceticism, we may ask for a further definition of this light. The evidence of mystic literature will give the answer. Bar Hebraeus describes the highest state of love the mystic can reach. The inhabitants of that place, he says, are enlightened by the sight of the beauty of the king with a light not mingled with a reminiscence of darkness. There to the soul its natural beauty is revealed and it sees itself as it is, namely in the likeness of its creator. Aiid from sight to sight it is changed and by the essential light with which the Universe is clad and that penetrates it, it beholds without impediment all the ends of the creation and farther and is elevated above all heavens. And as the bodily eye sees the bodily objects by the created light, so the eye of the mind sees the angels in their nature by the non-created light3). In the further description of the ascension of the mind he says: By the divine light with which the mind is clad it sees itself as the likeness of God 4). — Very clear is also his description of the eighth state, one of the states the Perfect have to go through: The eighth change is that of likeness, in which the mind is brought to silence, when it beholds eye to eye the True one, and is illuminated by His light and is changed into His likeness. And as the elegant and dense cloud, when it is near the sun, receives its light and form and appears like it, so the pure mind,
') i, 133: j «ü\ öji ^ Ul UI
2) Abü Talib I, i,9 : ^ -J^ ^ Y\ ^\ ^ x^ d\ ^
3) Ethikon, p. 498. J^
4) ib., p. 499.



LXXXIV
though tied in the dense body, will become as the essential light, when it has become familiar with it ').
This essential light is sometimes described as the divine light itself: Love makes the body and the senses sflent and elevates the mind, so as to gaze on the inaccessible light of the beauty of the Desired 2).
So the light by which the mind is enlightened is on the one hand the inner light, for, as in many philosophical systems, the soul itself is light, on the other hand the light of God, the inaccessible, essential light. Finally these two are one. God as Here we have arrived at another important idea of the l'Zht mystics: God is conceived of as light. This idea was widely spread in Asia. It can be treated here only succinctly, because a complete history would fill a whole volume. So I will make mention only of the gods of light in Babylonia; of Jahwe who in the oldest poetic passages of the Old Testament is described with the epithets of a god of light; of Jahwe's illuminated face, an expression so common in the Psalms; of light as a religious expression in the New Testament.
In Hellenism the idea of God, conceived óf as light, has a large place. I can give only a few examples out of many. In the Theology of pseudo-Aristoteles man is said to be able to ascend till he recognizes the light and the beauty of the mind and the value of that which is above the mind, viz. the light of lights, the beauty of all beauty and the splendour of all splendour 3). Wetter in his book entitled <pü? cites fróm a Christian papyrus a prayer containing the words: b <pü? èx <purbg Seoi; aXifiivht; %xpiaov £>£ 4). Here God is called light from light; it is to be remarked that the same epithet, lumen
1) Ethikon, p. 501.
2) ib., p. 505.
3) P- 44: cÜJ'i ,\j Juil Oyi J^j 01 Ac LSjiL *'Vj



LXXXV
luminum, occurs in Pistis Sophia'), the Syriac father of the church Afrahat, rCicocu ^so rCicncu *), and in the works of John Saba (Cambridge, Add. 2012, fol. 140a); in the Koran God is called the light of heaven and earth3). In the Life of Adam and Eve, God is called the true light gleaming above all lights, the living life4). As here, light and life are often combined in Hellenistic texts:|<p«s kx) &j strriv b ösog kx) irxrvipï). Porphyry writes in his Ad Marcellam: xxXXoq yxp Iks'ivov [sc. Seoïi] rb xKvjpxTOv, kx) Cpug to &tmov xXv\Selx hxXxfi7rov °). And Wetter cites from a Parisian papyrus: èwiKxXovpixi tre tov Siov tov %5vtx iruptCpsyy^ xópxrov (paros yevvyropx '). Even the Universe has been created by divine light, kxi Tq (pur) Tcp iv^a xrl&v tov xóo-fiov 8). And numerous are the divine epithets composed with (pcós; in Dieterich's Mithrasliturgie in a prayer the following are to be found: (pcorb? ktio-tx, 7rvev(iXTÓ(pwt;, pwroxpxrup, puroèórx (puiófiie, (pcoroxivijTX, (paros KXsog »).
We have found that the illumination of the heart in the Christian and Muslim mystics is often mentioned in connection with gnosis. This thought is also of Hellenistic origin. Wetter cites from Clemens Alexandrinus: èQurlvSy pèv yxp ■ to le strriv liriyvüvxi tov Seóv; and: uirrs j? pcèv yvüiris èv rb) (pwrlo-fixri 10). And Reitzenstein quotes the expression to (pS>s rijs yvé<reu$ "). He even says: Und diese höchste Schau (Séx) heisst yvasvxi Sióv. Die yvütris ist unmittelbares Erleben und Erfahren, ist eine Gnadengabe Gottes (%xpio-[zx), sie erleuchtet den Menschen ((puTi&ï) i2). And: Das Bild für die yvcóo-is ist immer das Licht 13).
') PP- 4, 35 sq-, etc. 2) I, 788.
3) 24, 35- 4) § 28.
5) Corpus Hermeticum I, § 21; cf. XIII § 9, 18, 19.
6) XIII. 7) p. 12.
8) Dieterich, Abraxas, p. 4.
9) p. 8. Cf. also Abraxas, p. 48 sq.
10) p. 46. 11) Mysterienreligionen, pp. 113, 119. 12) p. 38. 13) p. 119.



LXXXVI
Like Hellenistic religions, neo-Platonic philosophy has its theory of illumination and the identity of the inner light of man and that of the deity. I have already cited the following passage from Plotinus: There it will be given to us to behold Him and ourselves as it is becoming to behold; ourselves radiant, full of intelligible light, or better as pure light itself without weight and agile, having become God or being God, burning, but, if we should become heavy again, extinguished '). Of the light, of divine things he speaks also: When anyone beholds this light, then he will direct himself towards these things, and, longing after the light that shines in them, he will rejoice 2). In the Theology of pseudo-Aristoteles the first being is called the first light, the light of lights, that does not cease to frll the intelligible world with its splendour 3).
Such passages could be augmented; but the evidences will suffice to prove the truth of what Wetter says concerning this point in Hellenism: Die Seele des- Menschen.... wird erleuchtet, wird» zum Licht. Das ist das Thema, das in mannich■facher Weise variiert, doch stets in allen ydiesen verschiedenen Gedanken wiederkehrt4).
It will not be astonishing that Johannes Climacus also often speaks in the same terms as we have met with: (parijen % (pur'ityv <pü$ °). Dionysius the Areopagite considers the dawning of the divine light as the highest good for the mystic: kx) •yxp ove èvvxrov hépug vipüv hiri'kx^pxi rijv $exp%tKiiv xktIvx '). God himself is called by him <p5g vovitov 8).
Muslim mystics again prove to be in accordance with the Syrians and with Hellenism. God is called He who makes
1) above, p. LVI.
2) Enneades VI, J § .22: Urm oZv ri (pü( tovtó ti( tóts Si) xeet xtveirxi ex' avrSc xai tov tpuroq tov hnfèéovroc. éx' xvto7$ y?ii%6nt)ios eiKhfaherxi.
3) P. us: iu ^ j ae v jiyVi jy- ^\ jm y/A ö\ jjjjfe
4) P- 16. 5) Scala, p. 456.
6) P- 438. 7) p. 2. 8) p. 190.



lxxxvii
lights shine in the hearts of His saints, till they know Him '). The cardinal importance of the theory of illumination appears from a prayer like this: O God, give me light in my heart, light in my grave, light in my ear, light in my eye, light in my hair, light in my skin, light in my flesh, light in my blood, light in my bones, light before me and light behind me, light at my right hand, light at my left hand, light above me, light beneath me. O God augment my light and give me light and procure me light. These are the lights the Apostle of God asked for every one of his parts. This is the continuous glance from the Light of Lights). — That God is conceived as light appeared already above; it appears here again; moreover we have such expressions as: the light of
, the rays of the Essence's face3). And that the light with which the mystics are illuminated, is heavenly light itself, is ê. g. said by Ibn 'Ata'allah: A light is deposited in the hearts which borrows its force from the light descending from the treasuries of mysteries *).
Finally I will draw attention towards an explanation of the importance of the theory of light given by those who have studied the Hellenistic mysteries. According to them the culminating point in the .rites, of the religions of mystery was
, the real appeararice of light, symbolising or representing the deity revealing itself to the Initiated 5).
1) Ibn 'Atfallah II, 95: £jJr ^li j ^A ^A
2) Abü Talib I, 6: ^ j ^ j \^} ^ J ^ J \^\ ^\
o" U?J! cf- [j£ cf- ^jjj J^è* o* \&j ^A oy. o* ijjfy
w èrö ^ ^ Jü* ^ w 9 y*\> w ^ b> ü ^ y o*
3) Abü Talib I, 120: ^ c-\»i y
4) I, 104: ^\ Jtp cs j^M CS 13 'Z*J*f jy
5) e. g. Wetter, p. 30.



LXXXVIII
It must also be observed that the signification attached to light is also imparted to fire; and light and fire, illumination and burning with fire are interchangeable expressions in the literature of the mystics of the type we are dealing with.
Bodilyex- Before describing the' culminating points in the spiritual penences career Qr the mystiCS) jt wm be suitable to hear what they mystics say concerning the phenomena accompanying their spiritual growth; yet, I must warn at the outset, that the reader should not expect here — if anywhere at all — an explanation, psychological or rational or of whatever kind it might be, of these phenomena. The following quotations are only meant to be a contribution to the descriptive materials; this work has to be done first, if the rest shall follow ever.
Bar Hebraeus has in his Ethikon a section ') entitled: On the joy happening to the Perfect during prayer. It is worth translation here; I must observe that a part of it is almost literally identical with a passage in Isaac of Ninive 2), though this author is not mentioned here by Bar Hebraeus. The section opens thus.
.Concerning the joy effectuated by Grace in the pure heart at the time of prayer, and the wonderful visions and the large gifts, the Initiated say that no man is able to speak in adequate terms. For sometimes it will sprout from the heart by the Spirit without any apparent cause and make man exult. So that anyone, not knowing the perfect solitary, on seeing him or hearing his voice, would think him mad. Sometimes 3) when a man is kneeling in preparation for prayer, his hands stretched out towards heaven, his eyes fixed on the cross, and, so to say, his whole motion tended towards God in supplication, — then of a sudden a fountain of delight will be moved forth from his heart, his limbs will be relaxed and his eyes will be obscurated; his face is bent down and his deliberations
I) p. 9 sqq. 2) p. 58.
3) Here commences the quotation from Isaac.



LXXXIX
are altered. So that even his knees are not able to lean on the earth from exultant joy on account of this gift rising in his heart. Take heed, o man, to what you are reading: Can these things be attained on account of written documents ? Or can recitation cause the gust of honey on the palate of him who recites? If you do not strive, you will not find and if you do not knock fervently and you do not wake on 'earth in long vigils, you will not receive answer'.
The state of the mystic in the second stage of love is described in the following way by Bar Hebraeus: Sight will often break off his service and stupefy him. Then his spirit is tormented continually by hot inclinations and the love of his Lord burns in his heart as the fire in a furnace seven times fiercer than is wont; so that his soul is enflamed, his limbs are relaxed and he falls down on the ground. Then he rises again and prepares himself for vision and it is not withheld from him ').
Of the same nature is what Bar Hebraeus relates in sentences 80 en 81: A blessed Initiated told me, saying: when I was a novice, it happened to me that I imagined that I was in the inaccessible light. My limbs relaxed and my wits vanished. And I resembled a man who is riding on a skittish stallion that is running as fast as" it can, and who flys through the air without knowing whether he is in the body or without. And when the emotion abated, my wits came back to me and my tongue began to stammer saying: there has passed what passed, but I do not say what has passed. Hear me, hear me and be silent. And do not say to me: explain and describe. The same said: When I became stronger, the love of my Lord burned more-vehemently in me. And often it did not let me finish my service. But as dead I would fall on my face while my body burned and my sighs were multiplied. And my
1) Ethikon, p. 467; Cf. Book of the DoVe, p. 566.



XCI
three stages: nipping, drinking, being drunk '). The terminology of Muslims and Christians has been prepared by the neo-Platonists: b'rxv xCppoiv ykw/rxi fisSuoSeii; tov vtKTxpog róre êpüv yiyvsTXi .... kx) 'étrrtv xvra) piSóstv fiéXnov yj osfAVCTspcp shxt roixutyis ptéStii;2). Dionysius the Areopagite even goes so far as to describe the drunkenness of God himself: kxtx txvty,v S« tviv ispxv rij? süw%ix<; xvxtttuI-iv kx) xi/Tog b ttxvtciIV xyx^oóv xItio? Sebg pi&vsiv xèysTXi ~hix rijv vTrspwXvipvj kx) inrsp vovjo-iv rïjg svui%'ixs
Yj KUpiÓTSpbv sittstv SVS%lxq TOV SreOV TÏXVTeX^ KX) XtpXTOV XfiSTpiXV 3).
This state of drunkenness is described by the mystics in Sleeping several forms, all denoting the absence from the world, un- !^akbeemg consciousness regarding material things combined with the spirits being receptive of spiritual impressions. Here sleep is praised as the state of spiritual life, wher eas being awake is called sleeping^ In the Ethikon this saying is mentioned: When the Initiated sleeps, his soul does not rest from praise 4). — In the section on the progress of the inclinations of perfection, Bar Hebraeus describes how prayer may be cut off by a sudden experience, so that the solitary falls down. Then he rises again and prepares himself for vision and gradually the cloud is removed and the eye becomes enlightened. In this stage the Perfect, when awake, becomes as if sleeping; and when sleeping he is reckoned as if he were awake s). A Muslim saying runs: It may be that while the gnostic sleeps on his bed, God will reveal to him the mystery and will make luminous that which He never will reveal to one standing in prayer °). And Ibn 'Ata'allah says somewhere: It was said to me in a state of sleep that resembled a state of waking or in a state of waking that was like sleep ').
1) Kushairi, p. 45: J\ i ^\ jp >jg$
2) Plotinus, Enneads VI, 7 § 35.
3) P- 3io. 4) p. 43.
5) Book of the Dove, p. 566.
6) Nicholson in J. R. A. S. 1906, p. 308.
7) II, 27: &ifcf> j J AJ



XCII
The idea can be traced back further. Abü Talib appears also to be acquainted with it. The sleep of the Initiated is a - state of being awake, because his inward being is life '). Isaac of Ninive says: How many times he, to whom a vision happens, does not know whether it takes place in a state of being awake or during sleep ?2). The above quotation from the Ethikon, p. 43, is followed in the text by an explanation borrowed from Johannes Climacus. Nay, already in Hellenistic literature the idea is found. In the Corpus Hermeticum it is expressed in a very distinct way: êyévsTO yx-p b toü gkilxtoc virvog Tijg '■pv%MS vijipig, kx) v) xxpcpaio-ig Tav êQSxXpioiiv xXySivvi opxtrig 3). And in another chapter the god says to the initiandus: e'&s a texvov kx\ o~h trexvTOv 'SietgsXviXvSxg ag o'i iv üirvcp oveipOTroXovftevot, %ap)g v7rvov *). And Jamblichus asserts that the soul lives its real life not in the state of waking, but when asleep %
This state of unconsciousness regarding sensual things is called- by a technical term re'èScuxiyiso r<A; it is to be comUnconsci- pared with what the Muslims call Lj-, absence'. Isaac of Niousness njve describing the nature and the circumstances accompanying revelations says that he to whom a revelation is imparted, at that time does not perceive any deliberation of the soul nor any sensual apperception °). — In another passage he describes the state of him who is overwhelmed by a divine working: As long as this working lays hold on the mind, man is elevated above emotions caused by psychic de-
1) I, p. 83: :U A5 -jAJ\ O oii
2) p. 249: neA Ai=n cctsoA rrbyu cocVtcA reocni oen oen .ia
reen\Ta ore* re*v*».i oen remoTu^a ^re'.i .i«-:v»
3) I § 3°-
4) XIII § 4.
5) De mysteriis, p. 106.
6) p. 155: rellT^ja ens rdiAl\^ cnoScvA rcocn.i oen oen ia T\ien reA r«£x\ï )a:ia.! ^Airelrao rr»\T<n» rr.ax.cu» ^o.TSla oen



XCIII
hberations, by the union with the Holy Ghost '). — In har-
mony with this description is the definition of i^p given
by Kushairï: Absence is the absence of the heart from con-
sciousness regarding worldly circumstances, because the powers
of apperception are absorbed by what happens to the heart j
then the apperception of his own being and that of others dis-
appears sometimes 2). Kushairï says that may pass into
Again it is to be observed that Hellenistic religions have
known the same state. The sight of God here is accompanied
by a state of unconsciousness regarding the apperception of
sensual things: irxam yxp rav trapcxTtxcóv xioSyiaeuv ts kx) Ktv*j<reuv
èiriXxvSinsvoi; xxpsfisY 3).
Such trances are brought about in several ways. Bar Hebraeus
... . Invoca-
gives a description worth translation here. When the solitary tion
in his cell has performed his prayers and his spiritual exercises, he will only murmur; O Lord, o Lord, even so long that, though he does not move his lips, the word remains on his tongue. In this state he remains till this name disappears from his tongue and only in his heart its remembrance remains. Then also the image of the name will disappear from his heart and in his mind only the composition of the letters and its idea will reside. And while this idea is fixed in his soul as it were with nails, the soul will begin to burn with the desire of its Lord infinitely and it will give itself to Him wholly, so that it does not think of any other thing. From that time onward the openings of its door are gradually dis-
1) p- 391: rdioora Ajv. rctx-^jss rib\CU.va^a.1 Kilst résa&a relativa ••cnaèVurC' rdilix&J rc//ax.cu»a KtVcil^tcVèvsa £n A*-^
rdr..iCA.ni rejjcvi.1 r<b\o.S>b\CCL. *us
2) p. 43: Vt y\ $Jsi JJ^J ^ U Jc 0c _AA\ Xj. i^Vi
3) Reitzenstein, Mysterienreligionen p. 116.



