ill Hll 1 W fE' 'iiti'l illlllil iniiiiniiiiii!iiimi ill! illlllllllllll i";|iiir''!ihil!'|'ij:;i'i'i !l^"'l'^' iiiiiiiiii I ■" i li! lit' Hi I I I III I II ill li li i II ]j I!! I j !lll« ill i iiiiii III! II Pi! I! ill! iiiiiiiii!i;iiijiiii''i I ''tl'''''' iiiiii'i ip I I III , >ii Mil J' I |l|lir|'llll llillliililllllhli |jl|l||l'l||!||li''l llillilllilill 'i' I 'I't II I i PI li |l| il II ! 1 i iiii iiilil i illiiiii.lir III I I liililit llilllilllBii CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM ColumMa In Exchange Cornell University Library BM157 .N27 1908 Bustan al-ukul. bv ^athanael ibn al-Fayy 3 1924 029 097 776 olin Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029097776 THE BUSTAN AL-UKUL COLUMBIA UNIVEESITY OKIENTAL STUDIES Vol. VI. THE BUSTAN AL-UKUL By Nathanael ibn al-Fatyumi KDITED AND TRANSLATED FROM AN UNIQUE MANU- SCRIPT IN THE LIBRARY OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY BY DAYID LEYINE, Ph. D. THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PEESS 1908 All rights reserved ! Copyright, 1907 By The Columbia University Press Set up and electrotyped. Published, January, 1908. NOTE Very- little is known of the intellectual life of the Jews living in Southern Arabia. A good deal of their literature has per- ished, and their continuel struggles with poverty and oppression have not been favorable to the developement of literary activity. The only attempts we know of to produce a systematic treatise on Jewish theology is "The Garden of Wisdom" of Nathan'el al Fayyumi who lived in the twelfth century. Some years ago the Library of the Columbia University came into possession of a unique manuscript of this work, written in Yemenite Hebrew characters. Dr. David Levine has in the present volume edited the text of this work and provided the same with a translation. Under ordinary circumstances the editing of an Arabic work from a single manuscript is a hazardous undertaking. The pitfalls into which the editor may slip are so numerous as to deter any one but a most courageous scholar. In the present case the difficulties are enhanced by the fact that the Arabic is written with Hebrew characters — as was often the case when Jews wrote in Arabic. This use of foreign characters often does apparent violence to the morphology and syntax of the lang- uage, and makes it difficult to recognize forms in their unac- customed dress. The author was not a man of much literary ability. He writes in a somewhat slovenly style, and his scribe seems at times not to have understood what he wrote down, so that the manuscript fairly teams with errors. Both author and scribe were careless also of their Biblical quotations. These have not always been corrected, in order not to unduly increase the notes. Dr. Levine has worked with much assiduity to solve the various difficulties, though he re- cognizes that a number still remain unexplained. It must be noted that in the use of the Hebrew alphabet the scribe employs " Sade " for both Arabic " Dad " and "Tha". The letter "Gimel" without a point stands for the Arabic "Jim"; the same letter with a point superimposed for Arabic "Ghain". In order to accommodate the reader and to follow the practice common in printed works of this char- acter, the order has been reversed, the pointed "Gimel" re- presenting "Jim" and the unpointed representing "Ghain". In establishing the text and in perfecting the translation, both Dr. Levine and myself wish to acknowledge the assistance given by Mr. I. Broyde, who has put his excellent knowledge of this literature at our entire disposal. RICHARD GOTTHEIL. TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION The Yemenite Jews Prior To 1175 Jews probably settled in Yemen in Biblical times. The favorable position of south-western Arabia for commercial pur- poses must have fairly thrust itself upon the attention of a people who in the days of Solomon pushed their way even to Spain.' In the course of time the Jewish population assumed such proportions and their religion became so highly esteemed that King Abu Kariba and all his people embraced Judaism (500 C. E.). In 515 Abu Kariba was succeeded by his son Yusuf, known usually as Dhu Nuwas. The fate of this king and his realm is set forth as follows in the Jewish Encyclo- paedia : " His zeal for Judaism brought about his fall. Having heard of the persecutions of the Jews by the Byzantine em- perors he retaliated by putting to death some Byzantine mer- chants who were travelling on business through Himyara. This destroyed the trade of Yemen with Europe and involved Dhu Nuwas in a war with the heathen king Aidug whose commer- cial interests were injured thereby. Dhu Nuwas was defeated (521) but succeeded in re-establishing his kingdom. Soon, how- ever, he entangled himself in a new difficulty. He made war against the Christian city Najran, in Yemen, which was a de- pendency of his kingdom, and on its capitulation, in spite, it is said, of his promise of immunity from punishment, he oflfered the citizens the alternative of embracing Judaism or being put to death. As they refused to renounce their faith he executed their chief, Harith (Aretas) ibn Kaleb and three hundred and forty chosen men. This event caused a great stir among the Christians; and the Roman emperor, Justin I, requested the Negus Elezbaa of Ethiopia to march against the Jewish king. Accordingly an Ethiopian army crossed the Red Sea to Yemen. .' JevAsh Quarterly Review, vol. III., p. 624, viii INTRODUCTION Dhu Nuwas endeavored unsuccessfully to prevent its landing. The ensuing engagement terminated disastrously for Dhu Nuwas. His city of Zafora (Thafar), together with his queen and the treasure, fell into the hands of the enemy. Preferring death to capture, Dhu Nuwas rode into the sea and was drowned." ^ Again the Yemenite Jews appear upon the stage of history, when in common with their brethern elsewhere in Arabia, they refused to countenance the pretensions of Mohammed (575-632) and subjected his Kuran to a derisive criticism. They suffered so heavily in the ensuing conflict that they were practically lost to recorded history for about five hundred and fifty years.^ Once more the curtain rises in 11 72 revealing a community writhing under the cruel heel of religious persecution. The governor of Yemen had rebelled against Saladin, Sultan of Egypt, and now was in possession of the province. Being intensely intolerant of any faith other than Islam, he repeated the story of persecution enacted by Abdullah ibn Tumart in Barbary in 1122 and by Abdul Mumin in Andalusia in 1148. In his effort to obliterate the name of Israel he was aided by a renegade Jew, Samuel ibn Abbas, who fulminated against his brethern and their faith in a book written sometime between 1165 and 1 172. The persecution was becoming acute when an enthusiast proclaimed himself the precursor of the Messiah about to appear in Yemen. The rebellion might have gotten beyond the stage of incipency had not the luckless Elijah paid for his zeal with his life. Moreover, thenceforth there was to he no alternative but Islam or exile. The head of Yemenite Jewry, Rabbi Jacob ben Nathanel ben Fayyumi, and his faithful followers were in utter despair. What should be done to pre- serve the ancient heritage of Israel? Providentiallv there was at hand a disciple of Maimonides, Solomon ha-Cohen, who had but recently arrived from Cairo. At his suggestion Rabbi Jacob wrote for counsel to the sage of Cordova, then physician at the court of Saladin.' The response of Maimonides was the famous Epistle to Yemen (Kitab al-Yaman or Iggereth Teman) in which '^■^ The leimsh Encyclopedia, vol. IV., p. 553. ' Graetz: Geschichte der Juden, vol. VI., 296 ff. ' Lichtenberg: Responsa of Rambam II., p. 7. INTRODUCTION ix his brethren were " consoled, assured that they were being tried by God, that they should by all means remain loyal to Judaism, that the Messiah will come but his advent cannot be calculated, that the Law will never be abrogated and that the Creator will never send another Law besides that vouchsafed to Israel. But Mainionides did not restrict his services to words. He turned his growing influence in Cairo to account, and when in 1174 Saladin's brother assumed the reins of government in Yemen, the material condition of the Jews followed their spiritual con- dition on the road to better things. In the daily Glorification Prayer (Kaddish) the grateful Yemenites included a compli- mentary allusion to Maimonides."^ Yellin and Abrahams, Maimonides, p. 105. ERRATA p. V, 1. 3 continual ; 1. 4 development ; 1. 5 attempt ; 1. 24 teems ; p. xiii, 1. II, 1150; p. XV, 1. 33 the intensity; p. 2. 1. 28 occupies; p. 3, I. 2 intel- ligencies; 1. 27 sanctuary; p. 4, 1. 23 correspond; p. 5, 1. 28 matters; p. II, 1. 25 does not contain ; p. 25, 1. 11 Tiberias ; p. 26, 1. 18 betrothal ; p. 27, 1. 32 Sh'moa; p. 30, note 5, 1. 11 nineteen; p. 31, note 12 Sprenger ; p. 35, 1. 37 her ; p. 37, 1. 29 knowledge, good deeds and generous hospitality. This is also expressed in the sentiment, p. 38, 1. 30 is six hundred; p. 41, 1. 30 of whom; 1. 32 following; p. 42, 1. 20 its extreme side; p. 44, 1. 8 logicians; p. 47, 1. II prescience; p. 52, 1. 23 reveres; p. 53, 1. 10 eschews; p. 59, 1. 14 Shekhinah ; 1. 15 through; 1. 31 His; p. 61,1.3 iniquity; p. 63, 1. 15 wouldst ; it would make ; p. 64, 1. 3 of those ; p. 69, note 3 particle ; p. 76, 1. 19 compre- hend ; p. 81, note I wrestled; Esau; p. 89, 1. 33 embellishment; p. 90, 1. 36 abandons ; p. 91, 1. 23 regardless ; p. 92, 1. 22 upon ;, p. 96, I. 15 but the eyes of the unbelievers; p. 104, 1. 36 judgments; p. 106, 1. 4 father; p. .107, 1. 9 unto the name; 1. 11 Law; p. 109, 1. 15 al-Lat ; 1. 20 directed; p. no, 1. 10 be apportioned; 1. 30 should come after 1. 32; p. 112, 1. 3 shall I; 1. 15 Hallewi ; p. 119, note, male ; p. 135, 1. 13 he that walketh without blame; p. 138, 1. 6 we ask help. INTRODUCTION II Nathanel and His Book The father of the rabbi to whom Maimonides addressed the Iggereth Teman was none other than the author of the Bustan al -Ukul, Nathanel ben al-Fayyumi. The clue to this identity is furnished by a poem of Ibn Gebirol (1020-1070) quoted in the " Bustan." In this effusion the poet laments that " Ishmael slew and devastated for four hundred and sixty-one years." Remembering that the Mohammedan era begins in the year 622 and that the calendar of Islam, being purely lunar, loses eleven days for every solar year, we readily determine the date of the poem 622 + 461 — 14 = 1069, evidently falling in the life- time of Ibn Gebirol. Nathanel quotes that " Ishmael slew and devastated for five hundred and fifty-nine years. "^ This would set the date as 622+559 — 16=1165, almost a century after the death of the famous poet and philosopher. Hence it is dear that Nathanel made the substitution consciously to bring the poem down to his own day to which it applied with so much force. The " Bustan " is thus the oldest Jewish Yemenite work extant. In the Iggereth Maimonides incidentally speaks of Nathanel as no longer living — " the highly honored master and rabbi, Nathanel (of blessed memory) bar Fayyumi."^ Since the " Bustan " was written in 11 65 and the Iggereth in 1 1 72 our author must have died within seven years after the composition of his work. He probably lived in Sana'a as the head of the Jewish community and at his death was succeeded by his son, Jacob. The patronimic Al-Fayyumi would indicate that the family came originally from the Fayyum in Egypt, the birthplace of the father of Jewish philosophy, Saadiah Gaon. The sources of the Bustan may, for convenience, be divided into the Jewish and the non-Jewish. After the fashion of many mediaeval Jewish writers on philosophical and ethical subjects, Nathanel resorts to the Bible ' Bustan, p. 71. ' Lichtenberg: Responsa of Rambam 11. , p. i. INTRODUCTION xi not as a well-spring of science but merely for the confirination of philosophic views already established/ Other Jewish works quoted are the Talmud and Teshuboth (Responses), the poetical works of Shelomo Hakatan (Ibn Gebirol) and Yehudah Halewi, Saadiah's al-Amanat and Bachya's Hoboth Hallebaboth. There is no evidence to prove that Nathanel even knew of Ibn Gebi- rol's Fons Vitae or Joseph ibn Zaddik's Olam Katan. The resemblances are due to the fact that all three authors had re- course to the same treasure-house, the Encyclopaedia of the Brethren of Sincerity (Ihwan as-Safa)^ The non- Jewish sources are represented by the Koran, the utterances of numerous anonymous poets and " pious men," and the Encyclopaedia. With the proverbial Yemenite weak- ness for omitting names Nathanel never mentions the Ihwan as such but refers to them as " the philosophers," ^ " the learned," " the authors who have a firm footing in science," etc. Nathanel intended the " Bustan " to be a popular introduc- tion to Jewish theology, a " compendium for our youth and for any of our brethren into whose hand it may fall."* He there- fore strove to make it simple, studiously avoiding arguments profound or abstract. For the philosophic and scientific basis of his work he betook himself to the Encyclopaedia of the Breth- ren. This compilation was " the best articulated statement of a system that furnished a complete scheme of education, or of man's true relation to the universe, that enabled him that re- ceived it to lead a perfectly rational, aimful, and, therefore, free life." This system he enlisted in the service of Judaism. The head was to serve as the gateway to the heart. Among the Jews of Yemen he probably represents the last exponent of the doctrines of the Brethren of Sincerity. He was not the great master who develops a system to its highest point, leaving nothing for his followers to add, but he took that system as he found it and made it what it was intended to be — an angel of light. ' For this practice of Mediaeval Jewish ethical and philosophical writers cf. Bacher's Bibelexegese der Religionsphilosophen vor Maimuni. ' Ibn Zaddik, Moses ibn Ezra and Bachya did likewise : Doctor, Ibn Zaddik, p. 12. ' The full text of the Ihwan as-Safa has been published in Bombay, 1,30.3-1306 A. H. Beginning in 1865, Fr. Dieterici has published portions of the text in Arabic and a condensed German translation of many of the treatises. For details see Brockelmann, Ceschichte der Arabischen Lite- ratur. i. pp. 213 et seq. * Bustan, p. 2. xii INTRODUCTION III The Yemenite Jews in the Days of Nathanel The political condition of the Yemenite Jews at this time was far from pleasant. The yoke of the Islamic rulers lay heavily upon them, and unceasingly did they yearn for the ad- vent of that scion of David who was to chastise their oppres- sors and restore the foot-sore tribe to its ancient power and glory. The Mohammedan Yemenites were wont to taunt the Jews that the Torah had been abrogated in favor of the Koran.