The Awakening of the SoulIbn Tufayl, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik
ReligionIslamic
The Awakening of the Soul
Ibn Tufayl, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik
Islamic philosophy -- Early works to 1800; Philosophy, Arab -- Early works to 1800
After this he proceeded further to examine the nature of bodies that
were subject to generation and corruption, as the different kinds of
animals, plants, minerals and different sorts of stones, earth, water,
exhalations and vapours, ice, snow, hail, smoke, fire, and hoar-frost.
In all these he observed different qualities and a diversity of actions
and motions, agreeing in some respects and differing in others. He found
that, so far as they agreed, they were _one_; where they disagreed, _a
great many_; and when he looked into the properties whereby they were
distinguished from one another, he found them so manifold that he could
not comprehend them.
As to himself, he knew that his spirit was one in essence, and was
really the substance of his being, and that the other parts served only
as so many instruments. So he perceived his own essence to be but one.
Then attentively considering the different kinds of animals, he
perceived that the one thing common to them all was sensation and
nutrition and the faculty of moving of their own accord wheresoever
they pleased, all of which actions he was assured were the proper
effects of the animal spirit, and that those lesser things in which they
differed were not so proper to that spirit.
For he considered that the animal spirit may differ with regard to some
qualities, according to the variety of constitutions in several animals.
And so he looked upon the whole species of living creatures as one.
Then, on contemplating the different species of plants, he perceived
that the individuals of every species were like one another in their
boughs, branches, leaves, fruits; and so, taking a view of all the
different kinds of plants, he decided within himself that they were all
_one_ and the same in respect of that agreement between themselves in
their actions, viz. their nourishment and growth.
He then contemplated those bodies which have neither sense, nourishment,
nor growth, such as stones, earth, water, air, and fire; which he saw
had all of them three dimensions, viz. _length_, _breadth_, and
_thickness_; and that their differences only consisted in this, that
some of them were coloured, others not; some were hot, others cold, and
similar differences.
He noticed also that hot bodies grew cold, and, on the contrary, cold
ones grew warm. He saw further that water rarefied into vapours, and
vapours again thickened and turned into water. Then he observed that the
bodies which were burnt turned into coals, ashes, flame, and smoke; and
that the smoke, when in its ascent it was intercepted by an arch of
stones, thickened them into soot, and became like other earthly
substances. From whence he concluded that all things were in reality
_one_, like the animals and plants, though multiplied and diversified in
some respects.
_Hayy transfers his thoughts to the Heavenly Bodies._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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