XCIV
closed '), and the windows of its intellect are opened and God will rise unto it in a radiant appearance, at first like a lightning that passes swiftly and then returns ; sometimes, however, its return is retarded. And when it returns, sometimes it will last, sometimes it does not remain. And when it lasts, sometimes its lasting will be'long, sometimes not. For God does not give the Spirit in one measure, but every one receives it according to his aptitudej2). — With this apotheose of invocation we may compare a sentence in Ibn 'Ata'allah (I, 39), 1 that on account of the many technical terms, may be given here without a translation: 4_j a\J\ ^* il_,_^»as>- ^Ju«i y&\ il>o "i!
ar** 'J^ ïffy ÉJ^I '3^ ïjTj
£ cyj ^jrj £ sP ^ 'fytj £ ö* ^^if. j^ös- *_frj o>A? jy***" £ y* ^
The commentator to this passage says, that in this highest state the invocation itself has vanished. Lightning The appearance of God like a flash of lightning is the prelude of a constant communion with Him. In the stage of accomplishment of love, the mystic enters the brideroom and has intercourse with Him who before appeared to the eye like lightning, and here the mind beholds Him in peace 3).
Muslim mystics use the same expression *) and Kushairï has . very subtle discriminations, which are to be compared with Bar Hebraeus' utterances concerning the shorter or longer periods of the endurance of divine light. He says: The first state is that of jt-ty; they are to be compared to flashes of lightning which disappear as soon as they appear. The are more distinct than the £^ and they do not disappear as
1) ^A-ièvsq
2) Ethikon, p. 232 sq.
3) Ethikon, p. 489; cf. Book of the Dove, pp. 564, 566, 579; sentence 78.
4) JRAS 1906, p. 344; Ihya' IV, pp. 269, 374.



xcv
fast as these do. The remain longer and have more force
and endurance; they are more apt to elucidate the darkness and to banish presumption ').
Such varying states are called by the Syrians t^LsAmOjl. 2), Varytogby the Muslims Jl> or jè. Isaac of Ninive gives a description of them, from which I translate the following passage fVarying states happen to every man, resembling [the variations of] the air. Notice this well: to every man; for nature is one; lest you should think that he [viz. Macarius] says: to a few men only, as if the Perfect were exempt from varying states and as if they were standing in one and the same attitude, without deviation and without passionate emotions, as the Mesalléyanë say. Therefore he says: to every man. How is this now, o Blessed Macarius? He says: sometimes they are - states of chili ; and soon after: of heat, sometimes of hail, and soon after: of serenity. And notwithstanding our training this is so: strife and the help of Grace. Sometimes the soul is in a storm and difficult waves assault it; and then there is a variation and it is visited by Grace and joy frlls the heart and peace from God and chaste deliberations giving rest, etc. 3).
So these varying states though inherent in the human nature, are not the placidity every mystic longs after; Ibn 'Ata'allah has many sayings regarding their inferior value. In a prayer he says: Thou art He who makes to disappear the \s\ from the hearts of Thy Beloved, so that they do not love anything except Thee and do not take refuge in anything without Thee 4).
1) p. 47: Jr o> L. jjjjflf ^jy. | ey f «j oJ^ % ■■■■ A> l^j gpH ^ ^\ ^yj^
ivfi) UWü VilC Vi\LL
2) Ethikon IV, 15, 14; Book of the Dove III, 9.
3) p- 495 sq.
4) 11, 95: ^ ^ y* J j$ 4UI ^ ^ yj.^\ ^jj ^



XCVI
Kushairï also acknowledges the inevitability of these changes: variation is the property of those who are subject to .states', but ls the property of those who have reached the stage of reality; but as long as man is on his way he remains subject to variations because he ascends from state to state ').
Finally there are a few words to be said concerning the experience of the mystics in their highest state. Their concatenation may be read in the translation of the Book of the Dove; here it is only necessary to discuss some prominent features and to compare them with the utterances of other authors, Christian and non-Christian. Ecstasy In the first place ecstasy is to be mentioned; it may be expressed in two ways: it is designated by a term that has a close analogy in modern languages; rapture, vervoering e. g., the English and Dutch terms, are derivations from roots meaning to drag away; so the rapture of the mind, its being loosened from its earthly environs and its being taken up into the divine sphere, is called in Syriac .«^..Aik» or s^jjè^pf. The state of ecstasy itself is expressed by ,cnl=è»r<' ,to be stupefied' and by pcttasocV» and rc'icnoS ,wonder, admiration'.
I may refer here to a passage from an anonymous mystic quoted by Bar Hebraeus, a passage already referred to above: When paternal mercy dawned unto me and took my mind from me (,jocrA ciA *&&!L^ij), it was, before being swallowed up in ecstasis and stupefaction, swimming in a sea of light and plunging into and emerging from its waves, ascending and lying down, rejoicing and exulting at the floods of its greatness. It beheld there radiating angels who were glorifying and it became familiar with them and sanctified. And again the mind was taken (^^«jAcsa) and it penetrated into the light of many rays and was stupefied (Ktnis&ea) by the sight
^S' W-A.



xcvn
of the Beautiful and captivated by the love of the High one and all, even itself, became as not existing ').
Isaac of Ninive has many utterances concerning ecstasy. He usually describes it as proceeding from prayer, or from pure prayer, that as we have pointed out, is already a form of ecstasy. When Antonius.was praying the prayer of the ninth hour he feit that his mind was taken upwards. And another saint was found in ecstasy during four days, while his hands were stretched out and he was standing in prayer2). Isaac tells that he has read of many saints whose mind was dragged away in ecstasy while they stood praying 3). The closing sentences of his chapter on prayer run thus: The mind ascends there [viz. in spiritual prayer] above prayer. And by finding that which is more exellent, prayer leaves it. And further on it does not pray any longer, but it is beholding in ecstasy those unattainable things that do not belong to the world of mortals, and it is in rest ignoring all that is on this earth. This is what is styled [by the mystics] as ignorance and concerning which Euagrius says: Blessed he who reaches ignorance that cannot be passed, which is in prayer 4).
Finally I may cite the following passage: Then your eyes are opened to see the creating power of God and the beauty of the creatures, in accordance with the degree of your purity. And when the mind is taken away in ecstasy on account of this sight, night and day become one, in ecstasy on account of the glory of God's works. Then, from the soul is taken away the^ apperception of the passions (ixüü») by the delight of this sight. And by it the soul enters the two degrees of intelligible revelations which are next in rank, from purity onwards 5). — Muslim mystics express the idea of ecstasy by
1) Ethikon, p. 503 sq.
2) p. 260 sq.
3) P- 171-
4) P- 175- Further: 18, 43, 125, 155, 164, 166, 174, 259.
5) p. 47i sq.



XCVIII
üfcjj, ijy- Kushairï considers it as the utmost aim of gnosis: The akme of gnosis are two things: obstupefaction and ecstasy '). And: The man who knows God best is he who is most lost in ecstasy2). Further: According to the people of true insight love is being lost in delight and gnosis is being present in ecstasy 3).
We have seen that the Syriac terms for ecstasy are rficoè» or rtcn&acV both meaning /wonder'. The Arabic ;has exactly the same meaning and has also taken the technical sense of ecstasy. Probably this fact justifies the conclusion that Muslim mystic terminology depends upon that of the Syrians. Still, it is to be remembered that exo-rxirig may also have the meaning of ,wonder'.
In regard to the Syriac terms expressing the idea of ecstasy, another point is to be remarked: AjL*icV\r<' ,to be taken away' is nearly synonymous with t_i.Sc> and with the renowned Ajj of the Muslims, that has so often been compared with the Indian nirwana. The fact that Isaac of Ninive is already thoroughly acquainted with the term, proves that it was not borrowed by Islam from the East: it was in Asia Citerior already before, or ^eontemporaneously with Islam. And its intimate connection with imrxtng points to a Hellenistic source. The question whether Hellenism itself may be dependent in this and other points on Indian infiuences may be left here out of discussion. .Revela- Ecstasy, in so far as it is a state in which the ordinary uons functions of body and mind have ceased, is closely akin to the state during which the mystics say that revelations are feceived. This state is expressly distinguished from that acquired by conscious application of the usual mystical methods. This is said by Isaac of Ninive himself in the following pas-
1) p. 166: ijg^ cWi üA]
2) ib.: *j \Jj. JA, ^Ul tijA
3) p. 172 : ij^. J o;jj J Ay\fJ\ OsüAl Jus-j



XCIX
sage: The state of revelation is distinct from a man's making deep his emotions by means of philosophic training and intellectual work, unto some insight or [the mastering of] a question or the theory of a matter, on account of mental exertions. For it is said: revelation is the state in which the intellect is silent. And it is impossible for a man, by means of zealous efforts and human contrivances, to invent a means of acquiring gnosis; this takes place only by spiritual workings; in such a way that he, to whom a revelation is imparted, does not perceive, nor makes use of or even is acquainted during the time of revelation, with any psychic deliberation or with those things that are perceived by the senses ').
The origin of this theory of revelation may be shown by citing the following statement from Reitzenstein's book Hellenistische Mysterienreligionen: Denn die hellenistische Theologie denkt spater, dass der niedersteigende Gottesgeist die Sinnesorgane für alles Irdische verschliesst 2).
The difference between the insight into divine things acquired by man in general, and the revealed knowledge of the mystics is also elucidated by Isaac in the following passage: Also this is necessary to know. All revelations granted by God, serving to instruct mankind concerning [divine] things, happen by means of similitudes, especially those imparted to the simple in knowledge and small in understanding of the truth. But those, which serve for the delight and instruction of man, and the consolation and instruction happening to solitary persons, take place without similitudes by "means of intelligible
apperception How much are these mysteries concerning
every divine thing elevated above other revelations. They are perfectness of gnosis 3).
Bar Hebraeus often speaks of these revelations, happening in the highest stage of initiation. In one of his last sentences he declares that they are only profitable for him who is trained
I) p. 154 sq. 2) p. 32. 3) p. ,59 sq. .



c
in the knowledge of divine and human practice, longing to see in revelations those things which his contemplation has . attained ').
Here we have arrived at a subject already treated above: that of ,sight'. Things revealed are seen by the mystic; divine sight, says Isaac, is the revelation to the mind of things not to be attained by sensual apperception 2). The mystic is face to face with divine things. The Muslim mystics have here again subtle discriminations; Kushairï e. g. mentions this sequence : JfH, i_jJ>\^\ , ü*Vil\ 3). Such discriminations
are also found in the Book of the Dove *) where the growth of the revelations is compared with i° a flash of lightning 2° a star behind a cloud 30 the dove in her nestJ Kushairï5) gives the following explanation of the last three stages: ,_Aii\ 31
... w.»»',; 0jyö>- y>j iLi^oO.\ e>*! f • • • cA*o& jj ^ jj\ ^Jf\ i^; ,\i j& ^ ^\ ^_£>) üaUX\ e
^jf* <5^d_ _^J4*^' Johannes Climacus speaks of the 3W# x7roxxXv\pn; imparted to the solitaries °). And though Isaac of Ninive has long discussions concerning the identical nature of these revelations with those of the prophets of Israël, yet it is to be observed that terms like ;^Vj! and öaU*. have their exact equivalent in neo-Platonic nomenclature. Plotinus e. g. maintains that God is not to be known by vc'jjavc, xXhx kxtx nxpova-lxv «t/otjj/imjs *)! It goes without saying that ;^Atf and rjaVi*. are both renderings of irxpovtrix.
Familia- Revelations and being face to face with divine things, iair nty parts to the mystics a feeling of kinship and familiarity with
1) Sentence 98.
2) p. 161: rrTl t l\icVsq re*A >oo rtllA^ rC'cH—.criArc' rc&v»
retioca.i
3) P- 46. 4) UI, 1—3. 5) p. 46. 6) p. 218. 7) Enneads VI, 9 § 4.



Cl
God and the mystic world, expressed by them with a technical term. Out of the many passages in Bar Hebraeus' works, the following may be cited here, which continues the description of how the mystic, during prayer, sometimes is hit by a flash of divine lightning so that he falls down on the earth. Then he rises again, says the author, and prepares himself for vision, and it is not withheld from him; but he begins to lengthen the duration [of this state] from day to day and his mind is enlightened so as to see hidden things and gradually he becomes famjliar with hidden mysteries and unspeakable visions '). Familiarity is the translation of nc&cuèua, which means litterally being a housemate. This is what the Muslims call Lr5\. Ghazalï gives the following definition of it: When the mystic is overcome with joy on account of ,being near' and of seeing face to face that which proceeds from revelation, and his gaze is strictly limited to the beholding of the re vealed beauty being present, without being turned towards what he has not yet attained, the heart is gladdened by what it beholds; this gladhess is called familiarity 2).
Further he expounds how this familiarity with God and divine things has its counterpart in and is effectuated by being far from intercourse with men. When Ibrahïm ibn Adham, a famous mystic, descended from the mountain, he was asked: whence come you ? He answered! from familiar conversation with God. And when Rabi'a was asked: How have you reached your high state ? she answered: by leaving aside what does not concern me and by becoming familiar with the Eternal one 3). And Ibn 'Ata'allah communicates this prayer: O Thou who
1) Ethikon, p. 497. Cf. also Book of the Dove, pp. 563, 566; sentence 16.
2) Ihya3 IV, p. 292: J^W j» V? ZlA^j ^\ ^
3) ib.



cx
human life. Porphyry relates that he himself reached this state only once in his life, and the venerated Master Plotinus four . times during the period of their acquaintance *). And the Theology of pseudo-Aristoteles contains descriptions of the unification and the separation, that, mutatis mutandis, could have been written by Bar Hebraeus 2).
Concerning the initiation into the mysteries of Mithra Dieterich insists: Die Vereinigung mit deni Gotte ist das Ziel der ganzen Aktion, darauf ist alles gerichtet3). And in a prayer unto Hermes it is said: <rv yxp èï sya kx) sya ai 4).
So the cardinal features of Christian and Muslim mysticism appear to be closely akin to Hellenistic flourishing spiritual civilization. It may be hoped, that the above discussions will prove able to show that the chief points of Muslim mysticism like that of Ghazalï are already found in Christian authors of a much earlier date and that these in their turn depend upon Hellenistic currents of thought.
None of these features seems to be foreign to Hellenism. So Ghazalï and his cognates have in the first place been influenced from the West side. This statement does not deny that Eastern influences may also have been at work; but all cardinal points are plainly Hellenistic. This is the ultimate stage I can reach in this question. The roots of Hellenism itself are still in the way of being laid bare by such scholars as Reitzenstein, Wetter and others. They will go on to show what this civilization owes to the Semitic Oriënt and — perhaps y also — to Persia and India. " >
I) Vita Plotini § 23. 2) p. 114 sqq.
3) Mithraslitnrgie, p. 179-
4) Reitzenstein, Poimandres, p. 17.