^ Spirited arguments would ensue which, judging from the "Bus- tan," usually ended with a logical victory for the Jews. It was but a continuation of the old contest between the founder of Islam and " the People of the Book." The " Bustan," furthermore, throws some light upon the education of the Yemenite Jew. This education was to be no mere ornament, nor the acquisition thereof merely a pleasant pastime. " O seeker of wisdom, seize it in spite of its opposition, and know that the meadow of learning is divided up by streams."^ The processes involved in the acquisition of knowledge were regarded as four : attention, retention in memory, the practical application of one's knowledge and the diffusion thereof. Facts were thus to become factors. " Knowledge is a cost and a care to him that fails to act through it." — " Learning is the parent and the deed is the child." — " Learning is a tree and the deed is its fruit." — " Learning must be the inspiration to a deed, otherwise it escapes us."' The spirit of this education was thus in harmony with that of our own times. Under brighter political and social conditions the splendor of Jewish achieve- ments in Moorish Spain might have been rivalled by that in South-western Arabia. But the sun of the Andalusian Jews failed to rise for their brethren of Yemen. Some of the elements of their general education may be inferred from Nathanel's exhortation that we consider what ' Bustan, p. 67. ' Bustan, p. 50. ' Bustan, p. 30. INTRODUCTION xiii God has vouchsafed unto man in the way of knowledge, enabl- ing him to " evolve writing, the reading of books, the composi- tion of verses, polite literature and commentaries, the cultiva- tion of letter-writing and eloquence, and the study of history according to years, genealogies, dynasties, and the conjunction of the planets."^ The statement of Maimonides in his epistle to the Jews of Lunel that the Jews of Yemen knew " Httle of the Talmud, being acquainted only with the Agadic exposi- tion," ' is borne out by the general tenor of the Bustan when- ever reference is made to the Talmud. These people were not of the type of Rashi (1040-1150) for whom Judaism as repre- sented by the Bible and the Talmud was the all in all; nor of the type of Maimonides who would examine and interpret his faith in the light of Aristotle ; but devout worshippers at the shrine of the then dominant philosophy, the eclecticism of the Brethren of Sincerity. Therefore, aside from the mastery of the Bible, the Agadic portions of the Talmud, various Mid- rashim, the ceremonials of the faith, a few Jewish philosophical works, the writings of poets and ascetics, and the elements noted above, the higher education of the Yemenite Jew con- sisted in a thorough knowledge of the Encyclopaedia and the application of this knowledge to daily conduct and to the under- standing of the " mysteries " contained in the Scriptures. He sought to realize clearly that God, the One, must be uncon- ditionally isolated in order to obtain an ultimate unity of all distinctions and antitheses, in which, therefore, all difiference must vanish in pure simplicity of being. This simple Unity could not be identified with Reason, for in Reason is the antithesis of thought and its object. He then looked upon all things external to this pure Unity as a series of emanations. From the unconditioned, absolute One emanated the Universal Reason which is the final source of all existents, celestial and terrestial. From the over-flow of the Intellect issued forth the Universal Soul, the origin and goal of the partial souls which exist in the world of nature. From the Universal Soul there also emanated primal matter, and from it in turn secondary or • ' Bustan, p. 47. ' Graetz : Geschichte III., p. 492. xiv INTRODUCTION tri-dimensional matter, i. e. Body. Then successively, one from the other, appeared nature — sub-lunary and transient— the four elements, and lastly things or products. This streaming forth of the emanations was ofif-set by a streaming back of these forces to the primal force. This was conceived spatially as taking place from the middle point of the earth to the stars, i. e., through the minerals to plants, then to animal, man and angel. The abode of the last was the All-soul. The aspiration of the human soul appeared to be to find its way back to this source. The world, as it was then understood, offered ample testimony to the soundness of these Neoplatonic, soul-satisfying teachings. Under the sphere of the moon there exist minerals, plants, and animals. The highest type of mineral is moss which partakes also of the qualities of plant life. The noblest species of the plants is the palm which shares certain qualities with animal forms of life : the pollen of the male fertilizes the female, other- wise no fruit will be produced; and when the head is lopped off, the tree dies. Likewise in the animal kingdom there is the ape which also belongs to the same class of creatures as man. This transition from mineral to plant, from plant to lower animal, and from the last to man suggested the inference that in the genus man there must be a species resembling the higher genus, the angels. This species consists of the prophets and their disciples. These disciples are the learned and the wise — the noblest of men. In this world they are angels potentially ; and when God translates them to the Glorious Dwelling they become angels in actuality. This Glorious Dwelling is the All- Soul. Thus man mounted the heavens, carried thither upon the wings of the Arabic doctrine of evolution. " This doctrine hardly differs from the Darwinian except in not recognizing the struggle for life as an agent in the process ; the older theory putting instead of this the natural desire of all things to return to their sources. ""^ In imparting knowledge, a careful distinction was made be- tween the exoteric and the esoteric. The latter was reserved exclusively for the select few esteemed worthy of it and capable ^*' Davidson, p. 448. INTRODUCTION xv of grasping it. These constituted the class known as " the learned, the heirs of the prophets. This designation — " the heirs of the prophets " — had profound significance for the Yemenite Jews as well as for the great body of their brethren throughout the world. According to the Jewish view of those days, all the science and philosophy then known had been originally taught by the prophets of old. Unfortunately, this knowledge had been embodied in the oral tradition which was to remain unwritten,^ and as a consequence it was almost wholly lost during the various cataclysms of Jewish history. This belief can be traced as far back as the Alexandrian Aristo- bulus. Philo Judaeus (20 B. C. 40 C. E.) and Josephus (37-95).° Yehudah Halevi' Maimonides* and AbarbaneP were of those who voiced this view in later times. Many Christian and Mohammedan authors did likewise. Prominent among the last were the Ihwan as Safa. Ibn Roshd (Averroes, 1126-1198), a contempary of Nathanel, is explict on this subject in his " Destruction of the Destruction " (Tahafut al-tahafut).' Thus the Yemenite Jew was taught to look with pride upon the extraordinary achievements and contributions of his nation. Translating himself by the magic of his imagination to the re- mote past, he beheld Socrates admitted into the treasure-house of Jewish lore by Achitophel and Asaph. Plato stepped forward either in the person of Jethro or as a converted disciple of Jeremiah in Egypt ; and the Stagirite was revealed sitting at the feet of Simon the Just. A great yearning seized upon the Jews to acquire and to disseminate what they believed had been lost to them. Especially in the works of the translators and writers of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries we hear by the side of lamentations over the loss of the old, jubilation over the reappearance, the renascence,, of their ancient intel- lectual possessions. They were raising up the fallen booth of their wisdom. This belief was an inspiration, intensity of which can be approximately appreciated by considering the contribu- Talmud, Gittin 60b. Contra Apion, Bk I, ch. 22. *, Kusari I, 63; II, 66. Dalalal I, ch., LXXII. " Commewtary, Gen. x, I. Munk, Le Guide des Egares, vol. I, p. 332, note 3. xvi INTRODUCTION tion of the mediaeval Jews to the literary treasures of western civilization. They fed their national pride upon the intellectual food that had been stored up in Syriac and Arabic granaries.^ The results of their activity were far reaching. Europe was stifling in the fond embrace of the Holy Church. Independent thought meant heresy and death; and, besides, there was little upon which independent thought could exert itself. The Jews provided the material. Men studied, pondered and breathed in another atmosphere. It required but time, and philosophy won the right to stand side by side with Church doctrine : " In the realm of grace the Church is supreme ; in the realm of nature, Aristotle." ' Then came the great Thomas Aquinas and effected what appeared to be a chemical combination of the two elements. But the union was unnatural. Men as- serted their God-given right to think and to believe indepen- dently of the dogmatic accumulations of centuries. Thus was prepared a royal road over which the world journeyed into the Reformation, the Renaissance, and the modern distinction be- tween Church and State with all that implies. Mankind has not as yet fully appreciated the role played by the Mediaeval Jew. Though the geographical location of the Yemenite Jews robbed them of the privilege of exercising as great an influence as their more favored Western brethren, history must recognize them also as heroes in the struggle for the world's emancipa- tion. ' D. Kaufmann: Die Sinne, p. 3 ff. ' Summa Theologia I, Qu. I, 8. INTRODUCTION In the name of Him "who imparts knowledge unto man".* " The secret of the Lord is with those that fear him." ^ In the name of God, the merciful and compassionate, do I begin. By His words am I led aright, His ordinances will I follow — God thy Gracious Helper! Praised be God, yea the God of Israel, the First preceding every primeval thing; the Cause of the cause of causes; the Ancient who passeth not away; who is one, but not in the category of number, de- clared a Unity, Unequalled, Everlasting; who "beareth not nor was He born";^ the Absolute Unity, the One in eternity; who emanateth souls, originateth forms, createth and produceth the bodies. Great are His benevolence, honor and might. He is free from limitations, acting at will. His are the celestial sphere, wisdom and power, decreeing and disposing, laudation and eulogy, beneficence and munificence, dominion and perpetu- ity, majesty and grandeur, creation and empire, uniqueness, and omnipotence. He is the Living One who dieth not; the Eter- nal by virtue of His eternity ; the Permanent because of His Permanence ; the Divine Creator through His Supreine power, potent to do whatsoever He wishes. Nothing is like unto Him ; He created all things out ot nothing. Unto him we can- not apply definition, attribute spatiality or quality. He has no throne that would imply place nor a footstool that would imply sitting. He cannot be described as rising up or sitting down, as moving or as motionless, as bearing or as being born, as having characteristics or as in anywise defined. Before Him all the idols were humiliated, and all creatures bowed in adora- tion. He does not enter or go out, descend or ascend. He is far beyond the reach of the human intellect, transcending ap- prehension, conception, and even conjecture. His essence is indescribable and cannot be grasped by means of the attributes. ' Ps. XCIV, 10. '■ Ps. XXV, 14- ' Sura CXII. 3- 2 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM He is exalted even beyond the sublimity and the greatness ascribed to Him by the philosophers, as the prophet, peace be with Him, praised Him and said in his outburst of praise : " Let them bless Thy glorious Name — Thy Name be exalted above all blessing and praise ! " ^ And now to proceed. The first creation of God was the Universal Intellect — the origin of life, the fountain of blessings, the well-spring of hap- piness. It is the source of emanations — the spheres, the ele- ments, exalted souls, complex bodies, and the varied forms in the earth and in the heavens. God made it by His word and His will, not from anything and not in anything, not with any- thing and not through anything. He simply willed that it should be, and it issued forth a perfect intelligence, under- standing its essence, which was charged with all His creations and thus became the maker of everything made and the bearer of everything borne. It was in a state of rest because of its perfection and completeness, but began to bestir itself out of thanksgiving for the blessings it had received at the hands of its Creator. The Universal Intellect is referred to by the Holy Scriptures in the passage, "The Lord created me in the begin- ing of His way, before His works of old — in the remote past, the beginning; ere there were any depths I was brought forth; when he established the heavens, I was there." ^ Considering its essence the intellect ascertained that the qualities that dis- tinguished it must be discarded from the essence of the Creator; it was nevertheless filled with unbounded joy in discovering in it the imiversal blessing, the divine perpetuity and the eternal life it contained and the exalted place it occpies in the scheme of its Creator — sanctified be His names !' Therefore Holy Writ saith, " I was by him as a master workman. His daily delight at all times, rejoicing before Him." * Its exuberant joy and happiness caused an overflow, and thus there emanated from it the Universal Soul. • ' Neh. IX, S. ' Proverbs VIII, 22, 23, 24, 27. • The exclamation, "Sanctified be His Names!" is Islamic. For the ninety-nine names of God see Hughes' Dictionary of Moliamme danism article "God." * Proverbs VIII, 30. