\u201cLight the world with his light\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
In The Niche of Lights<\/em>, al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b tells his audience that he will be addressing very deep doctrine, doctrine that should not be revealed to everybody:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have knocked at a locked door that is not to be opened except for the firmly rooted possessors of knowledge. \u00a0What is more, not every mystery is to be unveiled and divulged, and not every reality is to be presented and disclosed. \u00a0Indeed, \u2018the breasts of the free are the graves of the mysteries'\u201d (2).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the people of arrogant delusion become many, it becomes necessary to preserve the coverings upon the face of the mysteries\u201d (2).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, he says, judgment is required. \u00a0It\u2019s wrong to reveal things to those who aren\u2019t ready for them, but it\u2019s also wrong not to reveal them to people who should appropriately know them:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
He who bestows knowledge on the ignorant wastes it,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nAnd he who withholds it from the worthy has done them wrong. (2)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
And, says al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b, coming to a full knowledge of God can be a dangerous matter. \u00a0He quotes the Prophet Muhammad:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
God has seventy veils of light and darkness; were He to lift them, the august glories of His face would burn up everyone whose eyesight perceived him. (1)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 More than two decades ago \u2014 how things have changed since those sunny and optimistic times! \u2014 BYU\u2019s Islamic Translation Series published its second book: \u00a0Al-Ghaz\u0101l\u012b, The Niche of Lights, translated, introduced, and annotated by David Buchman (Provo: Brigham Young University, 1998). \u00a0It\u2019s fun to glance through the reader reviews of it at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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