CXI
BAR HEBRAEUS AND GHAZALÏ
As the relation between Bar Hebraeus and Ghazalï wants a detailed inquiry it will be useful to compare parallel sections in their works, chiefly those passages in the Book of the Dove and the Ethikon which seem to go back to Ghazalï's disposition and insights. We can follow the sequence of the sections in the Book of the Dove; it will not be necessary to treat also those sections of the Ethikon that have no parallels in the Book of the Dove; the materials given in the subsequent pages seem sufficiënt in order to settle the question.
Repentance (1,2).
i. The Ethikon (IV, 4, 2) enumerates three elements of repentance: knowledge, will and practice, connected respectively with the three stages of time: past, present, and future. On account of knowledge of trespasses committed, man determines to throw them away and to refrain from them in future.
This is also Ghazalï's disposition (Ihya' IV, p. 3): Repentance is composed of three elements: knowledge ( ic), a state (Jl>) and practice (J*j). Knowledge is insight into the obnoxiousness of sins and their being a screen between the servant and every beloved one. This knowledge causes pain and pain causes the will (s_\j\) to perform actions connected with the present, the past and the future. As regards the present this action consists in throwing away the wontèd sin; as to the future it consists in the determination not to commit sin further on; as to the past, in seëking to repair the previous loss.
2. Ethikon (IV, 4, 3) and Ihya' (IV, p. 12) contain a section to the purport that true repentance is always accepted by God. Both Bar Hebraeus and Ghazalï support this theory with the argument that sins are only a screen betwëen the soul and God; the screen being taken away, the soul will again look into the sun of righteousness, as Bar Hebraeus says. —



CXII
It is to be remarked that the Paradisus Patrum already con. tains a chapter entitled: On conversion being accepted (ed. Budge, pp. 670—678). Jehuda Chasid says: rtolpö 'rOïmi "O ').
3. The classification of sins given in this section is to be compared with that given in the Ethikon (IV, 4,4) and in \ the Ihya' (IV, p. 14). In the Ethikon four kinds are enumerated: f"ïiii.*ïpïi_,, re*T>.—-a and pc*t»T—-—j. This. classification is the same as that of Ghazalï who discerns £;*,, 4'^^} ij»-^ and 4yu~.. In order to facilitate a survey of the different sins belonging to these classes I give the enumeration. of both authors in juxtaposition:
I I
rdcoactx.
(S^J) 4** P<Sj_«11» KitóCVX.
II II
aL/\ reÜA)
pc*-.'in A._»rc_53
- III III
1) fol. 18a.



CXIIl
tJSj\ r<& col-A
re*è*cy»j-ix.
IV IV
^~&Lili rceVca..»»
. SjJ-\ rCÓV-re'
Jai\ uj^aJI rei-koA-»»
pcAXjq
It is to be observed that Ghazalï's classification is already found, with small deviations, in Abü Talib al-Makkï I, 85 sq.
Ghazalï gives two further classifications of sins. The first divides sins into those against God, those against one's fellowmen, those against the own person (IV, p. 15). Exactly the same division is to be found in the Ethikon (p. 357).
The second division deals with heavy and light sins; it is also in the Ethikon (p. 357 sq.).
How closely the Ethikon follows the disposition of the Ihya' may be seen from the subsequent survey:
Ethikon Ihya'
IV, 4, 5 : On the causes IV, p. 28: On the causes
making sins heavy. . making light sins heavy.
§ 6. On the apartments -«*Éf*< of the exorcised.
§ 7. On the classes of P- 38- O" the classes of
repentants. men regarding the duration
of repentance.
§ 8. What a repentant p. 41. What a repentant
has to do when he has fallen. has to do immediately after
he has fallen.
1 § 9. On the causes that be it on account of inten-
make the faithful trespass. tion, lust or on account of
a peccadilly.
8



CXIV
§ 10. On remedies useful p. 43. On healing repen-
to the repentant. tance.
§ 11. On the means by which the leader edificates the repentant.
§ 12. On the excellence of confession.
4. In the Ethikon it is said that the repentant has to efface his trespass with three instruments: the heart, the tongue and the other limbs (IV, 4, 8). Cf. Ihya' IV, p. 41: sjfcX\ oVu^U
^ cA~üi ui* ^ M
Further: 5>JL\ Jfc, J 4»\ J\ „j^SQi ^ Ui
-U\ ^k, &g a3_ ^ juJ\ JjJc jjJo_,
Renunciation (I, 3)
1. The distinction of three classes of renunciators is worked out in the Ethikon (IV, 10, 3) and this scheme concords with that of the Ihya' (IV, p. 193). Ghazalï calls the lowest class that of those who fear. The second class, that of those who renunciate in view of the pleasures of Paradise, is, like that of Bar Hebraeus, also by Ghazalï considered as much inferior to the highest class, that comprises those who seek God alone '). Those who belong to this class are called ^^Jb- S»y*.
It is of importance to state that this classification, occurring in Bar Hebraeus and in Ghazalï, goes back to an oldChristian example. Bar Hebraeus cites a passage from Johannes Climacus, that may follow here: All those who have gladly renunciated the world, have done so either because of their many sins, or because of the Kingdom to come, or from love of God. Every turning away from the
1) Cf. above, p. XXXVI.



CXV
world that does not spring from one of these three motives, is irrational. Renunciation of the first stage is called idle by the Initiated; for they say i Where there is no sin, there does not originate fear of torment. The like is said concerning the second stage of renunciation. For the Initiated say: He who turns his back to pleasures in view of remuneration, is the mill of the ass '), which is al'ways set into motion on account of the same motive. But he who turns away [from the worldj on. account of love of God, will at oncer even in the beginning, acquire warmth like fire. And when his fire is thrown on the fuel, it will gradually become strong and blazing2).
2. The categories of things renunciated are in the Ethikon (IV, 10, 3): food, habits, dwellingplace, furniture, money. In the Ihya' (IV, p. 196 sqq.): food, habits, dwellingplace, furniture, marriage, money, honour (ol>).
3. As to the rejection of the possession of money, Bar Hebraeus does not speak in such a categorie manner in the Ethikon (IV, 10, 8). Here he adds: If a man be not able to perform manual work, and so is compelled to practise commerce, it is allowed to him to gather money for the wants of one year, without falling thereby from the rank of a renunciator.
Ghazalï (Ihya' IV, p. 203) states that money, i. e. a little of it, is necessary for life. But renunciators have to abstain from gain, if they are in the possession of what is wanted for one day. If they seek to acquire a store for more than one year, they have left the rank of renunciators, of weak as well as of strong ones. This is a sufficiënt explanation of Bar Hebraeus' view and terminology. It is further to be remarked, that Ghazalï in the end of his section on money (IV, 204) adduces the story of the rich man who wished to follow Jesus, but • had to sell his possession before being allowed to do so. Perhaps
1) Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 35 has also this comparison.
2) This passage is in the works of Johannes, ed. Raderus, p. 7 sq.
1) ±un -.ma Th!» ™«



CXVHI
§2. Definition of patience. p. 54. The essence and
meaning of patience. § 3. The different deno- p. 58. The different deno-
minations of patience. minations of patience re¬
garding its object. § 4- The stages of pa- p. 59. The kinds of pa-
tience- tience regarding strength
and weakness.
a) The stage of those who a) The kind of those who are constant. are constant.
b) Those who sometimes b) Those who sometimes are steadfast, sometimes are are victors, sometimes are vanquished by temptations. vanquished by passions.
c) Those who never report c) The negligent. a decisive victory.
§ 5. On the kinds of things p. 60. On the necessity of
to be suffered. patience under all circum-
§ 6. On the kinds of temp- stances. Circumstances are
, tations. either in accordance with
or contrary to pleasure and will.
§ 7. On the medicines cor- p. 65. Qn the medicines
roborating Patience. of patience.
The parallelism is obvious. It may be called striking in the disposition of the paragraph on the medicines corroborating patience. Ghazalï (IV, p. 66) begins with repeating his definition of patience: a name for the struggle between the religious and the carnal impulse. Therefore, if we wish one of the two to become prevalent, we have to strengthen it and to weaken its opposite. - Compare with this Bar Hebraeus' opening sentence (p. 375): A cure that has in view to corroborate patience, consists in weakening corporeal desires and in corroborating spiritual ones.



CXIX
Weakening the carnal desires takes place, according to both authors, in three ways:
a) by abstention from delicious food, one of the causes of sensuality; b) by avoiding the aspect of exciting things; c) by appeasing desires by giving way to them, in so far as they tend towards. an object permitted . by the law, e. g. matrimony. This is Ghazalï's terminology; Bar Hebraeus translates it in his Christian way: extinguishing the excited state of the spirit by the canonical order and the apostolical command, if he who burns with desire belongs to the class of virgins; by thinking of his own wife, if he, who glows for a foreign woman, is married.
Corroborating spiritual desires takes place in two ways: a) by thinking often of the adduced stories proving the excellence of patience and its good consequences in this world and in the world to come, says Ghazalï (IV, p. 66). Bar Hebraeus translates these words in this way: ,by often meditating on the virtues of patience and the life promised to those who endure unto the end', b) by training the inward faculties in the strife with carnal desires, as both authors say.
Love of the Brethren (I, 6)
i. The properties which are considered as conditions of love are discussed in the Ethikon (IV, 12, 3) in a section bearing the title: On the properties which necessarily must be found in every friend. Ghazalï's corresponding section (II, p. 141) is entitled: The qualities which necessarily must be found in him whose company is chosen.
These properties are according to the Ethikon the following: 1° mind, 2° chastity, j° orthodoxy, ^° being not covetous, 5° suavity. According to the Ihya' they are (II, p. 142): 1° intelligence 2° goodness of character, f good morals, /f orthodoxy, 5° being not covetous. That the Book of the Dove does not mention orthodoxy has its cause in the fact,



CXXI
the Ihya' (II, p. 157) is entitled: On making light and omitting annoyant things and annoying.
Further the Ethikon has a section (p. 440, § 9) on duties of friends regarding prayer, which is parallel to Ghazalï's paragraph (II, p. 155): 4* l. JS^ ^ Jk», tiU j £AS
Further the Ethikon has a section (p. 440, § 10) on the duty of loyal feelings between friends, corresponding with Ghazalï's U^Y^ >\ij\ j (II, p. iSS sq.).
The Book of the Dove naturally does not contain anything concerning the duties of Christians regarding their fellowChristians. But the Ethikon (p. 442 sqq.) treats the subject in a way parallel to that of the Ihya' in its sections concerning the rights and duties of Muslims (II, p. 161 sqq.):
Ethikon Ihya'.
§ 13. On the duties of the p. 161. The duties of the
Faithful among themselves. Muslim.
§14- On the duties of p. 173. The duties of neigh-
neighbourhood. bourhood
§ 15. On family duties. p. 175. The duties of kin-
dred and relatives.
p. 176. The duties of parents and children. § 16. On the duties of p. I77. The duties of
slaves and handmaids. slaves. ■
§ 17. On the ornaments of those who desire to be loved by others.
Offences of the Tongue (I, 7) Ihya' 111,4: 0UJ\ CjVi\ Ethikon III, 15.
After a section containing sayings of the Fathers, the Ethikon



CXX1I
continues with the excellence of silence, which is also the title of Ghazalï's second section.
Bar Hebraeus' opening sentence (p. 256): Small in quantity, but great in strength is the tongue among the other members, has been taken from the Ihya' (III, p. 95): ^laS- «u^r-.- ï>\»
In order to facilitate a survey of the parallelism between the Ethikon and the Ihya' I give the subsequent juxtaposition of the titles of the paragraphs:
Ethikon Ihya'
§ 2. On silence. III, p. 96. On the danger
of the tongue and the excel■ lence of silence.
§ 3. On vain speech. p. 98. Speech concerning
things that do not regard you.
§ 4. On multiloquy. p. 100. On superfluous
speech.
§ 5. Speech that is indi- p. 101. Inquiring into idle
rectly sinful. things.
§ 6. On quarrelling. p. 101. On fighting with
words.
§ 7. On litigation. p. 103. On litigation.
§ 8. On scorn. p. 104. On rhetorics and
the like.
p. 105. On impure speech,
slander and scorn.
§ 9. On curse and male- p. 106. On curse. diction.
§ 10. On singing and p. 108. On singing and
poetry. poetry.



cxxv
Like the Ethikon the Ihya' does not condemn jest of an innocent nature.
Regarding the relation between Bar Hebraeus and Ghazalï it is important to observe that in the Ethikon (p. 264) as an example of innocent jest, it is told that a man said to some one: there is white in your eyes. But the other denied it. Ghazalï (III, p. 110) tells the following anecdote: Zaid b. Aslam says, that a woman, called Umm Ayman, came to the Prophet, saying: My husband calls you. The prophet answered: Who is he ? Is he in whose eyes there is white ? She said: By Allah, there is no white in his eyes. The Prophet answered: Aye, there is. She said: No, by Allah, there is not. Then the Prophet said: But there is nobody in whose eyes there is no white.
7. Falsehood for the sake of pront. Ghazalï has a section on the cases in which it is allowed: ^ j£-
Jfj ^rlu
7- Backbiting. In the Ethikon (p. 266) and in the Ihya' the causes of backbiting are enumerated. I give them in juxtaposition:
Ethikon Ihya' (III, p. iig)
1, Procuring an outlet for /. Procuring an outlet for anger. anger
2. The inclination to please 2. The inclination to please others by joining in their companions by joining in Prattle- their prattle.
j.Caution against him who j. Seeking to prevent
wishes to slander. others who whish to slander.
4. Desire of indicating the 4. Desire of indicating the
perpe trator of some trespass perpetrator of some trespass
mentioned- in order to free yourself.



cxxvi
5. The opinion that by ac- 5. Desire of appearing in a cusing others one appears in good light by accusing a good light. others.
6. Zeal to detect the defects 6. Jealousy. of others out of jealousy.
7. Desire to ridicule others. 7. Desire of making ridi¬
cule of other people. 8. Satirizing other people.
8. The appearance of won- p. Wondering at the tresdering at the trespasses of passes of other people. other people.
p. Sorrow on account of 10. Compassion with the
the fall of others. trespasses of other people.
10. Zeal against evildoers. 11. Religious zeal (<m t_**ö«l\)
8. Sycophancy. The same definition in Ethikon (p. 268) and Ihya' (III, p. 130).
The duties of him to whom the sycophant communicates his reports are enumerated in the Ethikon (p. 268) and in the Ihya' (III, p. 130) in rather the same way.
9. Doublé dealing. ,The Lord will confound doublé dealing'. It is remarkable that this quotation occurs also in Ghazalï's section (III, p. 132) on this vice: J cj\j> jbp düV« J^j
pi JIjü <üs\ «iil^; tfsAifi Cte*^. 4~>-\^> ,3>>--üa> è\jyy\
10. Flattery. The four evils are also in the Ihya' (III, p. 133).
11. Rudeness of speech. Ghazalï in the corresponding section treats of inaccurate expressions, especially religious ones.
Solitude (II, 2)
1. The profits of intercourse are enumerated in the Ethikon (p. 96—99) and in the Ihya' (II, p. 191 —196). I give them again in juxtapööftion:



CxXXII
10. The dangers of wealth are enumerated in the Ethikon (p. 208) in a more systematic way, concording with Ghazalï's treatment of the subject (Ihya' III, p. 197). The first danger Consists in the opportunity of trespasses, afforded by wealth. The second, that a man, accustomed to the pronts of wealth, cannot live without them; and, being bereft of his treasures, he is inclined to procure himself their benefits by theft and falsehood. The third danger consists in wealth preventing its owner from occupying himself with spiritual affairs. „ 11. The profits of wealth described in the Ethikon (p. 287) and the Ihya' (III, p. 196) are:
/° wealth may be used in order to gain personal religious excellence.
20 it may be spent on special categories of people.
3° it may be spent on behalf of mankind in general.
12. Healing of covetousness is treated in the Ethikon (p. 288) and the Ihya' (III, p. 201). It happens by:
Ethikon Ihya'
/° Being moderate in ex- 70 Reducing expenses.
penses.
2° Being content with the 2° Being content with the
provisions for to-day without present state of sufficience,
caring for those for to- without thinking of the
morrow. future.
3° Thinking of the low 3° Thinking of the high
state of him who desires to value of being content, and
gather wealth'and of the high of the meanness of desire.
state of him who is content with little.
4° Comparing the scanty 4° Comparing the agree-
pleasures of the rich in this able life of Jews, Christians
world with the honour of and Beduins with the po-
the prophets, apostles and verty of the prophets, the
ascetics. saints, the companions of
the Prophet etc.



