3 1761 04014 1293

THE HISTORY C
HAYY IBN YAQZA

BY ABU BAKR IBN TUFAIL

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
University of Toronto

https://archive.org/details/historyofhayyibnOOibnu
THE TREASURE HOUSE OF EASTERN
STORY UNDER THE DIRECTORSHIP
OF
SIR E. DENISON ROSS

HITOPADESA
A Book of Wholesome Counsel
A Translation from the original Sanskrit
by Francis Johnson: revised and in part
re-written with an introduction by
Lionel D. Barnett, M.A., Litt.D.

STORIES FROM SA'DI’S

BUSTAN AND GULISTAN
Stories from the Bustan of Shaykh Sa'di
together with selections from Francis
Gladwin’s translation of Sa'di’s Gulistan,
the former translated and the latter re¬
vised by Reuben Levy, M.A., Lecturer
in Persian in the University of Cam¬
bridge.

STORIES OF THE BUDDHA

Being selections from the Jataka, with
an introduction by Mrs. Rhys Davids,
D.Litt., M.A., Lecturer in Pali and
Buddhism, School of Oriental Studies,
London ; President of the Pali Text
Society.
THE HISTORY OF
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

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THE HISTORY OF
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Translated from the Arabic by
SIMON OCKLEY

Revised, with an Introduction by

A. S. FULTON

489079
1T+.4 5
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Printed in Great Britain at
The Westminster Press, London, W.
and bound by
A. W. Bain & Co., Ltd.
This Hfcfcle philosophical romance, one of the
most interesting works of the Middle Ages,
was written in Muhammadan Spain towards
the end of the twelfth century.
Since the early days of Muslim conquest,
when the Arabs their way along North
Africa and in 711 crossed into Andalusia, those
regions had seen the rise and fall of many
Muslim states, varying in territorial extent and
not of uniform doctrinal complexion. At the
period we now speak of the puritanic Berber
dynasty of Almohads dominates the whole stage,
and Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf, claiming the proud
title Commander of the Faithful, second of his
line, rules from his capital, the City of Morocco,
over all North Africa, from the Atlantic shore
to the borders of Egypt, as well as a large tract
of Southern Spain. This empire he inherited
from his father, ‘Abd al-Mu’min, who had
conquered it in his own lifetime in a series of
brilliant campaigns lasting about thirty years,
and most of it had been torn from the grasp of
another great Berber house, the Almoravids.
Except in the Balearic Islands the power of the

5
INTRODUCTION

Almoravids was now extinct. Their sultans had

always formally recognised the supremacy of
the ruling Caliph at Baghdad. Abu Ya‘qub,
however, like all his house, brooked no dictation
from the Eastern Caliphate—either temporal or
spiritual. He was lord of the Muslim West, and
the religious doctrine on which his empire
rested was that laid down by his spiritual
ancestor and founder of the Almohad sect, the
Berber Mahdi Ibn Tumart, one of the many
Mahdis or Rightly Guided Ones of Islamic
history, divinely sent to fill the earth with
justice, who died in 1130 (or 1128) and whose
grave at Tinmal in the Atlas mountains was
now a holy place.
Briefly, this reformed doctrine demanded
two things: in belief, a purely spiritual concep¬
tion of Allah; in conduct, a literal acceptance
of Koranic teaching. In the first place every
anthropomorphic element must be swept out of
religion; secondly, Muhammadan law must be
based on nothing but the actual statements of
the Koran and the words and deeds of the
Prophet Muhammad as transmitted by authentic
Tradition. “ Reasoning,” said the Mahdi, “ can
have no place in the divine Law.” The name of
the sect was al-Muwahhidun, i.e. the Unitarians,
or in its Spanish form, Almohades. Any Muslims
who rejected its puritan principles were destined
6
INTRODUCTION

for hell-fire and must be helped thither at every

opportunity by the swords of the faithful; in¬
deed, in the eyes of the Almohads, the spiritual
condition of such heretics was just as hopeless
as that of the Christians, who had by this time
succeeded, to the vexation of Islam, in restoring
their sway over much the larger part of the
Spanish peninsula. The first three centuries of
Muslim rule in Spain had been distinguished
on the whole by a high level of culture and
religious tolerance unparalleled anywhere in
contemporary Christendom. But these later in¬
vasions from Africa, first by the Almoravids and
then by the Almohads, established a regime of
Berber fanaticism, the brunt of which fell
cruelly on the non-Muslim inhabitants and
compelled many of them to flee for refuge into
Northern Spain and Provence.
In view of this ruthless theology which the
Caliph publicly enforced, it is somewhat of a
surprise to discover that his private delight was
philosophical speculation and the society of
thinkers far removed from orthodoxy. But of
this we have abundant evidence. In his scheme
of life speculation and practical politics appear
to have dwelt severely separate. It was one thing
to preside, as he often did, over the discussions
of the intelligentsia in Marrakush and Seville,
but quite another to discharge his office as Com-

7
INTRODUCTION

mander of the Believers. For preserving the

spiritual health of the masses and the empire’s
welfare, no specific, in his judgment, could equal
the strict letter of the Koran and the Almohad
brand of dogma. Let his faithful people therefore
concentrate on their divinely appointed duties
—performing their five daily prayers and the
other rites of the faith, harassing at intervals
“ the accursed Adhfunsh,” i.e. King Alphonso,
whose growing power menaced the security of
the Muslims in Spain, planning horrid surprises
for the Christian fleet when it issued from
Lisbon, taming the lawless tribes of the African
desert. The “ thinking man,” on the other hand,
belonged to a select and privileged order. Be¬
tween him and the great masses lay an intel¬
lectual gulf which he must never attempt to
cross, for he would only let anarchy loose by
tampering with their simple faith and discipline.
In the seclusion of his patron’s library he was
welcome to indulge his philosophic doubt, but
on no account from the house-top.
This beautiful scheme of obscurantism ap¬
pears to have been adopted by the Almohad
sovereigns generally, and gladly accepted by
the enlightened few who lived under their
rule.
The dominion of the Almohads was com¬
paratively brief. A crushing military disaster
8
INTRODUCTION

awaited them at the hands of the Christians at

Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, and even more
destructive were the dissensions which broke
out within the dynasty itself and soon completed
the ruin of this empire which had sprung into
being with such amazing rapidity. After a
century and a half its last spark was extinguished
with the fall of the City of Morocco in 1269.
Its importance to civilisation in a material sense
may have been negligible, but among its leading
figures the Caliph Abu Ya‘qub, not to mention
one or two others of his line, is worthy of re¬
membrance for his patronage of philosophy. It
was by his desire and partly for his enlighten¬
ment that Ibn Rushd (Averroes), the greatest
Arab thinker of Spain, composed his famous
commentaries on Aristotle, which in their Latin
form soon seized the intellectual world of
Medieval Europe; and this curious tale of
Hayy Ibn Yaqzan would probably have never
seen the light had its author not been the special
protege of this same prince.
The historical records that survive tell us
surprisingly little about Ibn Tufail’s life. His
full name was Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn ‘Abd
al-Malik Ibn Tufail al-Qaisi, the last word in¬
dicating that his family claimed descent from
the celebrated Arabian tribe of Qais. The
medieval scholars of Europe, with unusual

9
INTRODUCTION

accuracy in such matters, call him Abubacer.

He was born at Wadi Ash, the modern Guadix,
about forty miles N.E. of Granada, probably
between i ioo and mo a.d. Although Arabic
records are silent about his early life and studies,
it is not unlikely that he absorbed the science
and philosophy of his day at Cordova and Seville,
the two intellectual headquarters of Muham¬
madan Spain. He is said to have practised
medicine at Granada and to have been governor
of that province, but precisely when in his
career we are not told. In 1154, when the
Caliph ‘Abd al-Mu’min was distributing im¬
perial appointments among the members of his
family, the governorship of Granada, Malaga,
Algeciras, Ceuta and Tangier fell to his son, the
Sayyid Abu Sa‘id, and Ibn Tufail joined him as
secretary. From that point nothing is known of
his fortunes until he appears at the Court of the
Caliph Abu Ya‘qub, elevated to the high offices
of Wazir and chief royal physician, a combina¬
tion of functions not unusual in Muhammadan
states. It is doubtful whether this title of Wazir
means that he was actually prime minister, but
there is no question that he served as one of the
Caliph’s chief advisers. His position at court is
best described in these words of‘Abd al-Wahid,1

1 Al-Mu‘jib. Ed. Dozy, pp. 172, 174, 175. Tr. Fagnan,

pp. 207-210.

IO
l

INTRODUCTION

the only historian who allows us any intimate

glimpses of the situation:
“ Ceaselessly he [the Caliph] collected books
from all parts of Andalusia and the Maghrib
[i.e. North Africa west of Egypt], and so dili¬
gently sought out learned men, especially those
concerned with speculative science, that he had
more of them in his circle than any previous
sovereign of the West. Among the versatile
savants who frequented his company was the
Muslim philosopher, Abu Bakr Muhammad
Ibn Tufail, a master in every branch of philo¬
sophy. . . . One of his treatises on natural
science is called Hayy Ibn Taqzan, and is de¬
signed to explain the origin of the human
species.1 Although of small compass it is a
highly instructive work. . . . He was so be¬
loved by the Commander of the Faithful that he
used to stay successive days and nights with him
without leaving the palace. . . . He introduced
learned men from every quarter, and directed
towards them the attention, favour and praise of
his sovereign. It was he who brought to his
notice Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd (Averroes), who
from that moment became known and appre¬
ciated. His disciple, the lawyer and professor,
Abu Bakr Bundud ibn Yahya of Cordova, told

1 It would appear that ‘Abd al-Wahid had looked only at

the first few pages of the book.

11
INTRODUCTION

me he had often heard Abu al-Walid relate the

following story: ‘ When I was presented to the
Commander of the Faithful, Abu Ya‘qub, I
found him alone with Ibn Tufail. The latter
proceeded to recommend me to him, telling him
of my house and my ancestors and generously
adding words of praise which I did not merit.
After some questions as to my name, my father’s
name and my lineage, the Commander of the
Faithful abruptly asked me: “ What is their
view (meaning that of the philosophers) about
the heavens; are they eternal or created in time?”
Seized with confusion and fear, I tried to make
an excuse and to deny that I had any dealings
with philosophy, not knowing that Ibn Tufail
had conspired with him to test me in this way.
The Commander of the Faithful noticed my
embarrassment and turning to Ibn Tufail began
discussing with him the question he had put to
me. He recalled what Aristotle, Plato and all
the philosophers had said on the point, and stated
also the arguments brought against them by the
Muslims, displaying such copious knowledge as
I should not have expected even from an expert.
So completely did he put me at ease that I en¬
tered the discussion, and everything I said he
followed intelligently. After my departure I was
presented, at his command, with a gift of money,
a magnificent robe of honour and a horse.’ ”
12
INTRODUCTION

In 1182, probably owing to his advanced age,

Ibn Tufail resigned his post of royal physician
and was succeeded therein by his younger philo¬
sopher-friend, Averroes, but he still retained his
position as counsellor to the Caliph. Peace and
prosperity now reigned in Africa, the state
coffers were well filled, and the Caliph, feeling
himself in a position to deal a damaging blow at
the Christian power in Spain, ordered prepara¬
tions for an offensive on an immense scale. His
programme was to capture Santarem, the key
position in Portugal; to annex the whole of that
region as far as the Douro, thence to advance on
Toledo and teach a lesson to the King of Castile,
Alphonso VIII, whose forces for some time
past had discomfited the Muslims in minor
encounters. From all quarters of the Almohad
empire troops were collected and formed into
the most powerful Muslim army that had ever
appeared on the Peninsula, and a great fleet was
fitted out for a simultaneous assault on Lisbon.
Nothing, however, worked out according to
plan. The defenders of Santarem offered a heroic
resistance until powerful Christian reinforce¬
ments arrived, part of them led by the Arch¬
bishop of Santiago de Compostella, which
inflicted severe losses on the invaders. Lisbon
proved impregnable to the Muhammadan fleet.
No permanent conquests could be achieved, and
%

13
INTRODUCTION

the campaign transformed itself into a wild ma¬

rauding expedition in the course of which all the
countryside of Estremadura was swept by fire and
sword. This venture proved fatal to the Caliph.
According to the most reliable account he was
wounded at the siege of Santarem and died on
his litter a month afterwards, during the journey
home to Seville, on the 28th July, 1184. His
bodv
* was taken to Africa and interred in the
Almohad burial-place at Tinmal, where his
father, ‘Abd al-Mu’min, and Ibn Tumart, the
founder of the sect, had already been laid.
He was succeeded by his son, Abu Yusuf al-
Mansur, an energetic ruler who inherited much
of his father’s zest for philosophic study and
encouraged it among the cultured few, but who
at the same time imposed on the general public
the discipline of the state doctrine, “ back to the
sources of the faith,” with greater severity than
either of his predecessors. In Spain and Africa
he had bonfires made of the leading books of
Muhammadan law, on the pious pretext that
they consisted largely of fallible human “ reason¬
ing ” about the divine ordinances. His real
object was to prevent the spread of independent
thought among the lower orders; their business
was not to think but to believe and obey; and as
for law, they could find all they needed of that
in the revealed word of God and the recorded

14
INTRODUCTION

practice of his Prophet. The aged Ibn Tufail

continued his diplomatic duties at the court of
the new Caliph, enjoying the same favour from
him as from his father. By this time our philo¬
sopher must have been about eighty years of
age. He died in the following year, 1185, at the
capital, the City of Morocco, and was buried
there with great ceremony, the Caliph himself
attending his obsequies.
In addition to the affairs of state, medicine,
astronomy, philosophy and poetry made up the
sum of his activities; but he wrote very little,
and all that now survives is a few fragments of
verse and this allegory of Hayy ibn Yaqzan,
which is probably his one and only philosophical
work.
It is a tale of two islands. One is uninhabited
by man, and on it a child appears, either spon¬
taneously generated or floated thither in a box.
The child is Hayy ibn Yaqzan, “ Alive son of
Awake.” He is suckled by a gazelle, and on the
death of this foster-mother is left, Crusoe-like,
to his own resources. His innate intelligence,
feeble at first, develops by degrees, until it
enables him to dominate his brute companions.
He reaches manhood, and by ceaseless observa¬
tion and reflection gradually acquires a know¬
ledge of the physical universe. Thence he
advances into the realm of metaphysics and

15
INTRODUCTION

proves for himself the existence of an all-power¬

ful Creator. Practising ascetic discipline of mind
and body he seeks for union with this One
Eternal Spirit. At last he comes to the state of
ecstasy, and overleaping the final metaphysical
barrier, his intellect merges with the Active
Intellect and he apprehends those things which
eye hath not seen nor ear heard. Thus at the end
of seven times seven years, without prophet or
revelation, he achieves the utmost fullness of
knowledge and ineffable felicity in mystical
union with his Lord. At this stage, while he is
yet unaware of the existence of any other country
or of the human race, he is amazed one day to
discover, walking on his island, a creature shaped
like himself.
This proves to be a holy man named Asal
who has just arrived from the neighbouring
island of civilisation where the good king
Salaman reigns, and where life is regulated by a
conventional religion of rewards and punish¬
ments. Asal has reached a higher level of self-
discipline than his compatriots, and believing
that asceticism and solitude will help him to
realise his highest spiritual ambition, he has
renounced the world and is come to end his days
on this little island which he thinks is unin¬
habited. He teaches Hayy language and is
astonished to discover that the pure Truth to
16
INTRODUCTION

which Hayy has attained is the same as that

symbolised by the religion which he himself
professes. On learning the condition of the
people on the other island, Hayy is moved with
compassion and determines to go to them and
offer them the benefits of his knowledge.
Accordingly the two worthies set out together,
Asal acting as the introducer of his distinguished
friend. But the mission is a dismal failure.
Hayy’s exposition of the Truth is far above the
heads of the vast majority of his audience, who
regard it with hostility as a dangerous innova¬
tion. Enchained in the fetters of the senses, their
intelligence can respond only to concrete
imagery and their moral nature is in most cases
amenable to nothing higher than a crude system
of rewards and punishments. Hayy soon sees
enough to convince him that Muhammad’s
way with them as expressed in the Koran was
the only effective method. He apologises to them
for his intrusion, exhorts them to be faithful to
the religion of their fathers and returns with his
friend Asal to the uninhabited island.
It is a well-constructed story, comparatively
free from that diffuseness which the Oriental
teller of tales can rarely avoid, and from the
obscurity in which Muslim philosophers often
get involved through their craze for elaborate
refinements. No doubt Ibn Tufail could split

17 B
INTRODUCTION

hairs with the ablest dialecticians at the Caliph’s

court, but in this book he endeavours to make
his exposition simple and concise in the interests
of the intelligent layman. (Even so, there re¬
mains quite enough metaphysical verbiage to
strain the patience of many a reader.) For
although in general he supports the Almohad
principle of withholding the teachings of philo¬
sophy from the multitude, it is clear that he was
opposed to its too rigorous application, and that
he recognised an intelligent section of the masses
who deserved instruction and to whom allegory
was the best means of conveying it. Consequently
he has left us one of the best short stories in
Arabic. The natural development of its theme
and the relevance and cogency of its details
would be difficult to match in the literature of
Islam. Further, it offers a concise survey of
Arabic philosophy and of its conflict or com¬
promise with the demands of Muhammadan
theology.
The term “ Arabic philosophy ” means, of
course, nothing indigenous to Arabia, but little
more than Greek philosophy in an Arab dress.
For its origin one must look back to the eighth
century and to the Eastern end of the Mediter¬
ranean. The Muslim armies had by that time
carried their religious creed and battle cry,
“ There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is
18
INTRODUCTION

his Apostle,” far beyond the frontiers of Arabia.

The centre of government had been moved from
Medina to Damascus, which was now the
metropolis of a vast empire stretching from the
Atlantic to the Indus and from the Caspian to
the Cataracts of the Nile. Having possessed
themselves of half the known world, the Mus¬
lims began to look with curious eyes on the
treasures of Greek philosophy and science, of
which the chief custodians within their borders
were the Syriac-speaking communities,Christian
and pagan, of Syria and Mesopotamia. During
the next two centuries, at the instigation usually
of some Caliph or Wazir, a multitude of Greek
scientific works, many of them pseudonymous,
were translated from the Syriac into Arabic.
Damascus witnessed the first feeble indications
of this Oriental renaissance. But it was not
until the ‘Abbasid Dynasty seized the reins of
government and made Baghdad the centre of
the empire that Islamic culture burst into full
flower. The first century of ‘Abbasid rule (750-
850) marks the golden age of Islam. Under the
enlightened patronage of Caliphs like al-Mansur
(754-775) and al-Ma’mun (813-833), the
translation of Greek works into Arabic was pur¬
sued with passionate enthusiasm. But men of
Arab blood had very little to do with the pro¬
duction of these translations or of the vast

19
INTRODUCTION

multitude of learned Arabic treatises based

upon them which were written during the suc¬
ceeding centuries. Nearly all the scientific
literature in Arabic was the work of Persians,
Syrians, Spaniards, Jews and other non-Arabs.
“ Some four or five centuries later, European
seekers after knowledge, cut off from the
original Greek sources, betook themselves with
ever-increasing enthusiasm to this Arabian
presentation of the ancient learning and re¬
habilitated it in a Latin dress; and for the first
century after the discovery of the art of printing,
the Latin renderings of Arabic philosophical,
scientific and medical works constituted a con¬
siderable proportion of the output of the Euro¬
pean press; until a revival of a direct knowledge
of the Greek originals in the first place, and the
inauguration of a fresh, fruitful and first-hand
investigation of natural phenomena in the
second, robbed them to a great extent of their
prestige and their utility and changed the exces¬
sive veneration in which they had hitherto been
held into an equally exaggerated contempt.”1
Most of the Greek philosophy which reached
the Muslims arrived in the form in which it had
been preserved in its Syriac medium. Thus
Plato was received largely in the Neo-Platonic
interpretation, and Aristotle as developed by the
1 E. G. Browne, Arabian Medicine, pp. 2, 3
20
INTRODUCTION

later Peripatetic schools. Early in the ninth

century a Christian of Emessa, in the Lebanon,
marvellously confused the issue by producing an
Arabic paraphrase of part of the Enneads of
Plotinus, and calling it, probably in all inno¬
cence, The Theology of Aristotle. The influence of
this work, which helped to give the followers of
the Prophet quite a false idea of the Peripatetic
system, runs through the whole of Muslim
thought and is evident in this story of Hayy ibn
Yaqzan.
In those early days Muslim thinkers, obsessed
by Islamic dogma, naturally assumed a theo¬
logical attitude towards philosophy. The sages
of classical antiquity appeared to them almost as
prophets, and indeed were called imams, just like
Muhammadan religious teachers. They were
regarded as infallible; but God’s messenger,
Muhammad, was also infallible. No inconsis¬
tency or error could be admitted on any side.
Plato was truth, Aristotle was truth, and the
Koran was truth. But truth must be one. Con¬
sequently much ingenuity and ink was expended
in the mad attempt to harmonise the teachings
of these three. The bolder spirits were not so
respectful to Islamic theology, regarding it as
merely a preliminary step towards the higher
truth contained in the teaching of the Greeks.
In the effort to solve this fantastic problem, all
21
INTRODUCTION

the resources of Aristotelian definition and syl¬

logism were exhausted in vain. Its substance
defied such rough chemistry, and soon we meet
with the first Muslim attempts to make it yield
up its essential gold, its one truth, by subjecting
it to the elixir of mysticism. Mysticism of a
purely ascetic and devotional character was not
unknown to the Arabian desert, but as soon as
it grew speculative it became strongly influenced
by Neo-Platonic thought.
Chief among the labourers in this field was
al-Farabi, who died in 950, the Second Teacher,
as the Muslims called him, i.e. the second
Aristotle. A native of Farab in Turkestan, he
travelled the Eastern empire in pursuit of
knowledge and finally joined the intellectual
group which gathered round Prince Saif al-
Daulah, in his court at Aleppo. Physics, meta¬
physics, medicine, mathematics, philology and
music all came within his sweep. Besides com¬
mentaries on several works of Aristotle, a large
number of original treatises flowed from his pen,
including dissertations on the Intelligence and
the Intelligible, the Soul, the Faculties of the
Soul, the One, Substance, Time, Space. On the
plane of discursive reason his power and subtlety
are remarkable. But his Oriental love of syn¬
cretism was not to be suppressed, and displayed
itself in such treatises as The Harmony of Plato
22
INTRODUCTION

and Aristotle, The Intentions of Plato and Aristotle,

The Intermediary between Aristotle and Galen. His
ambition was to harmonise the different Greek
systems and then harmonise the result with the
teachings of the Koran. Thus his celestial
architecture is a blend of Aristotle’s spheres and
Muhammad’s seven heavenly mansions. Allah
and his angels, the Tablet, the Pen, the Throne,
of the Koran, fraternise with the eV, ^VXV and
vovs of Plotinus. He was a mystic in the real as
well as the academic sense, and his method of
reconciling the members of his eclectic menage
is by no means always clear to the uninitiated.
Al-Farabi played the leading part in directing
the course of Muslim philosophy, and it was
from him more than from any other of the
Muhammadan thinkers of the East that Ibn
Tufail in Spain drew his inspiration.
Our author borrowed the names of his
characters, but little more than this, from Ibn
Sina (Avicenna). This celebrated philosopher
and physician of Persian nationality who died in
1037, and whose medical teaching was accepted
in Europe until as late as the seventeenth cen¬
tury, had left among his multitudinous writings
an allegorical tale of a few pages entitled Hayy
ibn Taqzan, a mechanical and lifeless production
compared with Ibn Tufail’s story, and quite
different from it in plan. But another influence