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 3 Some of the learned hold that the Intellect sent forth from itself into the world abstract intellegences, arranged in nine de- grees corresponding to the nine numbers which complete the set of single numbers. These intelligences, together with the first creation, complete the decade from which the whole world — ^the upper and the lower — is derived. They find the con- firmation of this theory in the doctrine, "With ten utterances the world was created ; " ^ and " upon ten words the world stands." As for the sages, they had an authentic tradition * to the eflect that "Seven things were created before the world was created ; the Torah,^ Eden, Gehinnom, the throne of glory, repentance, the name of the royal Messiah and the place of the sanctuary,"* as they explained in the Talmud saying, the proof thereof can be found in Scripture : "Whence do we know that the Torah was created before the world? From the passage, "The Lord created me in the beginning of His way, before his works of old." '^ Whence the garden of Eden? From the passage, 'And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden of old!* Whence Gehinnom? From the passage, 'For a Topheth is prepared of old.' ^ Whence the throne of glory? From the passage, 'Before the mountains were brought forth Thou didst turn man to the dust and didst say, 'Repent O son of man.'* Whence the name of the Messiah? From the pas- sage, 'Before the existence of the sun his name was Yinnon." Whence the place of the sanctuary? From the passage. *A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctity.'"^" Some of the learned add thereto the characteis of the alphabet," declaring that these were originated before the world of changeable things, inasmuch as every rational being needs them in discourse and in uttering the praise of God. The proof thereof is derived from the passage, " In the > Pirke Aboth V, I. •' The expression "authentic" indicates Islamic influence. The Mohammedan doctors of the law reduced the study of the authenticity of traditions to a science. '■ It is significant that the Jews never propounded the doctrine that the Torah is eternal. It is believed that the Mutazilites derived their doctrine of the creation of the Koran from the Jews. Cf. Schreiner's " Der Kalam in der Juedischen Literatur," p. 4. * Pesachim 54a. °" Prov. VIII, 22. " Gen. II, 8. ' Is. XXX, 33. *' Ps. XC, 2. • Ps. LXXII, 17. " Jeremiah XVII, 12; Pesachim 543. " Pirke Aboth V, 9. 4 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM beginning God created the heavens and the earth,"^ that is to say, the whole alphabet from aleph to tav and the first light that existed before the luminaries concerning which we read, " Let there be light." ' Both opinions are plausible. The proofs of these things are the ten utterances, since they bal- ance that degree numerically in this world ; for these utterances were only in instants and each one of them comprised a thing created by God ; but one of the utterances did not refer to time or place, namely the first, "Let there be light !" V/hile the rest referred to time or place, for it is written, "And God said, 'Let the firmament be,''' etc. ; and God said, 'Let the waters be gathered ;'* and God said, 'Let the earth bring forth herbs ;'^ and God said, 'Let there be luminaries,'" etc. ; and God said, 'Let the waters bring forth abundantly ;" and God said, 'Let the earth bring forth,'* etc. ; and God said, 'Let us make man,''* etc. ; and God said, 'Behold I have given, '^^ etc. ; and God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone/^^ and according to others the verse and God said unto them: Be fruitful and multiply."^- These ten utterances correspond to the ten numbers which are formed in man who is a microcosm with ten members. We shall treat this subject at greater length when get to it with the help of God. Thus, the first created correspond in degree to One, and the Universal Soul to two, and so forth. According to the Sages Divine Wisdom is used in the Torah as a metonymy for the Universal Intellect which is the first creation, and Garden and Eden for the Universal Soul, which is next to it. It is the mansion of the rewarded, the partial souls emanated from it into the world of nature. Similarly the other degrees, until thou reachest the world of the celestial spheres and the stars a world light of weight." In it were carved all the forms of that subtle world, whence they came to this coarse world by ' Gen. I, I. ' Gen. I, 3. ' Gen. I, 6. * Idem 9. " idem 11. " idem 14. ' idem 20. ' idem 24 ° idem 26. " idem 29. " idem 18. "" idem 28. " We read in Na'turonschauung und Naturphilosophic, p. 49; "The celestial bodies are neither heavy nor light since they maintain their rel- ative positions." THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 5 the power of the Wise and Mighty One as an indication of His wisdom and the efficiency of His providence.^ The three worlds correspond to and balance one another with respect to their density, their lightnes and their rareness, so that they are all inter-related, manifesting the wisdom of their Creator and prov- ing that it was He that made them by his perfect wisdom and that theyarenotself-created.Tothis theScriptures refer in the passage, "How great are Thy works. O Lord, in wisdom hast thou made them all ! '" And again, " The Lord founded the earth in wisdom, established the heavens with understanding." Man was the final creation ; he is a microcosom, and of the noblest degree. That subject will be treated in the chapter which fol- lows that coming after, please God. We have called this book, "The Garden of Wisdom," and have arranged its contents in seven chapters. The first chapter treats of the Unity of God ; that there is no God besides Him. The second chapter shows that man is a microcosm, cor- responding to the three worlds which preceded him in existence — the subtle, the light and the coarse. The third chapter treats of the necessity of obeying God privately and publicly, and of adoring Him outwardly and in- wardly. The fourth chapter treats of repentace, attentiveness to the work of God,humility in His presence, and other subjects, like continence, submission, and the preeminence of the learned and godly in this world and in the next. The fifth chapter treats of reliance upon God in all maters relating to both religious and worldly affairs ; our consideration of all things created by Him in the upper and in the lower world ; the evidence of His wisdom in all creatures small and great ; the divine provision for the nourishment of all creatures ; the loveliness of death ; and the like. ' The study of the pure form — the iorm apart from matter, the eter- nal substance which unlike other substances suffers no change — was a part of theological science. Cf. Propaedeutik, p. 24 ; N aturanschauung, p. 19. According to Anthropologie, p. 39, the angels are forms abstracted from matter. ' Ps. 24. ' Proverbs III, 19. 6 THE GARDEN OP WISDOM The sixth chapter treats of the excellencies of the Messiah — may he come speedily! — and the salvation of Israel — God hasten it; — and disproves the abrogation of the law with a sufficient number of arguments philosophic, theological and traditional, in Hebrew and Arabic. The seventh chapter mentions the Future World — the After Dwelling — that it is the end, that to it belongs Paradise, i. e., life and eternity, and shows that the Creator keeps all evil from His creatures. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM. CHAPTER I. Concerning the declaration of God's unity, and that there is no God besides Him, amongst the first and amongst the last, in the heights or in the depths, according to the Scriptural words, " For who is God save the Lord, and who is a Rock besides our God?"^ Or as the philosopher expressed it, " Though thou art called by numerous names thou abidest in Thy changelessness ! Though manifested midst created things thou art their ancient Lord." Know, my brother — may God strengthen both of us with His spirit ! — that this gate is the foundation of the sciences, of religious practices, sects, and religious beliefs ; it is their key, their summit, their pole star.^ Through it true religious belief is distinguished from polytheism, religious practice is per- fected and faith made firm. The service of God becomes com- plete, unmarred by trouble, unaffected by evil. Know that the most eminent minds and the profoundest reasoning have shown that the worlds, the higher and the lower,' in their minute parts and in their magnitude, were originally non-existent, and were called into existence by another Being. He originated and established them just as they are at present. He rules and controls them with absolute power, so that they do not infringe upon his authority or deviate from what he has commanded and decreed. The world did not create itself since it is impossible for a * Ps. XVIII, 32. ' Compare Weltseele, p. 98. ' According to Propaedeutik, p. 74, all bodies are embraced in either of two worlds : the world of the spheres or the world of the four ele- ments, the latter beinp; the world of genesis and decay. The first was called " the high world " and the second " the low world." " High " was applied to what lay near the all-surrounding sphere, " low,'' to what is near the centre of the earth. 8 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM thing to create itself, to originate its own essence.' Eor if things created themselves they would be autonomous, perfectly free in their actions. They would do whatever they wished whenever they wished. If the sun, for instance, were the Crea- tor and originator of itself and there were no other Being who is its Creator and Ruler, it would perhaps appear at one time in the east and at another time in the west. It would moisten what it usually dries, and would dry what it usually moistens.' It would remain in whatever zodiacal signs it wished, would leave them at pleasure, would rise when it wished, and perhaps would determine never to set. The same may be said of the other stars above and the elements beneath, for the application of this illustration is universal. Since things, then, always were as we find them now — not having left the beaten path or shifted their characteristics or in anywise changed from what they were in the earliest time — we know, and know with cer- tainty, that they are creations, originated, governed and con- trolled, and that besides them there is One who originated them, who prescribed what their conduct shall be, controls them by His irreversible decree, and impressed upon them different characteristics, e. g., heat in the sun and cold in the moon, and likewise the characteristics of the stars and of the elements, and the courses of the various planets, as we shall partially mention in one of the chapters of this book, please God. Since it is clear that the world has a Creator and Maker other than itself, we set about to ascertain whether this Creator is one or many. We find that things, when viewed with refer- ence to their multitude or their causes, have antecedents less and less in number until we come to a single cause, and this cause presupposes One to whom it ov^'es its origin.' Thus, all things above and beneath, go back to the Cause of causes, and that is the first creation that the Creator — great should be His praise ! — has produced by His will and design not in time nor in place, not through anything or in anything, accord- ing to the prefatory remarks in the beginning of this book. ' Bachya, Hoboth hal Lebaboih, Ch. I, Sect. S. ' Refers to the action of the sun's heat upon snow and ice. ■ Bachya, ch. I, Sect. 7. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 9 He was the Originator, the Cause of causes, the Creator, One and Single. He is too transcendent to be placed in the cate- gory of cause and efifect, or qualified with such epithets as " pro- ducing" and "sending out emanations.'' Since universal necessity establishes the existence of the Creator — praise to His Glory ! — seeing that things could not possibly have created themselves — it is made clear to us by the most convincing proof that the world not only has a Creator, but that He is one in essence and not more than one, for reason cannot grasp unity as less than one and not as more,' Among the proofs of the unity of the Divine essence is the argument of the opposition of desires in two beings : either one of them may wish what the other does not.^ If the wishes of both are in perfect accord then the essence is, beyond a doubt, single. But in case of disagreement, it would be utterly im- possible for two or more to create this world according to their differing desires, since it is perfect in its creation and firm in its construction.