CXXXIII
j° Thinking of the troubles 50 Thinking of the dangers
of those who gather money. ofgathering money and look-
6° Looking at ones infe- inS at °ne's inferiors, not at
riors, not at one's superiors. one s superiors.
13. The Ethikon (p. 293) and the Ihya' (III, p. 231) compare the love of vain glory with the love of money, stating that glory is more beloved than money, for three reasons: /° it is easier to get money on account of glory than glory on account of money; 2° money is sooner lost than glory; 3° glory is acquired without danger; acquiring money is often dangerous. *]s i^vj
14. Deceitful attitude. In the Ethikon (p. 299) and the Ihya' (III, p. 248) five kinds of deceitful attitude are discerned: 7° the attitude of the body (in religious things); 2° the attitude in dress; 3° the attitude in speech; 4° in actions; 50 in intercourse with flatterers.
15. Haughtiness. Ghazalï (III, p. 289) cites also the example of Pharao. To the causes of haughtiness in the Ethikon (p. 307) a fourth one is added, K&cvièwa-.oore'. These four are also enumerated in the Ihya' (III, p. 296). Nearly all the signs of haughtiness in the text are also enumerated in the Ihya' (III, p. 297 sq). ^fffe?!
16. The motives of boast are, nearly all of them, in the Ihya' (III, p. 311 and 315).
In the Ethikon the section on the healing of boast (p. 314) opens with this sentence: The healing of every illness is effectuated by the opposite of its cause; the only cause of boast is ignorance. This has been taken litterally from the Ihya' III, p. 3!2: ^\ AXc, tx*a> \^ «Lli. ^ O* jT^% 0\ ic\
The sentence in the text that whosoever boasts shall boast in the Lord, is to be compared with the words of Ghazalï (III, p. 312): ^ ^ -de 4»\ ^ lp vi)3i J^O^



CXXXA1
^ V- Uc u»Vi\ j\
Good Qualities (II, 10)
1. Teachings. In the Ethikon (p. 322) the following conditions necessary for him who wishes to learn, are enumerated:
1° purifying the soul from stains. Also in the Ihya' I, p. 432° being free from care of worldly things and relations.
Also in the Ihya' I, p. 44.
3° not placing one's self above the teacher. Also in the
Ihya' I, p. 44.
4° abstaining from questions and uncertain things. Also in the Ihya' I, p. 45.
3° looking into all branches of science and then choosing of what is profitable. Also in the Ihya' I, p. 46.
6° life being short, it is useful to study principal things, especially the hidden teaching concerning the purification of the heart. Often literally in Ghazalï I, p. 46.
70 recognizing the profits of one branch of knowledge above the other. Cf. Ihya' I, p. 47.
8° adorning the soul with excellence. Also in the Ihya' I, p. 47.
2. The duties of a teacher. Ethikon (p. 324) and Ihya' (I, p. 49) say that in knowledge there are four stages: 1° that of gathering; 20 that of preserving; 3° that of profiting; 4° that of spending.
The eight duties of a teacher are, according to both authors: i° to be with the pupils as meek as if they were his own children.
2° to teach gratuitously. 3° to give good advices. 4° to admonish the pupils meakly.
3° not to disdain other branches of science than those taught by him.
6° to teach every pupil what is apt for him.






INTRODUCTION
In the- same way as we find, o my ') brother, in bodily medicine books describing the behaviour of patients not attended by a physician, it is becoming, in psychic medicine, to give instructions concerning the behaviour of those patients who are without or far from a leader 2); especially in this our age, in which the Syriac world is bereft of an 522 Initiated, who has personally experienced the straitness of the way leading to the kingdom and the narrowness of the gate giving ,entrance to it3). It is, therefore, our aim to give this sort of clear and simple instruction.
Into four chapters this book is divided, which is small in extent but great in power. The first [contains] instruction concerning the bodily labour accomplished in the monastery. The second [describes] the quality of psychic labour performed in the cell. The third explains the spiritual rest which the consoling Dove imparts to the Perfect, elevating them to royal rank and introducing them into the divine cloud4) where the Lord is said to abide. The fourth is a tale of the author's gradual progress in teachings and some sentences communicated to him in revelations *).
These four kinds [of states] are represented by the four peri-
1) Litterally: our.
2) Introduction, p. LXVIII sq.
3) Introduction, p. XVI.
4) Introduction, p. CIII sqq. And Glossary, s. v. r<\Ski_.
5) Introduction, p. XCVIII sqq.



4
ods of Noah's life: the first, that of the works of his righteousness which made him pleasant unto God. The second, that of his entering the ark, which saved him from the destructioo of the deluge. The third, that of his leaving the ark, when the dove had announced to him that the waters had disappeared from the surface of the earth. The fourth, that of the revelations he received and the covenant established with him; the planting of the vineyard, his drinking wine and his getting drunk.
However — Noah's dove was irrational and mortal; but 523 this dove is rational and immortal. She even gives reason to the rational') and life to the living. She nies without leaving her nest above, the church of the firstborn2) in heaven. She reaches all quarters without stirring from her place. All images are represented in her without her possessing colour herself. She abides in the East, yet the West is full of her. Her food is fire, and who is crowned by her with wings will breathe forth flames from his mouth. All those who are burning from love and sick from affection reveal their secrets to her and she slakes their thirst. Her speech touches every ear, but few hear her voice. She calls every man by his name, but one of a thousand answers her. Her cooing is much sweeter than the sound of the organ. As the poet describes her:
She 's very pure and full of shame No mouth can put on her a blame. She bears no sign of things material Being spiritual, incorporeal.
1) -fVA-sA r<oSi_33
2) Plural.



CHAPTER THE FIRST
ON THE BODILY SERVICE IN THE MONASTERY
SECTION THE FIRST On Man's Alienation from the World1)
Man becomes alien to the world and its desires by two causes. One is essential and veracious 2), occurring very seldom. It is a divine impulse moving in the mind of man, S24 awaking him from his sleepiness to meditate night and day on the torture threatened against the sinners in the world to come and on the enjoyment promised to the righteous in the kingdom of God. This cause is only found among a few people, at long intervals and in some countries only.
The other cause is fortuitous and secondary. It is love of vain glory, which makes man long after becoming famous, to such a degree, that he submits to the hard labours of asceticism in order to acquire glory; thus rich people have tried to acquire it by suffering great hardship. This cause is found among many people, at all times and everywhere. Though it be simple 3), it is not wholly to be rejected. For often the
1) Johannes Climacus' Scala and the Imitatio Christi open with a section on the same subject.
2) rCoVilVM , see Glossary.
3) Reading of P; the text has: despisable.



6
seed is cast on the earth unintentionally, yet brings forth many fruits. Whereas many a seed is treated carefully by the husbandman, yet proves to be unproductive ').
SECTION THE SECOND On Repentance2) As soon as an intelligent man understands the noxiousness of sin, he repents of the trespasses committed by him. Those to which he is accustomed, he throws from him and he determines not to trespass again3), consoling himself with [the thought], that repentance whenever it is offered [to God], is accepted4); as in the case of the inhabitants of Ninive, and in that of Simon, the head of the Apostles. 25 Sins 3) spring either from reason, as haughtiness, vain glory, envy and sycophancy; or from choler, as anger, hot temper or rancour; or from desire, as covetousness, wantonness and lasciviousness. Extremely great is the sin of those who know, small though it may be °).
A repentant who trespasses has to implore God's forgiveness with mournful sighs, confessing his sins, as also those did who were baptized by John '). And to the- Apostles came those who believed, and told their faults; and Peter the Apostle says: Confess your faults one to the other8). And John the
1) The passage has been borrowed from Johannes Climacus, Scala, p. 9: ' elJov a-Trópov h y% anovo-iat ixréo-ovra, xetl xup^ov iroKiv xxi ei0«Ai5 ^exoiMidrce. Ghazalï does not reckon such persons among renouncers, Ihya' IV, p. 188 and 205.
2) Scala, Gradus V; Paradisus Patrum, p. 670—678; Abü Talib al-Makkl I, 179; IhyS' IV, 1; Ethikon IV, 4.
3) This description of repentance is found in many mystic works: Kushairï p. 53; Abü Talib al-Makkl I, 179; Ihya' IV, p. 3; Ethikon, p. 355; Sefer Chasidim. fol. loö.
4) Introduction, p. CXI sq.
5) Introduction p. CXII.
6) Ihya' IV, p. 28: ö1 cf. jg^ H ^\ j £
_iSl-y Siyu. jJh JL ülVil, _Jjj\
7) Introduction, p. CXIV. 8) James 5, 16.



7
Apostle says: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins ').
SECTION THE THIRD On Renunciation2)
When true repentance has been established in a man's soul and he sees that worldly possessions exceeding necessary want are sought for the sake of sinful passion, he rejects them and it pleases him to renounce them.
There are three ranks of renouncers: the lowest, the middle and the highest one 3).
The lowest [consists] of those who leave luxury from fear of future torments 4). The middle one of those who hate temporary enjoyment in view of that of Paradise. The highest of those who, because they seek the Good one alone, turn away their faces from all beside Him. This aim. is praised by the s_6 Initiated.
The objects of renunciation 5) are money, dress, food, dwelling-place and furniture. Money, in so far as the renouncer does not possess it at allc). Dress, in so far as he is clad in a mean garment of wool or hair, covering the body down to the knees, girding his loins with a belt. If he likes it, he adds a mantle, a coil and shoes '). Food, in so far as he prepares for a year, a month or a day, bread of wheat, barley or millet, which he moistens with grease, oil or salt water 7). His dwelling-place is in a small cell, a cave or a hut. Or he will
1) I John i, 9.
2) Scala, Gradus I; Paradisus Patrum, p. 495-504; Abn Talib I, 242: Kushairï, p. 64; Ihya' IV, p. 162; Ethikon IV, 10.
3) Introduction, p. CXIV.
4) Ibn 'Am'all-ah I, 67: >JJ} ^ g^j J $ j£ ^ ^ O-
5) Introduction, p. CXV. a' '
6) Introduction, l.c. 7) Introduction, p. CXVI.



8
have no fixed place at all, as also our Lord had none; but in any corner which presents itself, he will sit down and sleep % Furniture, in so far as he uses utensils of clay, wood or gourd 2).
SECTION THE FOURTH On Humbleness3)
As many people practise renunciation involuntarily, the sign of essential renunciation is obedience 4). But humbleness has also other signs; for instance that one sits down in the assembly beneath him who is lower in rank 5); that, at the time 527 of prayer, he stands behind without bearing it difficultly; that he gladly will have intercourse with the poor and the needy and will go with them when they invite him °); that he puts on despisable garments without shame ').
Mar Isaac8) says: Humbleness, without labour, indemnifies many.sins 9). Johannes the Prior 10) says: If haughtiness, without other evils, has made Satan fall from heaven, humbleness, without other virtues, carries up to heaven "). When man is
1) Introduction, p. CXVII.
2) Introduction, l.c. Renunciating the use of furniture is not a specially Christian or Mohammedan trait of asceticism: Porphyry relates it concerning the senator Rogatianus, a friend of Plotinus (Vita Plotini § 7).
3) Scala, Gradus XXV; Paradisus Patrum, p. 615—654; Kushairï, p. 79; Ihya' III, p. 285 sqq., 296 sqq.; Imitatio Christi II, p. 7, 377.'
4) Paradisus Patrum, p. 525—531; Imitatio Christi I, 9; Scala, p. 80: U t/VaxoïfS TOtmtvuTis.
5) Ihya' III, p. 309: ^ JjAJ\ j ^Jrf.
6) Ihya' III, p. 3°9= '\üj\ i.W j ójrl\ J\ ^ ^ S>- _4 A
7) Ihya' III, p. 298. ' '
8) Introduction, p. XXI. The quotation is in Bedjan's edition, p. 499.
9) Ihya' III, p. 286: A_J\ j£ ^ tJ\ AJi syr y ^ j\i
10) Introduction, p. XX.
IX) Ihya' III, p. 285: >\^\ & «1 ^ '0 ^ W a\ fa, Jij



9
sick from haughtiness, he is healed by knowledge of his self'): having been created in his beginning from a sordid drop, [inj his end [he] becomes the foetid food of worms. One of the Initiated has said: How should he exalt himself, who two times has come forth from an urethra ?2)
SECTION THE FIFTH On Patience3)
. As humbleness is joined to obedience, so obedience is necessarily joined to patience in trouble. Trouble 4) is either of a temporal or of an eternal nature. So is rest. Because temporal trouble is the cause of eternal rest, and temporal rest that of eternal trouble, the Initiated, who possess the mind of Christ, patiently bear temporal trouble for the sake of eternal rest.
The troubles 5) which it is becoming to bear patiently are: strife against the passions of gluttony and carnal desire °), voluntary labours of asceticism, irtvoluntary temptations which, 528 by divine permission, serve to try the solitary — as annoying and impeding accidents, coming across evil and ungodly men, falling from rocks, disdain and contempt which superiors and fellowbrethren lay on the shoulders of the novices serving in the monastery, even if they have committed no fault,
1) Scala, p. 317: & iavrov exiyvoit ic&ey «Mfaei ^lux^t i*' T>i* veiper oüx 'érn yup fiij oVrae a-Trsipmrat Tcnrswotypwevvw «vflijo-i. Ihya' III, p. 287: a Jy» j> JuJl ^>\yi M ■ Cf. III, p. 300.
2) Pirke Abot III, Ij Ihya' III, p. 288: 5ja5 iiLi ^ oJlU ^3 0VA- Jlo Üu ii^ f. And III, p. 303: 0LA ^ ,_Jilc» Ji\ ö\ tsyj\
ji\ Cr* i-i■ Lehmann and Pedersen, Der Islam V, 54 sqq.
3) Introduction, p. CXVII sqq.; Paradisus Patrum, p. 504—525; Abü Talib I, 193.
4) Ethikon, p. 369.
5) Ethikon, p. 372.
6) r&floMsaa rtftevt Sba2511'8 ^\ (Ihya' m> P- 7°)-
10



10
so that they fall into annoying maladies: aversion, bodily weariness, mental confusion, despondency, darkness of deliberations, deprivation of human help. All [these evils] are healed by the word of the Lord: He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved '); and by the sayings of the holy Fathers on the excellency of patience.
In short: he who does not burn from love of God, resembles the tile of limestome which is used as a foundation-stone on the bank of a river and endures not for one hour. If, however, it is baked, it endures like a rock.
SECTION THE SIXTH
On the Love of the Brethren2)
Love of the brethren is the sign of essential patience, appearing not in offence, but in gladness of mind and goodness of will. A true friend is he who is loved on account of his self, because his friend delights in his intercourse. The cause of this delight, in truth, is not in outward nor in inward beauty, but in the hidden consanguinity of two persons 3). For many love those who are of a simple disposition and narrowminded. But man loves also him, who aids him towards some corporeal aim, or conducts him towards some psychic pront 5Z9 as a teacher of true 4) contemplation and profitable practice5). Loved6) is he who has a mind, not a fooi; who is chaste, neither greedy nor covetous; whose intercourse is agreeable, not being irascible. Some friends 7) reckon their friend as their
1) Matthew 24,13.
2) Paradisus Patrum p. 588—614; Ihya' II, p. 130; Abü Talib II, 213; Imitatio Christi II, p. 363. Ethikon IV, 12.
3) Ihya' II, p. 133: Love between two persons becomes Consolidated without a handsome appearance and without corporeal or moral beauty, but on account of inward consanguinity causing sympathy and harmony.
4) In Cardahi's text only.
5) Introduction, p. XXIII sqq. 6) Introduction, p. CXIX. 7) Introduction, p. CXX.