23
INTRODUCTION

nearer home is unmistakable. Ibn Tufail’s

elder Spanish contemporary, Ibn Bajjah, known
to Europe as Avempace, was the author of a
work called Tadbir al-Mutawahhid, i.e. The
Hermit1s Regime. Although the Arabic original
is now lost, a long analysis of it preserved to us
in the Hebrew of Moses of Narbonne shows
that Ibn Bajjah’s theme was to demonstrate how
man by the unaided improvement of his faculties
may attain to union with the Active Intellect.
This book was well known to Ibn Tufail, and
doubtless gave him the idea of his Self-taught
Philosopher.
But the source of his ideas is of less import¬
ance than his imaginative handling of them.
No other Arabic writer who has attempted
this didactic form has achieved anything like
the measure of Ibn Tufail’s success in clothing
his dissertation in the garb of romance, making
concepts manifest in human creatures and
reasonings in episodes. Hayy and Asal, the two
main characters, are not mechanical figures with
labels attached. The author has endowed them
with life. Their role is to give some sort of
realistic presentation of Soaring Intellect and
Enlightened Faith, and their adventures are by
no means devoid of instruction and entertain¬
ment even to a modern eye.
The title-page contains a hint of the author’s
24
INTRODUCTION

intention. His hero’s symbolical name, Hayy

ibn Yaqzan, means “ Alive son of Awake.”
Alive, because he is Intelligence, which implies
life; Son of Awake, to indicate his relation to
the Eternal One who exists in that super-con¬
scious state described by Plotinus as “ wakeful¬
ness ” or “ awareness ” (eyprjyopcris). This con¬
ception was associated in the Muslim mind with
the description of God from the celebrated
“ Throne Verse ” of the Koran: “ Allah, there
is no god but he; the living, the self-subsisting;
slumber taketh him not, nor sleep.” The hero’s
career is appropriate to his name. It is the pil¬
grim soul’s upward progress; its return home to
its “ Father ” through a series of ascending
stages. In short, one of the main objects of this
modest little book is nothing less than to
dramatise the process of continuous develop¬
ment from sense-perception up to the beatific
vision of the One.
Most of the story is a description of this
spiritual ascent, fashioned mainly out of Neo-
Platonic and Aristotelian elements, with here
and there a confirmatory passage from the
Koran. But this is only part of the author’s
design. His central idea, implicit here, but
boldly worked out at the close, is the old one
of harmonising philosophy and religion, and a
quaint descriptive picture of this constitutes the

25
INTRODUCTION

last scene. Most Muslim thinkers naturally

cherished the conviction that philosophy per¬
mitted a purer vision of spiritual reality than did
the religion of the Koran; but there was often
danger to life or limb in expressing this too
plainly. Ibn Tufail, however, having the Caliph’s
permission to declare himself, puts into the
mouth of his saintly Crusoe some quiet criticism
of Koranic theology and ethics. Thus when
Hayy has heard Asal’s description of that
“ Perspicuous Book ” which God sent down to
men by his messenger Muhammad, he recog¬
nises it instantly by his self-developed intellect
as an expression of the Eternal Truth. But two
of its features perplex him. First, what can be
the point of all that sensuous language in it
about God and the hereafter? A strange habit,
surely, of those creatures on the island of civili-
/ sation to regard the Almighty as seated on a
throne and the future world as an immense
beer-garden and torture-chamber. But our noble
savage, being a philosopher, uses a more chaste
periphrasis. He wonders “ Why this Messenger
of God, in describing most things which relate
to the Divine World, us’d to express them to -
Men by Parables or Similitudes, and waiv’d a
clearer Revelation of them; which occasion’d
Men to fall into that grave Error of asserting
a Corporeity in God, and attributing to the
26
INTRODUCTION

Essence of that True One Things from which

it is absolutely free; and so in like manner, con¬
cerning those things which relate to the Rewards
and Punishments of a Future State.” On this
question he is strongly on the side of the angels,
i.e. of the Almphad state religion, to which, as
we have seen, anthropomorphic notions were
anathema. Secondly, why is this Book of God so
much concerned with legislation on mundane
matters; buying, selling, inheritance, marriage,
and so forth? Before the soul can start on its
journey heavenward, is not its most imperative
need to free itself of these loads and chains of
earthly passion?
Evidently the Koran presented many stumb¬
ling blocks to an enlightened spirit like Ibn
Tufail. If only the Prophet, five centuries before,
had been inspired to preach Plato to the Arabian
tribesmen instead of a mixture mainly of garbled
Jewish and Christian theology, and if only his
Bedouin hearers could have inwardly digested
it as easily as this solitary and uncontaminated
islander, all would have been right with our
philosopher’s medieval world. Here, as we
might expect, is the source of most of the
trouble between Islamic philosophy and dogma.
The holy water of Zemzem had too much
“ body ” in it to please the palates of these
Muslim philosophers who had drunk deep at
27
INTRODUCTION

the more sublimated springs of pagan thought.

Those anthropomorphic crudities of the Koran,
however keenly they may have been relished in
the desert, caused not a little embarrassment to
later and more sophisticated ages. Yet the ortho¬
dox refused to abate one jot of their belief in
verbal inspiration. This Book contained the
mightiest miracle of truth and eloquence the
world had ever heard or ever would hear, and
the illiteracy of the Prophet who delivered it
was proudly emphasied by the devout as an
enhancement of the miracle. The Arabic lan¬
guage in which it was revealed was God’s
language, and the grammarians were at liberty
to quote the Divine Being as the supreme
authority on Arabic syntax.
Concerning the life hereafter, God had spoken
in his Koran with no uncertain voice; for
example: “ The description of paradise, which
is promised unto the pious: therein are rivers
of incorruptible water; and rivers of milk, the
taste whereof changeth not; and rivers of wine,
pleasant unto those who drink; and rivers of
clarified honey; and therein shall they have
plenty of all kinds of fruits; and pardon from
their Lord. Shall the man for whom these
things are prepared be as they who must dwell
for ever in hell-fire, and will have the boiling
water given them to drink, which shall burst
28
INTRODUCTION

their bowels? and again: “ They shall dwell

in gardens of delight . . . reposing on couches
adorned with gold and precious stones; sitting
opposite to one another thereon. Youths, which
shall continue in their bloom for ever, shall go
round about to attend them, with goblets and
beakers and a cup of flowing wine: their heads
shall not ache by drinking the same, neither
shall their reason be disturbed: and with fruits
of the sorts which they shall choose, and the
flesh of birds of the kind which they shall
desire. And there shall accompany them fair
damsels having large black eyes; resembling
pearls hidden in their shells: as a reward for that
which they shall have wrought. They shall not
hear therein any vain discourse, or any charge
of sin; but only the salutation, Peace! Peace! ”2
Likewise he had sought to deter the Arabs from
unbelief by promises of hell such as this: “ And
they who believe not shall have garments of fire
fitted unto them: boiling water shall be poured
on their heads; their bowels shall be dissolved
thereby, and also their skins; and they shall be
beaten with maces of iron.”3 Greed was to have
the following appropriate reward: “ But unto
those who treasure up gold and silver, and em¬
ploy it not for the advancement of God’s true

1 Koran, xlyii, 16, 17. 2 Koran, lvi, 12-25. 3 Koran,

xxii, 20, 21. (Sale’s translation.)

29
INTRODUCTION

religion, denounce a grievous punishment. On

the day of judgment their treasures shall be
intensely heated in the fire of hell, and their
foreheads and their sides and their backs shall
be stigmatized therewith; and their tormentors
shall say, This is what ye have treasured up for
yourselves; taste therefore that which ye have
treasured up.”1
The philosophic mind recoiled from such
hearty outbursts. They could only be accepted,
if at all, as images of the spiritual rewards and
punishments awaiting the soul hereafter. But
Ibn Tufail was a stickler for pure concepts and
had little patience even with images. Indeed he
is constrained to end his tale with an apology
to his initiated friends for having stooped to the
use of allegory. Ibn al-‘Arabi of Murcia, per¬
haps the greatest of the Muhammadan mystics,
who was born about sixty years after Ibn Tufail,
offers the following intelligent explanation of
the Koran’s lurid eschatology: “ Allah,” he says,
“ has depicted paradise in accordance with the
different degrees of man’s understanding. The
Messiah (on whom be peace) emphasised its
spiritual joys, to which we have referred above,
and concluded his last instructions to his
disciples with these words: ‘ If ye do that which
I command you, to-morrow ye shall be with me
1 Koran, ix, 34, 35. (Sale’s translation.)

30
INTRODUCTION

in the kingdom of heaven in the presence of him

who is my Lord and your Lord. Ye shall behold
around his throne the angels praising and glori¬
fying him. And there ye shall enjoy all manner
of delights without partaking either of food or
drink.’ If the Messiah was explicit on this
matter and used none of the figurative language
which our Book uses, this was because he was
addressing a people already civilised by the
Torah and by reading the books of the prophets,
so that their minds were prepared to receive his
words. Not so with our prophet Muhammad.
His divine mission lay among an uncultured
people inhabiting deserts and mountains; who
lacked the discipline of learning and believed
neither in the resurrection nor the future life;
to whom even the pleasures of the princes of
this world were unknown, let alone those of the
kings in heaven. Accordingly in his Book most
of the descriptions of paradise relate to the body,
that so they might the better incline the people’s
understanding and fill their souls with desire.”1
The hero of our tale is imbued with the
missionary spirit and is determined to let man¬
kind hear his higher truth. But the event shows
that most men have no desire to hear it, and are
really much happier without it, the simple letter

1 Al-Sha‘rani, Al-Tawaqit (1888), 11, 216. Quoted by

Asin, Islam and the Divine Comedy, p. 139.

31
INTRODUCTION

of the law being quite difficult enough for their

apprehension and usually too difficult for their
performance, without their attempting any mystic
interpretation. Hayy has not been long on the
island of civilisation till he discovers that free
and knowing spirits like himself are quite the
exception there. Indeed he hardly realised how
free and knowing he himself was till he collided
with human society, which he finds to his horror
falls roughly into two classes, the invincibly
ignorant and brutish, and the complacent ad¬
herents of an institutional and mechanical
religion. To appeal to the first was hopeless, and
he did not try. His attempt on the second only
awoke misgiving and anger in their hearts.
They would have none of his new theology.
With an audacity clothed in humble piety was
he not presuming to out-prophet the Prophet of
God? Fortunately for Hayy, their Oriental sense
of hospitality seems to have checked their herd
instinct for heresy hunting, besides which their
king, Salaman, was on his side (in whom we
may easily recognise the Caliph Abu Ya‘qub,
friend of philosophers, the enlightened patron of
our author Ibn Tufail and of Averroes) so that
he was secure from the bitter fate of most
religious reformers.
But within the pale of this conventional
religion is a small minority of souls with some

32
INTRODUCTION

spiritual discernment of the realities embodied

in the creeds, rites and ceremonies of the faith.
To speed their nearer approach to God they
strip themselves of earthly possessions and pur¬
sue their quest in solitude. Theirs is a different
path from the philosopher’s, but their goal is
the same—to be absorbediin the Divine Essence.
Asal is the personification of this Sufi elect. His
vision, although more obscured than Hayy’s by
reason of the sensuous veil of Koranic symbol¬
ism, is equally incommunicable to the multitude.
As for the average man’s religion, these two
Gnostic aristocrats see it from their exalted
planes as a regrettable but necessary vulgarisa¬
tion of the Truth. Allah the Merciful, the Com¬
passionate, will rescue the less fortunate mass of
his creatures who are constitutionally unable to
attain this purer illumination, provided they
walk faithfully in the light they possess. Hayy’s
belief in the unity of soul-life receives a rude
shock when he is confronted with humanity in
the flesh. His missionary fervour cools when he
realises that “ the whole lump ” is not to be
leavened by exhortation, even though he testify
with the tongues of men and angels to the glories
of his spiritual experience, and he easily finds a
divine sanction for his retreat from this dis¬
tressing piece of reality. An understanding of all
mysteries and all knowledge, suffused with an

33 c
INTRODUCTION

academic philanthropy, was evidently not equip¬

ment enough to help him far on his stupendous
enterprise.
And so these two ineffectual angels depart to
the island whence they came, there to live in
harmony ever afterwards, engrossed in achiev¬
ing their own spiritual perfection. The recon¬
ciliation of theology and philosophy is again
brought about by the extension of both into the
world of mysticism. This higher harmony is
pictured as a human partnership; but Hayy the
philosopher, we are delicately reminded, re¬
mains ever the predominant partner, for, after
all, the mystical island was his discovery; and
the regenerate theologian who dwells there as a
dearly beloved colleague may almost but never
quite rise to the spiritual eminence of his
friend.1 Such is our gentle heretic’s soft answer
to the dictum that philosophy is the handmaid
of theology; whether it would suffice in his day
to turn away the wrath of orthodox Islam is
another question.
1 Ibn al-‘Arabi of Murcia (1165-1240), in his voluminous
mystical work entitled Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya or the
Revelations of Mecca, introduces an allegory describing the
ascent to heaven of a theologian accompanied by a rationalist
philosopher. But in this case the theologian far outstrips the
philosopher, who finds himself obliged to embrace the Mus¬
lim faith before he is permitted to join his companion on the
highest plane of mystical contemplation. A summary of the
allegory is given by Asin, Islam and the Divine Comedy, pp.
47-51
34
INTRODUCTION

Ibn Tufail’s popularity outside the Muham¬

madan world, particularly in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, may be judged from the fol¬
lowing list of the texts, translations and adapta¬
tions of his story which have appeared in Europe.
The Arabic text was first published, together
with a scrupulously literal Latin translation,
under the title Philosophies Autodidactus, by
Edward Pocock junior (son of the great
English pioneer in Oriental studies), at Oxford,
in 1671, and reprinted there in 1700. Pocock’s
Latin was rendered anonymously into Dutch in
1672, a second edition appearing in 1701, in
which the translator’s name figures as “ S.D.B.”
George Keith, the Quaker, in 1674 (for pro¬
paganda purposes), and George Ashwell, in
1686, published English translations, each of
them from Pocock’s Latin. In 1708 Simon
Ockley’s version, made direct from the Arabic,
was published in London, reprinted there in
1711, and again in Dublin in 1731. (From 1711
till his death in 1720 Ockley was Professor of
Arabic at Cambridge.) Two German versions
were produced in the eighteenth century, one
made from Pocock’s Latin by J. Georg Pritius
in 1726, and the other, an accurate rendering of
the original Arabic by J. G. Eichhorn, in 1783.
An anonymous Crusoe story was printed in
London in 1761, entitled The Life and Sur-

35
INTRODUCTION

prising Adventures of Don Antonio de Trezzanio,

much of which is either “ conveyed ” or para¬
phrased from Ockley’s version of Hayy ibn
Taqzan. The Awakening of the Soul (Wisdom
of the East Series, London, 1904), by Paul
Bronnle, is a translation from the Arabic of
“ the most interesting parts ” of the romance.
A translation in Spanish of the complete story,
more exact than any of its predecessors, was
published by F. Pons Boigues at Saragossa in
1900, with an introduction by M. Menendez y
Pelayo. But by far the most important advance
since the days of Pocock was made by Prof.
Leon Gauthier, whose excellent critical edition
of the text accompanied by a careful French
rendering appeared in 1900 at Algiers.
Pocock’s Latin version has all the merits and
defects of a slavish adherence to the letter of the
Arabic. Ockley’s tendency is very much to the
other extreme. His keen relish of the spirit of
the original and his aversion from pedantry
reveal themselves repeatedly in renderings of
singular neatness. On the other hand he often
takes liberties with his original which are quite
unwarranted. In the present edition an attempt
has been made to correct such lapses, without
offering any unnecessary violence to Ockley’s
work. A number of emendations have been
made at the dictation of Gauthier’s Arabic text,,

36
INTRODUCTION

which is our best authority and much superior

to the text upon which Ockley depended.
Ibn Tufail wrote a short introduction to his
romance, in which he discusses briefly some of
the views held by the leading Muslim exponents
of mystic philosophy before his time, namely,
al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Ghazali and Avempace.
This is omitted from Ashwell’s translation and
from the 1731 edition of Ockley’s version. We
also have omitted it since it contains nothing of
general interest.
In Ockley’s first edition (1708) the bookseller
commends the work to the reader in these words,
which it may not be inappropriate to repeat:
And tho’ we do not pretend to any Dis¬
coveries in this Book, especially at this time
of Day, when all parts of Learning are culti¬
vated with so much Exactness; yet we hope
that it will not be altogether unacceptable to
the curious Reader, to know what the state of
Learning was among the Arabs, five hundred
Years since. And if what we shall here com¬
municate, shall seem little in respect of the
Discoveries of this discerning Age; yet we
are confident that any European who shall
compare the Learning in this book, with what
was publish’d by any of his own Countrymen
at that time, will find himself oblig’d in
Conscience to give our Author fair Quarter.

37
THE

HISTORY
OF

HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ i
O UR virtuous Ancestors (may God be
gracious to them!) tell us, that there is an
Indian Island, situate under the Equinoctial,
where Men come into the world spontaneously
without the help of Father and Mother. For this
Island enjoys the most equable and perfect
Temperature of all Places on the Earth, because
it receives its Light from the highest possible
Point in the Heavens; tho’ it must be confessed
that such an Assertion is contrary to the Opinion
of the Majority of Philosophers and the most
celebrated Physicians, who affirm that the fourth
Clime has the most equable Temperature of all
inhabited Regions. Now if they say this because
they are convinced that there are no inhabited
Regions under the Equinoctial, by reason of
some terrestrial Impediment, their Assertion

39
THE HISTORY OF

that the fourth Clime is the most equable of all

Places on the Rest of the Earth would have
some Appearance of Reason. But if their reason
be, because of the intense Heat of those Lands
situate under the Equinoctial (which is that
which most of ’em assign) ’tis absolutely false,
and the contrary is prov’d by undeniable de¬
monstration. For ’tis demonstrated in Natural
Philosophy, that there is no other cause of Heat
than Motion, or else the Contact of hot Bodies,
or Light. ’Tis also prov’d that the Sun, in it self,
is not hot, nor partakes of any Quality of Tem¬
perature: ’tis prov’d moreover, that the opaque
and polished Bodies receive Light in the greatest
degree of perfection; and next to them, the
opaque which are not polished, and those which
are entirely without opacity receive no Light at
all. (This was first demonstrated by Avicenna,
never mention’d before by any of the Ancients.)
From these Premises, this Consequence will
necessarily follow, viz. That the Sun do’s not
communicate his Heat to the Earth, after the
same manner as hot Bodies heat those other
Bodies which are near them; because the Sun is
not hot in it self. Nor can it be said that the
Earth is heated by Motion, because it stands
still, and remains in the same posture, both
when the Sun shines upon it, and when it does
not, and yet ’tis evident to Sense that there is a
40
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

vast difference in it, in respect of Heat and

Cold, at those several times. Nor does the Sun
first heat the Air, and so the Earth; because we
may observe in hot weather, that the Air which is
nearest the Earth is hotter by much than that
which is higher and more remote. It remains
therefore that the Sun has no other way of heat¬
ing the Earth but by its Light, for Heat always
follows Light, so that when its Beams are col¬
lected, as in Burning-Glasses for instance, it
fires all before it. Now ’tis established in the
exact Sciences by precise demonstration, that
the Sun is a Spherical Body, and so is the Earth;
and that the Sun is much greater than the
Earth; and that part of the Earth which is at
all times illuminated by the Sun is above half
of it; and that in that half which is illuminated,
the Light is most intense in the midst, both
because that part is the most remote from
Darkness, as also, because it offers a greater
surface to the Sun; and that those parts which
are nearer the Circumference of the Circle, have
less Light; and so gradually, till the Circum¬
ference of the Circle, which encompasses the
illuminated part of the Earth, ends in Darkness.

4i
THE HISTORY OF

§ 2

Now that is the Center of the Circle of Light,

where the Sun is Vertical to the Inhabitants, and
then in that place the Heat is most extreamly
intense; and so those Countries are the coldest,
where the Sun is farthest from being Vertical.
And if there were any such place where the Sun
was always Vertical, it must needs be extream
hot. Now ’tis demonstrated in Astronomy, that
the Sun is Vertical twice a Year only, to those
which live under the Equinoctial, viz. when he
enters into Aries and Libra; and all the rest of
the Year he declines from them, six months
Northward, and six months Southward; and for
that reason they are neither too hot nor too cold,
but of a Moderate Temper between both.
There’s much more to be said about this Argu¬
ment, in order to the explaining it fully, but it
is not suitable to our purpose; I have only hinted
it to you, because it makes it something more
probable that a Man might in that region be
form’d without the help of Father and Mother;
and there are some which affirm positively that
Hayy Ibn Yaqzan was so, others deny it, and
tell the Storv thus:
¥

42
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 3
They say, that there lay, not far from this our
Island, another Great Island very fertile and
well peopled; which was then govern’d by a
Prince of a Proud and Jealous Disposition: he
had a Sister of exquisite Beauty, which he confin ’d
and restrain’d from Marriage, because he could
not match her to one suitable to her quality.
He had a near relation whose name was Yaqzan,
that married her privately, according to a
Rite of Matrimony then in use among them:
it was not long before she prov’d with child, and
was brought to Bed of a Son; and being afraid
that it should be discovered, she took him in the
Evening, and when she had suckled him she
put him into a little Ark which she closed up
fast, and so conveys him to the Sea shore, with
some of her Servants and Friends as she could
trust; and there with an Heart equally affected
with Love and Fear, she takes her last leave of
him in these Words: “ O God, thou form’dst this
“ Child out of nothing,1 and didst cherish him in
“the dark Recesses of my Womb, till he was
“ compleat in all his parts; I, fearing the Cruelty
“ of this proud and unjust King, commit him to
“ thy Goodness, hoping that thou who art in-
“ finitely merciful, will be pleas’d to protect him,
“and never leave him destitute of thy Care.”
1 Koran lxxvi, i.

43
THE HISTORY OF

§ 4
Then she set him afloat, and that very Night
the strong Tide carried him ashore on that
Island we just now mention’d. It fortun’d that
the Water, being high, carried the Ark a great
wav on shore, farther than it would have done
at another time (for it rises so high but once a
Year) and cast the Ark into a Grove, thick set
with Trees, a pleasant place, shielded from Wind
and Rain and veiled from the Sun, which could
not penetrate there neither when it rose nor
when it set.1 When the Tide ebb’d, the Ark was
left there, and the Wind rising blew an heap of
Sand together between the Ark and the Sea,
sufficient to secure him from any future danger
of such another Flood.

§ 5
The Nails and Timbers of the Ark had been
loosen’d when the Waves cast it into that
Thicket; the Child being very hungry wept and
cry’d for help and struggled. It happened that a
Roe which had lost her Fawn, heard the Child
cry, and following the Voice (imagining it to
have been her Fawn) came up to the Ark, and
what with her digging with her Floofs from
without, and the Child’s thrusting from within,
1 Cf. Koran xviii, 16.

• 44
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

at last between ’em both they burst open a

Board of the Lid. Thereupon she was mov’d
with Pity and Affection for him, and freely gave
him suck; and she visited and tended him con¬
tinually, protecting him from all Harm. This is
the account which they give of his Origin, who
are not willing to believe that a Man can be
produced without Father or Mother. We shall
tell anon how he grew up and rose from one
State to another, till at last he attain’d the State
of highest Perfection.

