The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 3 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Religion
The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 3 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Iran -- Religion; Religions
“Further: The command came: ‘Say thy prayer:’ I replied: I cannot; for
thou art thyself such as thou hast said.” This means: When he was able
to perceive the excellence of the belief in the unity of God, he found
the truth of the words of the self-existing necessary Being; he then
felt such delight as he had never experienced before; he knew that the
self-existing necessary Being is worthy of all prayers, but he felt at
the same time that he could not express his prayers with the tongue,
because an arrangement of letters is required for every thing which
falls from the tongue, but that which has no connection except that of
parts and the whole, is not suitable to the true, necessary, and
self-existing Being, as he is not conceivable, either in parts or in a
whole. The prophet knew that his prayer could not properly come from
the tongue, as it is no business of the senses, but belongs properly
to reason; but reason knew that an object highly deserving to be
praised requires a praiser worthy of it, one whose knowledge may be
adequate to the power of the being to be praised, so that the speech
may prove suitable to the intention. The self-existent necessary Being
is an object of unity without an equal, therefore the praise of any
one will never be worthy of him. Besides, the prophet trusted also to
God’s knowledge, for he is all knowledge, and the knowledge of him is
the theme of prayers to his being without letters and sound, and not
by reason: he himself is his own ornament; he himself is his
eloquence.
What the prophet further said: “The word came to me: ‘What dost thou
wish?’ I said: ‘Leave to ask whatever comes into my mind, so that my
difficulties may be removed.’” This means: that when God asked: “What
dost thou wish,” and I said “leave,” it was knowledge I wished:
because in this journey no other consideration but that of pure reason
had remained, which was to approach the majesty of the self-existent
Being, and to understand his unity, which cannot be obtained but by
the gift of knowledge. The prophet wished to be rendered worthy of
him, and by full knowledge to acquire the dignity required, that he
might then exhibit every difficulty that occurred, and receive a
categorical answer. For the guidance of mankind, he composed the rules
of the law in words which came suitably to the ears of men, so that at
the same time the meaning of them was fixed, and the veil of advice
remained upon such things as are not required _to be known_; what
proved also an assistance to that knowledge, was the journey,
consequently to which the law was given, and the account of which was
drawn up for publication in such a manner, that the sense of it was
obvious to none but to the investigators of truth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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