11
relative and give him what is abundant to themselves. Others estimate him like themselves. Others seek their friend's pront more than their own. And others exposé themselves to temptations on behalf of their friend.
A friend has the duty to aid his friend, not after a demand pressing or not pressing, but before being asked he shall give. He shall destroy his enemies and forgive his faults without recollecting his stains. He shall not conceal his good qualities '), nor be burdensome to him !). He shall not listen to the tales of his neighbour. He shall not ogle him through a crevice, nor spy upon him through fissures. If any provide not for his own faithful kindred, he is worse than the infidels, as Paul the blessed says 2).
SECTION THE SEVENTH On the Offences of the Tongue3)
After these things it is necessary for us to speak of the offences of this strait way, because he who is not acquainted with their noxiousness, is not on his guard against them. They are the following.
Vain speech4) is that which, being spoken, is not meritorious, nor being restrained, is sinful. Usually its cause is idleness. It is healed by solitude and by accustoming the tongue to silence5). Some put a smoqth stone into their mouth, thereby shutting off their babbling °). 53°
1) Introduction, p. CXX.
2) I Timothy 5,8.
3) Ihya' III, 4; Ethikon III, 5.
4) Basilius II, 527 A. Imitatio Christi, I, 10 (opp. II, p. 17). Introduction, p. CXXII sqq. Pythagoras is said to have accustomed his pupils to silence (Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, p. $6).
5) Solitude and silence, rdnèvt-O riiYsL,, , iZ~C°, Ojs- are often combined. Imitatio Christi I, 20: De amore solitudinis et silentii.
6) Ihya' III, p. 97: ^i* ■^Ju git (j A^>- £Ö) ^>Xai\ y \



t2
Chattering1) is abundance of speech. Its cause is natural aptitude for outbursts of the tongue and exercise in telling the tales of the Ancients. It is healed in the same way as the preceding [fault].
Speech which is indirectly sinful2) consists of tales concerning the glory, the prevalence and the opulency of wicked people. For when the simple hear these [tales], their heart falls into sickness and their faith diminishes. They are healed by: The end of the wicked shall be destruction 3), in this world and in the world to come.
Quarrelling consists of setting upright the will, and disobedience. Its cause is haughtiness, which induces man to extol his self, and hatred which brings him to reject his fellow. It is healed by breaking these two impure passions.
Litigation4) is fighting with words, set up bytheoppressor or the oppressed. The former is healed by: Do violence to no man5); the latter by: If any man will sue thee at the '00* law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also °).
Scorn. It has two causes. The first, that a man seeks to oppress the object of his scorn. The second consisting in a "bad habit fixing its dominion in a man, on account of his intercourse with fools. It is healed by: Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fooi, shall be in danger of heil fire 7). He who is treated scornfully, shall ascribe it to his own fault and not impu'te it to him who treats him scornfully; 531 so he evitates to hate him.
Curse and malediction8). The former is declaring a
1) Scala, Gradus XI: *fp' ToAi/Aoy/a? x«) «■<»»•>}«•
2) Introduction, p. CXXIV.
3) Psalm 37, 38.
4) Introduction, ib.
5) Luke 3,14.
6) Matthew 5, 40.
7) Matthew 5, 22.
8) Introduction, ib.



»5
should have said: But for the Lord, who sent to my help so and so, the wolf would have eaten me.
Vain investigation. If for instance one investigates that which to know does not profit, and which not to know does not harm; for instance: to investigate after the name of Melchisedek's father.
From all these things ') the novice is purified in the furnace of the monastery, as silver is purified from refuse2).
SECTION THE EIGHTH
On the Novice's turning backwards3)
When the novice fulfills the duties of the monastery according to his power and proves steadfast in those [duties of] behaviour, which suit to the state of his position and he knows that the time of his entering the ark of the cell draws near, hard deliberations of fear will rise in his heart and he will begin to say to himself: I am not able to bear constant reclusion; this is too great a thing for me; it suits me not to disparage it. Having entered, I shall perhaps not be able to bear it patiently and, leavïng it, become an object of laughter for the demons and a spectacle for the angels and man. So it will be better for me to be in the world and, if it be necessary for me to practise righteousness, to practise it there. Or *) have not the ancient just, Abraham, Isaac and 5; Jacob, possessed wives and sons and daughters and various possessions, and yet pleased God better than all solitaries 5) ?
1) Reading of P.
2) The same expression infra II, 3.
3) Cf. Ihya' III, p. 66 sqq. j Ethikon II, 10, 10. Ibn 'Ata'allah's commentator II, 63 quotes from Kushairï: »« ^ %£ ^ d\\ »\-iA j Uij ^ty J>
4) The following examples seem to hare been the usual ones for this subject; see Reitzenstein, Historia Mónachorum, p. 207, who cites G. Ficker, Amphilochiana I, 63.
5) Ethikon II, 2.



i6
Just so Moses, the head of the prophets, who spoke with God face to face; and David, the king and prophet, who has been surnamed the heart of God. The head of the apostles, Peter, had a mother in law, yet was entrusted with the keys of heaven. And also others were at the head of shops, as Priscilla and Aquila, yet were just.
Aba Macarius was sent towards two married women in the town in order to learn from them righteousness. On marriage there is a divine command, as: Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it '); but concerning virginity there is none at all. As the blessed Paul says: Concerning virginity I have no commandment of God: yet I give my judgment 2).
When the novice often meditates upon such thoughts, of better: When he is overwhelmed by carnal desire, he is preparing to return to the world and on the way of falling from spiritual behaviour into dwelling with matter, if the eyes of his mind are not opened by a physician 3), who is an Initiated.
SECTION THE NINTH
On directing the Novice in his Course 4)
When the master and leader of the novice has secretly become aware of the latter's halting between two opinions 5), 535 he says to him mournfully: Woe unto me, my son, woe! because I see that you intend to choose the evil part of Lot's wife, who turned backwards and became a pillar of salt. Have you not heard [the word of] the Lord who says: No man, ^ having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit
1) Gen. i, 28.
2) I Cor. 7, 25.
3) Introduction, p. LXVIII sq.
4) Ihya' III, p. 66: i^\.J\ A^ iljL <j &Jtj
5) Litterally: halting on his two knee-joints, the translation of 1 Kings 18,21 in the Syriac Bible.



17
for the kingdom of God '). Verily you are to be wondered at, comparing yourself with the holy fathers, with the prophets and the apostles! Is a fly able to do what a lion does? Or can a thorn reach the measure of a cedar ? No, my son, err not. But know, that lawful marriage is to be preferred to false, double-hearted virginity, which intends to serve God and the world; but not to true virginity, which is not divided between Christ and an earthly king, nor subject to a double-hearted law, but has devoted its love to God alone 2). It is of a beautiful life, it carries its head upright, it is lightfooted, enlightened, exalted above matter, far from the flesh. It has been said rightly 3): A married layman's hands are bound, his feet are tied together. An unmarried layman's hands are only impeded. But the true solitary, though being on the earth, is elevated unto heaven on his spiritual wings. Usually, when a layman is not able to fulfill the wants of his wife and children he is likely to fall into robbery and theft. For who is able 536 to bear the bad character of a woman or to fulfill all her needs? Verily such a man will by this vexation be brought to seek the end of his life.
The ways by which sin enters [people who are in] the world are many: envy, rancour, hatred, desire, love of finery, love of money, covetousness, avarice, criticism of God's unintelligible judgments, as: Why are the wicked, my enemies, opulent, whereas the good, my friends, are starving? And many other things, which the Elect may evitate.
By such [admonitions] the novice is edificated and he will return unto his place, if care takes his hand.
1) Luke 9, 62.
2) Ethikon, p. 139.
3) By Johannes Clirqacus, Scala, p. 10: 0 yap uyxfMoi; èv xgV^w pcóvoiQ tc7$ xpayptatri ogoeptevoG, t$ sv %€po~i ra xKotx veptxeipisvi/i 'éoixs, $10 rï Ure fioótórat apapiétv 3rpó$ rov ptovypx fi/ov ov xaAverai, 6 $i y$pia$ r$ Iv xePa'' **' iFoo~i rovt; Sso'ptoè$ TrsptKStpiévip.



i8
SECTION THE TENTH
On the Tokens of [good] Direction
Of the steadfastness of the novice there are certain tokens. They are the following: a quiet gait, a demure voice, a sweet speech, a chaste appearance, modest looks, concealed gladness , mean habits, inconsiderable food, perfect love, the reciting of psalms with understanding, love of strangers, purity of deliberations. For every brother, who is steadfast in these things, will bear his struggle gladly and pray that his enemy may repent. He will listen to words of wisdom and not wonder greatly at the narrative of a thing which he has never seen, nor at a tale which he has never heard. He will not ask him whom he meets: Whereto or for which reason do you go? His lips will not teil laughable stories '). He will not love finery 537 like a woman. He will not cast looks here and there on his body and his habits, nor twist his fingers, nor play with the hairs of his beard, nor with his tandstick, save only secretly. Being hungry he will not yawn; nor, awake, will he gape; nor form spittle, as it occurs to him. He will not gesticulate during conversation. At meals he will take a low place, not a high one. He will not have intercourse with magistrates.
By these inclinations 2) the steadfast novice is to be recognized \ in order to acquire them he serves in the monastery.
1) Cf. supra I, 7; Basilius II, 359 D; 425 E; 529 D: //t<{ tvTf/tviXx KxX&v $ xpyokoy&v yevêvSu ut' gt/Aoy/as. — The neo-Pythagoraeans also condemn laughing, Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, p. 58. Bar Hebraeus has written a collection of laughable stories himself.
2) pt_^Ct\ , Introduction, p. LXXI sqq.



CHAPTER THE SECOND
ON THE PSYCHIC SERVICE WHICH IS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE CELL
SECTION THE FIRST On the Duties of the Cell
The habitation of the cell has to take place with distinction, not in the way of a groove, as is the case with many persons who become recluses without having fixed an aim, towards which the labour of their behaviour shall be directed '). This aim consists in expecting from the Lord the gift of the illumination2) of the mind and the aptitude to behold the spiritual things in their nature and to have communion with them; together with many other things which are effectuated unto [the recluse].
When he has fulfilled this, the duties of the cell are given him. They are: solitude, true asceticism, which is accomplished by prayer, invocation, reciting and meditation; definite ritual prayers at fixed times; vigils; weeping; fasting; manual labour; abiding abroad; guarding the heart against evil passions, which 53& are3): dejectedness, wantonness, lasciviousness, anger, rancour,
1) Quoted in the Ethikon, p. 99, from Isaac of Ninive. Cf. Basilius II, 341—343.
2) Introduction, p. LXXXI sqq.
3) The same sequence in the Ethikon, Book III and IV, and in the Ihya'. It seems to' go back to Hellenistic examples. In Chapter XIII (XIV) § 7 sqq. of the Corpus Hermeticum twelve vices have to be banished before grace will fill man with godly things.



20
envy, desires, covetousness, vain glory, [assuming] a false appearance, haughtiness, boast, reprehension.
When the heart is gurified from such evil passions, it has necessarily to be adorned with good qualities, as patients besides evitating things which cause harm, have also to make use of remedies. They are: love of teachings, faith, thanksgiving, hope, fear of God, poverty, confidence, purity of deliberations, remembrance of death.
This is the behaviour of the pure in heart, which shall see God 2).
We shall describe each of these [qualities] peculiarly.
SECTION THE SECOND
On Solitude3)
Solitude, in the intellectual eyes of the Initiated, is [of] so great [a value], that, even if being bare and devoid of all other excellency, they have praised it higher than intercourse accompanied by virtuous [practice]. For the blessed Palladius says: I asked Aba Sarmata saying to him: What shall I do ? I do not practise the works of monks, but I am eating and sleeping; and my deliberations are disturbed. He answered me: Stay in your cell and do what you are able to do, without being troubled; then I trust, that you will be praised like Antonius.
Many are the pronts of solitude. The first, which is much more elevated and exalted than all the others, is spiritual 539 enjoyment, which you will acquire by the true knowledge of the divine nature 4). Further, liberation from worldly care which
i) Introduction, p. LXVIII sqq. 2) Matthew 5, 8.
3) Scala, Gradus XXVII; Ihya' II, 6; Ethikon I, 7; Thomas a Kempis: De custodia cellae (Opp. II, p. 430); Introduction, p. XXIV sqq.
4) Ethikon p. 93; Ihyft' II, p. 1S3 gives the following definition of this profit:
,_A£;A. jViü1^ ^\ ;WU l^. JU" 4s\ ;WUc ^W-Vij -oUS
^jèji), o/Lj Li\ \JS i a\ ^A



21
impedes spiritual service, from the backbiting of the fellow brethren, from the reprehension of the unrighteous, from seeking to please, for those who are pleasant unto men, will be confounded, because God rejects them; from seeing and hearing ugly things which easily adhere to [human] nature, but leave it only with difficulty. For man is more swift in retaining of small evil much, than of great excellence little. On account of the violence of wicked mankind, as it has been said, it is impossible to tame ') the beasts of the field, nor do the gazelles on the mountains stretch themselves before the > shearer. If the beasts of pray come near, man will strip them of their hides near the walls. If the eagle inhabits the town, smoke will blind its eyes1). [Lastly solitude] liberates the fellow brethren from the recluse's obtrusion.3).
Intercourse, however, has also profits 4): teachings, supporting the weak, exercise and training; bearing. the obtrusion of narrow-minded and angry people; prudence springing from experience.
Therefore, when the novice has acquired these things in the monastery, in which he is put to the test as gold in the furnace 5), he has to choose solitude and reclusion in the cell.
It is, however, the duty of the recluse to cut off intercourse with other people by a strong constraint and to get accustomed to the constant quiet of the cell.
During the whole year he shall not meet with anyone excepted when partaking of the sacraments on Sundays. And, without necessity, nobody shall visit him. For many have commenced with hard labours and ended with a reprehensible 540 life, on account of their constant intercourse with lay' people,
1) Litterally: to lay the staff on;
2) Verses of 7 syllables.
3) The profits of solitude are also enumerated in the Ethikon, p. 93—96 and the Ihya' II, p. 183 sqq.
4) Introduction, p. CXXVI sq.
5) Cf. I, 7 and Abü Talib I, 9: JÜ\, ^ j ^j. ojt. ^ J 0\



33
Wantonness') is healed by hunger 2) by which the mind is purified and spiritual enjoyments are attained and by which the spirit is made humble, the desires are quenched and the weariness of sleep lightened 3). Lessening the quantity of food has to take place progressively4): he who is accustomed to take one crust of bread daily, shall diminish this quantity with one sixtieth of a crust every day; so after a month he will have reached half a crust without being damaged. Some solitaries take one pound of bread every day; others two thirds, others half a pound. The majority take food only once a day; some every second evening; others from Sunday to Sunday.The Naziraeans abstain from eggs, milk, grease, cheese and fish. They are subject to two passions: desire of delicious food, which urges the Naziraean to break his vows of abstention; and vain glory advising him to extol his virtues. If he is vanquished by these two [passions], he falls into eating secretly that which he does not eat publicly. They are bóth healed by his breaking the vow of abstention without fulfilling his want wholly.
Lasciviousness6). The demon of fornication causes the solitary to see disdainful phantasma's, to utter impudent words and to listen to the answers, and to imagine that these things really happen to him. He explores carnal desire and excites 552 it and seduces the solitary to relax and give way to impudence full of impurity. This passion is healed by constant star ving and abstinence from intercourse with women and boys, and from looking at them °). For Aba Amon says: when I came into the desert, I was a boy. And Aba Paphnutius the simple
1) Ihya' III, 3; Ethikon III, 3.
2) Introduction, p. CXXX.
3) Abü Talib I, 98: \^\0Myj Usfj^ta UiT ysTt U:
4) Introduction, l.c.
5) Ethikon III, 4.
6) Ghazalï III, p. 92—94 recommends abstention from marriage to the novices; he relates many stories warning against the intercourse with women and boys and looking at them. Cf. Ibn 'Ata'allah 1, 55 and Kushairï, p. 216.