^ It contains many things contrary and in opposition, but all of them are perfect through the divine wisdom and handiwork, through the sublime unity of its Creator and Author, its Governor and Maker. And its Creator — May His Names be sanctified ! — is One in His essence,' but not the unity which we grasp ; wise in essence but not with the wisdom of mortal ; living, existing, eternal, permanent, perpetual. His eternity did not emanate from another being ; His life was not bestowed by another; His wisdom was not acquired from another; neither was he called into existence. He is the eternal the permanent, the living, the wise and the perpetual life, wis- dom, and perpetuity, since the original source of everything is His essence and He is the Living One alone. He transcends the attributes applied to things originated and created, such as first and last, substance and accident, coarseness and fineness. He cannot be compared to them or they to Him, for how can * Bachya, ch. I, Sect. 7; Propaedeutik, pp. 5 and 6. " Cf. Sura, 22. Had there been in the heavens or on earth gods be- sides Allah both (heavens and earth) would have surely gone to ruin. ' Bachya, ch. I, Sect. 7; Naturanschatiung, p. 16,3. This is the first proof of the Mutakallimun : Dalalat, vol. ii, ch, LXXV. * Mutazilitic. lo THE GARDEN OF WISDOM the creature be compared to the Creator, the thing originated to its Originator, God is exalted far above all. We shall make mention of this fact in every chapter of our book, as far as possible and suitable, wherever we refer briefly to the subject of His unity, as the occasion for speaking about it permit, please God. For that did He command us, because of it did He charge us, and for the knowledge of it He created us. The Scriptures have taught us this doctrine in a number of passages, as for instance, " And thou shalt know to-day and reflect in thy heart that the Eternal is God, and that there is none else ; " ' " Hear O Israel, the Eternal is our God ; the Eternal is One ;"' " See now that I, even I, am He ; I put to death and bring to life, in order that they may know from east to west that there is none besides Me, — I am the Eternal ; '" and many such. The revealed prophetical books likewise tes- tify that He is one in His essence, free from all attributes, nothing can compare to Him : " Unto whom will ye compare Me and I shall be similar to him? saith the Holy One;"' " Unto whom will ye liken God, and what image will ye compare unto Him?'" "Unto whom will ye liken Me and make Me equal, and compare Me and we shall be similar?"" and many such. The theologians have composed a number of books on that subject. Rabbi Saadiah ben Joseph and others went into the matter as profoundly as they could and "God does not burden the soul beyond what it can bear,"' He being glori- ous, exalted, excellent, and enduring beyond the reach of description and qualification.' He imparts knowledge to the learned, righteousness to the righteous, power to the powerful, wisdom to the wise, being the Cause of the cause' of existing things, the Creator of created things, the bountiful Giver of generous gifts, the Bestower of existence, the Source of blessings and favors, and the Preserver of the order of things. He gives permanence to all permanent things, directs the uni- ■ Deut. IV, 39- ' Tdem, VI, 4- ' Idem, XXXII, 39. ♦ Isaiah, XL, 25. • Idem XL, 18. " Idem XLI, 5. ' Sura II, 286. " Al- Amanat val-Itikadat, p. III. * God is here referred to as the creator of the Universal Reason. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM ii verse and knows what is concealed. He precedes all things originated and shall be after all terminations, manifest, secret and concealed. His knowledge extends over all things, and He is the Hearer, the Wise, the Kind, the Mighty, the Benign and the Merciful. Such is His power, such His will. Truly tongues are too dumb to describe Him, souls too feeble to praise Him. In this strain did a pious man commune : " O God, Thou art exalted beyond expression! Only anthro- popsychically' canst Thou be conceived by those who call upon Thee. Impossible is it to address Thee in any other way. Seek we to imagine Thee suffering change — we are void and bewildered. Hesitating to declare Thee either active or motion- less the mind is at a standstill. Verily the path between nega- tion and affirmation inspires fear." Praised be the Cause of existing things ! They are divided into excellent intellects, subtle souls and bodies light and heavy. These are expressed by primitive nouns, denominatives, adjectives and nouns quali- fied by adjectives. God, however is too exalted to have His essence fall under any one of these divisions or that imagination should reach Him or that the understanding should comprehend Him. For how can the creature conceive its Creator or the invention its Inventor without being related to something that can carry it back to Him? Nor does He belong to a class through which comparison may be made with Him, since time does contain Him and epithet cannot characterize Him. The essence of his unity is such that it does not presuppose con- tingency, neither is it open to the least suspicion thereof, since the Majestic One is beyond the description of those who de- scribe Him, the mighty beyond the epithets of those who praise Him, surpassing what is declared concerning Him and worthy of thanks far beyond what is rendered unto Him. I give thanks unto Him, have confidence in Him and my affairs will I entrust to Him, according to the words of His saint, " Loving ' The usual translation of the Arabic term employed is "anthro- pomorphic." The meaning of the term in the quotation is " anthropo- psychic" which is the proper term to apply to the human concept of God. Cf. The Duke of Argyll's " The Philosophy of Belief," p. 249. 12 THE GARDEN OE WISDOM kindness shall encompass him thai trusteth in the Lord ; " ' " That my trust may be in the Lord I have made known to thee this day, even to thee." ' The first chapter is finished. There follows CHAPTER H. This chapter shows that man is a microcosm and the noblest existent under the sphere of the moon.' They say that " since man was the last thing created and with him God's work was complete, it follows as a necessity of the divine wisdom that he should be the noblest existent in the world of genesis and decay." ' The Creator made him a microcosm corresponding to and resembling the three worlds which we have mentioned. He is superior to all other creatures and exercises authority over all that exists in the form of mineral, plant or animal. The Sacred Scriptures speak thereof in the passage, " Thou has made him but little less than divine and dost crown him with glory and honor. Thou causest him to rule over the works of Thy hand. Thou puttest all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, the beasts of the field and the -fowl of the air, the fish of the sea and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea."° We shall carefully consider man with respect to all those characteristics, circumstantial and essential, which in the eyes ' Ps. XXXII, 10. ' Prov. XXII, 19. ° Logik und Psychologic, p. 19. The idea that man is a microcosm is very old. It was voiced in one form or another by Anaximenes, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and the Neo-platonists. Through the last it came to the Arabs and was presented systematically by the Ihwan as-Safa. Cf. Doctor's Philosophte dcs Joseph ibn Zaddik, p. ig, on the microcosm in Jewish literature cf. Frankel's Monatssc'irift, vol. Ill, p. 159 ff. and 197*?. also Guttms^nrisPhilosophie Gcbriol's, p. 117, note 3. * The terms genesis and decay go b:ick to Aristotle. When the form that is assumed by a thing is superior to the one cast off, the pro- cess is called genesis ; if inferior, decay. The study of genesis and decay was the mediaeval substitute for chemistry. Cf. Natwanschauung und Natur philosophte, p. 62. ' Ps. VIII, 6-9. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 13 of the philosophers make him a microcosm. We must there- fore take into consideration and reflect upon all his qualities — the corporeal and the spiritual, the external and the internal — that we may appreciate the greatness of his Creator and Author — may He be exalted ! — that His grandeur may grow apace in our hearts and that we may render the service due Him/ Referring thereto Holy Writ saith m the words of Job, " From my flesh shall I see God." ' Subjecting man to examination we find him one, correspond- ing to the one. We note further that he is composed of two substances, a subtle spirit and a coarse body: corresponding to the two." His body has length, breadth, and depth: cor- responding to the three.* Similarly, the soul has three faculties. The first, the faculty of sensation and appetite, located in the liver, resembles the spirits of brutes. The second, the choleric facuhy located in the heart resembles the spirits of jinns." The third faculty, intelligence, located in the brain, resembles the spirits of angels.' Corresponding to the fours which are in the world, are the four humours : blood, phlegm, bile and spleen.' The nature of blood is moist-warm, corresponding to the nature of the atmosphere. The nature of the phlegm is moist-cold, corresponding to the nature of water. The nature of the spleen is dry-cold, corresponding to the nature of the ' Compare Anihropotogie, p. 46. The Ihwan explain that God made the human being a microcosm that he might get some conception of the macrocosm which is too vast to be grasped directly. The Creator intended the world as a testimony to Himself. In the Propaedeutik, p. 21, we are told that according to tradition, whosoever knows himself knows God, and whosoever knows himself best knows God best. ' Job. XIX, 26. ' IVelUede, pp. i and 16; Anthropologic, p. 41. * Propaedeutik, p. 25. ° The jinns are wicked, corrupt souls, which formerly had bodies and then discarded them. They are ignorant and unpurified. They are blind to the truth, deaf to what is right and dumb as regards noble language. They roam about in the darkness of the sea of matter. Propaedeutik, p. 72. ° The angels are souls entrusted with the maintenance of the world. They were originally in bodies and in that state purified themselves and acquired intelligence. After escaping from their bodies they roam about happily among the spheres and in the expanse of the heavens. Anthro- pologie, p. 8. ' Idem, p. 4; Propaedeutik, p. 4. 14 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM earth.' Corresponding to five are his five senses : hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling.' Corresponding to the six are his six surfaces : right and left, front and rear, above and below.' Corresponding to the seven are the seven aper- tures in his head : the ears, the eyes, the nostrils and the mouth. Corresponding the eight are his eight powers : attrac- tion, retention digestion, rejection, growth, change, pro- creation, and increase.' Corresponding to the nine are the nine substances of his body : nail, skin, hair, flesh, blood, bone, marrow, veins and nerves." Corresponding to the ten are his ten organs : the heart the brain, the liver, the lungs, the gall, the bladder, the spleen, the kidneys, the stomach, the intestines, and the testicles. A scholar wrote another explanation concerning man, mak- ing him correspond in the manner cited above in our treatise. According to him the soul and body correspond to the heavens and the earth, and to Moses and Aaron — peace be unto them 1 — for they were like the heavens and the earth. Just as the earth receives what comes from the heavens so the pious Aaron learnt what Moses communicated to him, according to the pas- sage, " See I have made thee a god unto Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. And thou shalt speak," etc. The correspondence is extended to the two tablets, for their origin was earthly and their inscription Heavenly"; to the Torah and the Mishna, and to this world and the world to come. Now God has arranged all things in pairs' and placed in this world many contraries, the various creations occuring in two's. All that is proof that He is Absolute Unity, and not as the unity of things originated, which is only metaphorical while His is real. He — praised be He ! — is too exalted and too perfect to be qualified by an epithet. All that we can predi- ^ Propaedeutik, p. 2. The old classification of the five senses was not native to the Jews but reached them through the -science of the Arabs. Saadiah could trace only four senses indicated in the Bible, and the same can be said of Ibn Ezra in his commentary on_Psalm CXV, 7.The Hebrew language even lacked the word " sense." Cf. Die Sinne, p. 35. ' Anthropologic, p. 4. 'Idem, p. 13; Weltseele, p. 21. * Anthropologie, p. 4. '^ Exodus vii, i and 2. "Exodus xxxii, 16. • Cf. Sura Li, 40 : " And of everything we have created pairs that haply ye may reflect." THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 15 cate of Him is that He is the Creator, the Single, and the One ; human speech is utterly at a loss how to express the thought in more subtle terms. Of those things which God placed in pairs and in opposition ^ve instance life and death, riches and poverty, light and dark- ness, the first and the last, the exterior and the interior, day and night, heat and cold, arable lands and deserts, knowledge and ignorance, the sweet odor and the ill odor, heaviness and lightness, roughness and smoothness, hardness and softness, highness and lowness, gain and loss, the bound and the re- leased, trust and fear, peace and war, the difficult and the easy, grief and joy, substances and accidents, sickness and health, ugliness and beauty, sea and dry land, plain and mountain, un- happiness and happiness, separation and conjunction, poison and antidote, servant and master, and others whose number no one but Him can comprehend.