§ 6
On the other hand, those who affirm that
Hayy Ibn Yaqzan was produced without Father
and Mother, tell us, that in that Island, in a
piece of low Ground, it chanc’d that a certain
Mass of Earth was so fermented in some period
of Years, that the Hot was so equally mix’d with
the Cold.) and the Moist with the Dry, that none
of ’em prevail’d over the other; and that this
Mass was of a very great Bulk, in which, some
parts were better and more equally Temper’d
than others, and fitter to form the seminal
Humours; the middle part especially, which
came nearest to the Temper of Man’s Body.
This Matter being in a fermentation, there arose
some Bubbles by reason of its viscousness, and

45
THE HISTORY OF

it chanc’d that in the midst of it there was formed

a very little Bubble, which was divided into two
with a thin partition, full of Spirituous and
Aerial Substance, and of the most exact Tem¬
perature imaginable. The matter being thus
dispos’d, there was, by the Command of God, a
Spirit infus’d into it, which was join’d so closely
to it, that it can scarce be separated from it even
so much as in thought. For this Spirit emanates
continually and abundantly from the Most High
and Glorious God, and may be compared to the
Light of the Sun which is sent forth continually
and abundantly over the World. Now there are
some Bodies from whence we perceive no
Reflection of this Light, as the thin Air: others
from which we do but imperfectly; such are
opaque Bodies which are not polished (but
there is a difference in these, and the difference
of their Colours arises from the different manner
of their Reception of the Light); and others
reflect the Light in the highest degree, as Bodies
which are smooth and polish’d, such as Looking-
Glasses and the like; so that those Glasses when
hollowed out after a particular manner will
Collect so much Light as to produce Fire. So
that Spirit which comes by the Command of
God, do’s at all times act upon all Creatures, in
some of which notwithstanding, there appears
no Impression of it, but the reason Jof that is

46
7
v

HAYY IBN YAQZAN

because of their Incapacity into whom it is w

infus’d; of which kind are things inanimate
which are fitly represented in this similitude by
the thin Air. There is another sort again, in
which there does appear something of it, as
Vegetables and the like, which are represented
by the opaque Bodies we mention’d, which are
not polish’d. And then lastly, there are others,
(represented by those polished Bodies in our
comparison) in which the Influence of this
Spirit is very visible, and such we reckon all
sorts of Animals. Now, among those polish’d
Bodies, some besides having the eminent
Faculty of receiving the Sun’s Light, give an
Image resembling the Sun; so also among the
Animals, some not only have the eminent Faculty
of receiving the Spirit, but resemble it and are
formed in its Image. Such is Man particularly,
and to him did the Prophet allude when he said,
God created Adam in his own Image.

% 7 9

Now, when this Image in Man prevails to

such a degree that all others are nothing before
it, but it remains alone, so as to consume, with
the glory of its Light, whatsoever stands in its
way; then it is properly compared to those
Glasses, which reflect Light upon themselves,

47
THE HISTORY OF

and burn every thing else; but this is a degree

which is peculiar to the Prophets (the Blessing
of God be upon them!).

§ 8
But to return, and finish the Account of those
who describe this kind of generation: They tell
us, that as soon as this Spirit was join’d to the
Receptacle, all the other Faculties immediately,
by the Command of God, submitted themselves
to it. Now, opposite to this Receptacle, there arose
another Bubble divided into three Ventricles by
thin Membranes, with passages from one to the
other, which were fill’d with an aerial substance,
not much unlike that which was in the first Re¬
ceptacle, only something finer than the first; and
in each of these three Ventricles, which wrere all
taken out of one, were plac’d some of those
Faculties, which were subject to this governing
Spirit, and were appointed to take care of their
respective Stations, and to communicate every
thing, both great and small, to that Spirit,
which we told you before was plac’d in the first
Receptacle. Right against this first Receptacle,
and opposite to the second, there arose another
third Bubble, fill’d with an aerial substance,
which was grosser than that which was in the
other two; this Receptacle was made for the
48
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Entertainment of some other of the inferior

Faculties.

§ 9
Thus these three Receptacles were made in
the same order which we have describ’d, and
these were the first part of that great Mass
which was form’d. Now they stood in need of
one another’s assistance; the first wanted the
other two as Servants, and they again the
assistance and guidance of the first, as their
Master and Director; but both these Recep¬
tacles (the former of which had more Authority
than the latter), tho’ inferior to the first, were
nevertheless superior to all those Organs which
were form’d afterwards. The first Receptacle of
all, by the power of that Spirit which was joyn’d
to it and its continual flaming Heat, was form’d
into a Conical figure, like that of Fire, and by
this means that thick Body, which was about it,
became of the same figure, being solid Flesh
cover’d with a thick protecting Membrane. The
whole of this Organ is what we call the Heart.
Now considering the great Destruction and
Dissolution of Humours, which must needs be
where there is so much Heat, ’twas absolutely
necessary, that there should be some part
form’d, whose Office it should be continually to
supply this defect; otherwise it would have

49 D
THE HISTORY OF

been impossible to have subsisted long. ’Twas

also necessary that this forming Spirit should
have a Sense both of what was convenient for
him, and what was hurtful, and accordingly
attract the one and repel the other. For these
Services there were two parts form’d, with their
respective Faculties, viz. the Brain and the
Liver: the first of these presided over all things
relating to Sense, the latter over such things as
belong’d to Nutrition: both of these depended
upon the Heart for a supply of Heat, and the
recruiting of their proper Faculties. To supply
these divers needs, there were Ducts and Pas¬
sages interwoven, some bigger, some lesser,
according as necessity requir’d; and these are
the Arteries and Veins.
Thus much for a Taste; they that tell the
Story go on farther, and give you a particular
account of the Formation of all the parts, as the
Physicians do of the Formation of the Foetus in
the Womb, omitting nothing till he was com-
pleatly form’d, and just like an Embryo ready
for the Birth. In this account they are forc’d to
be beholding to this vast Mass of fermented
Earth, which you are to suppose contain’d in it
all manner of materials proper for the making
Man’s Body, those Skins which cover it &c.;
till at last, when he was Compleat in all his
parts, as if the Mass had been in labour, those

5°
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Coverings, which he was wrapp’d up in, burst

asunder, and the rest of the Dirt dry’d and
crack’d in pieces. The Infant being thus brought
into the World, and finding his Nourishment
fail him, cry’d for want of Victuals, till the Roe
which had lost her Fawn heard him. Now, both
those who are of the other Opinion and those
who are for this kind of generation, agree in all
the other particulars of his Education: and
what they tell us is this.

§ io
They say that this Roe liv’d in good and
abundant Pasture so that she was fat, and had
such plenty of Milk, that she was very well able
to maintain the little Child; she stay’d by him
and never left him, but when hunger forc’d
her; and he grew so well acquainted with her,
that if at any time she staid away from him a
little longer than ordinary, he’d cry pitifully,
and she, as soon as she heard him, came running
instantly; besides all this, he enjoy’d this hap¬
piness, that there was no Beast of prey in the
whole Island.

§ ii
Thus he went on, living only upon what he
Suck’d till he was Two Years Old, and then he
began to step a little and Breed his Teeth. He

5i
THE HISTORY OF

always followed the Roe, and she shew’d all the

tenderness to him imaginable; and us’d to carry
him to places where Fruit Trees grew, and fed
him with the Ripest and Sweetest Fruits which
fell from the Trees; and if they had hard Shells,
she us’d to break them for him with her Teeth;
still Suckling him, as often as he pleas’d, and
when he was thirsty she shew’d him the way to
the water. If the Sun shin’d too hot, she shaded
him; if he was cold she cherish’d him and kept
him warm; and when Night came she brought
him home to his old Place, and covered him
partly with her own Body, and partly with some
Feathers taken from the Ark, which had been
put in with him when he was first expos’d. Now,
when they went out in the Morning, and when
they came home again at Night, there always
went with them an Flerd of Deer, which lay in
the same place where they did; so that the Boy
being always amongst them learn’d their voice
by degrees, and imitated it so exactly that there
was scarce any sensible difference; nay, when he
heard the voice of any Bird or Beast, he’d come
very near it. But of all the voices which he
imitated, he made most use of the Deers, and
could express himself as they do, either when
they want help, call their Mates, when they
would have them come nearer, or go farther off.
(For you must know that the Brute Beasts have

52
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

different Sounds to express these different

things.) Thus he contracted such an Acquaint¬
ance with the Wild Beasts, that they were not
afraid of him, nor he of them.

§ 12

By this time he began to have the Ideas of a

great many things fix’d in his mind, so as to
have a desire to some, and an aversion to others,
even when they were absent. In the mean while
he consider’d all the several sorts of Animals,
and saw that they were all clothed either with
Hair, Wool, or Feathers; he consider’d their
great Swiftness and Strength, and that they were
all arm’d with Weapons defensive, as Horns,
Teeth, Hoofs, Spurs, and Nails; but that he
himself was Naked and Defenceless, Slow and
Weak, in respect of them. For whenever there
happened any Controversy about gathering of
Fruits, he always came off by the worst, for they
could both keep their own, and take away his,
and he could neither beat them off nor run
away from them.

§ 13

He observ’d besides that his Fellow-Fawns,

tho’ their Fore-heads were smooth at first, yet
afterwards had Horns bud out, and tho’ they

53
THE HISTORY OF

were feeble at first, yet afterwards grew very

Vigorous and Swift. All these things he perceived
in them, which were not in himself; and when
he had consider’d the Matter, he could not
imagine what should be the reason of this
Difference. Then he consider’d such Animals as
had any Defect or Natural Imperfection, but
amongst them all he could find none like him¬
self. He took Notice that the Passages of the
Excrements were protected in all other Crea¬
tures besides himself: that by which they voided
their grosser Excrements, with a Tail; and that
which serv’d for the voiding of their Urine,
with Hair or some such like thing. Besides, he
observ’d that their Genital organs were more
concealed than his own were.

§ 14

All these things were matter of great Grief

to him, and when he had perplex’d himself very
much with the thoughts of them, and was now
near seven Years Old, he despair’d utterly of
having those things grow upon him, the want
of which made him so uneasy. He therefore got
him some Broad Leaves of Trees, of which he
made two Coverings, one to wear behind, the
other before; and made a Girdle of Palm-Leaves
and Rushes, to Hang his coverings upon, and

54
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Ty’d it about his waist. But alas it would not

last long, for the Leaves wither’d and dropt
away; so that he was forc’d to get more, which
he plaited in Layers one upon another, which
made it a little more durable, but not much.
Then having broke Branches from a Tree and
fitted the Ends of them to his Mind, he stript
off the Twigs and made them smooth; with
these he began to attack the Wild Beasts, assault¬
ing the weaker, and defending himself against
the stronger. By this means he began a little to
know his own Powers, and perceiv’d that his
Hands were better than their Fore-Feet; because
by the help of them, he had provided where¬
withal to cover his Nakedness, and also gotten
him a Defensive Weapon, so that now he had no
need of a Tail, nor of those Natural Weapons
which he had so wish’d for at first.

§ x5
Meanwhile he was growing up and had
pass’d his Seventh Year, and because the repair¬
ing of his Covering of Leaves so often, was very
troublesome to him, he had a design of taking
the Tail of some Dead Beast, and wearing it
himself; but when he perceiv’d that all Beasts
did constantly avoid those which were Dead of
the same kind, it made him doubt whether it

55
THE HISTORY OF

might be safe or not. At last, by chance he found

a Dead Eagle, and observing that none of the
Beasts shew’d any aversion to that Carcass, he
concluded that this would suit his purpose: and
in the first place, he cuts off the Wings and the
Tail whole, and spreads the Feathers open;
then he drew off the Skin, and divided it into
two equal parts, one of which he wore upon his
Back, with the other he covered his Navel and
Secrets: the Tail he wore behind, and the wings
were fix’d upon each Arm. This Dress of his
answer’d several Ends; for in the first place it
cover’d his Nakedness, and kept him warm, and
then it made him so frightful to the Beasts, that
none of them car’d to meddle with him, or come
near him; only the Roe his Nurse, which never
left him, nor he, her; and when she grew Old
and Feeble, he us’d to lead her where there was
the best Pasture, and pluck the sweetest Fruits
for her, and give her them to eat.

§ 16
Notwithstanding this she grew lean and weak,
and continu’d a while in a languishing Condition,
till at last she Dyed, and then all her Motions
and Actions ceas’d. When the Boy perceiv’d her
in this Condition, he was ready to dye for Grief.
He call’d her with the same voice which she

56
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

us’d to answer to, and made what Noise he

could, but there was no Motion, no Alteration.
Then he began to peep into her Ears and Eyes,
but could perceive no visible defect in either; in
like manner he examin’d all the parts of her
Body, and found nothing amiss, but every thing
as it should be. He had a vehement desire to
find that part where the defect was, that he
might remove it, and she return to her former
State. But he was altogether at a loss how to
compass his design, nor could he possibly bring
it about.

§ 17
That which put him upon this search, was
what he had observ’d in himself. He had noticed
that when he shut his Eyes, or held any thing
before them, he could see nothing at all, till that
Obstacle was removed; and so when he put his
Fingers into his Ears, that he could not hear,
till he took ’em out again; and when he closed
his Nostrils together, he smelt nothing till they
were open’d; from whence he concluded that
all his perceptive and active Faculties were
liable to Impediments, upon the removal of
which, their Operations return’d to their former
course. Therefore, when he had examin’d every
External Part of her, and found no visible defect,
and yet at the same time perceiv’d an Universal

57
THE HISTORY OF

Cessation of Motion in the whole Body, not

peculiar to one Member but common to them
all, he began to imagine that the hurt was in
some Organ which was remote from the sight
and hidden in the inward part of the Body; and
that this Organ was of such nature and use, that
without its help, none of the other External
Organs could exercise their proper Functions;
and that if this Organ suffer any hurt, the
damage was General, and a Cessation of the
whole ensu’d.

§ 18
This made him very desirous to find that
Organ if possible, that he might remove the
defect from it, that so it might be as it us’d to
be, and the whole Body might enjoy the Benefit
of it, and the Functions return to their former
course. He had before observ’d, in the Bodies of
Wild Beasts and other Animals, that all their
Members were solid, and that there were only
three Cavities, viz. the Skull, the Breast, and
the Belly; he imagin’d therefore that this Organ
which he wanted must needs be in one of these
Cavities, and above all, he had a strong per¬
suasion that it was in the middlemost of them.
For he verily believ’d that all the Members
stood in need of this Organ, and that from thence
it must necessarily follow that the Seat of it

58
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

must be in the Centre. And when he reflected

upon his own Body, he felt the presence of such
an Organ in his Breast. Now since he was able to
hinder the action of all his other Organs, such
as Hands, Feet, Ears, Nose and Eyes, and de¬
prive himself of it, he conceived that it might be
possible to subsist without them; but when he
considered this Organ within his Breast he
could not conceive the possibility of subsisting
without it, so much as the twinkling of an eye.
And upon this account, whenever he fought
with any Wild Beast, he always took particular
care to protect his Breast from being pierced by
its Horns, because of the Apprehension which
he had of that Organ which was contain’d in it.

§ 19

Having, by this way of reasoning, assur’d

himself that the disaffected Organ lay in the
Breast; he was resolv’d to make a search in
order to examine it, that whatsoever the Im¬
pediment was, he might remove it if possible;
but then again, he was afraid on the other side,
lest his Undertaking should be worse than the
Disease, and prove prejudicial. He began to
consider next, whether or no he had ever re¬
member’d any wild Beasts or other Animals
which he had seen in that condition, recover

59
THE HISTORY OF

again, and return to the same State which they

were in before, but he could call to Mind no
such Instance; from whence he concluded that
if she was let alone there would be no hopes at
all, but if he should be so fortunate as to find
that Organ and remove the Impediment, there
might be some hope. Upon this he resolv’d to
open her Breast and make enquiry; in order to
which he provided himself with Fragments of
Flint, and Splinters of dry Cane almost like
Knives, with which he made an incision between
the Ribs, and cutting through the Flesh, came
to the Diaphragma; which he finding very
Tough, assur’d himself that such a Covering
must needs belong to that Organ which he lookt
for, and that if he could once get through that,
he should find it. He met with some difficulty in
his Work, because his Instruments were none
of the best, for he had none but such as were
made either of Flint or Cane.

§ 20

However, he sharpen’d ’em again and re¬

newed his Attempt with all the Skill he was
Master of. At last he broke through, and the
first part he met with was the Lungs, which he
at first sight mistook for that which he search’d
for, and turn’d ’em about this way and that way
60
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

to see if he could find in them the seat of the

Disease. He first happen’d upon that Lobe
which lay next the side which he had open’d
and when he perceiv’d that it did lean sideways,
he was satisfy’d that it was not the Organ he
look’d for, because he was fully perswaded that
that must needs be in the midst of the Body, as
well in regard of Latitude as Longitude. He
proceeded in his search, till at last he found the
Heart, which when he saw closed with a very
strong Cover, and fasten’d with stout Liga¬
ments, and cover’d by the Lungs on that side
which he had open’d, he began to say to him¬
self: “ If this Organ be so on the other side as it
“ is on this which I have open’d, then ’tis cer-
“ tainly in the midst, and without doubt the
“ same I look for; especially considering the
“ Conveniency of the Situation, the Comliness
“ and Regularity of its Figure, the Firmness Ox
“ the Flesh, and besides, its being guarded with
“ such a Membrane as I have not observ’d in
“ any other part.” Upon this he searches the
other side, and finding the same Membrane on
the inside of the Ribs, and the Lungs in the
same posture which he had observ’d on that
side which he had open’d first, he concluded
this Organ to be the part which he look’d for.

61
THE HISTORY OF

§ 21

Therefore he first Attacks the Pericardium,

which, after a long tryal and a great deal of
pains, he made shift to tear; and when he had
laid the Heart bare, and perceiv’d that it was
solid on every side, he began to examine it, to
see if he could find any apparent hurt in it; but
finding none, he squeez’d it with his Hand, and
perceiv’d that it was hollow. He began then to
think that what he look’d for might possibly be
contain’d in that Cavity. When he came to open
it, he found in it two Cavities, one on the right
side, the other on the left. That on the right side
was full of clotted Blood, that on the left quite
empty. “ Then (says he) without all doubt, one
“ of those two Cavities must needs be the Re-
“ ceptacle of what I look for; as for that on this
“ right side there’s nothing in it but congealed
“ Blood, which was not so, be sure, till the whole
“ Body was in that condition in which it now is ”
(for he had observ’d that all Blood congeals
when it flows from the Body). “ This Blood
“ does not differ in the least from any other; and
“ I find it common to all the Organs. What I
“ look for cannot by any means be such a
“ matter as this; for that which I seek is some-
“ thing which is peculiar to this place, which I
“ find I could not subsist without, so much as
62
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

“ the Twinkling of an Eye. And this is that

“ which I look’d for at first. As for this Blood,
“ how often have I lost a great deal of it in my
“ Skirmishes with the Wild Beasts, and yet it
“ never did me any considerable harm, nor
“ render’d me incapable of performing any
“ Action of Life, and therefore what I look for
“ is not in this Cavity. Now as for the Cavity
“ on the left side, I find ’tis altogether empty,
“ and I have no reason in the World to think
“ that it was made in vain, because I find every
“ Organ appointed for such and such particular
“ Functions. How then can this Ventricle of the
“ Heart, which I see is of so excellent a Frame,
“ serve for no use at all? I cannot think but that
“ the same thing which I am in search of, once
“ dwelt here, but has now deserted his Habita-
“ tion and left it empty, and that the Absence
“ of that thing has occasion’d this Privation of
“ Sense and Cessation of Motion which hap-
“ pen’d to the Body.” Now when he perceiv’d
that the Being which had inhabited there before
had left its House before it fell to Ruine, and
forsaken it when as yet it continu’d whole and
entire, he concluded that it was highly probable
that it would never return to it any more, after
its being so cut and mangled.

63
THE HISTORY OF

§ 22

Upon this the whole Body seem’d to him a

very inconsiderable thing, and worth nothing in
respect of that Being he believed once inhabited,
and now had left it. Therefore he applied him¬
self wholly to the consideration of that Being.
What it was and how it subsisted? What joyn’d
it to this Body? Whither it went, and by what
passage, when it left the Body? What was the
Cause of its Departure, whether it were forc’d
to leave its Mansion, or left the Body of its own
accord? And in case it went away Voluntarily,
what it was that render’d the Body so disagree¬
able to it, as to make it forsake it? And whilst he
was perplext with such variety of Thoughts, he
laid aside all concern for the Carcass, and
banish’d it from his Mind; for now he perceiv’d
that his Mother, which had Nurs’d him so
Tenderly and had Suckled him, was that some¬
thing which was departed; and from it proceeded
all her Actions, and not from this unactive Body;
but that all this Body was to it only as an Instru¬
ment, like his Cudgel which he had made for
himself, with which he used to Fight with the
Wild Beasts. So that now, all his regard to the
Body was remov’d, and transferr’d to that by
which the Body is govern’d, and by whose
Power it moves. Nor had he any other desire
but to make enquiry after that.
64
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 23

In the mean time the Carcass of the Roe began

to putrifie and emit Noisome Vapours, which
still increas’d his aversion to it, so that he did
not care to see it. ’Twas not long after that he
chanc’d to see two Ravens engag’d so furiously,
that one of them struck down the other Stark
Dead; and when he had done, he began to
scrape with his Claws till he had digg’d a Pit,
in which he Buried the Carcass of his Adver¬
sary. The Boy observing this, said to himself:
“ How well has this Raven done in Burying the
“ Body of his Companion, tho’ he did ill in
“ Killing him! How much greater reason was
“ there for me to have been forward in per-
“ forming this Office to my Mother?” Upon
this he digs a Pit, and lays the Body of his
Mother into it, and Buries her. He proceeded
in his Enquiry concerning what that should be
by which the Body was govern’d, but could not
Apprehend what it was. When he look’d upon
the rest of the Roes and perceiv’d that they were
of the same form and figure with his Mother,
he could not resist the Belief that there was in
every one of them something which mov’d and
directed them, like that which had mov’d and
directed his Mother formerly; and for the sake
of that likeness he us’d to keep in their Company

65 E

**>
THE HISTORY OF

and shew affection towards them. He continued

a while in this condition, Contemplating the
various kinds of Animals and Plants, and walk¬
ing about the Coast of his Island, to see if he
could find any Being like himself (as he observ’d
that every Individual Animal and Plant had a
great many more like it). But all his search was
in vain. And whon he perceiv’d that his Island
was encompass’d by the Sea, he thought that
there was no other Land in the World but only
that Island.

§ 24

It happen’d that by Friction a Fire was

kindled among a Thicket of Canes, which scar’d
him at first, as being a Sight which he was
altogether a Stranger to, so that he stood at a
distance a good while, strangely surpriz’d. At
last he came nearer and nearer by degrees, still
observing the Brightness of its Light and mar¬
vellous Efficacy in consuming every thing it
touch’d and changing it into its own Nature;
till at last his Admiration of it and that innate
Boldness and Fortitude which God had im¬
planted in his Nature prompted him on, that he
stretch’d out his Hand to take some of it. But
when it burnt his Fingers and he found there
was no dealing with it that way, he thought to
take a stick which the Fire had not as yet wholly
66
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

seiz’d upon; so taking hold on that end which

was untouch’d he easily gain’d his purpose, and
carried it Home to his Lodging (for he had
found a Cave which serv’d as a convenient
Abode). There he kept this Fire and added
Fuel to it, of dry Grass and Wood, admir’d it
wonderfully, and tended it night and day; at
night especially, because its Light and Heat
supply’d the absence of the Sun; so that he was
extreamly delighted with it and reckon’d it the
most excellent of all those things which he had
about him. And when he observ’d that it always
mov’d upwards, he perswaded himself that it
was one of those Celestial Substances which he
saw shining in the Firmament, and he was con¬
tinually trying of its power, by throwing all
manner of things into it, which he perceiv’d it
always vanquish’d, sometimes sooner, some¬
times slower, according as the Bodies which he
put into it were more or less combustible.