34
turned me away saying i I do not permit the face of a boy resembling that of a woman to inhabit Skete. And the holy Basilius says: if a man says he cannot be damaged by the intercourse with women, he is either not a man or he is not aware of his passion, like one who is drunk, yet pretends to be master of his senses. Excepted are the Perfect who, in the same way as they are not affected by passionate deliberation when seeing the magnificent luminaries in the sky or the glorious flowers on the earth, so they are not scorched in their hearts by exciting inclinations when seeing a desirable face and elegant beauty.
He ]) who is healed from this passion, at first will be tormented by natural inclination and impulse whithout phantastic representations of copulation. In the middle stage he will perceive natural inclination whithout phantasies and impulse. When he is being completely healed even natural inclination will cease, because passionate deliberation has ceased.
Anger2). When a man's enemy 3) is weaker than himself, the fire of his anger will be kindled, his heart blood will become hot and his face red. When he is stronger than himself his blood will flow back to the depth of his heart, 553 his colour will become pale and his choler will be changed into fear 4). The causes 5) which strengthen anger are spiritual haughtiness, quarrelsomeness and covetousness. It is healed by5): Learn from me, for I am week and lowly in heart0). And by: Let not the sun go down upon your wrath '), and by detesting the madness of the will which happens together
1) Scala, p. 217: apx*l &V"'at a<rvyxaT&$eTO* Myio-piof xai avtlSaKot Sia Xpóvuv ixxphtis. tiHTÓTtit dyvei'ae <pvo-ixai xivfoeif far* ü-Ai)0e< /3p«ft«Taiv xai póvav aveiSwMuc. o-vvio-ranevai xai fsórsat amfMaypiévai. téAoj Si véxpa<ri( o-afiXTOi; irpoQavóvrwv KayifT[j.tü-j.
2) Ihya' 111,5; Ethikon III, 6,3; Introduction, p. CXXX sq.
3) Litterally.: he who does him harm.
4) Ethikon, p. 273. Almost litterally in Ihya' III, p. 139.
5) Introduction, p. CXXXI.
6) Matthew 11, 29.
7) Ephesians 4, 26.



35
with anger; for the members of the body tremble, the tongue stammers and the mouth foams. And ') if he is not able to attain his oppressor, he scratches and scorns himself, rends his habit, beats the earth, smashes his plate on a stone and crushes his table 2). He disdains his cattle and if they kick him, he kicks them, bites their ears, and pulls their tails. If he is vituperated, he will apologize boastingly, saying: I am not able to see and hear unbecoming things.
Rancour is born from choler. Growing up it gives birth to eight daughters 3): that a man envies him against whom he bears rancour, that he hates him, that he rejoices at his damage, that he sycophantizes him and seeks to damage him and to annul his profit, that he disregards and ridicules him. One of the Fathers has said: he who bears rancour and thinks to be a repentant, resembles a man who dreams that he is running.
It is healed by quieting the choler and by honouring him that bears it, as Euagrius the Great says: by presents Jacob has reconciled Esau. But we, the needy, have to fulfill our wants at a simple table.
Envy4). A man envies only him, that possesses any good 554 more copiously than himself. Every one who perceives a good in an other, and hates its endurance and seeks its disappearance, he is wickedly envious. But if, on the contrary, he desires the same good for himself, his zeal is praiseworthy ').
A man5) envies him whom he hates and him who does not wish to be like himself or who is his superior. Envious is he also who desires for himself the good which an other possesses, as well as he who desires to be a unique man in his age. Envious is also the man of a bad character who does
1) Introduction, p. CXXXI.
2) Cf. SeferChasidim, fol. 17a: mom Vfo -QïÓ 1« mOPD Vlte VVipb ~\)DH)
3) Ethikon III, 6,4; Ihya' III, p. 150 where also eight daughters of rancour are enumerated.
4) Ihya' III, p. 154; Ethikon, III, 6,5.
5) Introduction, l.c.



36
not love teachings or asceticism, but is. sorry when perceiving an other who is being taught or practising asceticism.
Envy ') is healed thereby, that a man knows that to be envious is troublesome for himself, and to be envied makes glad on account of the good possessed peculiarly.
Desires2) make temporal life pleasant for man, but do not give the opportunity to prepare oneself for eternal life. They are divided into desire of necessary things, as food and covering, wife and home; of natural things, as family and affinity; of acquirable things, as dominion, wealth, slaves and handmaids, gardens and estates. As Aba Poman has said: even wisdom without behaviour belongs to them. Likewise teachings of teachers who do not care for the salvation of their hearers, but for stealing their money. In short: as a man is not able to see his likeness in troubled water, so the mind cannot see its Lord within itself, if its mirror be not purified 555 from desires 3). In truth, man in the world 4) is like him who dreams of desire and lust; but, awaking, does not find anything of them.
Covetousness5). If man knew the damages °) of wealth he would not be very desirous of gathering it. They are: artifices and ambushes prepared for him by governors, thieves and robbers, envy of fellow brethren; the impure things perpetrated by means of it, as wantonness, adultery and vain glory; and those by means of which wealth is effectuated, as falsehood, oppression and forsaking spiritual service. For no servant can serve two masters'). If a man inquires for what purpose gold has been created, the angelic deliberation ans-
1) Ihya' III, p. 162 sq.
2) Ihya' III, p. 166 sqq.; Ethikon, III, J.
3) Taken from Euagrius, as appears in the Ethikon, p. 278.
4) Introduction, p. CXXXI.
5) Scala, Gradus XVI; Ihya' III, 7; Ethikon III, 8.
6) Introduction, p. CXXXII.
7) Matthew 6, 24.



37
wers '): for the sake of necessary maintenance j the demoniacal i for the sake of luxury and pleasure.
Covetousness is healed ') by lessening the expensés, by being content with little2), and by comparing the second hand enjoyments of the rich with the great honour of the renouncers and by looking at his inferiors, not at his superiors.
Vain glory3). Love of vain glory is the desire of honour 4) on account of one's excellence being extolled 5). Hypocrites seek to get praises 'on account of the hard labours of a false asceticism °). Some do not seek praise, but they rejoice at being praised. Others are troubled by praise '), but they are silent without declining it. Others nee from the place where they are praised. But the Perfect become angry 8) and declare those who praise them to be liars. Some people are troubled 556 when being disdained (9and guard rancour in their heart against him who disdains them. Others are only troubled 9) without guarding rancour. Others reckon disdain as praise. Others love him who disdains them because he reveals to them their stains and becomes the cause of their being healed 10).
The love of glory is healed by practising those things which render man simple and lessen his [outward] honour and
1) Introduction, p. CXXXII.
2) Litterally: obsonia.
3) Ihya' III, 8; Ethikon III, 9; Thomas a Kempis, Opp. II, 362: De contemptu vanae gloriae.
4) Introduction, p. CXXXIII.
5) Scala, p. 276. The sentence has found its way into the Ihya' II, p. 228: .uil (_r,\i\ j+£ jj ; in this form it occurs in the Scala and the Ethikon, p. 293.
6) Scala, p. 278.
7) Ibn 'Ata'allah I, toi : H U^j. Jc 0\ «l ^ LH \>\
<~i; cy CV*1-
8) Scala, p. 277: iISov~ irtvSqSvrzt êfraiveStvTuc xai ik opyijv è|a<f>9«T«s xai «{ tv Tfavxyipti kó&tt irtèot a-vvct*.}Jc%ocvTX<:.
(9—9) Only in Cardahi's text.
10) Scala, p. 277: tirav axoua-yt Uti £ ic\^<rtov o-ov $ 6 <f>/Aoj Itoiiupxtré at aitóvra n vapóvra rórt ri,v ayfaxv ïvSt^at hvttivêtrat; abróv. With the above passage cf. Ethikon, p. 295 sq.; Ihya' III, p. 242.



38
by being like the dead, who do not rejoice at praise nor are spiteful on account of disdain ') j by working in secret and by appearing in public like every man. An excellent man said to one who praised him: if you knew me, as I know myself, you would not praise me 2).
Deceitful attitude3). Assuming an attitude is deception by concealing evil inward qualities and by showing outward virtues, as is done by those who make hard their callosity, taking the appearance of having become thus by frequent kneeling. They bind their hips with a rope, make their voices mournful, their tongues silent, while they plan evil in their heart. They procure themselves many flatterers, who draw the simple towards them in order to acquire their blessing and their soothsayings.
Its motive is to acquire honour or wealth. It is healed by hate of praise, by the solitary's rejoicing at detraction and by his despairing of the profits of men. For Aba Daniël says: I looked through the door of Aba Poman's cell and saw him 557 sitting on the earth. When he perceived me, he hurried to sit down on his mat. — Sometimes the excellent reveal their labours, but only if they know, that their hearers will imitate them. As Aba Macarius said to Aba Euagrius: for twenty years I have not known satiety of bread, water and sleep.
Haughtiness4) is a psychic state, in which man considers himself as being elevated above others. Pharao3) elevated himself above God, saying: The Nile is mine, I have made it. The persecutors [of Israël] elevated themselves above his servants. People, blind of mind, elevate themselves above
1) Cf. the story in the Etikon, p. 291.
2) Ihya' III, p. 229: ^A >^iJVs <*z\> £>* V*_y. Jy~* ry\ -gj-
£u ^\ U aV Jc <yï\ V, ï>ÏJ'ji «\y èy*B'%. And Ibn 'Ata'allah I, 100: Vfci. OuJ \l lA_u5 VÜAs «&*1 o™ &ê *>j^°i ^ ^J*^ i_r"^-
3) Introduction, p. CXXXIII.
4) Ethikon III, jt\ Ihya' III, 9.



53
Therefore no man whose mind has been captivated by the desire of his Lord, can further be captivated by the desire of anything in the world. And nobody who has found God, will not wholly forget the world '). When the mind has been salted by the love of God, it will not be troubled any more. He who serves the service of the Lord, will quickly put off the habit of servants.
This delight will eminently happen to the mind when it has separated itself wholly from matter. As the blessed Paul the apostle, says: for we now see through a glass, darkly,' 57, but then face to face2). And the holy Gregorius says: every good, God loving soul will enjoy a wonderful delight and exult when it is separated from the body, because what caused darkness has been purified.
SECTION THE SEVENTH On the Augmentation ofthe Love3) of God4) The love of God is augmented in the soul, when man proceeds in faith, hope and love and is strengthened in his state of abstention; when he meditates upon the wonderful works of the Creator; when his mind beholds the divine power that penetrates the universe; when, without impediment, it pervades all the ends of the earth 5) and farther, above all heavens and seas and oceans and all that is in them % without attaching itself to them, without abiding in the darkness ') of matter o^e^contrary, hating every desire, seeking and desiring thé
0 %r IV, P. 265: £ «fa ^ ,U « 01 J^LA ^,1 j\i lj| „ 7 r ^ <* W] fv^" 'Wj ijtA ^ «l
2) 1 Cor. 13, 12. j ■?
3) Read: ècouTl
4) Ihya' IV, p. 270 sqq.
5) Reading of p.
7) p!* rea^love^'1 & C°1P"S Hermeticum XI« (XIV) § n and ,5.



54
Good one alone, purifying its inner heart from all beside Him, in order to behold, albeit dimly, something of the rays of the Essence. And by this glance, short like lightning'), the small spark of love will become a mighty flame, making the soul blaze.
The friend of God thirsts to behold Him2), longing after [the time] when he shall come and see His face 3). And neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 572 any other creature shall be able to separate him from the love of his Lord 4). He fulfills His will and his lips administer His name perpetually. He consoles himself by solitude and by sitting in .the narrow cell and enjoys the labours of asceticism. He is meek towards the good and the evil. He prays constantly that his love may not abate; he conceals his love as much as possible and he loves nothing but Him. It is said5) that the Egyptian woman, who loved Joseph, when her husband had died, believed in God. And when Joseph desired to marry her, she did not consent, for she said: before I knew his Lord, I loved him; but now that I know his Lord, I love Him and not His servant.
SECTION THE EIGHTH
On the Knowledge of God0)
That the knowing knows the Creator from the creatures, is the trodden way that has been levelled by many with labours. The elect, however, who have been chosen by God before to be the vocated and the saints, know the creatures from
1) Introduction, p. XCIV.
2) Introduction, p. L sqq.
3) Ps. 42,2. 'i
4) Romans 8, 38.
5) See Ethikon, p. 489.
6) Ethikon IV, 15,6 and Sentence 73.