^ Likewise, He made man's aggregate qualities consist of many sets of contraries. We have counted one hundred and forty such qualities which we shall proceed to mention : knowledge and ignorance, memory and forgetfulness, briskness and slowness, generosity and avarice, courage and cowardice, wakefulness and dormancy, motion and rest, ingress and egress, standing and sitting, speech and silence, mercifulness and mercilessness, gladness and sadness, mirthfulness and tearfulness, veracity and mendacity, piety and impiety, justice and injustice, humility and pride, loyalty and disloyalty, ^IVeltseele, p. 2; Logik und Psychologic, p. 2. i6 THE GARDEN OE WISDOAl modesty and immodesty, envy and devotion, boastfulness and bashfulness. contentment and cupidity, strength and weakness, eloquence and incoherency, hunger and satiety, thirstiness and thirstlessness, absence and presence, divestment and investment, blameworthiness and praiseworthiness, obtuseness and acuteness, irascibiHty and forbearance, stupidity and sagacity, hastiness and tardiness, boldness and bashfulness, lust and chastity, extravagance and thriftiness, insubordination and submission, disobedience and obedience, sincerity and insincerity, carelessness and vigilance, sinfulness and sinlessness, enmity and amity, fidehty and infidelity, mildness and severity, doubtfulness and certainty, decency and indecency, timidity and tranquility, conjunction and disjunction, rectitude and obliquity hope and despair, cautiousness and impetuosity, forgiveness and vengeance, prudence and foolhardiness, faithfulness and treachery, intelligence and hebetude, decorousness and shamelessness. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 17 equity and iniquity, licentiousness and asceticism, stinginess and liberality, softness and hardness, agreeableness and disagreeableness, terror and equanimity, dutifulness and undutifulness, pride and humility, sociableness and aloofness, solitariness and partnership, confirmation and denial, joyousness and distraction, leniency and severity. Thus, man's qualities, good and bad, are altogether one hun- dred and forty. He should use them all in their proper place. Likewise, corresponding to the three are life, rationality and mortality. Three are associated in a man's birth : the Creator and his parents.' He corresponds to the three divisions of time : the past, the present and the future ; and to period, place and moment; to the three patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Also to three worlds which man sees : one the womb of his mother; one this world ; and one the world to come. And to the three books which are opened on high before the Holy One — blessed be He! — one for the righteous, one for the mid- dle class, and one for the wicked. That of the righteous is written and sealed for Paradise ; that of the wicked is written and sealed for Gehinnom ; and the middle class is given a respite until the following Rosh Hashana : if they become meritorious they are inscribed as meritorious ; and if guilty, they are in- scribed as guilty.^ To correspond to the priests, Levites and laymen. To correspond to the Torah, the Prophets and the Hagiographa. To correspond to the two extremities of the world and the axis thereof.^ To correspond to prophet, sage and king. To correspond to the Kedusha.* To correspond ' Niddah, 31a. ' Rosh Hashana. •The heads of the world ("Zenith and Nadir and the regent theory (?) cf. Masudi's Meadows of Gold, p. 81, note. *The Kedushah or sanctification refers to the proclamation of God as thrice holy. Is. vi, 3. i8 THE GARDEN OE WISDOM to the three kinds of science : theology, the science of bodies and chronology, the last named consisting of the past, the present and the future.' And similarly the four. Men are of four kinds: one is dis- tinguished for knowledge but not for good works; another for good works but not for knowledge ; a third for both knowledge and good works ; a fourth for neither knowledge nor good works.^ Concerning that one of the Arabian poets says, "There are four kinds of men whose states and conditions are clearly evident. One man enjoys this world but not the after-world; another has no position in this world, but there looms up be- fore him a future world to which God causes him to take his flight; a third acquires both, he is happy in this world and in the other ; and another weeps over both, he enjoys neither this world nor the next." Then there are four seasons : summer, autumn, spring and winter.* Also four revolutions : when the sun arrives respectively at the signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, at regular intervals of time.° Time has four divisions : day, week, month and year. The winds are four : the west wind, the east wind, the north wind and the south wind.' Numbers are four: units, tens, hundreds, thousands.^ And likewise men are of four kinds : one masters the exoteric sciences but not the esoteric; one the esoteric but not exoteric; one both of them ; and one neither of them. They correspond to the four varieties of vegetation which God enjoined the children of Israel to take in connection with the Feast of Tabernacles. The palm branch has taste but no odor; the myrtle has odor but no taste ; the citron, has both taste and odor ; and the wil- ' According to the Ihwan the three kinds of science are propaedeu- tical, natural and theological : Weltseeh, p. 2. Propaedeutical science includes the science of numbers and their computation, astronomy and music. ^Vayikra Rabbah. parsha 30, sect. 12. ' Cf. Logik und Psychologie, pp. 133 and 134. * Propaedeutik, p. 4. ' Propaedeutik, pp. 57 and 59; Pesachim 94b. ° Propaedeutik, p. 4. ' Propaedeutik, p. 3 ; Logik und Psychologie, p. 39 ; Weltseele, p. 2. The Arabs have no word to express a number over a thousand. They therefore express a million as a thousand times a thousand, and so on with any larger number. In order to avoid mistakes they indicate at the end how often a thousand is to be taken or multiplied by itself. Cf. Masudi's Meadows of Gold, p. 173 with note. THE GARDEN OE WISDOM 19 low has neither odor nor taste.' Men are likewise of four orders : th° pious man who begets a pious child, of whom it is said, " In the place of thy fathers shall be thy children ;'" the pious man who begets a wicked child, of whom it is said, " Let thistles grow instead of wheat ;'" the wicked man who begets a righteous child, of whom it is said, " instead of the hedge shall grow up the fir tree; " * and finally, the wicked man who begets a wicked child, of whom it is said, " From the wicked shall go forth wickedness."" Likewise there are four kinds of par- don : the four kinds of known atonement. The kinds of obedi- ence are four; and the kinds of sin four. The banned things are of four kinds and occur in innumerable cases : the impure thing that makes impure ; that which makes impure that which was not impure ; the impure which does not make impure ; and that which neither makes impure nor is impure. The clas- sification by four holds good also in the case of " yibbom " and " halizah," Thanksgiving offering oil, frankincense, obla- tion, and the first born for an inheritance and for the priest. And likewise four, there are four fires : the fire which eats and drinks, — the natural heat in animals ; the fire which neither eats nor drinks, — the fire common amdng mankind ; the fire which drinks but does not eat, — the heat in the bosom of the earth ; and the fire which consumes but does not drink, — the fire of the surrounding ether." Likewise, God gave man four characteristics reflecting the nature of the mineral, the vegetable, the animal and the angel. Genesis and decay are characteristics which he shares with minerals. Nutrition and growth are characteristics which he shares with vegetable life. Sensation and motion are char- acteristics which he shares with animal life. His angelic char- acteristics are adoration and eternal life, for when he truly serves God he does not die.' Likewise the divisions of phil- osophy are four : first, the discipHnary and propaedeutical ; sec- ond, natural science and anatomy; third, logic; fourth, the- ology.' Likewise God, when creating the world called into existence four simple things, which are the basis of all composi- ' Vayikra Rabbah, parasha 30, sect. 12. ' Psalm XLV, 17. "Job XXXI, 40. 'Is. LV, 1.3. "I.Samuel XXIV, 14; Yoma 86a. 'Weltseele, p. 128. '' Naturanschauunn.p, 193. ' Propaedeutik, p. 2. 20 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM tions. These four simples are fire, air, water and earth. Their compounds are the minerals, the plants, the animals and man.^ Likewise, bodily diseases arise from imperfect mixture owing to the perverseness of one of the four humours in man, viz. : the blood, the phlegm, and the two biles.^ Their commixture gives rise to heat, moisture, cold and dryness. The learned have written medical works dealing with the use of aromatic roots. Their explanations are extensive and involve a science that is well nigh limitless. Corresponding to these humours are the four sources of the soul's defects. They are the origin of very severe, tenacious diseases which yield to treatment far less readily than bodily ailments, unless one resorts to the medicinal aromatic roots described by the prophets — God bless them.' In their works they explain what God revealed to them concerning these roots. The causes of the soul's diseases are accumulated ignorance, evil disposition, corrupt views and shameful doings.* When souls thus succumb, their excellence vanishes, their splendor is obscured, their vision is darkened and their burdens scarcely tolerable — ^from such a fate may God in His mercy save us ! Were we to proceed to enumerate the things classified by the sages as occurring in fours, we would have to mention very many. Of their allusions we quote the following : "There are those who inherit and bequeath, bequeath but do not inherit, inherit but do not bequeath, do not bequeath and do not inherit ;"' Four qualities mark those who give charity ;"° Four qualities mark those who go to the Beth Hamidrash;"' "Four should give thanks;"* and many others which we shall not mention seeing that they are not hard to understand. Then there are the four agencies in the redemp- tion of Israel from Egypt; the four "malchioth," which cor- respond to them; the four great beasts which the pious Daniel saw issuing out of the sea and which God caused our ancestor Abraham to see over against the dreadful intense darkness which fell upon him.* The sages have put in the same category ^Anthropologic, p. 50; Naturanschauung, p. 141. ' Anthropologie, p. 49; Logik, p. 106. 'For the philosophers as physicians for the soul refer to Dugat's Histolre des Philosophes Musulmans, p. 236. Probably refers to al- gazali's Munkid. 'Anthropologie, p. 103. "Baba Bathra, Ch. VIII, I. ' Pirke Aboth, V, 16. ' Pirke Aboth, V, 17. ' B'rachoth, 54a. ' Dan., VII, 3. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM ai "inflammation, bright spot, scab and a swelling;"^ the four streams' Gihon, Pishon, Hidekel and Euphrates;"^ and "ants, conies, locusts and spiders."' Likewise, the wicked suffer a four-fold punishment, for it is written " The Lord raineth upon the wicked snares, fire, brimstone and a horrible tempest."* In the world to come He will visit them with a four-fold punish- ment: an overflowing' rain, hailstones, fire and brimstone.'* There are moreover, the four terrible penalties : the sword, pestilence, famine and wild beasts.* The chariots are four,' and the smiths are four.' The stars are of four kinds : the sun shines by day ; the north stars by night but not by day ; the moon may be seen both by day and by night ; the stars round about the South pole shine neither by night nor by day The zodiacal signs are also of four kinds : three are of the nature of fire, three of air, three of water, and three of earth." Water is of four kinds : water that ascends from the earth to the atmosphere is the origin of rain ; water that descends from the atmosphere to the earth is the falling rain ; water in the heights is ice ; and the water which remains forever in the depths is the water of the sea, stored up according to the words, "He gathers together the waters of the sea in a heap."" Vegetation is of four kinds : the nutritive and the medicinal, e. g., wheat, barley, and the like ; the nutritive and non-medi- cinal, e. g., sugar, oils, and the like ; medicinal and non-nutritive, aromatic roots among the dry grasses ; and non-medicinal and non-nutritive, as thorns and the like. Similarly, the five planets correspond to the five fifths of the Law;^^ the five possessions which the Holy One — Blessed be He ! — especially appropriated to Himself in His universe ;^^ and the five services which occur on the Fast Day of Atone- ment.^^ Similarly the five senses which are in man; and the 'Leviticus XIII, 2. "Genesis II, il, 13 and 14. • Prov. XXX. 24-28. * Ps. XI, 16. "Ezekiel XXXVIII, 22. °Tdem XIV, 21. 'Zechariah VI, 1-8. 'Idem II, 3. ' Propaedeutik, p. 49. '°Ps. XXX, 7. "The Five Books of Moses. "Pirke Aboth, VI, 10. "Kol Nidrei, Shaharith, Mussaph, Minha and Neila. 22 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM five celestial provinces.^ And in five, the figure five, as also twenty-five, always preserves itself throughout its self multi- plication, and irregardless of the size of the product, does not increase.^ Similarly, the six corresponds to the following : the six sides of the world;' the six colors which God created in the world, viz.: white, black, red, green, yellow and blue;* the six orders of the Mishna; and the six orders of the Tosephta; the six zodiacal signs which appear eternally above the earth and the six concealed eternally under the earth ; and the six south stars and the six north ;° in regions of the north six months are perfectly dark without any admixture of light and in the south six months are Ught without any admixture of darkness f "six days of creation ;"' "six wings to each one ;"* and like- Vv'ise six openings in our bodies on the right side and six on the left.' And similarly the seven. Its applications are most frequent and most important, due largely to the grandeur, dignity and sanctity of the Sabbath in the eyes of God ; for it is the seventh of the days, the last of them and their terminus, for their number closes with it. Whosoever observes the Sabbath as God decreed, learns to thoroughly appreciate it and its majesty as the law of God commands, and moreover fears God, ' " The astrologers divide up the degrees of each sign of the zodiac among the five planets. The portion assigned to each planet is called the province of that planet since it denotes the part of the sign where that planet exercises its full iniluence." De Slane, Proleg II, 221, note I ; III 154, note 4. Does alhudud al'aluviat mean God, Universal Reason, Universal Soul, Nature and Things? Dieterici's Theologie, p. IX. There are five fundamental principles of Islam, five imams and the most eminent of the prophets were five. For the last named Cf. Weltseele, p. 172. The five chief figures mentioned by Euclid are the tetragon, cube, octahedron, icasahedron and dodecahedron. Propaedeutik, p. 3. 