rds the protected park
approacheth; till the instant of departure for the vast plain (the
spiritual world) draweth nigh. It then cooeth on the top of a lofty
pinnacle (for knowledge can exalt all who were not exalted) and it has
come to the knowledge of every mystery in the universe, while yet its
tattered vest hath not been mended.[43]

"Its descent was predestined so that it might hear what it had not
heard, else why did it descend from the high and lofty heaven to the
depth of the low and humble earth? If God sent it down by a decision of
His will, His motive is concealed from the intelligence of man. Why did
it descend to be withheld from the exalted summit of heaven by the
coarse net of the body, and to be detained in a cage? It is like a flash
of lightning shining over the meadow, and disappearing as if it had
never gleamed."

Although Avicenna's reputation in the Muhammedan world has always been
high, his mystical treatises have generally been regarded as heretical,
and many have only been preserved in Hebrew translations. He himself
says explicitly that he only intended them for his most intimate
disciples, and forbade them to be communicated to the multitude. For his
own part, he conformed to the religious law and customs. The celebrated
contemporary Sufi Abou Said Abi'l Khair having asked his opinion
regarding the custom of praying for the dead, and visiting their tombs,
he answers thus:

"God the Unique Being and Source of all that exists--angels,
intelligences exempt from connection with matter, souls united to
matter, elements in all their varied developments--animal, vegetable and
mineral, inspires His whole creation, and His omniscience embraces all.
His influence in the first place acts immediately on the Active
Intelligences and angels, who in their turn act on souls which in their
turn act on our sublunary world. If there were not homogeneity of
substance between celestial and terrestrial souls and likeness between
the macrocosm of the universe, and the microcosm of man, the knowledge
of God would be impossible for us, as the Prophet himself hath said, 'He
who knows himself, knows God.' All creation, whose parts are linked
together, is subject to influences which all derive from a single
source--God. Terrestrial souls differ widely in rank; the highest are
endowed with gifts of prophecy, and perfected so far that they attain
the sphere of pure intelligence. A soul of this kind entering after
death