185

mals, and the promoter of growth and increase*
And the rational spirit he compared to milk, as
being a salutary and agreeable nourishment, and
promoting welfare. And as to what he said: " I
44 wished to take the wine; but he forbade it, that
4< I might take the milk:" is in allusion to most men,
who, being badly disposed, do not desist from obse-
quiousness to two spirits, those of nature and bru-
tishness ; and whoever is badly disposed demands
what is material, and the pleasure and enjoyment
of these two spirits are of this kind.

" The Prophet said farther: When 1 arrived
" there I entered the mosque, and the crier called
** to prayer; and I stepped forward, I saw an assem-
" bly of prophets and angels standing to the right
64 and the left; every one saluted me, and made a
i' new covenant with me."1 This means: When I be-
came freed from all converse and concern with bru-
tishness and nature, I entered the mosque, that is,
I retired into the inmost of the soul; by ct crier of

4< 4 nence.' " — Lower down: *' And there-can be no temperament so
" equalised that the elements in it should be exactly of the same quan-
" tity and mode. And in proportion as a temperament more nearly
" approaches equality, the soul bestowed on it by the Originator of being
44 is more perfect."

1 In the temple of Jerusalem, Muhammed was saluted by choirs of
angels and prophets, as the first of intercedes before God, the last of
prophets, and as one who will assemble the people on the day of
judgment.