'The Ihwan point out that if we regard one as the point, two as the line, three as the surface and four as the cube, then five is the sphere. If it be multiplied by itself ever so often the multiplicand persists: thus S X 5 = 25 ; 25 X 25 = 625 ; 62s X 62s = 390,62s, etc. Cf. Propaedeutik, p. a .' North, east, south, west, up and down. Anthropologie, p. 4. * Anthropologie, p. 26. 'Propaedeutik, p. 47, has it that six of the constellations are north. •Idem, p. 91. 'Gen. I. 'Isaiah VI, 2. ' Naturanschauung, p. 154. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 23 is completely religious. But when one's religion falls short of that it utterly fails him. The seven finds its application to man in the following particulars : the soul has seven spiritual powers and the body seven corporeal powers. The corporeal are attraction, retention, digestion, rejection, growth, increase and imagination.^ The soul's seven spiritual powers are : hear- ing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, speaking and intel- ligence.^ They correspond to the seven planets. Five of the planets have ten mansions out of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The two luminaries have two mansions, the moon ruling over one of them : the sign Leo being for the sun and Cancer for the moon. Now, the ten mansions belonging to the five planets are as follows : to the planet Saturn belong the signs Capricorn and Aquarius ; to the planet Jupiter the signs Sagittarius and Pisces; to the planet Mars the signs Aries and Scorpion; to Venus the signs Taurus and Libra; and to Mercury the signs Gemini and Virgo.' And likewise in the body of man there are twelve apertures : his ears, eyes, nostrils, mouth, navel, breasts and his two passages.* Of these twelve openings ten are for five powers and two for two powers, corresponding to the planets and the two luminaries. The mouth corresponds to the sun, the navel to the moon, the ears to the mansions of Mercury, the eyes to the mansions of Jupiter, the nostrils to the mansions of Mars, and the two passages to the mansions of Saturn.^ Similarly his eyes are of seven strata, between each and every pair of strata there are gradations and powers of seeing which are not between the others." Similarly, God placed the channel of the faculty of hearing in the ears and the channel of the faculty of seeing in the eyes, the channel of the faculty of smell in the nostrils, the channel of the faculty of touch in the hands, the sensual taste in the mouth and in the private parts, the channel of the faculty of speech in the tongue which corresponds to the moon, and the channel of the faculty of intellect in the brain which corresponds to the sun.' The brain supplies the speech which thou employest and the ideas ^ Anthropologie, p. 48. Vayikra Rabbah, parsha 29, sect. 11. ■ Anthropologie, p. 48. ' Propaedeutik, p. 50; Anthropologie, p. 48. ' Idem, p. 49. " Idem, p. 49. ° Compare Die Sinne, p. 85. ''Anthropologic, p. 48. 24 THE GARDEN OE WISDOM which are expressed through speech with its eight and twenty consonants, just as the sun supplies the light^ wherewith the moon shines through eight and twenty mansions from its first appearance until it is complete and perfect through the power of their Author and Creator, sanctified be His Names •? Like- wise, on earth there are seven climates* and eight and twenty regions. Eurthermore, the importance of seven in the estima- tion of God is indicated by the fact that He ordained that the seven-month child should live, but the eight-month child should die since a month is superfluous.* That is a mystery understood by God, the prophets whom He taught, and those versed in the sciences inherited from them, having mastered these sciencs through divine grace. Likewise, He made the heavens in seven parts" and the climates seven in number.® As another example of the excellence of seven in the estimation of God we note the characteristics of the calendar which the children of Israel use for their years, for the festivals and fasts ordained for them in the Torah, and also for the stipulation handed down to them in the authentic traditions of the prophets that Pesach must not begin on Monday, Wednesday or Friday ; Azereth not on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday ; Rosh Hashana not on Sunday, Wednesday or Eriday ; the Day of Atonement not on Sunday, Tuesday or Eriday ; and Purim not on Saturday, Monday or Wednesday. All of this is according to the post- ponements indicated by the ancient sages and their intimate associates of blessed memory. We have found that the origin, the canons and the methods of the calendar are based on the number seven. There are twelve simple ordinary years and seven leap-years. This is the theory of the calendar, its foundation and its entire key for all times. To show this we shall make in the latter part of this book an astronomical table, wonderful and ingenious. Whosoever wishes may scrutinize it, please God.'' Therein are great reward for all and complete religious practice — God controls success in His mercy! Like- wise, God appointed seven shepherds to preside over His people ^Anthropologic, p. 49: Propaedeutik, p. 131. 'Idem, p. 62. 'Idem, 92-99; 191-19Q. * Aitthropologie, p. 72. ' Propaedeutik, p. 46. "/dem, 92-99; 191-199. 'This table does not appear in our manuscript. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 25 Israel;^ and Enoch was the seventh after Adam.^ The il- lustrious master Moses ben Amram — peace be uopn him! — was the seventh after Abraham, — the order being Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kehath, Amram, with Moses as the seventh. Likewise, Otsem was the sixth, and David the seventh son.' We further find in the Talmudic narratives that every tribe in Israel gave birth to seven-month children. Similarly the wildernesses are seven: the wilderness of Sinai, Zin, Kadmuth, Kadesh, Shur, Paran and Ethan. The wilderness of Sinai is the most famous since it was the scene of the revelation of the Torah. Likewise, the seas are seven : Sodom, Tibrias, Sabki, Aspamia, Halta, Kinnareth and the Great Sea. Likewise there occur seven expressions for heaven in the Bible : r'kia, ilon, z'bul, m'hon, m'on sh'hakim and araboth.* Likewise, the Biblical words for land are seven : arka, erez, heled, n'shya, ziyah, adamah and tebel.^ Israel was enjoined to observe the seven days of Niddah, the seven days of purification, the seven days of hymeneal rejoicing, and the seven blessings, God commanded Noah, " of the clean animals take by the sevens."" Then there are seven days of consecration,^ the seven pillars of the world, the seven worlds, and seven ancestors rest with God and corruption has no power over them.* Likewise, God caused the release of the pious Joseph through the dreams in which Pharoah saw seven beautiful cows and seven full ears of corn and their contraries, and his deliver- ance was through the interpretation thereof, as thou knowest.* Balaam prepared seven altars.'" Upon the menorah were seven sockets. '^ Pardon and forgiveness are granted in Tishri which is the seventh month from Nisan, and Nisan witnessed ' Micah V, 5. In this group David was the central figure with Adam, Seth and Methusaleh on his right hand, and Abraham, Jacob and Moses on his left. Succah S2b. ^Vayikra Rabbah, parsha 29, sect. 11. 'Idem. 'Hagigah 12b; Aboth d'Rabbi Nathan, ch. 37; Midrash Thillim, Ps. CXIV. ' Aboth d'Rabbi Nathan, ch. 37 ; Shir Hashirim Rabbah, parsha 6. "Gen. VII, 2. 'Levit. VIII, 23. ' Baba Bathra 17a. The passage refers to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Miriam and Joseph. •Gen. XLI. '"Numbers XXIII. "Exodus XXV, 37- 26 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM the redemption since it is the seventh month from Tishri. In most of the sacrifices there were seven lambs of the first year.^ And hkewise there are seven characteristics of a boorish man and seven of a wise man,^ and seven kinds of punishment corne into the world for seven kinds of important transgres- sions.^ Likewise, God ordained that the Children of Israel should count seven weeks and at the expiration thereof make a pilgrimage to the Temple: that is the Pilgrimage of Weeks." He permitted them to keep their Hebrew slaves and hand- maids in service for six years, but these were to be set free in the seventh.^ He ordained that they should count, years seven times seven, i. e., forty-nine years ; then landed property should be free and return to its original possessors in the fiftieth year. He enjoined them to plough and sow their fields six years, but during the seventh year the ground is to lie fallow.* He enjoined upon them the recital of seven blessings in the Sabbath service, concerning which His favorite says, " Seven times a day do I bless thee." ' In the bethrothal there are seven blessings and seven days of huppa; and on the fast day seven blessings. Of all the numbers seven is most frequently referred to in the Scriptures. We quote a few of the many instances : "Seven abominations are in his heart ;"* "Seven evils shall not touch thee ;"° "Though the righteous fall seven times he shall arise ;"^" "Seven shall lodge without being visited by evil;" "For seven fold shall Cain be avenged."" The illustrious master selected seventy elders to govern the people.^^ There are thus many passages mentioning seven and its excellence. In treating the theory of religion as extensively as possible we shall recall in what respect that number is com- plete and wherein consists its pre-eminence, please God. When we reach the chapter dealing with the consideration of all that God has created, and especially the section treating of the seven stars and the twelve constellations, we shall enter into the easily intelligible aspects of the subject as far as our limited 'Levit. XXIII, l8. 'Pirke Aboth V, lO. 'Idem V, ll. • Deut. XIV, 9. " Exod. XXI, 2 and 6. " Levit. XXV, 2-7. 'Ps. CXIX, 164. 'Prov. XXVI, 25. "Job. V, 19. "Prov. XXIV, 16. "Gen. IV, 15. "Numbers XI, 16. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 2^ knowledge permits, please God. Above every knowing being is the Omniscient, Mighty, Exalted One ! Of Him we ask the blessing of grace and guidance in all matters religious and worldly. We mention a portion of the subject here that thou mayest recognize that the seven stars and the twelve constellations are fundamental to the forces and that every prophet and lawgiver referred to them. As for the foundation of this world thou seest that there are seven stars in as many spheres and twelve signs of the zodiac in one sphere. Together they make up the nineteen foundations of time and place, according to seven days, — not more, not less. There are many classes of people in respect to language, sects and doctrines but not in respect to these days, for they cannot increase or diminish. Likewise, the twelve months persist through all times without cessation. Their increase or diminution would involve the destruction of universal harmony and the entire reversal of things, for there would be no stability since seven is the most faultless of the numbers.' The same applies to the twelve. Thus there are the prescribed prayers wherewith we approach the King of Kings, make our necessities known to Him, ask of Him that which we desire, confess our sins and petition Him for our well-being and guidance. That is put into the eighteen benedictions, which together with the first, the principal one, make up the nineteen, to correspond to the seven and the tv/elve. Much about seven and twelve that we regard as fundamental is concealed from the mass of the common people, but is clear to the noble and the wise. Instance the three portions of the Law, which it is incumbent upon us to read every day twice before the nineteen blessings are read : " Sh'ma," " V'haya im sh'amo'a " and " Vayomer." ^ In the whole thereof are nine- teen sections, after taking away one of them, which is repeated, viz. : the passage commencing, " U'chethabtem." It resembles the passages with which the Torah begins and ends, as we shall point out in the fifth chapter of this book. Therein we have ^Propaedentik, pp. 7, 8 and 69. ' Deut. VI, 4-9; Deut. XI, 13-21; Numbers XV, 37-41. 28 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM mentioned that instance and additional ones relating to the seven and the twelve. But one which we have not mentioned is the passage at the end of the Torah. It is the last composed by the pious and illustrious Moses — peace be upon him ! — " O the happiness of Israel,"^ etc. Concerning it the sages have the tradition that the letters " beth " and " caph " were used that the Torah might begin with the letter "beth" and end with the letter " caph," the world " b'reshith " being the first and "thidroch" the last. These sentences contain nineteen words. All of these things are open only to those versed both in the literal and in the manifestly figurative meaning of the words, for in them these secrets and hints point to the seven and the twelve. My brother, grasp these subtle mysteries and ponder over them with their numerous meanings and the knowledge that lies back of them, that thou mayest master them and through them attain eternal beatitude after emerging from the dwelling of ignorance — may God in His mercy grant both of us success ! We can cite many Scriptural sections whose length is reg^i- lated according to the seven and the twelve. Thus the first song, from "vayosha" to "hashem yimloch," numbers nineteen verses.