Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik Ibn Tufayl

“ To detach and deliver the soul—if only for a few hours—from the withering despotism of everyday life and strife, grey and monotonous with its eternal round of toil, worry, and trouble; to bathe the soul in the full sunshine of sublime wisdom, depicted and represented in this simple romance, with its exquisite charm and captivating grace, clear as crystal yet pregnant with ideas that have moved the world—this was the idea which guided me in embarking upon this work. ”

“ On an Island in the Indian Ocean, famous for its health-giving atmosphere, abounding in fruits and inhabitants, Hayy Ibn Yokdhan comes into this world, as the son of a Princess, who is compelled to expose the child soon after his birth. The tide carries him to another Island, where he is found by a roe, that takes pity on him, nurses him like a mother, and watches over his every movement with tender affection.
Under her care he quickly develops into a fine strapping boy who is not afraid to venture a passage with wild beasts that dare to oppose him. ”

“ There is as much Difference, as there is between a great Courtier and a Favourite, who when he pleases, enjoys the Presence of his Prince, and one who is now and then sent by him on an Errand. And yet to such a degree of Enthusiasm have some gone, as our Author here in particular, and several more of the same strain in those former Ages, and the Quietists and other Mysticks and Enthusiasts in our times, that nothing will down with him less than the Intuition of the Divine-Being, and they despise Meditation [39] , as a mean thing, and too much below one that aspires to Perfection. ”

“ Hence it is that the Grief of him who is depriv'd of that Sight he once had, is greater than his who is depriv'd of Smelling; because she Objects of Sight are more perfect and beautiful than those of Smelling. And if there be any thing of boundless Perfection, infinite Beauty, Glory and Splendor, that is above all Splendor and Beauty; so that there is no Perfection, Beauty, Brightness, or Comliness, but flows from it. ”

“ They desire above all things that, in their humble way, these books shall be the ambassadors of good-will and understanding between East and West—the old world of Thought and the new of Action. In this endeavour, and in their own sphere, they are but followers of the highest example in the land. They are confident that a deeper knowledge of the great ideals and lofty philosophy of Oriental thought may help to a revival of that true spirit of Charity which neither despises nor fears the nations of another creed and colour. ”

“ And when he perceiv'd that all things which did exist were his Workmanship, he look'd them over again, considering attentively the Power of the Efficient, and admiring the Wonderfulness of the Workmanship, and such accurate Wisdom, and subtil Knowledge. And there appear'd to him in the most minute Creatures (much more in the greater) such Footsteps of Wisdom, and Wonders of the Work of Creation, that he was swallow'd up with Admiration, and fully assur'd that these things could not proceed from any other, than a Voluntary Agent of infinite Perfection, nay, that was above all Perfection ”

“ For if a great many of thole things which we do conceive are nevertheless hard to be explain'd, how much more difficult must those be which cannot be conceiv'd by the Heart, nor are circumscrib'd in the Limits of that World in which it converses. Now, when I say the Heart, I don't mean the Substance of it, nor that Spirit which is contain'd in the Cavity of it; but I mean by it, the Form of that Spirit which is diffus'd by its Faculties through the whole Body of Man. ”

“ Hayy soon found out that it was hopeless to reform these people, whose only God was their lusts and appetites, blinded and captivated as they were by the trifles and vanities of this world, tossed up and down until they tottered to their graves. ”

“ Then he began to consider with himself, what should be the reason why he alone, above all the rest of living Creatures, should be endu'd with such an Essence, as made him like the Heavenly Bodies. Now he understood before the Nature of the Elements, and how one of them us'd to be chang'd into another, and that there was nothing upon the Face of the Earth, which always remain'd in the same Form, but that Generation and Corruption follow'd one another perpetually in a mutual Succession ”

“ The author of the story, Ibn Tufail, though he is generally not reckoned among the most prominent in that brilliant array of Arabian philosophers for whom Spain became the rallying-point in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, yet his name will outlive centuries. For the romance which he has given to the world is a work of everlasting beauty, of immortal freshness; one that will never grow stale in the flight of ages. ”

“ For without any Breach of Charity, in respect to those Persons, who never were so happy as to have the Gospel preach'd to them; we may assure our selves, that they do not enjoy equal Privileges with us, who by our Baptism have a foederal Right to all those Assistances of the Holy Spirit promis'd to the Church in the Holy Scriptures. And yet there would not be much difference, if by their diligently adhering to any Principle or Light, which God has bestow'd upon Mankind in general, they might attain to true saving Knowledge. ”

“ Hayy Ibn Yokdhan—this prototype of Robinson Crusoe—truly a pathetic, yet inspiring figure!
The simple setting of a man, living a solitary life on an Island, entirely given up to meditation and introspection, is used by our author as an arena for the display of his philosophical views, which, in kaleidoscopic transformation, cover the whole range of wisdom of those times—astronomical, geographical, cosmographic, physiological,—and so on, the whole picture touched with the wand of the master. ”