% 25

Amongst other things which he put in to try

its strength, he once flung in some Sea Animals
which had been thrown ashore by the Water,
and as soon as e’er he smelt the Steam, it rais’d
his Appetite, so that he had a Mind to Taste of
them; which he did, and found ’em very agree

67
THE HISTORY OF

able, and from that time he began to use himself

to the Eating of Flesh, and applied himself to
Fishing and Hunting till he understood those
sports very well: upon this account he admir’d
his Fire more and more, because it help’d him
to several sorts of excellent Provision which he
was altogether unacquainted with before.

§ 26
And now when his Affection towards it was
increas’d to the highest degree, both upon the
account of its Beneficial Effects and its Extra¬
ordinary Power, he began to think that the
Substance which was departed from the Heart
of his Mother the Roe, was, if not the very same
with it, yet at least of a Nature very much like it.
He was confirm’d in his Opinion because he had
observ’d in all Animals, that as long as they
liv’d, they were constantly warm without any
Intermission, and as constantly Cold after
Death. Besides he found in himself, that there
was a greater degree of Heat by much in his
Breast, near that place where he had made the
Incision in the Roe. This made him think that
if he could dissect any Animal alive, and look
into that Ventricle which he had found empty
when he dissected his Dam the Roe, he might
possibly find it full of that Substance which
68
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

inhabited it, and so inform himself whether it

were of the same Substance with the Fire, and
whether it had any Light and Heat in it or not.
In order to this he took a Wild Beast and ty’d
him down, and dissected him after the same
manner he had dissected the Roe, till he came
to the Heart; and Essaying the left Ventricle
first, and opening it, he perceiv’d it was full of
an Airy Vapour which look’d like a little Mist
or white Cloud, and putting in his Finger, he
found it hotter than he could well endure it, and
immediately the Creature Dyed. From whence
he assuredly concluded that it was that Hot
Vapour which communicated Motion to that
Animal, and that there was accordingly in every
Animal of what kind soever, something like it
upon the departure of which Death follow’d.

§ 27

He was then mov’d by a great desire to

enquire into the other parts of Animals, to find
out their Order and Situation, their Quantity
and the manner of their Connexion one with
another, and by what means of Communication
they enjoy the Benefit of that Hot Vapour, so
as to live by it, how that Vapour is continu’d
the time it remains, from whence it has its
Supplies, and by what Means its Heat is pre-
69
THE HISTORY OF

serv’d. The way which he us’d in this Enquiry

was the Dissection of all sorts of Animals, as
well Living as Dead, neither did he leave off to
make an accurate Enquiry into them, till at
length he arrived to the highest degree of
Knowledge in this kind which the most Learned
Naturalists ever attain’d to.

§ 28
And now he Apprehended plainly that every
particular Animal, tho’ it had a great many
Limbs, and variety of Senses and Motions, was
nevertheless One in respect of that Spirit, whose
Original was from one firm Mansion, viz. the
Heart, from whence its Influence was diffus’d
among all the Members, which were merely its
Servants or Instruments. And that this Spirit
made use of the Body in the same Manner as he
himself did of his Weapons; with some he fought
with Wild Beasts, with others captur’d them,
and with others cut them up; the first kind of
Weapons were either defensive or offensive; the
second kind for the capture either of land or
water Animals; the third, his dissecting Instru¬
ments, were some for Fission, others for
Fraction, and others for Perforation. His Body,
which was One, wielded those diverse Instru¬
ments according to the respective Uses of each,
and the several ends which it propos’d to obtain.
70
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 29

Likewise he perceiv’d that this Animal Spirit

was One, whose Action when it made use of the
Eye, was Sight; when of the Ear, Hearings when
of the Nose, Smelling; when of the Tongue,
Tasting; and when of the Skin and Flesh, Feeling.
When it employ’d any Limb, then its Operation
was Motion; and when it made use of the Liver,
Nutrition and Concoction. And that tho’ there
were Members fitted to every one of these uses,
yet none of them could perform their respective
Offices without having Correspondence with
that Spirit by means of Passages called Nerves;
and that if at any time it chanc’d that these pas¬
sages were either broken off or obstructed, the
Action of the corresponding Member would
cease. Now these Nerves derive this Spirit from
the Cavities of the Brain, which has it from the
Heart (and contains abundance of Spirit, because
it is divided into a great many partitions) and by
what means soever any Limb is depriv’d of this
Spirit, its Action ceases and ’tis like a cast off
Tool, not fit for use. And if this Spirit depart
wholly from the Body, or is consum’d or dis¬
solv’d by any means whatsoever, then the whole
Body is depriv’d of Motion and reduc’d to that
State which is Death.

7i
THE HISTORY OF

§ 3°
Thus far had his Observations brought him
about the end of the Third Seventh Year of his
Age, viz. when he was One and Twenty Years
Old. In which time he had made abundance of
pretty Contrivances. He made himself both
Cloaths and Shoes of the Skins of such Wild
Beasts as he had dissected. His thread was made
of Hair, and of the Bark of the Stalks of Althaea,
Mallows, or Hemp, or any other Plants which
afforded such Strings as were fit for that purpose.
He learn’d the making of these threads from
the use which he had made of the Rushes, be¬
fore. He made awls of sharp Thorns, and Splin¬
ters of Cane sharpen’d with Flints. He learn’d
the Art of Building from the Observations he
made upon the Swallows Nests. He had built
himself a Store-house and a Pantry, to lay up
the remainder of his Provision in, and made a
Door to it of Canes bound together, to prevent
any of the Beasts getting in during his absence.
He took Birds of prey and brought them up
to help him in his Hunting, and kept tame
Poultry for their Eggs and Chickens. He took
the tips of the Buffalo’s Horns and fasten’d them
upon the strongest Canes he could get, and
Staves of the Tree al-Zan and others; and so,
partly by the help of the Fire, and partly of
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HAYY IBN YAQZAN

sharp edg’d Stones, he so fitted them that they

serv’d him instead of so many Spears. He made
him a shield of Hides folded together. All this
pains he took to furnish himself with Artificial
Weapons, because he found himself destitute of
Natural ones.

§ 31

Now when he perceiv’d that his Hand sup¬

plied all these defects very well, and that none
of all the various kinds of Wild Beasts durst
stand against him, but ran away from him and
were too Nimble for him, he began to contrive
how to be even with them, and thought there
would be no way so proper as to chuse out some
of the swiftest Beasts of the Island, and bring
’em up tame, and feed them with proper Food,
till they would let him back them and then he
might pursue the other kinds of Wild Beasts.
There were in that Island both Wild Horses and
Asses; he chose of both sorts such as seem’d
fittest for his purpose, and by Training he made
them wholly obedient to his Wishes. And when
he had made out of Strips of Skin and the Hides
of Beasts such things as serv’d him competently
well in the Room of Bridles and Saddles, he
could very easily then overtake such Beasts as
he could scarce ever have been able to have
catch’d any other manner of way. He made all

73
THE HISTORY OF

these discoveries whilst he was employed in the

Study of Anatomy, and the searching out of
the Properties peculiar to each Part, and the
difference between them; and all this before the
End of that time I speak of, viz. of the Age of
21 Years.

§ 32

He then proceeded further to examine the

Nature of Bodies in this World of Generation
and Corruption, viz. the different kinds of
Animals, Plants, Minerals, and the several sorts
of Stones, and Earth, Water, Vapour, Ice, Snow,
Hail, Smoak, Flame, and glowing Heat; in
which he observ’d many Qualities and different
Actions, and that their Motions agreed in some
respects, and differ’d in others. And considering
these things with great Application, he per¬
ceiv’d that their Qualities also agreed in some
things, and differ’d in others; and that so far as
they agreed, they were One\ but when con¬
sider’d with Relation to their differences, a great
many\ so that when he came to consider the
Properties of things by which they were distin¬
guish’d one from another, he found that they
were innumerable and Existence seem’d to
multiply itself beyond his Comprehension. Nay,
when he consider’d the difference of his own
Organs, which he perceiv’d were all distinct

74
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

from one another by some Property and Action

peculiar to each, it seem’d to him that there was
a Plurality in himself. And when he regarded
any one Organ, he found that it might be divided
into a great many parts, from whence he con¬
cluded, that there must needs be a Plurality not
only in himself but in every other Thing also.

§ 33
Then viewing the Matter from another Side,
he perceiv’d that tho’ his Organs were many,
yet they were Conjoyned and Compacted to¬
gether so as to make one Whole, and that what
difference there was between them consisted
only in the difference of their Actions, which
diversity proceeded from the Power of that
Animal Spirit, the Nature of which he had
before search’d into and found out. Now he
remember’d that that Spirit was One in Essence,
and the true Essence, and that all the Organs
serve that Spirit as Instruments; and so,viewing
the Matter from this side, he perceiv’d himself
to be One.
§ 34
He proceeded from hence to the considera¬
tion of all the Species of Animals and found that
every Individual of them was One. Next he
consider’d them with regard to their different

75
THE HISTORY OF

Species, viz. as Roes, Horses, Asses and all

sorts of Birds according to their kinds, and he
perceiv’d that all the Individuals of every Species
were exactly like one another in the shape of
their Organs, both within and without, that
their Apprehensions, Motions, and Inclinations
were alike, and that those little differences which
were visible amongst them were inconsiderable
in respect of those many things in which they
agreed. From whence he concluded that the
Spirit which actuated any Species was one and
the Same, only distributed among so many
Hearts as there were Individuals in that
Species; so that if it were possible for all that
Spirit which is so divided among so many
Hearts to be Collected into one Receptacle, it
would be all the same thing, just as if any one
Liquor should be pour’d out into several Dishes
and afterwards put all together again in one
Vessel, this Liquor would still be the same, as
well when it was divided as when it was alto¬
gether, only in respect of that division it may
be said in some sort to be Multiplied. By this
way of Contemplation he perceiv’d that a whole
Species was One and the same thing, and that
the Multiplicity of Individuals in the same
Species is like the Multiplicity of Parts in the
same Person, which indeed is not a real Multi¬
plicity.

76
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 35
Then he represented in his Mind all the
several kinds of Animals, and perceiv’d that
Sensation, and Nutrition, and the Power of
moving freely where they pleas’d, were common
to them all; which Actions he was assur’d
before, were all very proper to the Animal
Spirit, and that those lesser things in which they
differ’d (notwithstanding their agreement in
these greater) were not so proper to that Spirit.
From this consideration he concluded that it
was only One and the same Animal Spirit which
Actuated all living Creatures whatsoever, tho’
there was in it a little difference which each
Species claim’d as peculiar to it self. For in¬
stance, suppose the same Water be pour’d out
into different Vessels, that which is in this Vessel
may possibly be something colder than that
which is in another, tho’ ’tis the same Water
still, and so all the Portions of this Water which
are at the same Degree of Cold will represent
the peculiar State of the Animal Spirit which is
in all the Animals of one Species. And as that
Water is all one and the same, so is that Animal
Spirit One, tho’ there has occurr’d in it an
Accidental Multiplicity. And so under this
Notion he look’d upon the whole Animal
Kingdom to be all One.

77
THE HISTORY OF

§ 36
Afterwards Contemplating the different Spe¬
cies of Plants, he perceiv’d that the Individuals
of every Species were alike, both in their
Boughs, Leaves, Flowers, Fruits, and manner
of Growing. And comparing them with Animals
he found that there must needs be some one
thing which they did all of them partake of,
which was the same to them that the Animal
♦

Spirit was to the living Creature, and that in

respect of That they were all One. Whereupon,
taking a view of the Vegetable Kingdom, he
concluded that it was One, by reason of that
Agreement which he found in the Functions of
Plants, viz. their Nourishment and Growing.

§ 37
Then he associated in his Mind, the King¬
doms of Animals and Plants together, and found
that they were both alike in their Nutrition and
Growing, only the Animals excell’d the Plants
in Sensation and Apprehension and Movement,
and yet he had sometimes observ’d something
like it in Plants, viz. That some Flowers do
turn themselves towards the Sun, and that the
Plants extend their Roots that way the Nourish¬
ment comes, and some other such like things.

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HAYY IBN YAQZAN

From whence it appear’d to him that Plants an d

Animals were One and the same, in respect of
that One thing which was Common to them
both; which was indeed more perfect in the
One, and more obstructed and restrained in the
other; like Water that is partly running and
partly frozen. So that he concluded that Plants
and Animals were all One.

§ 38
He next consider’d those Bodies which have
neither Sense, Nutrition nor Growth, such as
Stones, Earth, Water, Air, and Flame, which he
perceiv’d had all of them Three Dimensions,
viz. Length, Breadth, and Thickness, and that
their differences consisted only in this, that
some of them were Colour’d, others not, some
were Warm, others Cold, and the like. He
observ’d that those Bodies which were Warm
grew Cold, and on the contrary, that those
which were Cold grew Warm. He saw that
Water was rarified into Vapour, and Vapour
again Condens’d into Water; and that such
things as were Burn’t were turn’d into Coals,
Ashes, Flame and Smoak, and if in its Ascent
Smoak were intercepted by an Arch of Stone,
it thickened there and became like certain
Earthy Substances. From whence it appear’d

79
THE HISTORY OF

to him that all these things were in Reality Oney

tho’ multiplied and diversified accidentally as
the Plants and Animals were.

§ 39
Then considering with himself what that
thing must be which constituted the Unity of
Plants and Animals, he saw that it must be
some Body, like those Bodies, which had a
Threefold Dimension, viz. Length, Breadth,
and Thickness; and that whether it were Hot
or Cold, it was like any of those other Bodies
which have neither Sense nor Nutrition, and
differ’d from them only in those Acts which
proceeded from it by means of Animal or
Vegetable Organs. And that perchance those
Acts were not Essential, but deriv’d from
something else, so that if those Acts were to be
produced in those other Bodies, they would
be like this Body. Considering it therefore
abstractedly, with regard to its Essence only, as
stript of those Acts which at first sight seem’d
to emanate from it, he perceiv’d that it was a
Body, of the same kind, with those other
Bodies; upon which Contemplation it appear’d
to him that all Bodies, as well those that had
Life, as those that had not, as well those that
mov’d, as those that rested in their Natural
80
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

places were One\ only there were some from

which Acts proceeded by means of Organs;
concerning which Acts he could not yet deter¬
mine whether they were Essential, or deriv’d
from something without. Thus he continu’d,
considering nothing but the Nature of Bodies,
and by this means he perceiv’d that whereas at
first sight, Things had appear’d to him innumer¬
able and not to be comprehended; Now, he
discovered the whole Mass and Bulk of Crea¬
tures were in Reality only One.

§ 40

He continu’d in this State a considerable

time. Then he consider’d all sorts of Bodies,
both Animate and Inanimate, which one while
seem’d to him to be One\ and another, a great
many. And he found that all of them had a
Tendency either upward, as Smoak, Flame, and
Air when detain’d under Water; or else down¬
ward, as Water, pieces of Earth, or Parts of
Animals and Plants; and that none of these
Bodies were free from one or other of these
Tendencies, or would ever lye still, unless
hinder’d by some other Body, and interrupted
in their course; as when, for instance, a Stone in
its fall is stopp’d by the solidity and hardness of
the Earth, when ’tis plain it would otherwise
81 F
THE HISTORY OF

continue still descending; and if you lift it, you

feel that it presses upon you by its Tendency
toward the lower Place to which it seeks to
descend. So Smoak still continues going up¬
wards, and if it should be intercepted by a solid
Arch, it would divide both to the right and left,
and so soon as it was freed from the Arch, would
still continue ascending and pass through the
Air, which is not solid enough to restrain it.
He perceiv’d also that when a Leathern Bottle
is fill’d with Air and its Neck tightly bound, if
you hold it under Water it will still strive to
get up till it returns to its place of Air, and
then it rests, and its resistence and its propensity
to ascend ceases.

§ 41

He then enquir’d whether or no he could find

any Body that was at any time destitute of both
these Motions, or a Tendency toward them, but
he could find none such among all Bodies which
he had about him. The reason of this Enquiry
was, because he was very desirous to know the
Nature of Body, as such, abstracted from all
manner of Properties, from whence arises Multi¬
plicity. But when he found this too difficult a
Task for him, and he had examin’d those Bodies
which had the fewest Properties, and could find
none of them void of one of these two, viz.
82
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Heaviness or Lightness; he proceeded to con¬

sider the Nature of these two Properties, and to
examine whether they did belong to Body
quatenus Body, or else by reason of some Pro¬
perty superadded to Corporeity. It seem’d to
him that Gravity and Levity did not belong to
Body as such; for if so, then no Body could
subsist without them both: whereas on the
contrary, we find that the Heavy Bodies are
void of all Lightness and the Light Bodies are
void of all Heaviness. Without doubt they are
two Sorts of Bodies, and each possesses an
Attribute which distinguishes it from the other,
and which is superadded to its Corporeity, other¬
wise they would be both one and the same thing,
in every respect. From whence it appear’d
plainly that the Essence both of an Heavy and
Light Body was compos’d of two Attributes;
One, which was common to them both, viz.
Corporeity, the other, by which they are distin¬
guish’d one from the other, viz. Gravity in the
one, and Levity in the other, which were super-
added to Corporeity.

§ 42

In like manner he consider’d other Bodies,

both Animate and Inanimate, and found their
Essence was composed of Corporeity, and some

83
THE HISTORY OF

one thing or more superadded to it. And thus

he attain’d a Notion of the Forms of Bodies,
according to their differences. These were the
first things he found out, belonging to the
Spiritual World; for these Forms are not the
objects of Sense, but are apprehended by Intel¬
lectual Speculation. Now among other things of
this kind which he discover’d, it appear’d to him
that the Animal Spirit which is lodged in the
Heart (as we have mention’d before) must
necessarily have some Attribute superadded to
its Corporeity, which render’d it capable of those
wonderful Actions, different Sensations and
Ways of apprehending Things, and various
sorts of Motions; and that this Attribute must
be its Form, by which it is distinguish’d from
other Bodies, which is the same that the Philoso¬
phers call the Animal Soul. And so in Plants,
that which was in them the same that Natural
Heat was in Beasts, must have something
proper to it, which was its Form, which the
Philosophers call the Vegetative Soul. And that
there was also in inanimate things (viz. all
Bodies, besides Plants and Animals, which are
in this sublunary World) something peculiar to
them, by the Power of which every one of them
perform’d such Actions as were proper to it,
namely, various sorts of Motion and different
kinds of sensible Qualities; and that thing was
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HAYY IBN YAQZAN

the Form of every one of them, and this is the

same which the Philosophers call Nature.

§ 43
And when by this Contemplation it appear’d
to him plainly that the true Essence of that
Animal Spirit on which he had been so intent,
was compounded of Corporeity and some other
Attribute superadded to that Corporeity, and
that it had its Corporeity in common with other
Bodies; but that this other Attribute which was
superadded was peculiar to it self: Immediately
he despis’d and rejected the Notion of Cor¬
poreity, and applied himself wholly to that other
superadded Attribute (which is the same that
we call the Soul) the Nature of which he earnestly
desired to know. Therefore he fix’d all his
Thoughts upon it, and began his Contempla¬
tion with considering all Bodies, not as Bodies,
but as endu’d with Forms, from whence neces¬
sarily flow these Properties by which they are
distinguish’d one from another.

§ 44
Now by following up this Notion and com¬
prehending it in his Mind, he perceiv’d that all
the Bodies of a certain Category had one Form
in common, from whence one or more Actions

85
THE HISTORY OF

did proceed. And that there was in this Category

a Class whose Members, tho’ they agreed with
all the rest in that one common Form, had
another Form besides superadded to it, from
whence some Actions proceeded. And further,
that there was in this Class a Group, which
agreeing with the rest in those two Forms which
they had, was still distinguish’d from them by a
third Form, superadded to those other two,
from whence also proceeded some Actions. For
instance, all Terrestrial Bodies, as Earth, Stones,
Minerals, Plants, Animals, and all other heavy
Bodies, do make up one Category, and possess
in common the same Form, from whence flows
Downward Movement, whilst there is nothing
to hinder their Descent; and whensoever they
are forc’d to move upwards, if they are left to
themselves, they immediately by Virtue of their
Form tend downwards again. Now a Class of
this Category, viz. Plants and Animals, tho’
they do agree with all that Multitude before
mention’d, in that Form, yet still have another
Form superadded to it, from whence flow
Nutrition and Accretion. Now the meaning of
Nutrition is, when the Body that is nourish’d,
substitutes in the room of that which is con¬
sum’d and wasted from it self, something of the
like kind, which it draws to it self, and then
converts into its own Substance. Accretion, or
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HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Growing, is a Motion according to the three

Dimensions, viz. Length, Breadth, and Thick¬
ness in a due Proportion. And these two Actions
are common to Plants and Animals, and do with¬
out doubt spring from that Form which is com¬
mon to them both, which is what we call the
Vegetative Soul. Now a Group of this Class, viz.
Animals, tho’ they have the first and second
Forms in common with the rest, have still a
third Form superadded, from which arise Sen¬
sations and Local Motion. Besides, he per¬
ceiv’d that every particular Species of Animals
had some Property which distinguish’d it and
made it quite different from the rest, and he
knew that this Difference must arise from some
Form peculiar to that Species, which was super-
added to the Notion of that Form which it had
in common with the rest of Animals. And the
like he saw happen’d to the several kinds of
Plants.

§ 45
And it was evident to him that the Essences
of those sensible Bodies, which are in this sub¬
lunary World, had some of them more Attributes
superadded to their Corporeity, and others,
fewer. Now he knew that the Understanding of
the fewer must needs be more easie to him than
the Understanding of those which were more

87
THE HISTORY OF

in number. And therefore he endeavour’d to

get a true Notion of the Essence of some one
Thing which had the fewest essential Attributes.
Now he perceiv’d that the Essences of Animals
and Plants were composed of a great many
Attributes, because of the great variety of their
Actions; for which reason he deferr’d the en¬
quiring into their Forms. As for the Parts of the
Earth, he saw that some of them were more
simple than others, and therefore resolv’d to
begin his Enquiry with the most simple of all.
So he perceiv’d that Water was a thing far from
complex, which appear’d from the Paucity of
those Actions which arise from its Form. The
same he likewise observ’d in the Fire and Air.

% 46
Now he had already perceiv’d that all these
four might be chang’d one into another; and
that there must be some one thing which they
jointly participated of, and that this thing was
Corporeity. Now ’twas necessary that this one
thing which was common to them all should be
altogether free from those Attributes by which
these four were distinguish’d one from the
other, and be neither heavy nor light\ hot nor
cold; moist nor dry; because none of these
Qualities were common to all Bodies, and there-
88
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

fore could not appertain to Body as such. And

that if it were possible to find any such Body, in
which there was no other Form superadded to
Corporeity, it would have none of these Qualities,
nor indeed any other but what were common to
all Bodies, with what Form soever endu’d. He
consider’d therefore with himself, to see if he
could find any one Adjunct or Property which
was common to all Bodies, both animate and
inanimate; but he found nothing of that Nature,
but only the Notion of Extension, and that he
perceiv’d was common to all Bodies, viz. That
they had all of them length, breadth, and thick¬
ness. Whence he gather’d, that this Notion be¬
long’d to Body, as Body. However, his Sense
could not represent to him any Body existent in
Nature, which had this only Property, and was
void of all other Forms: For he saw that every
one of them had some other Notion superadded
to the said Extension.

