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t h e t a r j u m a n a l -a s h w a q ( x i i ) 71

‘ Gazelles,’ i.e. forms of Divine and prophetic wisdom
which descend upon his spirit.
‘ Marble statues,’ i.e. sorts of knowledge (< _with
which neither reason nor lust is connected ; hence he makes
them inanimate
2. ‘ I watch spheres,’ i.e. the spiritual states in which
these sorts of knowledge revolve, like the sun.
‘ And serve in a church,’ because marble effigies are found
in churches.
‘ And guard,’ etc. : the meadows where these gazelles
pasture are the scenes of devotional acts and Divine morals ;
tliey are described as ‘ many-coloured ’, i.e. adorned with the
Divine realities, and spring-like, because that which is new
and fresh is more delightful to the soul.
3. He refers to his ever-changing spiritual states, which
bring with them manifold Divine influences and sciences.
Although the spiritual experiences A'ary, the Divine substance
remains one. Tliis is the ‘transformation’ ( J JjfsaM
jjJ l) of which Muslim speaks in the chapter on Faith,
Tho.se who wor.ship God in the sun behold a sun, and those
who worship Him in living things .see a living thing, and
tho.se who worship Him in inanimate objects see an inanimate
object, and tho.se who wor.ship Him as a Being unique and
unparalleled see that which has no like.
4. He says,‘ Number does not begot multiplicity in the
Divine substance, as the Christians declare that the Three
declares (xvii, 110): “ Call on God or call on the M erciful;
Persons of the Trinity are One God, and as the Koran

howsoever ye invohc Him, it is well, for to Him belony the
most excellent Names.” ’ Tlie cardinal Names in the Koran
ai'e three, viz. Allah and ar-Rahman and ar-Rabb, by which
One God is signified, and the rest of the Names serve as
epithets of those three.
G. ‘ Necks,’ indicating the Light as in the Tradition
‘ The muezzins shall bo the longest-necked of mankind on the
Day of Resurrection ’.