@ghazali
Deliverance from Error, c. 1108
The most famous professor in Baghdad, who lost his voice in the lecture hall one day and walked away from it all to find out what he actually knew. Knowledge without action is madness; action without knowledge is emptiness.
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Kept by Substance · the quoted lines are theirs, the rest written after them · Deliverance from Error
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“Whoever studies this science admires the subtlety and clearness of its proofs.”
“If, for example, any one possessing the power of changing a stone into gold, or a stick into a serpent, should seek to shake the bases of this certitude, it would remain firm and immovable.”
I sat upon the cool floor of my cell in Damascus while the rain tapped against the mud-brick walls. A student brought me news that the sun had turned black above Baghdad, yet my heart…
“Among the number of convictions which I owe to the practice of the Sufi rule is the knowledge of the true nature of inspiration.”
I once sat in a hall listening to philosophers debate the soul until my mind grew feverish and empty. Then I walked into the desert with a dervish who said nothing but held my hand while the wind tore at his robe. In that silence, I felt a sudden certainty rise within me like water breaking a seal. This is how one knows truth: not by hearing many words, but…
“To define health and satiety, to penetrate their causes and conditions, is quite another thing from being well and satisfied.”
My friend, put down your books before the sun sets tonight. You have read many words about how to free your soul, yet you must ask yourself if you truly feel that freedom in your heart or only in your mind. Reading of renunciation does not make you detached; knowing the laws of drunkenness does not cure the man who is drunk.
“I learnt from a sure source that the Sufis are the true pioneers on the path of God; that there is nothing more beautiful than their life, nor more praiseworthy than their rule of conduct, nor purer than their morality.”
I once sat in a great hall where men argued for hours about whether a shadow had weight or a color, while their hearts remained as dry as dust. They…
“I recognised that this science, while sufficing its own requirements, could not assist me in arriving at the desired goal.”
I spent days in my study, surrounded by stacks of books on logic and dialectic, trying to build a fortress against doubt. My students praised my arguments for defending orthodoxy against heretics, yet I felt empty inside. I saw clearly that these proofs only worked because we already agreed on the truths they defended. They could expose contradictions in an opponent’s speech, but they could not make my own heart…
“Things seen are not apprehended by the sense of hearing.”