55
the Creator '). As one of them has said: By the knowledge of my God I know my self and the world2). The divine Psalmist describes the former knowledge by: the heavensdeclare the glory of God 3); the latter he symbolically indicates with: in Thy light we see light 4).
The exoteric sages exalt the latter kind above the former. And because the knowledge of God is the cause of loving Him5), and some people know Him not as He is, consequently their love has no foundation. Other people, however, confess Him as He is, but only in the way of tradition and audience °). 573 Their love, though it has a foundation, is built as upon sand, and shaken by small trouble.
The Initiated know His divinity by essential knowledge and the foundation of their love is placed as upon a rock; neither trouble, nor persecutions, nor sword, nor fire can overpower it.
And ') though all beings in heaven and earth bear the sign of their maker 8), and there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard 9), many do not know Him; not on account of His being hidden, but on account of His being so manifest, the mind becomes dull in His light which is not to be perceived by the senses 10). For the relation between the
1) The two kinds of knowledge also Ihya' IV, p. 271 : jA* J\ oy^]y\) öj^-.j ciVj \rf- oyy. «i f ;HrV« y ü&j AyV\ J\ Ojn^i
JcU\ J\ 0j%y, J Jui'A. And cf. Abü Talib II, 3: ^ iAj»
■ülW ia^w cs jlsil uiJ*> ij^j <oLs-
2) See Ethikon, p. 484.
3) I's- 19, I. 4) Ps. 36, 6.
5) Introduction, p. XLII. 6) Introduction, p. XLVIII sq.
7) Ethikon IV, 15, 8.
8) Ihya>lV,p.275: jf i^K. «J ^ <Ü\ jljjj ö]y^-j frj ^k^j 'jf ö" *^A^ ;y,\.y\ (j-Uyil; 'SjMj £i»U\i L.
9) Ps. 19, 3.
10) Ibn cAta°alHih II, 9: ,jy J^y\ p j£ jgjj ^_J>-\ &



56
human mind and essential light is the same as that between the bat and the light of the sun. Therefore, as the bat, if it possessed the visual strength of man, would be able to see in the sunlight, so the human mind, if it possessed the mental strength of the angels, would be able to see in the essential light ')•
SECTION THE NINTH On the varying States the Perfect have to go through2) From their first reaching the state of perfection until the loosening of their tie, the Perfect have usually to go through twelve varying states.
The first is that of the mind's being baptized in the heart. Here deliberation is standing motionless; even the tongue does not murmur praise and man is not able to bear even 574 the sound of a leaf, but silence dominates the inclinations 3) of soul and body. The second is that of distinction, the mind recognizing the height of its rank and its being the offspring of God. Here too it guards solitude and silence. And if distraction overwhelms it, it is concentrated by reciting the Scriptures and by obeisances. The third is that of love of reciting Psalms, so, that the Perfect is changed with the murmuring of every sentence. And while the words of the Psalms are retained in the memory so as to become the propriety of the reciter é), even- when silent it is as if the divine Psalmist
1) Ihya IV, p. 275: Jyj\ >\é-"i ^VAV. -ja*. % _j-^A J.\mC\ c>\ ^
■yA IA ^ Ci ïfj ^kJ .>A gA-utf W- ^ ij
W \±jf JJi^ *j3fr wU^j f^\{. The same idea is expressed by Jamblichus (De mysteriis, p. 86): xaï W *4» r« AnrroVifr* toS ipuric oi dioi Too-avruv ivila'vi.novtriv uc fiif Svvaa-Sai xupeïv uvriiv -roic, <7«i(iarixoi<; tyS«Afiatf«.
2) Ethikon IV, 15,14. Introduction, p. XCV. £.£|
3) Introduction, p. LXXI sqq. 4) OUrClflUxfla&rV



64
signs and testimonies, you are forging cold iron J) and as yet even no faith like a grain of mustard is in you.
11. Beholding God takes place by shutting the senses, by opening the windows of the heart and by withdrawing the veil from the inward eyes. This is what has been said: shut the windows, that the room may be lighted 2).
12. Those who enter the cloud s) attain the depth and the abundance of God's wisdom, without the intermediary of coraplicated deliberations.
582 13. As the mind necessarily attains elementary knowledge here — that the whole is greater than a part, and that one is the half of two — so, when having penetrated into the divine cloud, with the same necessity it will know the hidden and incomprehensible judgments of the divinity 4).
14. As the senses are not able to attain immaterial images, so the mind, as long as it has not yet loosened the shoes of the body from its feet5) is not able to attain the images hidden in the cloud, but only dimly and pervertedly.
15. The mind in the cloud has unspeakable delight in beholding the Beautiful one. This happens also out of the cloud, but only as to one who hears the [description of the] beauty of the Beautiful one, not as to one who beholds itc).
16. When the eyes of the mind are opened, according to its aptitude grace is poured out on it; it is illuminated 7) by the glorious and angelic rays, it becomes familiar 8) with the
1) The expression is also in Abü Talib I, 100: j> ij ;^-"A J^* v-*jW
iyi XJo j H\ _<rai \i \^S- ^-j^oj \^S- J-\
2) Corpus Hermeticum XIII § 7 '• xctT&pyxo-ov roS o-üftanot rac. altrSfoeif xoti 'étrrai i) yévea-it rijf &<oV>)toc,. Cf. Introduction, p. LXXXI.
3) Introduction, p. CM.
4) Imitatio Christi III, 14 (Opera II, p. 170): de occultis Dei judiciis considerandis ne extollamur in bonis. Cf. III, 58 (Opp. II, p. 256): de altioribus rebus et occultis judiciis Dei non scrutandis.
5) Introduction, p. LXXVI sq.
6) Introduction, p. XLVM sq.
7) Introduction, p. LXXXI.
8) Introduction, p. C sqq.



65
members of the kingdom, it is ranged among their conspicuous hosts, and it rejoices and glorifies with them and it is alienated from the world and all that is in it.
17. He who reckons himself among the faithful without having looked behind the door of the Holy of Holies of the cloud '), lies; even if he confesses with his tongue and believes with his heart.
18. If the blindborn affirms that there exist colours — white, black, green, red — and if the deaf believes that the ear rejoices at the sound of concording strings and harmonious songs — yet their belief is nearer to unbelief than to belief. 583
19. If you possess not, o brother, the faith founded on revelations 2), do not give sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids, until you have found the place of the Lord; from there you will receive faith and you will be baptized with fire and spirit, not with water.
20. The faith founded on revelations is found by the prophets and the apostles in the way of the day-spring from on high 3), without labour or searching; by the solitaries however by searching, labour, efforts and apprenticeship. So they proceed from shadowy faith towards faith founded on revelations.
21. Be cautious against stamping yourself with the coinage of the members of the kingdom, on account of your industrious reciting of the scriptures and steady labour. For many have laboured strenuously, but because they have not laboured with intelligence, they have not attained the way of truth, nor reached the harbour of life.
22. Not by bodily labours alone, but by strife and struggle of the sound mind 4) perfection is acquired. Vary therefore your bodily service with spiritual intelligence, that you may understand that you work with your body and your mind.
23. Love is the lover's seeking the beloved. Essential seeking
1) Introduction, p. CM.
2) Introduction, p. XCVM.
3) Luke 1, 78. 4) Introduction, p. LXVM sq.



66
is turning the gaze wholly towards the side of the sought. And then seeking and finding will become twins, viz. finding will follow seeking immediately. He who seeks thus, finds; who asks thus, receives.
584 24. As pure iron, no hindrance presenting itself, is attracted by a magnet, but when a foreign substance adheres to it, the attraction diminishes, so the pure mind is in its entirety attracted by the suprème Essence; but when the passions of the flesh adhere to it, the attraction is impeded.
25. As cleansing iron from a foreign substance — as gold, silver, brass and lead — is more difficult than delivering it from the grip of a hand and other outward impeding influences, which do not cohere with its substance, so it is more difficult to purify the mind from brutish customs and from animal inclinations, which are cohesive with its nature, than to loosen the ties with wife, children, talents and mina's.
26. When the mind understands that there are words which it is not able to utter, and actions the like of which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither have they entered into the heart of man '), then it ascends above the highest rank outside the cloud2) and it has set its foot upon the lowest stage within it.
27. When the mind hears unspeakable words which no mouth is able to explain, and when it sees things, the like of which no eye has seen, it rests already in the tabernacle of the Lord and it abides on His holy mountain.
28. One in three ■ and three in one, says the church. Not in such a way that one, in so far as it is one, becomes three; nor so, that three, in so far as it is three, is one. For this is impossible.
29. What is three in itself possesses a unique, essential
585 idea, which is not liable to be divided into many triads; and in this intelligence it is one. And because the unique suprème
1) 1 Cor. 2,9. 2) Introduction, p. CM.



67
being possesses essence and word and life, it is three. So it is one in naturè and three in hypostases ').
30. The cause of the word and the life of the essence cannot be outside the essence, otherwise that which were foreign2) to the essence would have undergone the influence of an other being. Therefore theology calls the cause the Father; and the word and the life, produced by this cause, Son and Spirit.
31. Now the word, being hidden in the rational, is revealed as it were by being born from a womb. Life however reveals itself in the living as long as it lives. Therefore the Son is born but not emanated; the Spirit is emanated, but not born.
32. If God, the creator of the universe, acts according to His wrll, it is not impossible for the creatures to investigate Him by the intermediary of any [created] body, whatever it be.
33. If it is not denied that God has revealed Himself unto Moses in the bush at Sinai, and that He has handed down to him laws and institutions 3) apt for Israël, how can it be denied, that He has revealed himself unto the world in the complete son of man, who has become soul in the rational and recognizing initiated soul ?
34. He, whose essence is not derived from himself, but from his cause, can not be the cause of the essence of an other, perhaps he can be a mediator. So God alone is the cause of all and He worketh all in all4).
35. As the moon receives its light from the sun, and over the earth rises light during the night from the moon, how can the moon, which does not possess light in itself, be the 5: cause of the light of the earth? Indeed, it is not the cause, but rather the intermediary bet ween the cause and the caused.
36. As a mirror5) is in itself devoid of all images and
1) With sentence 29—31 cf. Theology of Aristoteles, pp. 77, 85 sq., 89, 104; Introduction, p. XXXV.
2) r<Hi%T., litterally: impure.
3) rdlïs 4) 1 Cor. 12,6. 5) Introduction, p. LXXIV.



72
fountain, the guide has no strength to lead him, nor to carry him. He can only teach him the nature of his pilgrimage and his way of proceeding.
60. As a leaky ship does not profit by the wind even if it be propitious, so the heart, which is subjected to desires, does not profit by a guide, even if he be of a high quality.
61. Water cannot be gathered in a bottle of which the opening is directed towards the ground. And in the soul whose thought') is directed towards earthly things, the heavenly gift will not endure.
62. To be occupied with ministering unto the pure in heart 2), is highly profitable for him who wishes to resemble them. They are those who have purified their inward man from all stains and who have received every good and perfect gift which cometh down from above, from the father of lights 3).
63. Blessed and worthy of all blessedness is he who has found an Initiated, the rays of whose sun rise over the flame of his lamp and whose light has been annihilated by the light of his Lord, who is dead to the world and living in his God.
64. True life is this, that the perfect suck at the breasts of suprème providence. And in the teachers of the law and the scriptures there is nothing of this life, except the description and the name.
65. If the Lord had not supported me and made me to concentrate my attention on meditating the writings of the Initiated during these seven years4), away from the divagations of manifold teachings and various occupations, the bad customs which I see adhering to many, would have adhered to me also.
66. Perhaps you will say: Is there then a sign distinguishing 591 the veritable Initiated from the deceiving hypocrite ? I answer:
1) In Bedjan's text GOTiM follows, which is not Cardahi's text.
2) Introduction, p. LXXVII.
3) James 1,17.
4) Cf. above, p. 61.



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These signs afe many in number. But at the first glance they begin with being dim. And in course of time, having been observed sufficiently long, they are revealed.
67. Who has not tasted, does not know. Who has not eaten is not satisfied by conversation with him that has eaten. Who has not drunk, his thirst is not quenched by the narration of him that has drunk. Who has not experienced, the experience of an other does not profit him.
68. Some of the teachers who are sufficiently trained in the holy scriptures and their explanation are not willing to learn the way of the kingdom from the Initiated who are not trained in their professional knowledge. They do not understand that their knowledge, however clever they may be, is one of hearing; that of the Initiated, however crude they may be, one of seeing !).
69. By the Lord of Lords, my Lord, I conjure you, wonderful teachers; as long as you are not converted and have become as babes, devoid 2) of all skill and sagacity, till then you even know not the direction towards the kingdom; how then could you dare to take the way towards it and wish to reach it? It will happen to you, that, thinking to be near it, you will be far from it.
70. To recognize, on account of the understanding of the rational soul and its stimulating influence upon the body, its riding animal3), the essence of the latter, is simple knowledge, because also the irrational animals possess the two. But the incorruptibility of the soul, nothwithstanding the corruptibility of its riding animal, the body, on account of its being immaterial, is only to be affirmed by the subtle speculation 4) 592 of the sages 5)«
1) Introduction, p. XLVIII sq.
2) r<?o.*-\BO in Cardahi's text only.
3) Introduction, p. LXXVI sq. and sentence 14.
4) Introduction, p. XXIII.
5) All the elements of this sentence are already in the opening sentence of



79
which the room will be the inner holy of holies, and that of 597 which the apartment will be far beyond the cloud '). They also recognize those in the middle and the other, low ones which are wholly devoid of light and who will be miserable with the miserable, in places not visited by the Lord.
93. When, after the conjunct labours of soul and body, a simeonitic simplicity, natural or resembling to nature, will have happened to you, o brother2), then know that your night is over, and your lamentation has passed; your dawn has come, and your morning is near; and your Lord will send you light and faith and console you by His revelations 3).
94. By that which I have said, and say and shall say, I do not reject speculation 4). How should this be, since esoterie teachers and exoteric sages, by their intricate ways of thought, have ascended to astonishing heights of knowledge ? But when I see that some of them have dared to weigh all in their scale, their boast does not appear beautiful to me. For their scale is just and right, but it does not bear nor contain the multitude of things of the world to come. These are only to be partially understood by vision 5) acquired by revelation.
95. When you wish to give rest to your mind from attaining profound questions by syllogistic intricacies6), and you will acquire solitude and silence with steady labours, then be patiënt, and be not dejected on your way. Ere long your sun will rise and illuminate your evening and show you your beauty T) and liberate you from the slavery of time and place.
96. When the sun of the Beloved rises for the lover, on
1) Introduction, p. CM.
2) Litterally: our brother.
3) Introduction, p. XCVIII.
4) Introduction, p. XXIII sqq.
5) Introduction, p. XLI.
6) Introduction, p. LXIV sqq.
7) Cf. Plotinus, Enneades V, 5 §8: Sib oii %W Siaxeiv, «AA' faux? pévetv 'éu; foi 0>avfl xapeurxevaa-etyree 'éecvrov Sexrijv sïveci lS<rirep è^aAftê? «v«toA«5 yKlov irepitUvei, i Si virstQaveii; tov ópi'^ovrot ig iixemov tpeco-h ol itoivtroil 'éSaxev 'éecvrov



8o
598 the day without day, and he looks at the Solomonic bride in her splendour, while she shows herself to him without a cover, introducing him into her house with sevenfold columns, she will inform the beloved concerning all things and tame with him the beasts of wings and of prey, because they scent from him the odour of their creator; for even those beings which are not endowed with senses, perceive Him, so that the demons are subjected and the angels minister unto him ').
97. When the blessed has reached this stage he will no longer drink from a rock or a fountain, but from the water his Lord will give him and he shall not be thirsty any more. But it shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life 2).
98. Now these sentences are only profitable for him who is trained in the knowledge of divine and human practice, longing to see in revelations 3) those things which his speculation 4) has reached. But who is devoid of this longing, shall reiterate his meditation upon this book; with attentive intelligence however, not by brutish recitation; perhaps in this way it will make warm his heart.
99. The causes which abate the love unto the Beautiful one are many. To enumerate all of them is above my power and
1) The dominion of Ihe Initiated over other beings is expressed by Ibn 'Ata'allah (II, 68) in this way: «.Tj^i &\# cj1\\ J^ti ^ \, yJ\f"A isJi ^ii** ol^A And his commentator relates: ^ J\j \
'is1 chj*^ ^-A? j**» with wnicn mav be compared tne
other stories he tells,
The subject goes back to Christian and neo-Pythagorean examples. Jamblichus, Vita Pythagorae, p. 46 and Porphyry in his biography of the master, p. 31, relate that a bear which was of constant harm to the inhabitants of the place, was tamed by Pythagoras who stroked her and conjured her not to touch living beings any more; then she vanished in the mountains and was never seen again.
2) John 4,14.
3) Introduction, p. XCVIII.
4) Introduction, p. XXIII sqq.



8i
too lengthy for my time. Speech already wearïes me, while my heart tends towards that which is more expediënt; therefore : who is able to stand on his feet in the struggle of love, let him stand. But who does not possess this strength, let him make his food according to his strength, and let him stretch his foot according to [the length of] his mantle.
ioo. For this seed, though it be small as a mustard seed, 599 if it does not fall by the way side, or upon a stone, or among thorns, but it be sown on good ground '), it will, when it is grown up, become a large tree, so that the birds of the air come, viz. the heavenly guests, and make their nests in the branches thereof2). And further: A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven s).
Here ends the Book of the Dove.
1) Matth. 13,4 sqq.
2) Matth. 13,32. 3) John 3, 27.






ETHIKON






BOOK IV, CHAPTER XV
ON THE LOVE OF GOD
SECTION THE FIRST
Sayings of the Fathers concerning the Love unto God
Aba Amon of Nitria went to Aba Antonius and said to him: I see, that my labour is more than yours, how is it that 474 your name has more splendour among men than mine? Aba Antonius answered: This is because I love our Lord more than you.
The holy Basilius: The love of benefactors is more than natural love. This is not only the case with men, but also with all animals. For the ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib If we strive strenuously to repay love, which has not been taught us, to our benefactors, what word can repay the bounties of God unto us, as they deserve? They are innumerable and in their multitude so praiseworthy, that one of them is sufficiënt to claim all remunerations which we are able to give. Sunrise namely, the circumambulation of the moon, the mixture of the air, the variation of the times, the water of the clouds, all that comes forth from the earth and the sea, all sorts of animals which are appointed to serve our
1) Is. 1,3.