^ The same applies to the verses with which the noble Jacob blessed his children from Reuben to Joseph ;' the total number of verses is nineteen. He left off with Joseph and Ben- jamin. In recognition of their rank he honored them on that occasion with another set of verses. And likewise the verses in the blessing of the illustrious prince Moses number nine- teen.* These verses extend down to the sentence beginning, "Who is like the God of Jeshurun?" This numerical arrange- ment holds good throughout the prophetical works with most of the allusory passages. If thou considerest the twelve minor prophets individually there will remain three in the later prophets and four in the earlier, making nineteen. By taking the four earlier prophets and the four later prophets and add- ing thereto the eleven books of the Hagiographa we have nine- teen. Had we wished to deal exhaustively with the Prophetical and Hagiographical passages constructed on the principle of 'Deut. XXXIII, 29. = Exodus XV. 'Gen. XLIX. 'Deut. XXXIII. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 29 nineteen we could have done so. This brief treatment of the subject is intended simply to be a suggestion to the wise. Thus we have made clear to thee, my brother, that time is built upon seven, and place likewise upon seven and twelve. There are seven and twelve parts whose combinations I shall explain to thee. Now, the chief of the Arabs^ came to them only on account of these parts. He bound them to men- tion four words whose separate parts come under the seven and twelve in Arabic orthography. Only those versed in this sub- ject grasp it, but as for the ignorant they are aware neither of it nor its meaning. The Arabs were told, "There is no God but Allah."^ To this declaration they added Mohammed's name, as if he were a messenger of God, and believed that by uttering these words they could attain bliss, that by virtue of these words they would surely be admitted into Paradise. Had he intended the formula to have that meaning, not a single per- son of intelligence would have heeded him. It means, however, that after a man believes in God, he should do what is proper, — that which God had commanded before this prophet came to his people. For if it meant that one might go about stealing, killing, adulterizing, — in a word, committing deeds displeasing to God — and by uttering these words would be admitted into Paradise, no man of intelligence would accept such a doctrine or consider it sane. As a matter of fact the formula possesses an inner meaning involved in its orthography. Their Book indicates therewith the science of the seven and the twelve which are the fount and the fundament of all created entities. When a man clearly realizes the intent of the formula and acknowledges God's unity and transcendence he becomes worthy of admission to Paradise, worthy to attain eternal happiness. In noting the distinguishing feature of these words, we find that the number of the letters "La il(a)h ila All(a)h" is twelve, and the number of the syllables seven ; all in all nineteen. This result is due to the fact that " la " counts as one syllable and " ilah " as two, the' sum total being seven. Assuredly ours is the credit for these principles since our testimony preceded theirs. Instance the exclamation of David, * Mohammed. 'Sura XXXVII, 34 et passim. 30 THE GARDEN OE WISDOM "Eor who is God besides the Lord, and who is a Rock besides our God !"^ Similarly we magnified His Name in many other passages ; "Great is the Lord and exceedingly praiseworthy ;"^ "Great is our Lord"/ etc., etc. We care to mention of the seven and twelve only that which we and the Arabs have in com- mon. Aside from this consideration we surely would not men- tion the subject merely because it is mentioned by them. Eurthermore, it is pre-eminent and fundamental according to one of their passages in another Surah which states that over hell there are nineteen.* One commentator explains that as an allusion to their religion, and holds that the seven cor- responds to the twelve syllables, and the twelve to the twelve letters of the formula of faith.= Some claim that the seven has reference to the Sabbath day which is the seventh. Thus, much is mentioned by the learned with regard to the pre- eminence of the seven and the twelve. They speak of it as the number of the vertebrae in the back.^ We also have gone quite deeply into the subject of the seven and the twelve. We shall treat the rest of this subject as extensively as we can in 'Ps. XVIII, 32. 'Ps. CXLV, 3- 'Ps. CXLVII, 4. 'Sura LXXIV, 30. ' The sura reads : " And what shall make thee understand what hell is? It leaveth not anything unconsumed, neither doth it suffer any- thing to escape. It scorcheth men's flesh : over the same are nineteen angels appointed. We have none but angels to preside over the hell-fire; and we have expressed the number of them only for an occasion of discord to the unbelievers." The Ihwan explain that these verses refer to the passage of the seven planets through the twelve constellations: Anthropologie, p. 143. NathancI appears to regard the nineteen as an allusion to the Mohammedan formula of faith with its seven syllables and twelve letters. Beidhawi, vol. II, p. 369, says : " The nineteen refers to ninteen angels or nineteen kinds of angels. The special reason for this particular number is because the disorders of human souls, in thought and deed, are caused by the twelve animal forces and the seven natural forces. Or it may mean that Gehinnom has seven degrees. Six of these are for the kinds of infidels. Each kind is punished for neglecting belief in the faith, the confession of faith and the practice of the religion with a certain kind of punishment which fits it. and over each kind an angel or kind of angel presides. One degree is for believers who sinned. They are punished in hell with a specific kind of punishment for neglecting the practice of the religion. Over this punishment an angel or kind of angel presides. Or because the hours are twenty-four: five of them employed in prayer. If during the other nineteen hours he has committed a sin whose penalty is one of these kinds of punishment the zahaniyat or hell-aneels take charge of it." "The Ihwan (Natitranschauung, p. 211; Weltseele. p. 173) claim that the spine has 28 vetebrae. According to the Talmud (Oholoth, Ch. I, mishna 8) the spine has eighteen vertebrae. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 31 its proper place in the fifth chapter, — please God, for from Him is help ! And as for the eight, behold to it there correspond the eight days of circumcision,' the eight days of the Festival,^ and the eighth day which is distinguished by being set aside by itself, a festival for itself, a time for itself.^ Likewise the eight princes and the seven shepherds with whom they are allied, number fifteen.* Fifteen is half the Ineffable Name, and with it God created the world: "For with 'fifteen' the Eternal formed the world",'^ and according to the passage, "When God created them."' Do not read b'hibbor'am but b'heb'ra'am, for it is written, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made." ' Eight also possesses pre-eminence as a principal number for in the Temple they used to sound eight tones upon the Sheminith. Eight fathers of the pure correspond to the eight faculties. The prophetical books are likewise eight. But the most interesting of all, is this : when thou takest into consideration the survivors after the flood thou findest them eight in number, viz. : Noah and his wife, his three sons and their three wives.* As for the nine, we find that the body of man is built up of nine substances ; hair, nail, skin, flesh, fat, blood, marrow, bone and nexves." Likewise the spheres are nine: the seven that are well known, the sphere of the zodiacal signs and the sphere of darkness." Similarly the months of pregnancy are nine." The learned point out some wonderful characteristics of the nine primary numbers.'^ They are the ancient Hindoo char- acters from which is derived the whole science of arithmetic 'Gen. XVII, 12. ' Succoth or the Feast of Tabernacles (including Sh'mini Azereth). ' Sh'mini Azereth or Eighth Day of Solemn Assemblage. ' Micah V. The eight princes are Jesse, Saul, Samuel, Amos, Zephaniah, Zedekiah, the messiah and Elijah. Succah 52b. 'Is. XXVI, 4. J(a)h numerically fifteen. ' Gen. II, 4. ' Ps. XXXIII, 6. Bereeshith Rabbah, parsha 12, sect. 10. 'Gen. VIII, 16. 'Anthropologie, p. 4. " Propaedeuiik, p. 47. ^'■Anthropologie, p. 72, " The Arabs express the zero by a dot and do not consider it a num- ber. In Spranger's Masudi's "Meadows of Gold," p. 157, we are told that the wise men of the Barahman or Indian ruler invented the nine figures which form the numerical system of the Hindoos. 32 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM dealing with the minute and the great, the many and the few, for which purpose the nine characters are inexhaustible. They are the following: 1—2 — 3—4—5—6—7—8 — 9. These are their forms. If thou writest the following figures 5 — 4 — 3 — 2 — I thou hast fifty-four thousand, three hundred and twenty-one. The tens are after the units, the hundreds after the tens, the thousands after the hundreds, the ten thousands after the thou- sands, and so on ad infinitum. As often as a figure is added to a number the number is increased a degree and assumes another aspect. And that is due to the fact that when thou addest them together there results the number forty-five, the figures by the threes amounting to fifteen or one-half the In- effable Name which is numerically fifteen. That is clear : 4 + 8 + 3; 9 + 5 + 1; 2 + 7 + 6; every one of these three combinations amounts to fifteen. The Creator has been called "Fifteen" for Scripture saith, "Verily my strength and song is Jah"^ (Fifteen) ; and furthermore, "For with Jah (Fifteen) the Eternal formed the world."^ The Talmudists say, "With the 'he' (fifteen) He formed this world and the world of the future, for it is written, 'These are the generations of the heavens and the earth.' Do not read b'hi- boro'om but b'he b'ra'am.' One of the learned says, "From that it is seen that with nine letters death is meted out and the people of each generation pass away." Of the ten' are the ten commandments,^ and the ten ut- terances," the ten miracles, which were brought for our fathers in Egypt and the ten by the sea,' and the ten plagues which the Holy One — blessed be He — brought upon the Egyptians in Egypt.' Zimon is with ten and Kedusha with ten. We do not read in the Torah less than ten pas- sages. Ten malchioth, ten zichronoth and ten shopharoth. 'Jer. XVII, 19. "Is. XXXVI, 4. * Bereshith Rabbah, parasha 12, sect. 10. *The Pythagoreans had called the ten "perfection," "the world," " the heavens " and " the all." The Arabs knew nothing of the apotheosis of this number. Its place was taken by the number twelve. Cf. Pro- paedeutik, p. 186. • Exodus XX, 2-17. • Pirke Aboth V, 6. 'Idem V. s. 'Idem V, i. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 33 There are nine songs and the tenth refers to the future World, for it is written, "On that day this song will be sung."^ Nine sephiroth Israel counts and the tenth is for the Future World, as it is written, "Then the flocks shall pass again under the hands of Him that telleth them, saith the Lord."^ Ten kings ruled from one end of the world to the other. And Hkewise, in ten garments the Omnipotent is enveloped. One is "O Lord my God, thou hast become exceedingly great, with splen- dor and majesty has Thou clothed Thyself ;"= and the second, "The Lord is King, He is clothed with majesty;"* and the third, "The Lord hath clothed Himself, with strength. He hath girded Himself."" The fourth, "I saw a high throne and One Ancient of Days was sitting upon it, and His garments were as white as snow ;"" and the fifth, "He shall be clothed in right- eousness like Sharon."^ Tlie sixth and seventh, "And he donned garments of vengeance."* And the eighth and ninth, "Why are thy garments red?"^ And the tenth, "Who is this cometh from Edom — this one with his splendid garments?"^" And likewise Israel suffered ten exiles: four in the days of Sennacherib," four in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and two 'in the days of Titus and Vespasian. The world to come is indicated in Holy Writ by twelve ex- pressions which contain the word kallah (bride). They are " . . . . from Lebanon, O bride,"'^ "The sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride."" "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride."'* "As the bridegroom decks himself out in glory and the bride dons her ornaments."" It is thus evident that man is the noblest existent under the sphere of the moon ; that he is a microcosm and so constituted as to correspond to the macrocosm. From his thigh down to 'Is. XXVI, I. 'Jer. XXXIII, 13. 'Ps. CIV, i. 'Idem XCIII, I. °Idem XCIII. "Daniel VII, 9. 'Is. LX, 17. 'Idem LIX, 7. 'Idem LXIII, 2. '"Idem LXIII, I. "According to Bamidbar Rabbah, (parasha 23, sect. 14), and Koheleth Rabbah (parsha 9, sect. 3), Sennacherib was responsible for three exiles. '"Songs of Songs, IV, 8. "Jer. VII, 24; XXV, 10. "Is. LXII, s. "Idem LXI, 10. 34 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM the lowest part of his body he is similar to the element earth. The fullness of marrow which is in his bones makes him similar to the mines which are in the interior of the earth. His abdo- men makes him similar to the element water, with its various fish and fluctuating billows. The same may be said of the rattling noise in the intestines and the various intestinal worms. His thorax is similar to the element air, because of the con- stant fluttering of the lungs ; they inhale the air and flap their wings against the heart to equalize the heat and enable man to live. His head is similar to the highest element fire. More- over, on it are countless hairs, just as in the macrocosm there are countless plants. Likewise his face is cultivated, corre- sponding to the cultivated tracts in the macrocosm. The nape of the neck is a waste, corresponding to the deserts in the macrocosm. His trembling and the perspiration which appear on him correspond to the thunder and the rain in the macro- cosm. The palpitating of the lungs corresponds to the flut- tering of the birds in the macrocosm. His shoulders, elbows, knees, buttocks and projecting parts correspond to the moun- tains and the hills in the macrocosm. In him are dififerent kinds of fluids having a salty taste in his eyes, sweet in his mouth, fetid in the urinal canal, and bitter in his ears. These cor- respond to the fluids of the macrocosm. These things are as they are owing to the various wishes of the wise Creator — may His Names be sanctified ! Truly those wishes are wise and judicious. They say that the water of the sea is salty that the animals round about might live ; for if it were sweet the animals would be stricken with cholera, whereas saltiness prevents cholera.