“ If there be a Prophet among you, I the Lord will make my self known unto him in a Vision, and will speak unto him in a Dream. My Servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine House. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark Speeches, and the Similitude of the Lord shall he behold. Now Moses had not been faithful in God's House, if he had not reveal'd the whole Will of God to his People, as it was deliver'd to him ”

“ And this is that—God help thee and us by his spirit—which we have received of the history of Hayy Ibn Yokdhan and Asal and Salaman.
In its setting down we have made such choice of words as are not found in any other book nor accustomed to be heard in common and vulgar speech. And it is part of that hidden knowledge which no man receives but he who has the knowledge of God; nor is any man ignorant of it, but those that have not the right knowledge of God. ”

“ Then he consider'd the Essences of Forms, and found that they were nothing else, but only a Disposition of Body to produce such or such Actions. For instance, Water, when very much heated, is dispos'd to rise upwards, and that Disposition is its Form. For there is nothing present in this Motion, but Body, and some things which are observ'd to arise from it, which were not in it before (such as Qualities and Motions) and the Efficients which produce them. Now the fitness of Body for one Motion rather than another, is its Disposition and Form. ”

“ Hayy Ibn Yokdhan in the meantime was wholly taken up with sublime speculations, and never stirred out of his cave but once a week, to take unto him such food as most readily presented itself. Thus it happened that Asal did not light upon him at first. For walking round the utmost parts of the Island, and compassing the extremes thereof, he neither met any man nor could he [69] perceive the footsteps of any one: which increased his gladness of mind, and he was delighted with what he had proposed unto himself—that was solitude and retirement. ”

“ Now, tho' the Sensible World follows the Divine World, as a Shadow does the Body, and the Divine World stands in no need of it, but is free from it, and independent of it, yet notwithstanding this, it is absurd to suppose a Possibility of its being annihilated, because it follows the Divine World: But the Corruption of this World consists in its being chang'd, not annihilated. ”

“ INTRODUCTION It is to two English scholars, father and son, Edward Pococke, senior and junior, that the world is indebted for the knowledge of one of the most charming productions Arabian philosophy can boast of.
Generally looked upon as a subject of repulsive aridity, in its strange combination of the most heterogeneous philosophical systems, devoid of the grace and charm of attractive style, unbrightened by brilliancy of wit or spirit, Arabian philosophy has, for centuries past, been subject to sad and undeserved neglect. ”

“ For Folly has over-whelmed them, and, what they have sought after, has covered their Hearts like Raft; God has sealed up their Hearts and their Ears, and their Eyes are dim, and they shall have sore Punishment. ”

“ Now, he perceived in his own essence, and in those other ones that were in the same rank with him, infinite beauty, brightness, and light, such as neither eye has seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into man’s heart, which none can describe nor understand, but those which have attained thereto, and know it by experience. ”

“ And here methinks I fee one of those Batts, whose Eyes the Sun dazzles, moving himself in the Chain of his Folly, and saying, This Subtilty of yours exceeds all Bounds, for you have withdrawn your self from the State and Condition of understanding Men, and indeed thrown away the Nature of Intelligible Things, for this is a certain Axiom, that a thing must be either one, or more than one. ”

“ On the other hand, however, when he proposed to himself to believe in a new production thereof, other objections occurred to him—in particular this, that the notion of its being produced after non-existence could in no wise be understood, unless it was supposed there was some time antecedent to its existence; whereas time was amongst the number of those things that belonged to the world and was inseparable therefrom, wherefore the world cannot be understood to be later than time.
He then reasoned within himself: if the world be produced anew, it must needs have a producer or creator ”

“ Then as to the Substance of his Doctrine, it consisted in acquainting the Jews that he himself was the Messias, whose Coming was so long ago, and so often foretold by the Ancient Prophets. He also acquainted them with the Nature of his Office and Mediatorship, and shew'd them how mightily they were mistaken in their Interpretations of the Prophets concerning him. He let them know, that, contrary to their Expectation, his Kingdom was not of this World; but that his Business was to bring Men out of Darkness to Light, and from the Bondage and Slavery of Sin, to the Liberty of the Sons of God. ”

“ But if it did ever actually apprehend, and becomes afterwards potentially apprehensive, it is inclined to apprehend its object actually, because it has been acquainted with the object and is intent upon it, as a man, who has before enjoyed his sight, continually desires visible objects after he is blind; and the more glorious, perfect, and beautiful the object is, the more his desire increases and the greater is his grief for the loss. ”

“ Because those Scholars which were bred in Spain, before the Knowledge of Logick and Philosophy was broach'd amongst them, spent their whole Lives in Mathematicks, in which it must be allow'd, they made a great Progress, but went no farther. After them came a Generation of Men, who apply'd themselves more to the Art of Reasoning, in which they excell'd their Predecessors, yet not so as to attain to true Perfection. ”

“ The world, therefore, must necessarily have a creator that has not a bodily substance; and as the creator is, indeed, without such a bodily substance, it is quite impossible for us to apprehend him by any of our senses; for we perceive nothing by the help of the five senses but bodies or such qualities as adhere to bodies. ”