GhazzaWs Alchemy of Happiness. 



49 



cannot grow in the knowledge of God, unless we under- 

 stand the works of God. 



The works of God are apprehended by the senses, which 

 are five, hearing, sight, taste, smell and touch. For such 

 an arrangement of the senses, there was also need of a 

 body. The body itself is composed of four diverse elements, 

 water, earth, air and fire. Being, therefore, liable to decay, 

 it is in continual danger of perishing from the external and 

 internal enemies that perpetually assail it. Its external 

 enemies, are such as wild beasts, drowning and conflagra- 

 tions ; its internal enemies, such as hunger and thirst. For 

 the purpose of resisting these, it was in want of various in- 

 ternal and external forces, such as the hand and foot, sight 

 and hearing, food and drink. And in this connection, for 

 eating and drinking, it is in want of internal and external 

 instruments like the hand, the mouth, the stomach, the 

 powers of appetite and digestion. In addition to these in- 

 struments, there was need of means to guide in their occa- 

 sional use, that is, for the internal senses. These are five, 

 the faculties of perception, reflection, memory, recollec- 

 tion and imagination. Their home is in the brain, and 

 each has a specific function, as is well known to the learned. 

 If to any one of all these faculties and instruments an in- 

 jury occurs, the actions of man are defective. Now all 

 these are the agents of the heart and subject to its rule. 

 If, for example, the heart gives permission to the ear, hear- 

 ing results ; if it gives permission to the eye, there follows 

 sight; if it gives permission to the foot, there is move- 

 ment. All the other members are obedient in the same 

 manner to the commands of the heart. The divine plan 

 in all this arrangement is, that while the members preserve 

 the body for a few days from harm, the heart, in its vehicle 

 the body, should pursue its business of cultivating the seeds 



1 S. 74:34. 

 Trans, viii.'] 



7 