§ 47
Then he consider’d further, whether this
Three-fold Extension was the very Notion of
Body, without the addition of another Notion;
and quickly found that behind this Extension
there was another Notion, in which this Exten¬
sion did exist, and that Extension could not
89
THE HISTORY OF

subsist by it self, as also the Thing which was

extended could not subsist by it self without
Extension. This he experimented in some of
those sensible Bodies which are endu’d with
Forms; for Example, in Clay: Which he
perceiv’d, when moulded into any Figure,
(Spherical suppose) had in it a certain Propor¬
tion, Length, Breadth, and Thickness. But then
if you took that very same Ball, and reduc’d it
into a Cubical or Oval Figure, the Dimensions
were chang’d, and did not retain the same Pro¬
portion which they had before, and yet the Clay
still remain’d the same, without any Change,
only that it must always have a Length, Breadth,
and Thickness, in some Proportion or other,
and could not be depriv’d of these Dimensions:
Yet it was plain to him from the successive
Alterations of them in the same Body, that they
constituted a Notion distinct from the Clay
itself; as also, that because the Clay could not
be altogether without them, it appear’d to him
that they belong’d to its Essence. And thus from
this Consideration it appear’d to him that Body
regarded as Body, was composed in reality of
two Notions: The one of which represents the
Clay, of which the Sphere was made; the other,
the Threefold Extension of it, when form’d into
a Sphere, Cube, or what other Figure soever.
Nor was it possible to conceive Body, but as
90
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

consisting of these two Notions, neither of

which could subsist without the other. But that
one (namely, that of Extension) which was liable
to Change, and could successively put on differ¬
ent Figures, did represent the Form in all those
Bodies which had Forms. And that other which
still abode in the same State, (which corre¬
sponded to the Clay, in our last Instance) did
represent the Notion of Corporeity, which is in
all Bodies, of what Forms soever. Now that
Thing which is represented by Clay in the fore¬
going Instance, is the same which the Philoso¬
phers call Matter, and v\rj, which is wholly
destitute of all manner of Forms.

§ 48
When his Contemplation had proceeded thus
far, and he was got to some distance from
sensible Objects, and was now just upon the
Confines of the intellectual World, he was
diffident, and inclin’d rather to the sensible
World, which he was more used to. Therefore
he retreated a little and left the Consideration of
abstracted Body (since he found that his Senses
could by no means reach it, neither could he
comprehend it) and applied himself to the
Consideration of the most simple sensible
Bodies he could find, which were those four

91
THE HISTORY OF

about which he had been exercis’d. And first of

all he consider’d the Water, which he found, if
let alone in that Condition which its Form re¬
quir’d, had these two things in it, viz, Sensible
Cold, and a Propension to move downwards:
But if heated by the Fire or the Sun, its Coldness
was remov’d, but its Propension to move down¬
wards still remain’d: But afterwards, when it
came to be more vehemently heated, it lost its
tendency downwards, and mounted upwards;
and so it was wholly depriv’d of both those
Properties which us’d constantly to emanate
from its Form. Nor did he know any thing more
of its Form, but only that these two Actions
proceeded from thence; and when these two
ceas’d, the Nature of the Form was alter’d, and
the Watery Form was remov’d from that Body,
as soon as it manifested Actions whose Nature
is to emanate from another Form; and it re¬
ceived another Form which had not been there
before, from which arose those Actions, which
never us’d to appear in it whilst it had the first
Form.

§ 49
Now he knew that every thing that was
produc’d anew must needs have some Pro¬
ducer. And from this Contemplation, there
arose in his Mind a sort of Impression of the
92
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Maker of that Form, tho’ his Notion of him as

yet was general and indistinct. Then he paus’d
on the examining of these Forms which he
knew before, one by one, and found that they
were produc’d anew, and that they must of
necessity be beholden to some Efficient Cause.
Then he considered 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 all this, but a Body, and some
things which are observ’d to arise from it, which
were not in it before (such as Qualities and
Motions) and an Efficient Cause which pro¬
duces them. And the fitness of a Body for one
Motion rather than another, is its Disposition
and Form. The same he concluded of all other
Forms, and it appear’d to him that those
Actions which emanated from them were not in
reality owing to them, but to the Efficient Cause
which produced in them those Actions which
are attributed to them. Which Notion of his
is exactly the same with what the Apostle of
God says (may God bless him and grant him
Peace!): I am his Hearing by which he hears, and
his Seeing by which he sees; and in the Clear Book
of Revelation: You did not kill them, but God

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THE HISTORY OF

kill'd. them\ when thou threwest the Darts, it was

not thou that threwest them, hut God.1

§ 5°
Now, when he had attain'd thus far, so as to
have a general and indistinct Notion of this
Agent, he had a most earnest Desire to know it
distinctly. And because he had not as yet with¬
drawn himself from the sensible World, he
began to look for this Agent among sensible
Things; nor did he as yet know whether it was
one Agent or many. Therefore he enquir’d
strictly into all such Bodies as he had about him,
viz. those which he had been employ’d about
all along, and he found that they were all liable
to Generation and Corruption. And if there were
any which did not suffer a total Corruption, yet
they were liable to a partial one, as Water and
Earth, the parts of which, he observ’d, were
consum’d by Fire. Likewise among all the rest
of the Bodies which he was conversant with, he
could find none which were not produced anew
and therefore dependent upon some Agent.
Upon which account he laid them all aside, and
transferr’d his Thoughts to the Consideration of
the Heavenly Bodies. And thus far he reach’d
in his Contemplations, about the end of the
1 Koran viii, 17.

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HAYY IBN YAQZAN

fourth Septenary of his Age, viz, when he was

now eight and twenty Years old.

§ 51
Now he knew very well that the Heavens,
and all the Luminaries in them, were Bodies,
because they were all extended according to the
three Dimensions, Length, Breadth and Thick¬
ness, without any exception; and that every
thing that was so extended, was Body; ergo^
they were all Bodies. Then he consider’d next,
whether they were extended infinitely, as to
stretch themselves to an endless Length,
Breadth and Thickness; or, whether they were
circumscrib’d by any Limits, and terminated by
some certain Bounds, beyond which there could
be no Extension. But here he stop’d a while, as
in a kind of Amazement.

§ 52

At last, by the strength of his Apprehension

and Sagacity of his Understanding, he per¬
ceiv’d that the Notion of infinite Body was
absurd and impossible, and a Notion wholly
unintelligible. He confirm’d himself in this
Judgment of his by a great many Arguments
which occurr’d to him, and he thus argued with
himself: That this heavenly Body is terminated

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THE HISTORY OF

on this side which is next to me, is evident to

my sight; and that it cannot be infinitely ex¬
tended on that opposite side, which rais'd this
Scruple in me, I prove thus. Suppose two Lines
drawn from the Extremity of this Heavenly
Body, on that terminated side which is next to
me, which Lines should be produc’d quite
through this Body, in infinitum, according to the
Extension of the Body; then suppose a long
part of one of these Lines cut off at this End
which is next to me; then take the Remainder
of what was cut off, and draw down that end of
it where it was cut off, and lay it even with the
end of the other Line from which there was
nothing cut off; and let that Line which was
shorten’d lye parallel with the other; then
follow these two Lines in the Direction in which
we suppos’d them to be infinite. Either you will
find both these Lines infinitely extended, and
then one of them cannot be shorter than the
other, but that which had a part of it cut off
will be as long as that which had not, which is
absurd: Or else the Line which was cut will not
go on for ever like that other, but will stop and
consequently be finite. Therefore if you add that
part to it which was cut off from it at first, which
was finite, the whole will be finite; and it will be
no longer or shorter than that Line which had
nothing cut off from it, but equal to it. But this
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HAYY IBN YAQZAN

is finite, therefore the other is finite. And the

Body in which such Lines are drawn is finite.
But such Lines may be drawn in all Bodies.
Therefore if we suppose an infinite Body, we
suppose an Absurdity and Impossibility.

§ 53
When by the singular strength of his Genius
(which he exerted in the finding out such a
Demonstration) he had satisfied himself that
the Body of Heaven was finite, he desired, in
the next place, to know what Figure it was of,
and how it was limited by the circumambient
Superficies. And first he observ’d the Sun,
Moon and Stars, and saw that they all rose in
the East, and set in the West; and those which
went right over his Head describ’d a great
Circle, but those at a greater distance from the
Vertical Point, either Northward or Southward,
describ’d a lesser Circle. So that the least Circles
which were describ’d by any of the Stars, were
those two which went round the two Poles, the
one North, the other South; the last of which is
the Circle of Sohail or Canopus; the first, the
Circle of those two Stars which are called
Alpherkadani. Now because he liv’d under the
Equinoctial Line (as we shew’d before) all
those Circles did cut the Horizon at right

97 G
THE HISTORY OF

Angles, and both North and South were alike

to him, and he could see both the Pole-Stars.
He observ’d that if a Star arose at any time in
a great Circle, and another Star at the same in
a lesser Circle, yet nevertheless, as they rose
together, so they set together: and he observ’d
it of all the Stars, and at all times. From whence
he concluded that the Heaven was of a Spherical
Figure; in which Opinion he was confirm’d, by
observing the Return of the Sun, Moon and
Stars to the East, after their Setting; and also,
because they always appear’d to him of the same
bigness, both when they rose, and when they
were in the midst of Heaven, and at the time of
their Setting; whereas, if their Motions had not
been Circular, they must have been nearer to
sight at some times than others, and conse¬
quently their Dimensions would have appear’d
proportionably greater or lesser; but since there
was no such Appearance, he concluded that the
Heaven was spherical. Then he consider’d the
Motion of the Moon and the Planets from West
to East, till at last he understood a great part of
Astronomy. Besides, he apprehended that their
Motions must be in different Spheres, all which
were comprehended in another which was above
them all, and which turn’d about all the rest
from East to West in the space of a Day and a
Night. But it were too tedious to explain par-
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HAYY IBN YAQZAN

ticularly how he advanc’d in this Science; be¬

sides, ’tis taught in other Books; and what we
have already said is as much as is requisite for
our present purpose.

§ 54
When he had attain’d to this degree of
Knowledge, he found that the whole Orb of the
Heavens and whatsoever was contain’d in it,
was as one Thing compacted and join’d to¬
gether; and that all those Bodies which he us’d
to consider before, as Earth, Water, Air, Plants,
Animals and the like, were all of them so con¬
tain’d in it, as never to go out of its Bounds: and
that the whole was like One Animal, in which
the Luminaries represented the Senses; the
Spheres so join’d and compacted together,
answer’d to the Limbs; and in the midst, the
World of Generation and Corruption, to the
Bellv, in which the Excrements and Humors
are contain’d, and which oftentimes breeds
Animals, as the Greater World.

§ 55
Now when it appear’d to him that the whole
World was as One Individual, and he had
united all the Parts of it by the same way of
thinking which he had before made use of in

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THE HISTORY OF

considering the World of Generation and Cor¬

ruption; he propos’d to his Consideration the
World in General, and debated with himself
whether it did exist in Time, after it had not
been; and came to Be out of nothing; or
whether it had been from Eternity, without any
Privation preceding it. Concerning this Matter
he had very many and great Doubts, so that
neither of these two Opinions did prevail over
the other. For when he propos’d to himself the
Belief of its Eternity, there arose a great many
Objections in his Mind; because he thought
that the Notion of Infinite Existence was press’d
with no less Difficulties than that of Infinite
Extension: And that such a Being as was not
free from Accidents produc’d a-new, must also
it self be produc’d a-new, because it cannot be
said to be more ancient than those Accidents:
And that which cannot exist before Accidents
produc’d in Time, must needs itself be pro¬
duc’d in Time. Then on the other hand, when
he propos’d to himself the Belief of its being
produc’d a-new, other Objections occur’d to
him; for he perceiv’d that it was impossible to
conceive any Notion of its being produc’d
a-new, unless it was suppos’d that there was
Time before it; whereas Time was one of those
things which belong’d to the World, and was
inseparable from it; and therefore the World
ioo
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

could not be suppos’d to be later than Time.

Then he consider’d, that a Thing Produced must
needs have a Producer: And if so, Why did this
Producer make the world now, and not as well
before? Was it because of any new Chance
which happen’d to him? That could not be, for
there was nothing existent besides himself. Was
it then upon the Account of any Change in his
own Nature? But what should produce that
Change? Thus he continued for several Years,
arguing pro and con about this matter; and a
great many Arguments offer’d themselves on
both sides, so that neither of these two Opinions
in his Judgment over-balanc’d the other.

§ 56
This put him to a great deal of trouble, which
made him begin to consider with himself what
were the Consequences which did follow from
each of these Opinions, and that perhaps they
might be both alike. And he perceiv’d that if
he held that the World was created in Time, and
had come into existence after a total Privation,
it would necessarily follow from thence that it
could not have come into existence of it self,
without the help of some Agent to produce it.
And that this Agent must needs be such an one
as cannot be apprehended by our Senses; for
101
THE HISTORY OF

if he should be the Object of Sense, he must be

Body, and if Body, then a Part of the World, and
consequently a Created Being; such an one as
would have stood in need of some other Cause
to create him; and if that second Creator was
Body, he would depend upon a third, and that
third upon a fourth, and so ad infinitum, which
is absurd. Therefore the World stands in need
of an incorporeal Creator: And if the Creator
thereof is incorporeal, ’tis impossible for us to
apprehend him by any of our Senses; for we
perceive nothing by the help of them but Body,
or such Accidents as adhere to Bodies: And if
he cannot be perceiv’d by the Senses, it is
impossible he should be apprehended by the
Imagination; for the Imagination does only
represent to us the Forms of things in their
absence, which we have before learn’d by our
Senses. And if he is not Body, we must not
attribute to him any of the Properties of Body;
the first of which is Extension, from which he
is free, as also from all those Properties of
Bodies which flow from it. And if he is the
Maker of the World, doubtless he has the
Sovereign Command and Knowledge of it.
Shall not he know it, that created it? He is wise,
Omniscientl1

1 Koran lxvii, 14.

102
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 57
Furthermore, he saw that if he held the
Eternity of the World, and that it always was
as it now is, without any Privation before it;
then it would follow that its Motion must be
Eternal too; because there could be no Rest
before it, from whence it might commence its
Motion. Now all Motion necessarily requires a
Mover; and this Mover must be either a Power
diffus’d through some Body, that is through the
Body of a Being which moves itself, or through
some other Body without it, or else a certain
Power not diffus’d or dispers’d through any
Body at all. Now every Power which passeth,
or is diffus’d, through any Body, is divided or
doubled according as the Body is divided or
doubled. For instance; the Gravity in a Stone,
by which it tends downwards, if you divide the
Stone into two parts, is divided into two parts
also; and if you add to it another like it, the
Gravity is doubled. And if it were possible to
add Stones in infinitum, the Gravity would in¬
crease in infinitum too. And if a Stone should
grow to a certain size and stop there, the
Gravity would also increase to such a pitch, and
no farther. Now it is demonstrated that all
Body must necessarily be finite; and conse¬
quently, that Power which is in Body is finite
103
THE HISTORY OF

too. If therefore we can find any Power which

produces an Infinite Effect, ’tis plain that it is
not in Body. Now we find that the Heav’n is
mov’d about with a Perpetual Motion, without
any Cessation, since we admit the Heaven to
be eternal. Whence it necessarily follows that
the Power which moves it is not in its own
Body, nor in any other Exterior Body; but pro¬
ceeds from something altogether abstracted
from Body, and which cannot be describ’d by
Corporeal Adjuncts or Properties. Now he had
learn’d from his first Contemplation of the
World of Generation and Corruption, that the
true Reality of Body consisted in its Form,
which is its Disposition to several sorts of
Motion; but that the Reality which consisted in
its Matter was very mean, and scarce possible to
be conceiv’d. Therefore the Reality of the whole
World consists in its Disposition to be mov’d
by this Mover, who is free from Matter and
the Properties of Body, abstracted from every
thing which we can either perceive by our
Senses or reach by our Imagination. And if
he^ is the Efficient Cause of the divers Motions
of the Heavens, which he produces by an Action
in which there is no Irregularity, no Abate¬
ment, no Cessation; without doubt he has
Power over them, and a Knowledge of them.

104
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 58
Thus his Contemplation this Way brought
him to the same Conclusion it did the other
Way. So that doubting concerning the Eternity
of the World, and its Existence de novo, did him
no harm at all. For it was plain to him both
ways, that there was an Agent, which was not
Body, nor join’d to Body, nor separated from
it, nor within it, nor without it, because Con¬
junction and Separation, and being within any
thing, or without it, are all Properties of Body,
from which that Agent is altogether abstracted.
And because the Matter in all Bodies stands in
need of a Form, as not being able to subsist
without it, nor exist really, and the Form it self
cannot exist but by this Agent; it appear’d to
him that all things ow’d their Existence to this
Agent, and that none of them could subsist
but through him: and consequently, that he
was the Cause, and they the Effects, (whether
they were newly created after a Privation, or
whether they had no Beginning in time ’twas
all one) and Creatures whose Existence de¬
pended upon that Agent; and that without his
Continuance they could not continue, nor exist
without his Existing, nor have been Eternal
without his being Eternal; but that he was
essentially independent of them, and free from

io5
THE HISTORY OF

them. And how should it be otherwise, when it

is demonstrated that his Power and Might are
infinite, and that all Bodies and whatsoever
belongs to them are finite? Consequently, that
the whole World and whatsoever was in it,
the Heavens, the Earth, the Stars, and what¬
soever was between them, above them, or be¬
neath them, was all his Work and Creation, and
posterior to him in Nature, if not in Time. As,
if you take any Body whatsoever in your Hand,
and then move your Hand, the Body will
without doubt follow the Motion of your Hand,
with such a Motion as shall be posterior to it in
Nature, tho’ not in Time, because they both
began together. So all this World is caus’d and
created by this Agent, out of Time, Whose Com¬
mand is, when he would have any thing done, Be,
and it is.1

§ 59
And when he perceiv’d that all things which
did exist were his Workmanship, he look’d
them over again, considering in them attentively
the Power of their Author, and admiring the
Wonderfulness of the Workmanship, and such
accurate Wisdom and subtil Knowledge. And
there appear’d to him in the most minute Crea¬
tures (much more in the greater) such Footsteps
1 Koran xxxvi, 82.

106
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

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 an
Agent of infinite Perfection, nay, that was
above all Perfection; such an one “ to whom the
Weight of the least Atom was not unknown,
whether in Heaven or Earth; no, nor any other
thing, whether lesser or greater than it.”1

§ 60
Then he consider’d all the kinds of Animals,
and how this Agent had given such a Fabrick
of Body to every one of them, and then taught
them how to use it. For if he had not directed
them to apply those Members which he had
given them, to those respective Uses for which
they were design’d, they would have been so far
from being of any Service that they would
rather have been a Burden. From whence he
knew that the Creator of the World was super¬
eminently Bountiful and exceedingly Gracious.
And then when he perceiv’d among the Crea¬
tures, any that had Beauty, Elegance, Perfec¬
tion, Strength, or Excellency of any kind what¬
ever, he consider’d with himself, and knew that
it all emanated from that Agent, and from his
1 Koran xxxiv, 3.

107
THE HISTORY OF

Existence and Operation. And he knew that

what the Agent had in his own Nature, was
greater than that which he saw in the Crea¬
tures, more perfect and compleat, more beauti¬
ful and glorious, and more lasting; and that
there was no proportion between the one and
the other. Neither did he cease to prosecute this
Search, till he had run through all the Attributes
of Perfection, and found that they were all in
this Agent, and all flow’d from him; and that
he was most worthy to have them all ascrib’d to
him, above all the Creatures which were
describ’d by them.

§ 61
In like manner he enquir’d into all the
Attributes of Imperfection, and perceiv’d that
the Maker of the world was free from them all.
And how was it possible for him to be otherwise,
since the Notion of Imperfection is nothing but
mere Non-existence, or what depends upon it?
And how can he any way partake of Non-
existence^ who is the Pure Existence, necessarily
by his Essence; who gives Being to every
thing that exists, and besides whom there is no
Existence; but He is the Being, He the Per¬
fection, He the Plenitude, He the Beauty, He
the Glory, He the Power, He the Knowledge?
108
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

He is He^ and besides Him all things are subject to

perishing?
h 62

Thus far his Knowledge had brought him

towards the end of the fifth Septenary from his
Birth, viz. when he was 35 Years old. And the
Consideration of this Supream Agent was then
so rooted in his Heart, that it diverted him from
thinking upon any thing else: and he so far
forgot the Consideration of the Creatures, and
the Enquiring into their Natures, that as soon
as e’er he cast his Eyes upon any thing of what
kind soever, he immediately perceiv’d in it the
Work of this Agent; and in an instant his
Thoughts were taken off from the Work, and
transferr’d to the Worker. So that he was
inflam’d with the desire of him, and his Heart
was altogether withdrawn from thinking upon
this inferior World, which contains the Objects
of Sense, and wholly taken up with the Contem¬
plation of the upper, Intellectual World.

§ 63

Having now attain’d to the Knowledge of

this Supream Being, which has no Cause of his
own Existence, but is the Cause why all things
else exist; he was desirous to know by what
1 Koran xxviii, 88.

109
THE HISTORY OF

Means he had attain’d this Knowledge, and by

which of his Faculties he had apprehended this
Being. And first he examin’d all his Senses, viz.
his Hearing, Sight, Smelling, Tasting and
Feeling, and perceiv’d that all these apprehended
nothing but Body, or what was in Body. For
the Hearing apprehended nothing but Sounds,
and these came from the Undulation of the Air,
when Bodies are struck one against another;
the sight apprehends Colours; the Smelling,
Odours; the Taste, Savours; and the Touch,
the Temperatures and Dispositions of Bodies,
such as Hardness, Softness, Roughness and
Smoothness. Nor does the Imagination appre¬
hend any thing but as it has Length, Breadth,
and Thickness. Now all these things which are
thus apprehended are the Adjuncts of Bodies;
nor can these Senses apprehend any thing else,
because they are Faculties diffus’d through
Bodies, and divided according to the division of
Bodies, and for that reason cannot apprehend
any thing else but divisible Body. For such
a Faculty being diffus’d through something
divisible, ’tis impossible, but that when it
apprehends any thing whatsoever, that thing so
apprehended must be divided as the Faculty is
divided. For which Reason, no Faculty which is
seated in Body can apprehend any thing but
what is Body, or in it. Now it was already
i io
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

demonstrated that this necessarily Existent

Being is free in every respect from all Properties
of Body; and consequently not to be appre¬
hended but by something which is neither
Body, nor any Faculty inherent in Body, nor
has any manner of dependance upon it, nor is
either within it, or without it, nor join’d to it,
nor separated from it. From whence it appear’d
to him that he had apprehended this Being by
that which was his Essence, and that the notion
of this Being was grounded in him. And from
hence he concluded that this Essence where¬
with he perceived this Being was Incorporeal,
and free from all the Properties of Body; and
that all the external and corporeal part which he
perceived in his being, was not in reality his
Essence; but that his true Essence was That, by
which he apprehended that Being of necessary
Existence.

§ 64

Having thus learn’d that his Essence was

not that Corporeal Mass which he perceiv’d
with his Senses and was cloath’d with his Skin,
he began to entertain mean Thoughts of his
Body, and set himself to contemplate that Noble
Essence, by which he had reach’d the Knowledge
of that Superexcellent and Necessarily existent
hi
THE HISTORY OF

Being; and began to consider whether this

Noble Essence of his could possibly perish, or
become corrupt and dissolve; or whether it
were of perpetual duration. Now he knew that
Corruption and Dissolution were Accidents of
Body, and consisted in the putting off* one Form,
and putting on another. As for Instance: when
Water is chang’d into Air, and Air into Water;
or when Plants are turn’d into Earth or Ashes,
and Earth again into Plants (for this is the true
Notion of Corruption). But an Incorporeal
Thing, which has no dependance upon Body,
but is altogether free from the Accidents proper
to Body, cannot be suppos’d to be liable to
Corruption.