86
life, — to be silent on all these would be absolutely impossible, even if we were willing to be so. And to utter our thanksgivings, as it would be truly becoming, is beyond our power. But He is so good as not even to expect from us any reward, but it is sufficiënt for Him, if in view of all these bounties we only love Him.
475 Aba Euagrius: If anyone is accomplished in the love of God, he is a drunken ') man. He is constantly captivated by the love of his Lord, so that he does not see this world, but his thoughts abide continually in heaven. Blessed he who has been deemed worthy of this.
The same: If a man is gifted with grace or with the gift of prophecy, or works forces or signs, but has not reached the complete love of God — if he will sleep a little, Satan will quickly throw him down, for he is still a child and living with fear.
John de Dalyata: Those in whom has shone Thy love, puerile, not as in the Initiated, have rejected and cast away family and race and all bodily love, and have alienated themselves from all, in order to run, naked, to attain Thy holy love. And they have turned away their faces from what they possessed, without seeing that which they were going to possess. But what they search, they know not yet. For they are not acquainted with Him they are running to attain. They are still seeking what belongs to Him, without being aware that He will give Himself to them.
Mar Isaac: The soul that loves God, has its rest in Him only. First loosen from yourself the outward bonds, then strive to tie your heart to God. When the child has been weaned
476 from milk, bread is given it as food. A man, who wishes to excel in [knowledge of] divine things, first weans himself from the world, as a babe is weaned from its mother's breasts.
1) Introduction, p. XC.



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SECTION THE SECOND
The Definition of Love, its Divisions and its Causes
Love is the tendency of the soul towards communion with some object which it understands; for who does not understand the nature of some thing or its character, will not long after establishing communion with it or after being in communion with it ').
The object loved is either to be attained with the sense of the eye, as outward beauty; or with the smell, asperfumes,or with the ear, as sweet melodies; or with taste, as delicious food or drink; or with touch as touching soft objects 2). Or it is to be attained with the rational power in us, as the delight which happens to us by the knowledge of what was unknown to us 3).
That the love of this latter enjoyment is natural, appears from the fact, that every man is inclined to listen to novel tales, and desirous to scrutinize the rumours concerning other people.
Wisdom4) knows five causes of love. The first is the continuation of being and the existence of the self. For all beings naturally long after maintaining their self. Therefore man loves his own person more than what is outside it. He occupies himself with the health of his limbs and the opulence of his possessions, because his maintenance depends upon them. He loves also his children, because they are the seed that has grown in his earth, also his sprout brought forth by his trunk. 477
1) This is also Ghazalï's definition (Ihya' IV, p. 252). He also declares that love is only possible on account of knowledge: iS\jjJj ü^*» Juo jyai> "J. Further love is jJi.1 ^ _AJ\ ^ -tj\j,.
2) This passage is in Ihya' IV, p. 253.
3) Cf. Ihya' IV, p. 253.'
4) Cf. Book of the Dove, III, 5.



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The second is that of doing well. As it has been said: By the water of the love of those who do well, souls are modelled So, by the natural power which has been implanted in us, we form, by our will, a beautiful thought unto our benefactors.
The third is that of outward beauty. That it is loved for its own sake and not for any other's2), is known from the fact, that by the sight alone of glorious trees and beautiful flowers, and a current of clear and pure water, the soul is gladdened and we exult with joy, the senses rejoice and the limbs leap up, tho.ugh no food or drink is to be acquired from these things 3).
The fourth is that of inward beauty. That the beautiful is not attained by the eyes only, is known from the fact, that a voice is also called beautiful 4), though it is clear that sight has no part in it. So the beauty of a thing is its intrinsic perfection when this happens to it by any influence. Therefore, when it acquires perfection in all points, the more beautiful it will be, and so it is said to be. If it acquires only partial perfection, its beauty is measured by it. And on account of this sort of beauty, teachings are liked, and character5) and excellent customs °) are loved. On account of it, further, we love prophets and apostles, Fathers and teachers, true and exquisite philosophers6), because their perfections are not hidden from us, though invisible to us and without connection with us;
478 The fifth is that of a hidden consanguinity and a secret resemblance, which is the peculiar bond between some men, as we have shown in the chapter on the love of the brethren.
1) A verse of 12 syllables.
2) This is Ghazalï's definition of the third cause (IV, p. 254).
3) This example is given and explained by Ghazalï in the same way IV, p. 254.
4) Also one of Ghazalï's examples (IV, p. 255).
5) Ihya' IV, p. 255.
6) Ibidem.



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with this eradiated light. Therefore, just as the bat would be able to look into eradiated light, if it possessed the visual power of man, so man would be able to look towards essential light, if he possessed the mind of an angel. Concerning the fact that psychic eye is blinded by the manifestation of God '), when it is illuminated by it, the poet says: Thou art manifest and clear, o my Lord, much more than the sun at midday; Thou art not hidden but from the blind who do not see the moon. At Thy splendour the mind of every intelligent being is astonished and amazed, whereas the eye that is not blinded by Thee, has no light2). And in the same metre: If light makes manifest all visible things, detecting the veil that is spread over their faces, how should it be becoming for the eye, which is accusfomed to matter, to see Him, who is concealed and withheld from the eyes by light ?3).
1) Cf. Ibn 'Ata'allah, I, 18: jfj&j «j*4 q\ jï^. J°j 'iS1 Vs4 Jy*h 'tjr- yi lS-^ iA jjf*^
■ y O" S>J %** *êÉ? iA jy*k ^£ 'J-y<ij£> lS-A\ And I, 28: 4\ ^ ^A iaj^ri ^ y\. And Abu Talib II,
2) Verses of 12 syllables. The original is in the Ihya' IV, p. 277: Bilt M\ <S\ ^Jc "A
\jZ^t j3 i_i y«i \j o* *-*yi
3) Cf. Ibn 'Ata'allah II, 9:
ajy^> \z>j*J& ^^J& 4—
iSjj^ o* s^a^ ^j^ij L*>>
apparently the original of Bar Hebraeus' verses.



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SECTION THE NINTH On the Manners in which the Soul longs after God
It is known that longing necessarily follows love. Everyone, therefore, who loves God, will necessarily desire to see Him'). 488
Among bodily friends the lover longs after his beloved in a twofold wise. When the beloved is absent and the image of his beauty is recollected, the lover desires to see him, that his joy may be complete by meeting the beloved 2). Or, when the beloved is near, but his face is only visible to his friend, while his other inward beauties, which are shown in intercourse, are hidden, the lover longs after being consoled also by the sight of what is hidden 3). In the same way the Initiated are necessarily acquainted with these two sorts of longing, in view of the love of their Lord 4). With the first, because that which they see here of the beauty of the Lord in revelations and visions, shows its magnificence as it were from behind an outspread veil 5). Therefore they long after seeing Him eye to eye and with David they sing: My soul thirsteth for Thee, the living God; when shall I come and appear before
1) Cf. Abü Talib II, 51: j 0U\ -\A a\ f%\ o-j
Jy-i\ 4A0 Asü\ CL ojU ci'i jLuY\ ^ yA f^J\ >
>*AA\ $
2) Ihya' IV, p. 277: J\SH J\ jW JU Al j «y^ ks. ^
3) Ibidem: jV-J ^Jfr j\_ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
• ki Ujt l oIj
4) Ibidem: j£ 5j^\, ^ ^ 'j, JU «l ^ j ü^ Wr oWA
5) Ibidem: ^ ^ J 0fT0^ ^"A ^"A ^ oó,Ui ^1 U
• A- *^ o*



IOO
Thee ') ? With the second manner of longing, because the ways of divine perfection are indefinite and éndless2). And it is not unknown to the Initiated that what he has attained in respect of them, is much less than what he has not attained. Therefore he longs constantly after acquiring what he has not acquired 3). And so a right spirit is frequently renewed *) within them. It is becoming to know that the former kind of longing is accomplished and vanishing in the spiritual world; 489 because there the Initiated meets his beloved s). The second kind cannot be imagined as reaching perfection "because the exalted and glorious beauties of the Lord of the universe are indefinite °). Therefore, every desire which reaches its aim, is succeeded anew by another one; and every longing which comes to perfection is followed by a new one at its heels. Therefore the Initiated call such a longing ,heel'; and those who stand aloof call it concatenation.
SECTION THE TENTH
On the distinctive Marks of those who love God7)
There are ten distinctive marks which are symptoms of the Initiated's love of God.
1) Ps. 42, 2.
2) Ihya' IV, p. 277: VS, iV^ il-Ajj.-A ö\ JVA.
3) Ibidem: J\_j, % {. j£\ oUAA\ cs> '0 V. ö\
4) Ps. 51, 10.
5) Ihya' IV, p. 277: ^ ^jj\ jJA s^-V\ ^Vj j ^ J^A jyAj
6) Ihya' IV, p. 278: ^ bi\ <j ^ i,U «1 ÖJC^ 0\ iLi jVA J^A a\U»\j *Aw>j «\ y> öy-A j -Uott Cs* «A^ Aasy-Yl j
. *i ïA^i lilii ciï J** y>j "W ry** y ^*
7) Ihya' IV, p. 283.



IOl
The first ') is, that he longs after seeing his Lord. And because essential seeing takes place only after departure from this life, it is necessary for him who seeks his Lord, to resemble Paul and like him to desire to depart, in order to be with Christ 2). The second3) is, that he does not fulfill his own will, but that of his Lord, as the true one has said: If ye love me, keep my commandments4). The third is, that he hates the whole world in order to possess the One only; as we have found in some Hebrew 3) book: When Joseph had become ruler in Egypt, the wife of his lord, who had slandered him, believed - in God. And when her husband was dead, Joseph sought to marry her; but she would not. When her kindred asked her: where is now all your love of him, she answered: the love of him burned in me, before I knew his Lord. But now that I know Him, the love of Him burns in me, and I care no longer for the love of His servant °). The fourth ') is that the lips constantly administer the name of 49° his Lord. For every one who loves something, often thinks of it and his tongue does not cease to mention it; as David who loved the law of his Lord meditated upon it the whole day. The fifth8) is, that he finds consolation in solitude and the abode in the small cell, rejecting the sight of the world, and hating intercourse and speech. Because, as Mar'Isaac says, the consummation of excellency is lonely intercourse, and
1) Ihya' IV, p. 283.
2) Philippians I, 23. Ibn 'Ata'allah II, 66: l^fj OjU L£ ^ \ju» ^ ^
JjU *U cJl j *\iA . Introduction, p. LH sqq.
3) Ihya' IV, p. 285.
4) John 4, 15.
5) Perhaps; but the story is also to be found in the corresponding chapter of the Ihya'IV, p. 284. And it occurs already in Abü Talib II, 52, who introducés it with the words: üS\_j\ jU-V\ J lSjjij-
6) Above, p. 54.
7) Ihya' IV, p. 285.
8) Ihya' IV, p. 286.



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the quiet dwelling of the mind upon God. The sixth1) is that he is not spiteful on account of the worldly things which escape him, but that he regrets, on the contrary, every hour he passes in idleness. The seventh2) is that he finds enjoyment in the labours of asceticism, though they be heavy and wearying; as that brother, concerning whom the excellent Master 3) John de Dalyata tells, that he, in the time of the first heat of love, when grace kindled his heart with the love of God, was nightly standing naked, during four years, also in wintertime, in snow, rain and ice. In the first year the blood dried up in his limbs and life vanished from his body; then he no longer perceived the cold even when he buried himself naked in the snow; because his body was like fire. The eighth4) is that he is full of mercy towards the good, and scornful and severe against the bad3); as also his Lord is just and loving justness and His face looks towards upright491 ness, but His soul hates the unjust and those who love unjustness. The ninth is that he prays constantly, that his love may not abate and his gifts may not diminish. For, as an Initiated °) has said: he whose yesterday that has passed, is better than to-day which is present, he is cursed. And he whose days are equal, he is devoid of excellency. But he whose end is better than his beginnings, he is wise. The t e n t h ') is that he conceals his love as much as he can, though the signs thereof are not concealed in him.
1) Ihya' IV, p. 286. '2) Ihya' IV, p. 287.
3) Saba.
4) Ihya' IV, p. 287.
5) Cf. section XIV; and Book of the Dove III, 9, fifth state.
6) Ihya' IV, p. 288: 0^ O'S J>b> 'W. cS^J Cf Jry dMAj ,j^A» y} 4~"1 O" \^"* **y • ^ne 'l"r(I P31^ °f sentence is not in the Ihya'; so there seems to be a common source.
7) Ihya' IV, p. 290. Cf. Abü Talib II, 67: iAJ J\g iM ^ .



io3
ït has been said: Two brethren had fallen into a severe illness in the desert. When the fellow brethren asked the former: what do you think of yourself, he answered: he who is aware of his plague does not love Him. When they asked the latter: how are you ? he answered: he who does not find enjoyment in his plague, does not love Him. When their master heard their words he said: but I say: he who shows his love, does not love Him '). And from that time the brethren began to conceal their excellence.
SECTION THE ELEVENTH
On Consolation in God and Freedom of Speech with Him2)
The joy and the gladness which happen to the Initiated on account of the multitude of divine revelations 3) and the frequency of spiritual visions, is called consolation in God. When this consolation has taken hold of the enviable, the friend of God, he is only content with quiet solitude 4) and he cannot 492 bear even the sound of a leaf). Such solitude is called by the teachers a solitude which makes gods °); for through it the mind acquires complete unification and perfect mingling with God, and vision and knowledge of Him, whose glory is exalted over the world, without visible vision and without knowable knowledge. Therefore, he who has been deemed worthy of this grace, will shut his eyes before all the beauties of the creatures and close his ears before every-human sound
1) This anecdote is already in Abü Talib II, 67 and Ihya' IV, p. 290 where the master is Dhu '1-Nün.
2) Cf. Ihya' IV, p. 292 and Introduction, p. CII sq.
3) Introduction, p. XCVIII sqq.
4) Ihya' IV, p. 292: Sjïïfl, A^Y\ j <|\ «j^i 0<£ I ^jYi JV> 4c hAc
5) Cf. section XIV, first state; and Book of the Dove III, 6 first state.
6) = %eonoio$ Dionysius Areopagita, Opera, p. 281.



io4
and restrain his senses from all cares of passions. And he will be on his guard that evil may not assail him, and God may not pass him. And he will not desist nor take rest from caring for God. From the so called consolation freedom of speech is born. Though it is bad, because of the boldness which accompanies it, and, by the sages, called a scorching wind, still, when it is practised by those who are experienced in paracletic consolations in God, it is not to be rejected. This freedom of speech is further made complete when God sends the spirit of His son into the hearts of the perfect, the spirit that calls Aba, Our Father, as Paul, the blessed, says. When the spirit of the son dwells in the perfect, it speaks through him, as through the son of God, to the father. And here is no human weakness, nor prayer, nor beseeching, nor recollection of things of this world or of things to come. But the son of God knows himself in a divine way, and as the son with his father, so 493 he speaks freely with God. And then he becomes as receiving all prayers, not as one who prays, as answering all questions, not as one who asks '), because the rich one, his Father, has given him power over His riches and he has become the same as the person who dwells within him. And while he neither knows himself nor any thing2), he cries many times: Aba, my father, and other bold utterances, which it is not allowed to write down and to embody in paper3). Some Initiated, for instance, have used even trials, in bold freedom of speech. As the excellent Job, who disputed with his Lord as a man with his fellow-man, saying: Am I a sea, or a whale, that Thou settest a watch over me *) ? Wilt Thou break a leaf driven to and fro ? and wilt Thou pursue the dry stubble 5) ? When I say: Thou shalt comfort me, then Thou terrifiest me through
1) Cf. Book of the Dove, III, 9, tenth state.
2) Introduction, p. CVI sqq. .
3) Introduction, p. XXVII.
4) Job 7, 12.
5) Job I3525^