[35] The bad companions of man which hinder his intellectual progress are unregulated imagination, irascibility and carnal concupiscence. Death alone delivers him and transports him to the celestial country of true repose. [36] The flowing waters signify logic and metaphysics, which help man to attain to the unknown. Because they provoke argument and discussion, they are called "flowing." The stagnant pool signifies positive science, which is the basis of philosophy. The man who is refreshed by the flowing waters of philosophy will grasp the scheme of the universe without losing himself in the confusion of details; he will scale the heights of science (the encircling mountain of Kaf) without being held back by worldly entanglements. [37] The pole surrounded by darkness signifies the soul of man which, though intended to govern the body, is without any power to attain truth unless guided by divine grace, but then it will emerge into the full light and attain the end for which it was created. [38] Koran, c. 18, v. 84. The "miry sea" indicates _Matter_ stirred into life by the setting sun (Form), entering at every moment into union with some new form, birth and death and ebb and flow proceeding in ceaseless change. [39] In the kingdom of _Form_ at first nothing is found but the four elements mingled with each other, developed successively through mineral, vegetable and animal stages. After the last is found pure intellect struggling with powerful opponents, that is to say, the various human faculties. "The flying horn" signifies imaginitive faculties; "the marching horn" the passions, the fierce animal representing irascibility, and the gross one, concupiscence. "The flying horn," irregulated imagination, is in need of constant supervision by the human soul. The watchman is the perceptive faculty, which, gathering the various impressions of the five senses, conveys them to the King, the human soul. [40] c.f. the Logos of Philo. [41] c.f. Lowell "Perhaps the _longing_ to be so, Helps make the soul immortal." [42] The existence of the soul, though not manifest to the senses, is yet too manifest to leave any doubt. [43] The tattered vest of the soul or the body destroyed by death is not mended till the day of resurrection; and yet the soul is in heaven and in the enjoyment of all knowledge. CHAPTER XI AL GHAZZALI (AD 1058--1111)