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THE TARJUMAK AL-ASHWAQ (XA’ IIl) 83

alight in the eoiu'se of their journey to infinite knowledge of
their object of worship.
‘ And weep over the ruins/ i.e. the traces left those
gnostics, since I cannot accompany them.
‘ The decayed habitations/ because. thefre is no joy in the
abodes which have been deserted, and their ver3’- existence
depends on tho.se who dwell in them.
2. ‘ Their camels/ i.e. their a.spirations.
‘ The vapour/ i.e. the evidences (Jjl’j) of that which thej’
seek, for its evidences are^ attached to its being found in
themselves.
‘ The desert,’ i.e. the station of abstraction
3. ‘ Makes laige/ i.e. thej’’ ai’e grand because thej!^
evidence of the grandeur of that which they seek. Hence it
is said, ‘ In ox'der that he who was not (uamelj', thou) may
pass awaj-, and He who never was not (namely, God) max*
.subsist for ever.’ And God said, ‘ Like a vapour in the
2>lain (i.e. the station of Innnility) . . . when he cometh to
it, he jindeth it to be noth mg, hut he jindcth God u'itti him ’
(Ivor, xxiv, 39), inasmuch as all sccondaiy causes have been
cut off from him. Accordingly the author saj's that the
vapour makes large, etc., meaning that Man’s superioritj'
over all other contingent beings consists in his giving stronger
evidence of God, since he is the most perfect organism, as the
Prophet .said, ‘ Vcrilv he xvas created in the image of the
.Merciful.’
4. ‘ Desiring al-‘Udhajdj,’ i.e. seeking the nn’stery of life
Divine manifestation ( ^1^ * dhawq being the first.
in the station of purity from the fountain of liberalitj’.
‘ That the}" might drink’ : shurh is the second degree of

5. ‘ Whether they have pitched tents,’ refeiring to know­
ledge acquired by them.
‘ Or have sought the shade of the did tree/ referring to
knowledge divinely bestowed, in which their actions have no
part. JMl implies bewilderment (i^.*-).
G. ‘ At Zarud,’ a great tract of .sand in the desert: inas­
much as sand is often to.s.sed by the wind from one place