^ Likewise the eyes are salty because they are fat. Were it not for their saltiness they would become blind, since flesh cannot continue its existence without the aid of salt. That whole subject, however, is extremely subtle, too profound for this treatise, too wonderful, too grand. No one understands it but God and those who are far advanced in the sciences. What we do not understand about the anatomy of man's body exceeds that which is clear to us. How little then do we know of the other sciences ! The reader of this book will therefore ^ Naturanschauuitg, p. 107. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 35 be indulgent with us since we have not made therein a single assertion of our own or advanced any theory that we have not heard from others. We have studied the subject and have written this book as a compendium for our youth and for any of our brethren into whose hands it may fall. We ask God's pardon for every misstep and error; we ask His inspiration in the matter of correct judgment, His aid and guidance, . . . ^ Man's knowledge, glory, excellence and authority, extend over all things, as we pointed out in our prefatory remarks upon the passage : "Thou causest him to rule over the work of Thy hand : all things hast Thou placed under His feet."^ God made man's soul spiritual, noble, subtle, elementary, living, knowing and comprehending. The Praised One desires to direct its attention to the treasures of His wisdom and cause it to testify to the absoluteness of His power and the loftiness of His wisdom that it may serve Him properly and be responsi- ble to Him, beginning with all that is due a master — servitude, submission, service, obedience, accountabiUty and resignation, — and ending with a most cheerful and voluntary submission to His will, and that it should cultivate correct opinion in regard to what He made in it manifest and concealed. And even though her nature rebels she must approach her Creator cheer- fully and rightly disposed towards Him to obtain reward and blessing. Holy writ speaks in reference to all these things. As for the creation of man according to His will and as a mani- festation of His Glory we have the passage, "All that is called by My Name for Mv glory have I created it, have formed it, yea, have made it."^ Referring to His intention to have them testify to the sublimity of His wisdom and the absoluteness of His power, is the passage, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servants whom I have chosen in order that ye may know and understand that I am He : Before Me no god was formed and after me there shall be none."* Referring to their re- sponsibility to Him for the fulfillment of their religious duties, even as servants are responsible to their masters, is the pas- sage : "As the eyes of servants are unto the hand of their mas- ters, and as the eyes of the handmaid unto the hand of their 'Lacuna. 'Ps. VIII, 7. 'Is. XLIII, 7. 'Is. XLIV, 8. 36 THE GARDEN OP WISDOM mistress, thus are our eyes unto the Lord, our God, until He have compassion upon us."' And as for submission to His command and decree and pious thoughts concerning Him even though He does unto us what our nature shuns, we have the sentiment of Job, "Though He slay me yet will I hope in Him."^ In his spirit the pious and saintly Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah cast themselves into the fire, as thou knowest.' That deed was beloved unto God. In His decrees He did not turn away from them, and they were saved. For they had given themselves up out of love for Him, and yielding to His decree with their lives gladly, willingly and freely. When He beheld the beauty of their faith and that their deed was dictated neither by the desire to obtain favor or reward nor out of fear. He set them free in the way He wished and reserved for them a rich reward, the recompense of the perfect — the possession of eternity. Likewise when Abraham, the Friend of God, was cast by the tyrant into the fire — I refer to Nimrod who cast him into the fire with a ballista — the most High — may His Names be sanctified ! — said to Gabriel, "Ask Abraham in the air whether thou canst assist him in something." And he asked in the air, "Can I be of some use to thee?" And Abraham an- swered, "I need some one else but not thee." And God appeared and set him free by saying, "O flame be thou cold and a security unto Abraham." And had He said "cold" and stopped, the cold would surely have destroyed him.* Thus our Praised One sets free His saints and His God-fearing ones who are humble before Him: "He will never sufTer the righteous to totter. "° It is further written, "The enemy shall not deceive him and the son of unrighteousness shall not retort unto him."" I laud Him, give thanks unto Him, and commend my 'Ps. CXXIII, 2. 'Job. XIII, 15. 'Dan. III. *Cf. Sura XXI, 52-73, Targum Jonathan and Targum Jerushalmi to Gen. XV, 7 ; Targum Jonathan to Gen. XI, 28 ; Midrash B'reshith Rabbah, parsha 38, sect. 13; Baba Bathra 91a; Logik und Psychologie, p. 164. Rodwell, in his translation of the Kuran, p. 178, note, points out that the legend was accepted as a historical fact by some of the Eastern Chris- tians. According to the Syrian calendar the event should be commemo- rated on January 29th. The Abyssinian calendar has January 2Sth as the date. • Ps. LV, 23. • Ps. LXXXIX, 23. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 37 " affairs unto Him, according to the words of the prince, "Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the I.ord."i Similarly, my brother, God made His most luminous religion after the manner of His world. Thus the reUgion is one and the Divine Law one, according to the utterances of the most High, "One Torah and One Judgment shall there be unto you."= Likewise there were Scripture and Tradition, corresponding to the two, according to the dictum of the sages, "Two Torahs were given unto Israel, one written and the other unwritten."^ Besides, the Law was given at the hands of two men, Moses and Aaron ; and the ten words were brought down on the two Tablets of the Covenant. Likewise, there correspond to the three : Torah, Prophets and Hagiographa. The sages say, "What is meant by the ex- pression 'Lo, I have written unto you thirds?' They are the three : Torah, Prophets and Hagiographa. They were de- livered to three : Moses, Aaron and Miriam. Some say they were all delivered to Moses, for His name contains three let- ters corresponding to the Ineffable Name."* It is said that the whole of religion consists of that which is derived from reason, the written Law and the traditional Law. Likewise, the people are of three degrees : priests, Levites and laymen. Likewise, there are three Kedushas. The priestly blessing has three sections. Moreover the Torah was given by means of sephor, sepher and sippur.' Likewise, "By three things is the world preserved : by truth, by justice and by peace."' Like- wise, "The world is based upon three things : knowledge, good sentiment "Upon three things the world is based: Upon the Law, upon divine worship and upon deeds of kindness." Of the other meritorious acts they mention, "A man must say within his house on Sabbath eve towards dusk : 'Have ye sep- arated the tithe? Have ye made the erub? Kindle the Sabbath ^Jer. XVII, 7. 'Numbers XV, 16. "Gittin, 6b. 'M(o)s(e)h (Moses) is simply H(a)s(e)m the Ineffable Name reversed. ' These three S's correspond to the R's : reading, writing and reckon- ing. Cf. Friedlander's Jewish Religion, p. 14. ° Pirke Aboth, I, 2. 38 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM lamp."^ We have mentioned all that we could in the third gate of this chapter. Likewise, the four. God enjoined upon the children of Israel to take in their hands on the Festival of Tabernacles four kinds of plants.^ Its mention occurs in the fourth gate of this chapter together with the rest of the Divine Law related to it and concerning the world and man. Likewise, the five. The Divine Law is the five-fifths of the Torah together with what is connected with and related to it of the fives with regard to the Divine Law, the world and man. Likewise, the six. The science of instruction has for its foundation the six orders of the Mishna and the six orders of the Tosephta with what is concerned with and related to that of the sixes in the case of the Divine Law, the world and man. Likewise, the seven. It is used most frequently in explain- ing religion, due to the pre-eminence of the Sabbath Day which the Praised One exalted above other days and enjoined the Children of Israel to observe and honor it and note its arrival, as we have explained in this chapter. As there is no need to repeat it here we shall not enter further into the subject. Likewise, the eight : Circumcision is performed eight days after birth, and the Festival lasts eight days when we include the day connected with it.' It is of the same kind as the mat- ters of the Divine Law, the world and man. Likewise, the nine. We have mentioned as much of it as we could. Likewise, the ten. The basis of the Divine Law is the ten commandments which embrace the precepts of obedience en- joined in the whole religion. These precepts occur in the con- tents of the Decalogue, for the number of its letters six hundred and thirteen, together with what is connected with the tens in the Divine Law, in the world and in man. It has become plain, my brother, that God created all things according to one order, marked by stability and wisdom. Dis- order does not enter into it and confusion does not mix with it, as Sacred Writ saith, "How great are thy works, O Lord ! 'Mishna, Tractate Shabbath, ch. II, 7. 'Leviticus, XXIII, 40. ' The seven days of Succoth and Sh'mini Azereth. THE GARDEN OF WISDOM 39 In wisdom hast Thou made them all!"^ It is further written, "The Lord founded the earth in wisdom, estabhshed the heavens with understanding."^ Thus the Praised One is the Creator of all, their Author an I their Governor. I laud Him, am grate- ful to Him, depend upon Him, and entrust my affairs unto Him, according to the word of David, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. In green pastures does He cause me to lie down; by still waters He leads me."^ Finished is the second chapter, "Man a Microcosm". There follows CHAPTER III. This chapter sets forth the duty of rendering obedience to God — upraised be He! It is maintained that the duty of rendering obedience to God is established when we recollect and verify the fact that man is the noblest existent under the sphere of the moon ; that in this world he is the viceregent of God,* who made him the ruler over all things that exist as minerals, plants and animals, and that God created bounteous benefits,' among which is the bringing forth of man from non-existence. The choicest and most com- plete of these benefits are two preeminent boons : one external, the other internal. The external consists in the perfect com- position of his body with all the external equipments : flesh, blood, veins, nerves, bones, muscles, nails, marrow, etc. ; and perfect with respect to hands, feet, and the organs of the ex- ternal senses etc. The inward gift is the noble soul which God has graciously bestowed upon him. It is a simple substance, celestial, spiritual, potentially gifted with knowledge, under- standing and sensation,' as described by one of the pious while communing with his Lord. After referring to all that God has created, he continued, "And after all this Thou didst form man for Thy glory and didst create mortal who calls upon Thy Name. ' Ps. XXIII, I and 2. ' Prov. Ill, 20. " Ps. XXIII, i and 2. 'Logik; 103 and 104. •Saadiah's al-Amanat, pp. 114 and 119, and Joseph An Zaddik s Olam Katon, p. 58, also make gratitude the incentive to obey God. • Weliseele, p. 25. 40 THE GARDEN OF WISDOM Thou didst breathe into his nostrils a soul precious and pure, unblemished and clean, wise and intelligent, accepting the dis- cipline of wisdom, and acquiring knowledge and discretion, de- claring that thou hast formed it and testifying that thou didst create it. Through it every one wise at heart increases his intel- ligence and recognizes Thee, and from it mortal gets understand- ing and finds Thee. For Thou hast made it a sign and token for men of wisdom in their resolves, and a swift witness to those who grasp knowledge in their souls. For when the liar lies against Thee, or the denier denies Thee, as a stone from a wall does his soul cry out, and as a lion from the forest does his spirit answer. Therefore all who seek Thee will comprehend Thee in their hearts." It remains to say on this subject that, aside from the thanks which he should render to the Beneficent One — praised be He — it is obligatory for man to submit to two kinds of obedience, the external and the internal. The external consists in carrying out the law revealed to the prophets — peace be unto them ! — in such matters as circum- ■cision, fasting, alms-giving, the pilgrimage, the holy war, and what is similar in the practice of zizith, tephilin, succah, lulab, mezuzoth, and the other mizvoth, which are set forth in the Books of the Law.^ The sum thereof amounts to six hundred and thirteen as Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, of blessed memory, pointed