§ 65

Having thus secur’d himself in this Belief

that his Real Essence could not be dissolv’d, he
had a mind to know what Condition it should
be in when it had laid aside the Body and was
freed from it; which he already knew would
not be, till the Body ceas’d to continue a fit In¬
strument for its use. Therefore he consider’d all
his Apprehensive Faculties, and perceiv’d that
every one of them did sometimes apprehend
Potentially, and sometimes Actually \ as the Eye
when it is shut, or turn’d away from the Object,
112
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

sees Potentially (for the meaning of appre¬

hending Potentially is, when it does not appre¬
hend now, yet can do it for the time to come). And
when the Eye is open, and turn’d toward the
Object, it sees Actually (for that is call’d Actual,
which is present). And so every one of these
Faculties is sometimes in Power, and sometimes
in Act. And if any of them did never actually
apprehend its Proper Object, so long as it
remains in Power it has no desire to its Par¬
ticular Object; because it knows nothing of it
(as a Man that is born blind). But if it did ever
Actually apprehend, and then be reduc’d to the
Power only; so long as it remains in that con¬
dition, it will desire to apprehend in Act\ be¬
cause it has been acquainted with the Object, and
is intent upon it, and lingers after it; as a Man
who could once see, and after is blind, continu¬
ally desires Visible Objects. And according as
the Object which he has seen is more perfect
and glorious and beautiful, his Desire towards
it is proportionably increas’d, and his Grief for
the Loss of it so much the greater. 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 the 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

ii3 H
THE HISTORY OF

Splendor, that is above all Splendor and Beauty,

so that there exists no Perfection, Beauty,
Brightness, or Comliness, but flows from it;
then certainly he that shall be depriv’d of the
Sight and Knowledge of that Thing, after he has
once been acquainted with it, must necessarily,
so long as he continues in that State, suffer in¬
expressible Anguish; as on the contrary, he
that continually has it present to him must
needs enjoy uninterrupted Delight, boundless
Felicity, and infinite Joy and Gladness.

§ 66
Now it had been already made plain to him
that all the Attributes of Perfection belong’d to
that Being which did necessarily self-exist, and
that he was far from all manner of Imperfection.
He was certain withal, that the Faculty by
which he attain’d to the Apprehension of this
Being was not like to Bodies, nor subject to
Corruption, as they are. And from hence it
appear’d to him that whosoever had such an
Essence as was capable of apprehending this
Noble Being, must, when he put off the Body as
the time of his Death, have been formerly,
during his Governorship of the Body, first,
either one who was not acquainted with this
necessarily self-existent Being, nor ever was
114
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

join’d to him, nor ever heard any thing of him;

and so would, at the separating with the Body,
never desire him, nor be concern’d at the
want of him; because all the Corporeal Faculties
cease when the Body dies, nor do they any
longer desire or linger after their proper
Objects, nor are in any trouble or pain for their
absence. (This is the Condition of all Animals
deprived of reason, whether they be of human
shape or no.) Or else, secondly, such an one,
who during his Governorship of the Body, did
acquire a notion of this Being, and had a sense
of his Perfection, Greatness, Dominion, and
Power; but afterwards declin’d from him, and
follow’d his carnal desires, till at length Death
overtook him whilst in this State; he shall be
depriv’d of that Vision, and yet be afflicted with
the Desire of Enjoying it, and so remain in
lasting Punishment and inexpressible Torture;
whether he be to be deliver’d from his Misery
after long pain, and enjoy that Vision which he
us’d to desire, or, everlastingly to abide in the
same Torments, according as he was fitted and
dispos’d for either of these two, during his con¬
tinuance in the Body. Or lastly, he were such an
one, who while in the body acquired the notion
of this necessarily self-existent Being, and
apply’d himself to it with the utmost of his
Ability, and has all his Thoughts continually

“5
THE HISTORY OF

intent upon his Glory, Beauty, and Splendor,

and never turns from him, not forsakes him,
till Death seizes him in the Act of Contempla¬
tion and Intuition: such a Man as this shall,
when separated from Body, remain in everlast¬
ing Pleasure and Delight and Joy and Glad¬
ness, by reason of the uninterrupted Vision of
that self-existent Being, and its entire freedom
from all Impurity and Mixture; and because
all those Sensible Things shall be remov’d from
him, which are the proper Objects of £he Cor¬
poreal Faculties, and which, in regard of his
present State, are no better than Torments,
Evils and Hinderances.

§ 67
Being thus satisfied that the Perfection and
Happiness of his own Being consisted in the
actually beholding that necessarily self-existent
Being perpetually, so as not to be diverted from
it so much as the twinkling of an Eye, that
Death might find him actually employ’d in that
Vision, and so his Pleasure might be continu’d,
without being interrupted by any Pain; he
began to consider with himself by what Means
this Vision might actually be continu’d, without
Interruption. So he was very intent for a time
upon that Being; but he could not stay there
116
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

long, before some sensible Object or other

would present it self to his view, or the Voice of
some wild Beast would rend his Ears, or some
Phantasy affected his Imagination, or he was
touch’d with some Pain in some Part or other,
or he was hungry, or dry, or too cold, or too hot,
or was forc’d to rise to ease Nature; so that his
Contemplation was interrupted, and he remov’d
from that State of Mind; and then he could not,
without a great deal of difficulty, recover him¬
self to that State he was in before; and he was
afraid that Death should overtake him at such a
Time as his Thoughts were diverted from the
Vision, and so he should fall into everlasting
Misery and the Pain of Separation.

§ 68
This put him into a great deal of Anxiety,
and when he could find no Remedy, he began
to consider all the several Sorts of Animals, and
observe their Actions, and what they were
employ’d about; in hopes of finding some of
them that might possibly have a Notion of this
Being and an Endeavour after him; that so he
might learn of them which way to be sav’d.
But he found that they were all wholly taken up
in getting their Provision, and satisfying their
Desires of Eating and Drinking and Copula-

117
THE HISTORY OF

tion, and chusing the shady places in hot

Weather, and the sunny ones in cold; and that
all their life-time, both day and night, till they
died, was spent after this manner, without any
variation, or minding any thing else at any time.
From whence it appear’d to him that they knew
nothing of this Being, nor had any desire
towards it, nor became acquainted with it by
any Means whatsoever; and that they all tended
toward a State of Privation, or something very
near a-kin to it. Having pass’d this Judgment
upon the Animals, he knew that it was much
more reasonable to conclude so of Vegetables,
which had but few of those Apprehensions
which the Animals had; for if that whose
Apprehension was more perfect did not attain
to this Knowledge, much less could it be ex¬
pected from that whose Apprehension was less
perfect; especially when he saw that all the
Actions of Plants reach’d no farther than
Nutrition and Generation.

§ 69
He next consider’d the Stars and Spheres,
and saw that they had all regular Motions, and
went round in a due Order, and that they were
pellucid and shining, and remote from any
approach to Change or Corruption. Which made
118
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

him have a strong suspicion that they had

Essences distinct from their Bodies, which were
acquainted with this necessarily self-existent
Being; and that these understanding Essences
were neither Bodies nor imprinted in Bodies.
And why might it not be suppos’d that they
might have incorporeal Essences, when he
himself had, notwithstanding his Weakness and
extream need of sensible Things? For he par¬
took of corruptible Body, and yet neverthe¬
less, all his Defects did not hinder him from
having an incorporeal incorruptible Essence.
From whence he concluded that the Celestial
Bodies were much more likely to have it; and he
was assur’d that they had a Knowledge of that
necessarily self-existent Being, and did actually
behold it at all times, because they were not at
all incumber’d with those Hinderances, arising
from the Intervention of sensible Things, which
debarr’d him from enjoying the Vision without
Interruption.

§ 7°
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
119
THE HISTORY 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; and
that most of these Bodies were mix’d and com¬
pounded of contrary Things, and were for that
reason the more dispos’d to Corruption; and
that there could not be found among them all
any thing pure, but that such Bodies as came
nearest to Purity, and had least mixture, are
least subject to Corruption, as Gold and Jacinth;
and that the Heavenly Bodies were simple and
pure, and for that reason far remov’d from
Corruption, and not subject to a Succession of
Form^. Furthermore it was clear to him that the
real Essence of those Bodies, which are in this
sublunary World, consisted in some, of one
single Form added to the Notion of Corporeity,
as the four Elements; in others of more, as
Animals and Plants; and that those, whose
Essence consisted of the fewest Forms, had
fewest Actions, and were farther distant from
Life. And that if there were any Body to be
found, that was destitute of all Form, it was
impossible that it should live, but was next to
nothing at all; also that those whose Essence
was endu’d with most Forms, had the most
Operations, and had more ready and easie
120
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

entrance to the State of Life. And if this Form

were so dispos’d, that there were no way of
separating it from the Matter to which it
properly belong’d, then the Life would be
manifest, permanent and vigorous to the utmost
degree; but on the contrary, whatsoever Body
was altogether destitute of a Form, was vXy,
Matter without Life, and near a-kin to nothing.
And that the four Elements subsisted with one
single Form only, and are of the lowest Rank of
Existence in the sublunary World, out of which
other things endu’d with more Forms are com¬
pounded. And that the Life of these Elements
is very weak, both because they have no variety
of Motion, but always tend the same way; and
because every one of them has an Adversary
which manifestly opposes the Tendency of its
Nature, and endeavours to deprive it of its
Form; and therefore its existence lacks Stability,
and its Life is weak. But that Plants had a
stronger Life, and Animals a Life more manifest
than the Plants: the reason of which is, because
that whenever it happen’d that in any of these
compound Bodies, the Nature of one Element
prevail’d, that predominant Element would
overcome the Natures of the rest, and destroy
their Power, so that the compounded Body
would be of the same Nature with that pre¬
vailing Element, and consequently partake but
12 I
THE HISTORY OF

of a small Portion of Life, because the Element

it self does so.

§ 7i
On the contrary, if there were any of these
compounded Bodies, in which the Nature of
one Element did not prevail over the rest, but
they were all equally mix’d, and a match one for
the other; then one of them would not abate the
Force of the other, any more than its own Force
is abated by it, but they would work upon one
another with equal Power, and the Operation of
any one of them would not be more conspicuous
than that of the rest; and this Body would
be far from being like to any one of the Ele¬
ments, but would be as if it had nothing contrary
to its Form, and consequently the more dispos’d
for Life; and the greater this Equality of Tem¬
perature was, and by how much the more per¬
fect, and further distant from inclining one way
or other, by so much the farther it is distant
from having any contrary to it, and its Life is
the more perfect. Now since that Animal Spirit
which is seated in the Heart is of a most even
Temperature, as being finer than Earth and
Water, and grosser than Fire and Air, it has the
Nature of a Mean between them all, and which
has no manifest Opposition to any of the
Elements, and by this means is capable of the
122
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Form of Animality. And he saw that it follow’d

from hence, that those Animal Spirits which
were of the most even Temperature, were the
best dispos’d for the most perfect Life in this
World of Generation and Corruption, and that
this Spirit was very near having no opposite to
its Form, and did in this respect resemble the
Fleavenly Bodies which have no opposite to
their Forms; and that the Spirit of such an
Animal, because it was a Mean between all the
Elements, had no absolute Tendency, either
upwards or downwards; but that, if it were
possible it should be plac’d in the middle Space,
between the Center and the highest Bounds of
the Region of Fire, and not be destroy’d, it
would continue in the same place, and move
neither upwards nor downwards; but if it
should be locally mov’d, it would move in a
round, as the Heavenly Bodies do, and if it
mov’d in its place, it would be round its own
Center; and that it was impossible for it to be
of any other Figure but Spherical, and for that
reason it is very much like to the Heavenly
Bodies.

§ 72

And when he had consider’d the Properties

of Animals, and could not see any one among
them, concerning which he could in the least
123
THE HISTORY OF

suspect that it had any Knowledge of this

necessarily self-existent Being; but he knew that
his own Essence had the Knowledge of it; he
concluded from hence that he was an Animal,
endu’d with a Spirit of an equal Temperature,
as all the Heavenly Bodies are, and that he was
of a distinct Species from the rest of Animals,
and that he was created for another end, and
design’d for something greater than what they
were capable of. And this was enough to satislie
him of the Nobility of his Nature, namely, that
his viler Part, i.e. the Corporeal, was most like
of all to the Heavenly Substances, which are
without this World of Generation and Corrup¬
tion, and free from all accidents that cause any
Defect, Change or Alteration; and that his
nobler Part, viz. that by which he attain’d the
Knowledge of the necessarily self-existent Being,
was something Sovereign and Divine, not sub¬
ject to Corruption, nor capable of being
describ’d by any of the Properties or Attributes
of Bodies; not to be apprehended by any of the
Senses or by the Imagination, nor to be known
by the means of any other Instrument but it self
alone; and that it attain’d the Knowledge of it
self by it self, and was at once the Knower, the
Knowledge, and the Thing known; the Faculty
and the Object. Neither was there any difference
between any of these, because Diversity and
124
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Separation are Properties and Adjuncts of

Bodies; but Body was no way concern’d here,
nor any Property or Adjunct of Body.

§ 73
Having apprehended the manner by which
the being like the Heavenly Bodies was peculiar
to him above all other kinds of Animals what¬
ever, he perceiv’d that it was a Duty necessarily
incumbent upon him to resemble them, and
imitate their Actions, and endeavour to the
utmost to become like them. He perceiv’d also
that in respect of his nobler Part, by which he
had attain’d the Knowledge of that necessarily
self-existent Being he did in some measure
resemble it, because he was separated from the
Attributes of Bodies, as the necessarily self-
existent Being is separated from them. He saw
also that it was his Duty to endeavour to make
himself Master of the Properties of that Being
by all possible means, and put on his Qualities,
and imitate his Actions, and labour in the doing
his Will, and resign himself wholly to him, and
submit to his Dispensations heartily and un-
feignedly, so as to rejoice in him, tho’ he should
lay Afflictions upon his Body, and hurt, or even
totally destroy it.

I25
THE HISTORY OF

§ 74
He also perceiv’d that he resembled the
Beasts in his viler part, which belong’d to this
Generable and Corruptible World, viz. this dark,
gross Body, which sought from that World a
Variety of sensible Things, such as Food, Drink,
and Copulation. And he knew that his Body was
not created and join’d to him in vain, but that he
was oblig’d to preserve it and take care of it,
which he saw could not be done without some
of those Actions which are common to the rest
of the Animals. Thus it was plain to him that
there were three sorts of Actions which he was
oblig’d to, namely i. those by which he re¬
sembled the Irrational Animals; or, 2. those
by which he resembled the Heavenly Bodies;
or, 3. those by which he resembled the
necessarily self-existent Being. And that he was
oblig’d to tht first, as having a gross Body, con¬
sisting of several Parts, and different Faculties,
and variety of Motions; to the second, as having
an Animal Spirit, which had its Seat in the
Heart, and was the first beginning of the Body
and all its Faculties; to the third, as he was what
he was, viz. as he was that Essence, by which he
knew the necessarily self-existent Being. And he
was very well assur’d before, that his Happiness
and Freedom from Misery consisted in the
126
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

perpetual Vision of that necessarily self-existent

Being, without being averted from it so much
as the twinkling of an Eye.

§ 75
Then he weigh’d with himself, by what
means a Continuation of this Vision might be
attain’d, and the Result of his Contemplation
was this, viz. That he was obliged to keep him¬
self constantly exercis’d in these three kinds of
Assimilation. Not that the first of them did any
way contribute to the helping him to the Vision
(but was rather an Impediment and Hindrance,
because it was concern’d only in sensible
Objects, which are all of them a sort of Veil or
Curtain interpos’d between us and it) but
because it was necessary for the Preservation of
the Animal Spirit, whereby the Second As¬
similation, i.e. the Assimilation to the Heavenly
Bodies was acquir’d, and was for this reason
necessary, though incumber’d with those Incon¬
veniences. But as to the second Assimilation, he
saw indeed that a great share of that continu’d
Vision was attain’d by it, but that it was not
without Mixture; because, whatsoever contem¬
plates the Vision after this manner continually,
does, together with it, have regard to, and cast
a Look upon his own Essence, as shall be shewn
127
THE HISTORY OF

hereafter. But that the third Assimilation was

that by which he obtain’d the pure Vision, and
absolute Absorption, without being diverted
from it one way or other by any means what¬
soever, but being still intent upon that necessarily
self-existent Being; which whosoever enjoys, has
no regard to any thing else, and his own Essence
is altogether neglected, and vanish’d out of
sight, and become as nothing; and so are all
other Essences both great and small, except only
the Essence of that One, True, Necessarily Self-
existentl, Highest and All-Powerful Being.

§ 76
Now when he was assur’d that the utmost
Bound of all his Desires consisted in this third
Assimilation, and that it was not to be attain’d
without being a long time exercis’d in the
second, and that there was no continuing so long
as was necessary for that Purpose, but by means
of the first (which, how necessary soever, he
knew was an Hindrance in itself, and an Help
only by Accident), he resolved to allow himself
no more of that first Assimilation than needs
must, which was only just so much as would
keep the Animal Spirit alive. Now, in order to
this, he found there were two Things necessary;
the former, to help it inwardly, and supply the
128
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Defect of that Nourishment which was wasted;

the latter, to preserve it from without, against
the Extremities of Heat and Cold, Rain and
Sun, hurtful Animals, and such like. And he
perceiv’d that if he should allow himself to use
these things, though necessary, unadvisedly and
at Adventure, it might chance to expose him to
Excess, and by that means he might do himself
an Injury unawares. Whereupon he concluded
it the safest way to set Bounds to himself, which
he resolv’d not to pass; both as to the Kind of
Meat which he was to eat, and the Quantity and
Quality of it, and the Times of returning to it.

§ 77
And first he consider’d the several Kinds of
those things which were fit to eat, and found
that there were three sorts, viz, either such
Plants as were not yet come to their full Growth,
nor attained to Perfection, such as are several
sorts of green Herbs: or secondly, the Fruits
of Plants which were fully ripe, and had Seed fit
for the Production of more of the same Kind
(and such were the kinds of Fruits that were
newly gathered and dry): or lastly, Living
Creatures, both Fish and Flesh. Now he knew
very well that all these things were created by that
necessarily self-existent Being, in approaching
129 1
THE HISTORY OF

to whom he was assur’d that his Happiness did

consist, and in desiring to resemble him. Now
the eating of these things must needs hinder
their attaining to their Perfection, and deprive
them of that End for which they were design’d;
and this would be an Opposition to the working
of the Supream Agent, and such an Opposition
would hinder that Nearness and Conformity to
him which he so much desir’d. Upon this he
thought it the best way to abstain from eating
altogether, if possible; but when he saw that this
would not do, and that such an Abstinence
tended to the Dissolution of his Body, which
was so much a greater Opposition to the Agent
than the former, by how much he was of a more
excellent Nature than those things, whose
Destruction was the Cause of his Preservation;
of two Evils he resolved to chuse the least, and
do that which contain’d in it the least Oppo¬
sition to the Creator; and resolved to partake of
any of these sorts, if those he had most mind to
were not at hand, in such quantity as he should
conclude upon hereafter; and if it so happen’d
that he had them all at hand, then he would
consider with himself, and chuse that in the
partaking of which there would be the least
Opposition to the Work of the Creator: such
as the pulp of those Fruits which were full ripe,
and had Seeds in them fit to produce others of
130
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

the like kind, always taking care to preserve the

Seeds, and neither eat them, nor spoil them, nor
throw them in such places as were not fit for
Plants to grow in, as on Rocks, salt Earth, and
the like. And if such eatable pulpy Fruits as
Apples, Pears, Plums, &c. could not easily be
come at, he would then take such as had nothing
in them fit to eat but only the Seed, as Walnuts
and Chesnuts, or such green Herbs as were not
fully grown; always observing this Rule, that
let him take of which sort he would, he still
chose those that there was greatest Plenty of,
and which increased fastest, but so as to pull
up nothing by the Roots, nor spoil the Seed.
And if none of these things could be had, he
would then take some living Creature, or its
Eggs; but when he took any Animal, he must
choose that sort of which there was the greatest
Plenty, so as not totally to destroy any Species.

§ 78

These were the Rules which he prescrib’d to

himself as to the Kinds of his Provision. As to
the Quantity, his Rule was to eat no more than
just what would satisfie his Hunger; and as for
the time of his Meals, he design’d, when he was
once satisfied, not to seek any more till he found
some Disability in himself which hinder’d his

131
THE HISTORY OF

Exercise in the second Assimilation (of which we

are now going to speak). As for those things
which necessity requir’d of him towards the
Conservation of his Animal Spirit, in regard of
defending it from external Injuries, he was not
much troubled about them, for he was cloath’d
with Skins, and had a House sufficient to secure
him from those Inconveniences from without,
which was enough for him; and he thought it
superfluous to take any further Care about those
things; and as for his Diet, he observ’d those
Rules which he had prescrib’d to himself,
namely, those which we have just now set down.

§ 79
After this he apply’d himself to the second
Operation, viz. the Imitation of the Heavenly
Bodies, and expressing their proper Qualities in
himself; which when he had consider’d, he
found to be of three sorts. The first were such as
had relation to those inferior Bodies which are
plac’d in this World of Generation and Cor¬
ruption, as Heat, which they impart by their
Essence, and Cold by accident, Illumination,
Rarefaction, and Condensation, and all those
other things by which they influence these in¬
ferior Bodies, whereby these Bodies are dis¬
pos’d for the Reception of Spiritual Forms from
132
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

the necessarily self-existent Agent. The second

sort of Properties which they had were such as
concern’d their own Being, as that they were
clear, bright and pure, free from all manner of
Turbidness, and whatsoever kinds of Pollution;
that their Motion was circular, some of them
moving round their own Center, and some
again round the Center of another. The third kind
of their Properties were such as had relation to
the necessarily self-existent Agent, as their con¬
tinually beholding him without any Interrup¬
tion, and having a Desire towards him, being
busied in his Service, and moving agreeable to
his Will, and not otherwise, but as he pleased,
and by his Power. So he began to resemble them
in every one of these three kinds to the utmost
of his Power.

§ 80

And as for his first Conformity, his Imitation

of them consisted in removing all things that
were obstructive or hurtful, either from Animals
or Plants, if they could be remov’d. So that if he
saw any Plant which was depriv’d of the Benefit
of the Sun by the Interposition of any other
Body, or that its growth was hinder’d by its
being twisted with any other Plant, he would
remove that which hinder’d it if possible, yet so
as not to hurt either; or if it was in danger of

133
THE HISTORY OF

dying for want of Moisture, he took what care

he could to water it constantly. Or if he saw any
Creature pursu’d by any wild Beast, or entangled
in a Snare, or prick’d with Thorns, or that had
gotten any thing hurtful into its Eyes or Ears,
or was hungry or thirsty, he took all possible
care to relieve it. And when he saw any Water¬
course stopp’d by any Stone, or any thing
brought down by the Stream, so that any Plant
or Animal was hinder’d of it, he took care to
remove it. And thus he continu’d in this first
kind of Imitation of the Heavenly Bodies, till he
had attain’d it to the very height of Perfection.

§ 81

The second sort of Imitation consisted in his

continually obliging himself to keep his body
clean from all manner of Dirt and Nastiness,
and washing himself often, keeping his Nails
and his Teeth clean, and the secret Parts of his
Body, which he used to rub whenever possible
with sweet herbs and Perfume with Odors. He
used frequently to make clean his Cloaths, and
perfume them, so that he was all over resplendent
with Beauty, Cleanliness and Fragrance. Be¬
sides this, he us’d different sorts of Circular
Motion, sometimes walking round the Island,
compassing the Shore, and going round the

134
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

utmost Bounds of it; sometimes walking or

running a certain number of times round about
his House or some Stone, at other times turning
himself round so often that he was dizzy.

§ 82

The third sort of Imitation consisted in con¬

fining his Thoughts to the Contemplation of that
necessarily self-existent Being. And in order to
this, he remov’d all his Affections from sensible
Things, shut his Eyes, stopp’d his Ears, and
refrain’d himself as much as possible from
following his Imagination, endeavouring to the
utmost to think of nothing besides him, nor to
admit together with him any other Object of
Contemplation. And he us’d to help himself
in this by rapidly turning himself round, in
which when he was very violently exercis’d, all
manner of sensible Objects vanish’d out of his
sight, and the Imagination and all the other
Faculties which make any use of the Organs of
the Body grew weak; and on the other side, the
Operations of his Essence, which depended not
on the Body, grew strong, so that at some times
his Meditation was pure and free from any
Mixture, and he beheld by it the necessarily
self-existent Being. But then again the Corporeal
Faculties would return upon him and spoil his

l35
THE HISTORY OF

Contemplation, and bring him down to the

lowest degree1 where he was before. Now, when
he had any Infirmity upon him which interrupted
his Design, he partook of some Food, but still
according to the aforemention’d Rules; and
then remov’d again to that State of Imitation of
the Heavenly Bodies, in these three Respects
which we have mention’d. And thus he con¬
tinued for some time opposing his Corporeal
Faculties, and they opposing him, and mutually
struggling one against another; and at such
times as he got the better of them, and his
Thoughts were free from Mixture, he did
apprehend something of the State of those who
have attained to the third Assimilation.

§ 83
Then he began to seek after this third
Assimilation, and took pains in the attaining it.
And first he consider’d the Attributes of the
necessarily self-existent Being. Now it had ap¬
pear’d to him during the time of his Theoretical
Speculation, before he enter’d upon the Prac¬
tical Part, that there were two Sorts of them,
viz. Positive, as Knowledge, Power and Wis¬
dom; and Negative, as Immateriality, not only
such as consisted in the not being Body, but in
1 cf. Koran xcv, 5.

136
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

being altogether remov’d from any thing that

had the least Relation to Body, though at never
so great a Distance. And that this was a Con¬
dition not only requir’d in the Negative Attri¬
butes, but in the Positive too, viz. that they
should be free from all Attributes of Body,
of which Multiplicity is one. Now the Divine
Essence is not multiplied by these Positive
Attributes, but all of ’em together are one and
the same thing, viz. his real Essence. Then he
began to consider how he might imitate him in
both these Kinds; and as for the Positive Attri¬
butes, when he consider’d that they were noth¬
ing else but his real Essence, and that by no
means it could be said of them that they are
many (because Multiplicity is an Attribute of
Body), and that the Knowledge which he has of
his Essence is his Essence; it appeared to him,
that if he would know the Divine Essence, this
Knowledge would not be a Notion superadded
to the Divine Essence, but be the very Being
Itself. And he perceived that his way to make
Himself like to Him, as to what concern’d His
Positive Attributes, would be to know Him
alone, abstracted wholly from all Attributes of
Body.

137
THE HISTORY OF

§ 84
This he apply’d himself to; and as for the
Negative Attributes, they all consisted in the
Exemption from Corporeity. He began there¬
fore to strip himself of all Bodily Properties.
This he had made some Progress in before,
during the time of the former Exercise, when
he was employ’d in the Imitation of the
Heavenly Bodies; but there still remain’d a
great many Relicks, as his Circular Motion
(Motion being one of the most proper Attri¬
butes of Body) and his care of Animals and
Plants, Compassion upon them, and Industry
in removing whatever inconvenienc’d them (for
this too belonged to corporeal Attributes, since
in the first place it was by a corporeal Faculty
that he saw them, and then by a corporeal
Faculty that he laboured to serve them). There¬
fore he began to reject and remove all those
things from himself, as being in no wise con¬
sistent with that State which he was now in
search of. So he continu’d, confining himself to
rest in the Bottom of his Cave, with his Head
bow’d down, and his Eyes shut, and turning
himself altogether from all sensible Things and
the Corporeal Faculties, and bending all his
Thoughts and Meditations upon the necessarily
self-existent Being, without admitting any thing

138
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

else besides him; and if any other Object pre¬

sented itself to his Imagination, he rejected it
with his utmost Force, and exercis’d himself in
this, and persisted in it to that Degree, that
sometimes he did neither eat nor stir for a great
many Days together. And whilst he was thus
earnestly taken up in Contemplation, sometimes
all manner of Beings whatsoever would be quite
out of his Mind and Thoughts, except his own
Essence only.

§ 85
But he found that his own Essence was not
excluded his Thoughts, no not at such times
when he was most deeply immers’d in the Con¬
templation of the True, Necessarily Self-existent
Being. Which concern’d him very much, for he
knew that even this was a Mixture in the pure
Vision and the Admission of an extraneous
Object in that Contemplation. Upon which he
endeavour’d to disappear from himself and be
wholly taken up in the Vision of that True Being;
till at last he attain’d it; and then both the
Heavens and the Earth, and whatsoever is
between them, and all Spiritual Forms, and
Corporeal Faculties, and all those Faculties
which are separate from Matter (namely the
Essences which know the necessarily self-exist¬
ent Being) all disappear’d and vanish’d “ like

139
THE HISTORY OF

“ scattered dust,”1 and amongst these his own

Essence disappear’d too, and there remain’d
nothing but this One, True, Perpetually Self-
existent Being, who spoke thus in that Saying of
his (which is not a Notion superadded to his
Essence) To whom now belongs the Kingdom?
To God, the One, the Almighty.2 Which Words of
his Hayy Ibn Yaqzan understood, nor was his
being unacquainted with Words, and not being
able to speak, any Hindrance at all to the
understanding them. Wherefore he deeply
immers’d himself into this State, and witness’d
that which neither Eye hath seen, nor Ear
heard, nor hath it ever enter’d into the Heart of
Man to conceive.

§ 86
And now, let not thy Heart crave a De¬
scription of that which the Heart of Man cannot
conceive. For if a great many of those things
which the Heart doth 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
1 Koran lvi, 6. 2 Koran xl, 16.
I40
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

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. Now every one of
these three is sometimes call’d the Heart, but
’tis impossible that this thing which I mean
should be comprehended by any of these three,
neither can we express any thing by Words,
which is not first conceiv’d in the Heart. And
whosoever asks to have that State explain’d,
asks an Impossibility; for ’tis just as if a Man
should have a mind to taste Colours, quatenus
Colours, and desire that blacky should be either
sweet or sowre. However, I shall not dismiss you
without some Indications whereby I shall con¬
vey to you in some Measure what wonderful
things he saw when in that Station, but all
figuratively and by way of Parable, without
knocking upon the Door of Truth; for there is
no means to the Knowledge of that Station, but
by coming thither. Attend therefore with the
Ears of thy Heart and look sharply with the
Eyes of thy Understanding upon that which I
shall shew thee; it may be thou may’st find so
much in it as may serve to lead thee into the
right way. But I make this Bargain, that thou
shalt not at present require any further Explica¬
tion of it by Word of Mouth, but rest thy self
contented with what I shall commit to these
Leaves. For ’tis a narrow Field, and ’tis
141
THE HISTORY OF

dangerous to attempt the explaining of that

with Words, the Nature of which admits no
Explication.

§ 87
I say then, when he had abstracted himself
from his own and all other Essences, and beheld
nothing existing but only that One, Permanent
Being: when he saw what he saw, and then
afterwards return’d to the beholding of other
Things; upon thus coming to himself from that
State (which was like Drunkenness) he began to
think that his own Essence did not at all differ
from the Essence of that True Being, but that
they were both one and the same thing, and
that the thing which he had taken before for his
own Essence, distinct from the Essence of the
True One, was in reality nothing at all, and that
nothing existed but the Essence of this True
One. And that this was like the Light of the
Sun, which, when it falls upon solid Bodies,
shines there; and though it be attributed, or may
seem to belong to that Body upon which it
appears, yet it is nothing else in reality but the
Light of the Sun. And if that Body disappear,
its Light also disappears; but the Light of the
Sun remains in its Integrity and is neither
diminish’d by the Presence of that Body nor
increas’d by its Absence. Now when there hap-
142
HAYY I B N Y A Q Z A N

pens to be a Body which is fitted for such a

Reception of Light, it receives it; if such a Body
be absent, then there is no such Reception, and
it signifies nothing at all.

§ 88
He was the more confirm’d in this Opinion,
because it had appear’d to him before that the
Essence of this True, Powerful and Glorious
Being was not by any means capable of 'Multi¬
plicity, and that his Knowledge of his Essence
was his very Essence; from whence he argued
thus:
He that has the Knowledge of this Essence, has
the Essence itself; hut I have the Knowledge
of this Essence. Ergo, I have the Essence
itself.
Now this Essence can be present no where
but with itself, and its very Presence is the
Essence, and therefore he concluded that he
was that verv Essence. And so all other Essences
which were separate from Matter, which had
the Knowledge of that true Essence, though
before he had looked upon them as many, by
this way of thinking, appear’d to him to be only
one thing. And this misgrounded Conceit of
his had like to have firmly rooted itself in his
Mind, unless God had pursu’d him with his

T43
THE HISTORY OF

Mercy and directed him by his gracious Guid¬

ance; and then he perceiv’d that it arose from
the Relicks of that Obscurity which is natural to
Body and the Dregs of sensible Objects. Be¬
cause that Much and Little, Unity and Multi¬
plicity^ Collection and Separation, are all of them
Attributes of Body. But we cannot say of these
separate Essences which know the Essence of
this True One, that they are many or one, because
they are immaterial. For Multiplicity is because
of the Separation of one Essence from another,
and there can be no Unity but by Conjunction,
and none of these can be understood without
Compound Notions which are mix’d with
Matter. But the Explication of Things in this
place is very straight and difficult; because if
you go about to express what belongs to these
separate Essences, by way of Multitude, or in
the Plural, according to our present way of
speaking, this insinuates a Notion of Multi¬
plicity, whereas they are far from being many;
and if you speak of them by way of Separation,
or in the Singular, this insinuates a Notion of
Unity, whereas they are far from being one.

§ 89
And here methinks I see one of those Batts,
whose Eyes the Sun dazzles, moving himself in
the Chain of his Folly, and saying, “ This
144
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

“ Subtilty of yours exceeds all Bounds, for you

“ have withdrawn your self from the State and
“ Condition of understanding Men, and indeed
“ rejected the Authority of Reason, for this is a
“ Decree of Reason, that a thing must be either
“ one or more than one.” Soft and fair; let that
Gentleman be pleas’d to consider with himself,
and contemplate this vile, sensible World,
whereof he is a part, after the same manner
which Hayy Ibn Yaqzan did, who, when he
consider’d it one way, found such a Multiplicity
in it, as was incomprehensible; and then again
considering it another way, perceiv’d that it was
only one thing; and thus he continu’d fluctuating
and could not determine on one side more than
another. Now if it were so in this sensible
World, which is the home of Multiplicity and
Singularity, and the place where the true Nature
of them is understood, and in which are
Separation and Union, Agregation and Distinction,
Agreement and Difference, what would he think
of the Divine World, concerning which we can¬
not justly say, all, nor some, nor express any thing
belonging to it by such Words as our Ears are
us’d to, without insinuating some Notion which
is contrary to the Truth of the thing, which no
Man knows but he that has had the Vision of it,
nor trulv understands, but he that has attain’d
to it.
K
J45
THE HISTORY OF

§ 9°
And as for his saying, “ That I have with-
“ drawn myself from the State and Condition
“ of understanding Men, and rejected the
Authority of Reason ”: I grant it, and leave him
to his Understanding, and his understanding
Men he speaks of. For that Understanding
which he, and such as he, mean, is nothing else
but that Logical Faculty which examines the
Individuals of Sensible Things, and from thence
gets an Universal Notion; and those under¬
standing Men he means, are those which make
use of this sort of Speculation. But that kind,
which we are now speaking of, is above all this;
and therefore let every one that knows nothing
but Sensible Things and their Universals, shut
his Ears, and pack away to his Company, who
know the outside of the Things of this World,
but take no care of the next.1 But if thou art one
of them to whom these Allusions and Signs by
which we describe the Divine World are
sufficient, and dost not put that Sense upon my
Words, in which they are commonly us’d, I
shall give thee some farther Account of what
Hayy Ibn Yaqzan saw, when he was in the
State of those who have attain’d to the Truth,
1 Koran xxx, 6.

146
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

of which we have made Mention before, and

it is thus:
§ 9i
Having attain’d this total Absorption, this
complete Annihilation, this veritable Union, he
saw that the highest Sphere, beyond which
there is no Body, had an Essence free from
Matter, which was not the Essence of that One,
True One, nor the Sphere itself, nor yet any
thing different from them both; but was like
the Image of the Sun which appears in a well-
polish’d Looking-glass, which is neither the
Sun nor the Looking-glass, and yet not distinct
from them. And he saw in the Essence of that
Sphere, such Perfection, Splendor and Beauty,
as is too great to be express’d by any Tongue,
and too subtil to be cloath’d in Words; and he
perceiv’d that it was in the utmost Perfection of
Delight and Joy, Exultation and Gladness, by
reason of its beholding the Essence of that True
One, whose Glory be exalted.

§ 92
He saw also that the next Sphere to it, which
is that of the Fixed Stars, had an immaterial
Essence, which was not the Essence of that True
One, nor the Essence of that highest Sphere, nor
the Sphere itself, and yet not different from
these; but is like the Image of the Sun which

147
THE HISTORY OF

is reflected upon a Looking-glass from another

Glass plac’d opposite to the Sun; and he
observ’d in this Essence also the like Splendor,
Beauty, and Felicity, which he had observ’d in
the Essence of the other highest Sphere. He
saw likewise that the next Sphere, which is the
Sphere of Saturn, had an immaterial Essence,
which was none of those Essences he had seen
before, nor yet different from them; but was
like the Image of the Sun, which appears in a
Glass, upon which it is reflected from a Glass
which receiv’d that Reflection from another
Glass plac’d opposite to the Sun. And he saw in
this Essence too, the same Splendor and De¬
light which he had observ’d in the former. And
so in all the Spheres he observ’d distinct, im¬
material Essences, every one of which was not
any of those which went before it, nor yet
different from them; but was like the Image of
the Sun reflected from one Glass to another,
according to the Order of the Spheres. And he
saw in every one of these Essences, such Beauty,
Splendor, Felicity and Joy, as Eye hath not seen
nor Ear heard, nor hath it enter’d into the Heart
of Man to conceive; and so downwards, till he
came to the lower World, subject to Generation
and Corruption, which comprehends all that
which is contained within the Sphere of the
Moon.
148
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 93
This World he perceiv’d had an immaterial
Essence, as well as the rest; not the same with
any of those which he had seen before, nor
different from them; and that this Essence had
seventy thousand Faces, and every Face seventy
thousand Mouths, and every Mouth seventy
thousand Tongues, with which it praised,
sanctified and glorified incessantly the Essence
of that One, True Being. And he saw that this
Essence (which seemed to be many, tho’ it was
not) had the same Perfection and Felicity, which
he had seen in the others; and that this Essence
was like the Image of the Sun, which appears in
fluctuating Water, which has that Image re¬
flected upon it from the last and lowermost of
those Glasses, to which the Reflection came,
according to the foremention’d Order, from the
first Glass which was set opposite to the Sun.
Then he perceiv’d that he himself had a separate
Essence, which one might call a part of that
Essence which had seventy thousand Faces, if
that Essence had been capable of Division; and
if that Essence had not been created in time,
one might say it was the very same; and had it
not been join’d to its Body so soon as it was
created, we should have thought that it had not
been created. And in this Order he saw Essences
149
THE HISTORY OF

like his own, which had belonged to Bodies

existing heretofore but since dissolved, and
Essences belonging to Bodies which existed
together with himself; and that they were so
many as could not be number’d, if we might call
them many; or that they were all one, if we
might call them one. And he perceiv’d both in
his own Essence, and in those other Essences
which were in the same Order with him, infinite
Beauty, Splendor and Felicity, such as neither
Eye hath seen, nor Ear heard, nor hath it
enter’d into the Heart of Man; and which none
can describe nor understand, but those which
have attain’d to it, and experimentally know it.

§ 94
Then he saw a great many other immaterial
Essences, which resembled rusty Looking-
glasses, cover’d over with Filth, and besides,
turn’d their Backs upon, and had their Faces
averted from those polish’d Looking-glasses
that had the Image of the Sun imprinted upon
them; and he saw that these Essences had so
much Filthiness adhering to them, and such
manifold Defects as he could not have con¬
ceiv’d. And he saw that they were afflicted with
infinite Pains, which caused incessant Sighs and
Groans; and that they were compass’d about
150
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

with Torments, as those who lie in a Bed are

with Curtains; and that they were scorch’d with
the fiery Veil of Separation, and sawn asunder
by the Saws of Repulsion and Attraction. And
besides these Essences which suffered Torment,
he beheld others there which appear’d and
straightway vanished, which took Form and
soon dissolved. And he stayed a while regarding
them intently, and he beheld an Immensity of
Fear and Vastness of Operation, an Incessant
Creation and Ordaining Wisdom, Construction,
and Inspiration, Production and Dissolution.
But after a very little while his Senses return’d
to him again, and he came to himself out of this
State, as out of a Swoon; and his Foot sliding
out of this place, he came within sight of this
sensible World, and lost the sight of the Divine
World, for there is no joining them both to¬
gether in the same State. For this World in
which we live, and that other are like two
Wives belonging to the same Husband; if
you please one, you displease the other.

§ 95
Now, if you should object, that it appears
from what I have said concerning this Vision,
that these separated Essences, if they chance to
be united to Bodies of perpetual Duration, as

I5I
THE HISTORY OF

the Heavenly Bodies are, shall also remain per¬

petually, but if they be united to a Body which
is liable to Corruption (such an one as belongs
to us reasonable Creatures) that then they must
perish too, and vanish away, as appears from the
Similitude of the Looking-glasses which I have
us’d to explain it; because the Image there has
no Duration of itself, but what depends upon
the Duration of the Looking-glass; and if you
break the Glass, the Image is most certainly
destroy’d and vanishes. In answer to this I
must tell you that you have soon forgot the
Bargain I made with you. For did not I tell you
before that it was a narrow Field, and that we
had but little room for Explication; and that
Words however us’d, would occasion Men to
think otherwise of the thing than really it was?
Now that which has made you imagine this, is,
because you thought that the Similitude must
answer the thing represented in every respect.
But that will not hold in any common Discourse;
how much less in this, where the Sun and its
Light, and its Image, and the Representation of
it, and the Glasses, and the Forms which appear
in them, are all of them things which are in¬
separable from Body, and which cannot subsist
but by it and in it, and therefore depend upon
Body, and perish together with it.

152
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 96
But as for the Divine Essences and Sovereign
Spirits, they are all free from Body and all its
Adherents, and remov’d from them at the
utmost distance, nor have they any Connection
or Dependance upon them. And the existing or
not existing of Body is all one to them, for their
sole Connection and Dependance is upon the
Essence of that One True Necessary Self-existent
Being., who is the first of them, and the Begin¬
ning of them, and the Cause of their Existence,
and he perpetuates them and continues them
for ever; nor do they want the Bodies, but the
Bodies want them; for if they should perish, the
Bodies would perish, because these Essences
are the Principles of these Bodies. In like
manner, if a Privation of the Essence of that
One True Being could be suppos’d (far be it
from him, for there is no God but him1) all
these Essences would be remov’d together with
him, and the Bodies too, and all the sensible
World, because all these have a mutual Con¬
nection.
§ 97
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
1 Koran ii, 256.

x53
THE HISTORY OF

is free from it and independent of it, yet not¬

withstanding 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. It is this that the glorious Book
expresses where it speaks of Moving the Moun¬
tains and making them like tufts of Woof and Men
like Moths, and darkning the Sun and Moon; and
Eruption of the Sea, in that day when the Earth,
shall he chang d into another Earth, and the
Heavens likewise ,x And this is the Sum of what
I can hint to you at present, concerning what
Hayy Ibn Yaqzan saw, when in that glorious
State. Don’t expect that I should explain it any
farther with Words, for that is even impossible.

§ 98
But as for what concerns the finishing his
History, that I shall tell you, God willing. After
his return to the sensible World from the Ex¬
cursion which he had made, he loath’d this
present Life, and most earnestly long’d for the
Life beyond; and he endeavour’d to return to
the same State, by the same means he had sought
it at first, till he attain’d to it with less trouble
than he did at first, and continu’d in it the
1 Cf. Koran ci, 4, 5; lxxxi, 1; lxxxii, 3; xiv, 49.

*54
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

second time longer than at the first. Then he

return’d to the Sensible World; and then again
endeavour’d to recover his Station, which he
found easier than at the first and second time,
and that he continu’d in it longer; and thus it
grew easier and easier, and his Continuance in
it longer and longer, time after time, till at last
he could attain it when he pleas’d, and stay in it
as long as he pleas’d. In this State he firmly
kept himself, and never retir’d from it, but when
the Necessities of his Body requir’d it, which he
had brought into as narrow a Compass as was
possible. And whilst he was thus exercis’d, he
us’d to wish that it would please God to deliver
him altogether from this Body of his, which
detain’d him from that State; that he might
have nothing to do but to give himself up wholly
and perpetually to his Delight, and be freed
from all that Torment with which he was
afflicted as often as he was forc’d to avert his
Mind from that State by attending on the
Necessities of the Body. And thus he continu’d,
till he was past the seventh Septenary of his
Age, that is, till he was about fifty Years of
Age. And then he happen’d to be acquainted
with Asal, the Narrative of which meeting of
theirs, we shall now (God willing) relate.

155
THE HISTORY OF

§ 99
They say that in that Island where Hayy Ibn
Yaqzan was born (according to one of the two
different Accounts of his Birth) there had
arrived one of those good Sects founded by
some one of the ancient Prophets (upon whom
be the Blessings of God!). A Sect which us’d to
discourse of all the true Realities by way of
Parable and Similitude, and by that means
represent the Images of them to the Imagina¬
tion, and fix the Impressions of them in Men’s
Souls, as is customary in such Discourses as are
made to the Vulgar. This Sect so spread it self in
this Island, and prevail’d and grew so eminent,
that at last the King not only embrac’d it
himself, but induced his Subjects to do so too.

§ ioo

Now there were born in this Island two Men

of extraordinary Endowments and Lovers of
that which is Good; the Name of the one was
Asal, and the other Salaman, who meeting
with this Sect, embrac’d it heartily, and oblig’d
themselves to the punctual Observance of all
its Ordinances, and the daily Exercise of
what was practis’d in it; and to this end they
enter’d into a League of Friendship with each
156
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

other. Now among other Passages contain’d in

the Law of that Sect, they sometimes made
enquiry into these Words, wherein it treats of
the Description of the most High and Glorious
God, and his Angels, and the Resurrection, and
the Rewards and Punishments of a future State.
Now Asal us’d to make a deeper Search into the
inside of Things, and was more inclin’d to study
Mystical Meanings and Interpretations. But
as for his Friend Salaman, he kept close to the
literal Sense, and never troubled himself with
such Interpretations, but refrain’d from such
free Examination and Speculation of things.
However, notwithstanding this Difference, they
both were constant in performing those Cere¬
monies requir’d, and in calling themselves to an
account, and in opposing their Passions.

§ ioi

Now there were in this Law some Passages

which seem’d to exhort Men to Retirement and
a solitary Life, intimating that Happiness and
Salvation were to be attain’d by it; and others
which seem’d to encourage Men to Conversa¬
tion, and the embracing Human Society. Asal
gave himself up wholly to Retirement, and
those Expressions which favour’d it were of
most weight with him, because he was naturally

J57
THE HISTORY OF

inclin’d to Contemplation, and searching into

the Meanings of Things; and his greatest hope
was, that he should best attain his End by a
solitary Life. Salaman, on the other side,
applied himself to Conversation, and those
Sayings of the Law which tended that way,
went the farthest with him; because he had a
natural Aversion to Contemplation and free
Examination of things. And he thought that
Conversation did drive away Temptation, and
banish’d evil thoughts, and afforded a Refuge
from the Promptings of Devils. In short, their
Disagreement in this particular was the occasion
of their parting.

§ 102

Now Asal had heard of that Island, in which

we have told you that Hayy Ibn Yaqzan had
his Breeding. He knew also its Fertility and
Conveniences, and the healthful Temper of the
Air, so that it would afford him such a Retire¬
ment as would serve the Fulfilment of his
Wishes. Thither he resolv’d to go, and with¬
draw himself from Mankind the remaining part
of his Days. So he took what Substance he had,
and with part of it he hir’d a Ship to convey him
thither, the rest he distributed among the poor
People, and took his leave of his Friend
i5b
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Salaman, and went aboard. The Mariners trans¬

ported him to the Island, and set him ashore and
left him. There he continu’d serving God, and
magnifying him, and sanctifying him, and
meditating upon his glorious Names and Attri¬
butes, without any Interruption or Disturbance.
And when he was hungry, he took what he had
occasion for to satisfie his Hunger, of such
Fruits as the Island afforded, or what he could
hunt. And in this State he continu’d a while, in
the mean time enjoying the greatest Pleasure
imaginable, and the most entire Tranquillity of
Mind, arising from the Converse and Com¬
munication which he had with his Lord; and
every Day experiencing his Benefits and precious
Gifts, and his bringing easily to his hand such
things as he wanted and were necessary for his
Support, which confirm’d his Belief in him, and
refreshed his heart.

§ 103

Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, in the mean time, was

wholly immers’d in his sublime Extasies, and
never stirr’d out of his Cave but once a Week, to
take such Provision as first came to hand. So
that Asal did not light upon him at first, but
walk’d round the Island, and explor’d its
various Parts, without seeing any Man, or so

T59
THE HISTORY OF

much as the Footsteps of any: Upon which

account his Joy was increas’d, and his Mind
exceedingly pleas’d, in regard of his compassing
that which he had propos’d to himself, namely,
to lead the most retired Life that was possible.

§ 104

At last it happen’d, one time that Hayy Ibn

Yaqzan coming out to look for Provision in the
same place whither Asal was retired, they spy’d
one another. Asal, for his part, did not question
but that it was some religious Person, who for
the sake of a solitary Life, had retir’d into that
Island, as he had done himself, and was afraid,
lest if he should come up to him and make him¬
self known, it might spoil his Meditation, and
hinder his attaining what he hop’d for. Hayy
Ibn Yaqzan on the other side could not imagine
what it was, for of all the Animals he had ever
beheld in his whole Life, he had never seen any
thing like it. Now Asal had a black Coat on,
made with Hair and Wool, which Hayy Ibn
Yaqzan fancied was natural, and stood won-
dring at it a long time. Asal turned and fled, for
fear he should disturb his Meditation; Hayy
Ibn Yaqzan ran after him, out of an innate
desire he had to know the Truth of Things.
But when he perceiv’d Asal make so much
160
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

haste, he retir’d a little and hid himself from

him; so that Asal thought he had been quite
gone off, and then he fell to his Prayers, and
Reading, and Invocation, and Weeping, and
Supplication, and Lamenting, till he was alto¬
gether taken up, so as to mind nothing else.

§ 105

In the mean time Hayy Ibn Yaqzan stole

upon him by degrees, and Asal was unaware of
him, till he came so near as to hear him read and
praise God, and observ’d his humble Behaviour,
and his Weeping, and heard a pleasant Voice
and measured Words, such as he had never
observ’d before in any kind of Animals. Then
he look’d upon his Shape and Lineaments, and
perceived that he was of the same Form with
himself, and was satisfied that the Coat he had
on was not a natural Skin, but an artificial
Habit like his own. And when he observ’d the
Decency of his humble Behaviour, and his
Supplication and Weeping, he did not at all
question but that he was one of those Essences
which had the Knowledge of the True One \ and
for that Reason he had a Desire to be acquainted
with him, and to know what was the matter
with him, and what caus’d this Weeping and
Supplication. Whereupon he drew nearer to
161 L
THE HISTORY OF

him, till Asal perceiving it, betook himself to

his Heels again, and Hayy Ibn Yaqzan
(answerably to his Vigour and Power both of
Knowledge and Body, which God had bestow’d
upon him) pursu’d him with all his Might, till
at last he overtook him and seiz’d on him, and
held him fast, so that he could not get away.

§ io6

When Asal look’d upon him, and saw him

cloath’d with the Skins of wild Beasts with the
hair on, and his own Hair so long as to cover a
great part of his Body, and observ’d his great
Swiftness and Strength, he was very much
afraid of him, and began to pacifie and entreat
him. But Hayy Ibn Yaqzan did not understand
one word he said, nor knew any thing of his
meaning, only he perceiv’d that he was afraid,
and endeavour’d to allay his Fear with such
Voices as he had learn’d of some of the Beasts,
and stroak’d his Head, and both Sides of his
Neck, and shew’d Kindness to him, and ex¬
press’d a great deal of Gladness and Joy; till at
last Asal’s Fear was laid aside, and he knew that
he meant him no harm.

162
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 107
Now Asal long before, out of his earnest
Desire of searching into the meaning of Things,
had studied most Languages, and was well
skill’d in them. So he began to speak to Hayy
Ibn Yaqzan in all the Languages which he
understood, and ask him Questions concerning
his way of Life, and took pains to make him
understand him; but all in vain, for Hayy Ibn
Yaqzan stood all the while wondring at what he
heard, and did not know that was the meaning
of it, only he perceiv’d that Asal was pleas’d
and well-affected towards him. And thus they
stood wondring one at another.

§ 108

Now Asal had by him some Remainder of the

Provision which he had brought along with
him from the inhabited Island from whence he
came; and he offer’d it to Hayy Ibn Yaqzan,
who did not know what to make on’t, for he had
never seen any such before. Then Asal ate some
of it himself, and invited Hayy Ibn Yaqzan by
Signs to eat too. But Hayy Ibn Yaqzan be¬
thought himself of those Rules which he had
prescrib’d to himself, as to matter of Diet; and
not knowing the Nature of that which he offer’d
163
THE HISTORY OF

him, nor whether it was lawful for him to par¬

take of it or not, he refus'd it. Asal still continu’d
urgent, and invited him kindly: Now Hayy Ibn
Yaqzan had a great Desire to be acquainted
with him, and was afraid that his continuing too
stiff in his Refusal, might vex him; so he
ventur’d upon it, and ate some. And when he
had tasted of it, and lik’d it, he perceiv’d that
he had done amiss, in breaking those Promises
which he had made to himself concerning Diet.
And he repented himself of what he had done,
and had Thoughts of withdrawing himself from
Asal, and retreating to his former State of sub¬
lime Contemplation.

§ 109

But the Vision did not easily appear to him at

first, upon which he resolv’d to continue with
Asal in the sensible World, till he had thoroughly
satisfied himself concerning him, that so when
he had no further Desire towards him, he might
apply himself to his former Contemplations
without any Interruption. Wherefore he applyed
himself to the Society of Asal, who perceiving
that he could not speak, was secure of any
Damage that might come to his Religion by
keeping Company with him; and besides, had
hopes of teaching him Speech, Knowledge and
164
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Religion, and by that means, of obtaining a

great Reward, and a nearer Approach to God.
He began therefore to teach him how to speak;
first, by shewing him particular Things, and
pronouncing their Names, and repeating them
often, and perswading him to speak them;
which he did, pointing to each Object as he
spoke the Word. Thus he continued till he had
taught him all the Nouns, and so improv’d him
by degrees, that he could speak in a very short
time.

§ no

Then Asal began to enquire of him concerning

his way of Living, and from whence he came
into that Island. And Hayy Ibn Yaqzan told
him that he knew nothing of his own Original,
nor any Father or Mother that he had, but
only that Roe which brought him up. Then he
describ’d to him his manner of Living, from
first to last, and by what degrees he advanc’d in
Knowledge, till he attain’d the Union with God.
When Asal heard him give an Account of those
Truths, and those Essences which are separate
from the Sensible World, and which have the
Knowledge of the Essence of that True One,
(whose Name be prais’d); and heard him give
an account of the Essence of that True One with
its sublime Attributes, and describe, as far as

i65
THE HISTORY OF

was possible, what he witness’d (when he had

attain’d to that Union) of the Joys of those who
are near united to God, and the Torments of
those whom the Veil separates from him; he
made no doubt but that all those things which
are contain’d in the religious Law concerning
God, his Angels,Books and Messengers, the Day
of Judgment, Paradise and Hell, were Symbols
of what Hayy Ibn Yaqzan had seen. The Eyes
of his Heart were opened, the fire of his Mind
was Kindled, and he found that the Teaching of
Reason and Tradition did exactly agree to¬
gether. And the ways of Mystical Interpretation
became easie to him, and there remain’d nothing
difficult to him in the divine Law, but all was
clear; nor any thing shut up, but all was open;
nor any thing obscure, but all was plain; and he
began to be of those who truly understand.
Thenceforth he look’d upon Hayy Ibn Yaqzan
with Admiration and Respect, and assur’d
himself that he was one of the Saints of God,
which have no fear upon them, neither shall they
suffer Pain.1 Upon which he address’d himself
to wait upon him, and imitate him, and to follow
his Direction in the Performance of those
Works ordained by the revealed Law which he
had occasion to make use of, and which he had
formerly learn’d from his Religion.
1 Koran ii, 36.
166
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ III

Then Hayy Ibn Yaqzan began to enquire of

him concerning his Condition and manner of
living, and Asal gave him an account of the
Island from whence he came, and what manner
of People inhabited it, and what sort of Life
they led before that religious Sect, which we
mention’d, came among them, and how it was
now, since the coming of that Sect. He also
gave him an Account of what was deliver’d in
the Law relating to the Description of the Divine
World, Paradise and Hell, and the Awakening
and Resurrection of Mankind, and their
gathering together to Judgment, and the Balance
and the Bridge. All which things Hayy Ibn
Yaqzan understood very well, and did not find
any of them disagreeable to what he had seen
when in that sublime Station; and he recognised
that the Describer of these Things was true in
his Description and sincere in his Words, and
was a Messenger sent from his Lord; and he
believ’d him and affirm’d his Veracity and bore
Witness to his divine Mission.

§ 112

Then he began to ask him concerning the

Precepts which the Messenger of God had
deliver’d, and the Rites of Worship which he
167
THE HISTORY OF

had ordain’d. And Asal told him of Prayer, Alms

Fasting and Pilgrimage, and such other External
Observances. These Hayy Ibn Yaqzan ac¬
cepted and took upon himself and practis’d, in
Obedience to his Command, of whose Veracity
he was very well assured. Only there were two
things stuck in his Mind, which he wonder’d
at, and could not comprehend wherein the
Wisdom of them did consist. The one was,
why this Messenger of God, in describing most
things which relate to the Divine World, us’d
to express them to Men by Parables or Simili¬
tudes, and waiv’d a clearer Revelation of them;
which occasion’d Men to fall into that grave
Error of asserting a Corporeity in God, and
attributing to the Essence of that True One
Things from which it is absolutely free; and so
in like manner, concerning those Things which
relate to the Rewards and Punishments of a
Future State. The other was, why he went no
farther than these Precepts and Rites of Wor¬
ship, but gave Men leave to gather Riches, and
allow’d them a Liberty as to matter of Food; by
which means they employ’d themselves about
vain Things, and turn’d away from the Truth.
Whereas his Judgment was, that no Body ought
to eat any thing, but only just to keep him alive;
and as for Riches, he had no Opinion of them at
all. And when he saw what was set down and
168
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

prescrib’d in the Law with Relation to Wealth,

as Alms, and the Distribution of them, and
Trading and Usury, Restrictions and Punish¬
ments, these things seem’d all very odd to him,
and he judg’d them superfluous; and said that
if Men understood Things aright, they would
lay aside all these vain Things and follow the
Truth, and content themselves without any
thing of all this; and that no Man would chal¬
lenge such a Propriety in Riches as to have
Alms ask’d of him, or to cause his Hands to be
cut off who privily stole them, or their Lives to
be taken away who had openly robb’d him.

§ 113
Now that which prompted him to this Per¬
suasion, was this, that he thought all Men were
indu’d with an ingenuous Temper, and pene¬
trating Understanding, and a Mind constant to
itself; and was not aware how stupid and de¬
ficient they were, how ill-advis’d, and incon¬
stant in their Resolutions, insomuch that they
are like Brute Cattle, nay, more apt to wander
out of the way. Since therefore he was greatlv
affected with Pity towards Mankind, and
desir’d that he might be an Instrument of their
Salvation; a Resolution came into his Mind of
going over to them, to declare and lay before
169
THE HISTORY OF

them the Truth. This Intention of his he com¬

municated to his Friend Asal, and ask’d him if
there could possibly be any way contriv’d to
come at them.

§ 114

But Asal told him what sort of People they

were, and how far from an ingenuous Temper,
and how averse from obeying the Commands of
God; but this he could not fully comprehend,
and his Mind was still intent upon that which
he hop’d to compass. So Asal, being desirous
that it might please God, by his means, to direct
some of his Acquaintance which were of a more
pliable Temper than the rest, and more capable
of Salvation, into the right way, at last agreed
to further the Design of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan.
Upon which they resolved to keep close to the
Sea Shore, without stirring from it either Day
or Night, till God should please to afford them
an Opportunity of crossing the Sea. And all the
while they were intent upon this, they continu’d
praying to God to direct them in this their
Business.
§ 115

At last, as God (whose Name be prais’d)

would have it, it happen’d that a Ship which
had lost her Course was driven by the Wind
and Water upon the Shore of that Island; and
170
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

as it drew nearer to Land, they who were in it,

seeing two Men upon the Shore, made towards
them. Then Asal spoke to them, and desir’d
them to carry him and his Companion along
with them in the Ship; to which they consented,
and took them into the Ship, and it pleas’d God
to send them a fair Wind, which, in a short time,
carried them to the Isle which they desir’d.
There they landed, and went into the City; and
Asal’s Friends came all about him, and he gave
’em an account of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, and his
manner of living; so that People flock’d to him
from every side, and admir’d and reverenc’d
him. Then Asal told him that this Class was
superior to all other sorts of Men in Knowledge
and Sagacity; and that if he could not work upon
them, there were much lesser Hopes of doing
any Good upon the Vulgar.

§ 116
Now Salaman (Asal’s Friend, who we told
you chose Conversation, rather than Solitude
and Retirement which he judg’d unlawful) was
Prince and Sovereign of this Island. So Hayy
Ibn Yaqzan began to teach them, and explain
the Mysteries of Wisdom to them; but so soon
as e’er he began to raise his Discourse above
External Things a little, and to inculcate that,
171
THE HISTORY OF

the contrary whereof had been settled in their

Minds; they began to withdraw themselves
from him, and their Minds had an Abhorrence
for what he spake. And though they carried
themselves civilly to him, both because he was a
Stranger, and out of the Observance which they
thought due to their Friend Asal, yet they were
angry with him inwardly in their Hearts. How¬
ever, he continu’d reasoning with them mildly
Night and Day, and teaching them the Truth,
both in Private and Publick; which only in¬
creas’d their Hatred towards him, and made
them avoid his Company, though otherwise
they were Lovers of Goodness and desirous of
Truth. However, through the Defect of their
Nature, they did not pursue it by the right
Path, nor ask for it at the right Door, nor take
it in the right Manner; but sought the Know¬
ledge of it after the common way, like the rest
of the World. So that he despaired of doing any
Good upon them, and all his Hopes of amending
them were defeated, because they were not
willing to receive what he taught them.

§ 117

And afterwards, taking a View of the several

Ranks and Orders of Men, he perceiv’d that
every sort of them plac’d their Delight in those
172
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Things which they possess’d at present,1 and

that their Appetites were their God,2 and that
they lost themselves in gathering up the
Crumbs of this World; and that the Desire of
getting more kept them employ’d till they came
to their Graves;3 and that all good Counsel was
lost upon them; and that disputing with them
had only this Effect, that it made them the more
obstinate. And as for Wisdom, there was no
way for them to attain it, neither had they any
Share in it. For Folly had overwhelmed them,
and what they have sought after has covered their
Hearts like Rust;* God has sealed up their Hearts
and their Ears, and a Dimness covers their Eyes,
and a sore Punishment awaits them.6

§ 118
When therefore he saw them compass’d
about with the Curtains of Punishment, and
cover’d with the Darkness of the Veil; and that
all of them (a few only excepted) minded their
Religion no otherwise, but with regard to this
present World; and cast the Observance of
religious Performances behind their Backs, not¬
withstanding the Easiness of them, and sold
them for a small Price;6 and that their Merchan-
1 Koran xxiii, 55; xxx, 31. 2 Cf. Koran xxv, 45.
3Cf. Koran cii, 1, 2. 4 Koran Ixxxiii, 14.
5 Koran ii, 6. 6 Cf. Koran iii, 184.

173
THE HISTORY OF

dize and Trading diverted them from thinking

upon God, so that they had no fear of that Day
in which both their Hearts and Eyes shall be
turn’d round;1 he was fully satisfied that it was
to no purpose to speak to them of the pure
Truth, neither that it was expedient any Works
should be enjoin’d them beyond this Measure;
and that the greatest Benefit which accru’d to
the Generality of Men by the Law, was wholly
plac’d in Relation to Things of this World, viz.
that they might be in a comfortable way of
Living, and that no Man might invade another’s
Property; and that there was but here and there
one that attain’d to Happiness hereafter,
namely, such an one as had a Longing for that
future Life and labour’d earnestly to obtain it,
and was a Believer;2 but that Hell would be the
Habitation of the Impious who preferr’d the
Life of this present World.3 And what Weari¬
ness can be greater, or what Misery more corn-
pleat than his, among whose works, if you
observe, from the time he awakes, till he goes to
sleep again, you will find nothing but what
tends to the attaining of some one or other of
these vile sensible Things; namely, either
Riches, to heap them up; or Pleasure, which he
may take; or Lust, which he may satisfie; or

1Cf. Koran xxiv, 37. 2 Koran xvii, 20.

3 Koran Ixxix, 37, 38, 39.

174
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

Revenge, whereby he may pacifie his Mind; or

Power, to defend himself; or some outward
Work commanded by the Law, whereof he may
make a vain-glorious Shew, or whereby he may
save his own Neck? Now all these things are
Darkness upon Darkness in the Depth of the Sea,x
neither is there any of you that doth not enter in
thither, for such is the unchangeable Decree of your
Lord.”

% 119

And when he understood the Condition of

Mankind, and that the greatest part of them
were like Brute Beasts, he knew that all Wis¬
dom, Direction and good Success, consisted in
what the Messengers of God had spoken, and
the divine Law deliver’d; and that there was no
other way besides this, and that there could be
nothing added to it; and that there were Men
appointed to every Work, and that every one
was best capable of doing that unto which he
was appointed by Nature; that this was God's
way of dealing with those which were gone before,
and thou shaltfind no Change in his way.3 Where¬
upon returning to Salaman and his Friends, he
made Excuses for what he had said to them, and
desir’d to be forgiven, and told them that he

1Cf. Koran xxiv, 40. 2 Koran xix, 72.

3 Cf. Koran xlviii, 23.

T75
THE HISTORY OF

had come to the same Opinion with them, and

had adopted their Rule of Conduct. And he
exhorted them to stick firmly to their Resolu¬
tion of keeping within the Bounds of the Law,
and the Performance of the External Rites; and
that they should not much dive into the Things
that did not concern them, but that in obscure
Matters they should give Credit and yield their
Assent readily; and that they should abstain
from novel Opinions, and from their Appetites,
and follow the Examples of their pious Ances¬
tors and forsake Novelties; and that they should
avoid that neglect of religious Performances
which was seen in the vulgar sort of Men, and
the Love of the World, which he principally
caution’d them against. For both he and his
Friend Asal knew that this tractable, but
defective sort of Men, had no other way of
Salvation; and that if they should be rais’d above
this to the Realms of Speculation, it would be
worse with them, and they would not be able to
attain to the Degree of the Blessed, but would
waver and fall headlong, and make a bad End.
But on the contrary, if they continu’d in that
State in which they were till Death overtook
them, they should find Safety, and stand on the
right Hand: But as for those that out-went
them, they should also take place of them, and
be the nearest to God.
176
-

£&Str9»r^~~'

HAYY IBN YAQZAN

§ 120

So they took their leave and left them, and

sought for an Opportunity of returning to their
Island, till it pleas’d God to help them to a
Conveniency of passing. And Hayy Ibn Yaqzan
endeavour’d to attain to his lofty Station by the
same means he had sought it at first, till he
recover’d it; and Asal followed his Steps, till he
came up with him, or wanted but very little of
it; and thus they continu’d serving God in this
Island till they died.

§ 121

And this is that (God assist thee and us by

his Spirit) which we have receiv’d of the History
of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, Asal and Salaman; which
comprehends such Choice of Words as are not
found in any other Book, nor heard in common
Discourse. And it is a piece of hidden Knowledge
which none can receive, but those which have
the Knowledge of God? nor can any be ignorant
of it, but those which have not. Now we have
taken a contrary Method to our pious Ancestors
as to their Reservedness in this Matter, and
Sparingness of Speech. And the Reason which
did the more easily persuade us to divulge this
Secret, and tear the Veil, was, because of the
177 M
THE HISTORY OF

corrupt Notions which some Pretenders to

Philosophy in our Age have broach’d and
scatter’d, so that they are diffus’d through
several Countries, and the Mischief which
arises from thence is become Epidemical. Fear¬
ing therefore lest those weak ones, who reject
the Authority of the Prophets (of Blessed
Memory) and make choice of that which is
deliver’d them by Fools, should imagine those
corrupt Notions to be that Secret which ought
to be hidden from the Unworthy, and so should
the more eagerly incline toward them; we have
thought good to give them a Glimpse of the
Secret of Secrets, that we might draw them into
the Way of Truth, and avert them from this
other. Nevertheless, we have not so deliver’d
the Secrets which are comprehended in these
few Leaves, as to leave them without a thin Veil
or Cover over them, which will be easily rent by
those who are worthy of it, but will be so thick
to him that is unworthy to pass beyond it, that
he shall not be able to get through it. And I
desire of those my Brethren who shall see this
Discourse, that they would excuse me for being
so careless in my Exposition and so free in my
Demonstration; seeing I had not done so, if I
had not been elevated to such Heights as
transcend the Reach of Human Sight, and
wish’d to express the Matter in easie Terms,
178
HAYY IBN YAQZAN

that I might dispose Men and raise a Desire in

them to enter into the right Way. And I beg of
God Mercy and Forgiveness, and that he would
please to lead us to the Well of the pure Know¬
ledge of himself, for he is gracious and liberal
of his Favours. Peace be to thee, my Brother,
whom ’tis my Duty to assist, and the Mercy
and Blessing of God be upon thee.

The End.

179
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY

E. Pocock: Philosophus Autodidactus. (Oxonii,

1671)
Leon Gauthier: Ibn Tho fail, sa vie, ses oeuvres.
(Paris, 1909)
Leon Gauthier: Hayy ben Yaqdhan, roman
philosophique. (Alger, 1900)
F. Pons Boigues: El Filos'ofo Autodidacto. (Zara¬
goza, 1900)
T. J. de Boer: The History of Philosophy in Islam.
(London, 1903)
D. B. Macdonald: Development of Muslim
Theology, etc. (London, 1903)
S. Munk: Melanges de philosophie juive et arabe.
(Paris, 1859)
‘Abd al-Wahid al-Marrakushi: The History of
the Almohades [Kitab al-Mu‘jib]. Edited by
R. Dozy (Leyden, 1881). French transla¬
tion by E. Fagnan (Algiers, 1893)
Muhammad ibn Tumart: Le Livre de Moham¬
med ibn Toumert. Texte arabe accompagne de
notices biographiques et d'une introduction,
par I. Goldziher. (Alger, 1903)
E. Levi—Provencal: Documents inedits d'histoire
almohade. (Paris, 1928)
The Westminster Press
411 a Harrow Road
London, W.9
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