On the Compass.

Conversus deinde ab superstitionem, quia ignorantes opera superstitionem crudus est, qui inscriptus est laborum maiores blasphemiam ab his imitando quod non potest comprehendere et exterminantes quod prae manibus est.

Signum ergo “compassum” esse magnam, quae Academia nomen tanta sumsit a machinam.  Similitudine nomen "Al Kompas", et facit aliud con passio, ut quidem Academiae certam ut verius dicuntur. 

Mussulmen enim credebam in orationibus, ipsi vertere quodam modo propheta ad illum locum ubi vixerit vel docuerit.  Apud antiquos enim Mussulmen qui habitabat iuxta Mecca locum qui vocatur, magna nec certamine tantus labor implendum. Quidam ad Meccam futurum oriente ad occidentem, qui habitabat orare, et habitatores Mecca occidentem, orientem petere futurum, et cetera. 
Sed tunc sicut Mussulmen migrare fecit, et ire procul mandatum eorum sustinuit in partem orare, tametsi longe ab domo Prophetae.  Unde coacti sunt, non ex sua sapientia, sed ignorantes ab officio religionis geo maior fieri, ut utra ut accuratius ostendere chartae, ut oraret.
Unum peculiarem simillimum videatur, licet tanta aeternam donare Deum momenti, de Mussulmen erant certa, iussit orare et non solum pro eo, et quidam quidem Deus volebat ire civitati uno tempore in animas eorum.

Didicerunt scientia, et in circino magnetite ergo Mussulmen valde capax eorum geometria et peregrinationes.

Facti sunt non solum ut expeditior in circino, sed peritior cogitationis vias, decursu saeculorum paucis ingeniosi homines animadverterat, quod singulis situm proprium haberet directionem Mecca. Nec circumdabit posse componi ex qualicumque indicant ingeniosa inventione quae semper vera Mecca. Etenim quae tantummodo locum habeat numquid forte fortuna austrinos conditione ville versus ambitum ostendat Mecca.

Ex diebus antiquis in Mussulmen movet tam paradoxum - nam solus, quia ignorans quo Mecca circino erat inanis esset. Sed haec machina non est determinare quonam Mussulman non semper orare. Ita non modo prorsus inutilis est, in definiendis versus ambitum Mecca, sed etiam omnino oportet determinare intendit.

In circulum vertitur in singulis hominibus, verum est Cor Dei. Ubicumque sit, tamen in veritate viam Dei manet in aeternum, an in illo homine, ut quodam percipiant.

Tamen via illa non numquam simpliciter, quia duo non possunt esse simul in eodem loco, et non est idem, non est tarnen ad duos in eadem directione Cor Dei. Aliud enim est unum hominem, alterum sine altero iudicatur, similiter nec unus Deus potest sustinere. Nam aliter unum posset peccatum, quod altera possit iudicari; oboediens aut magno et facere aliquid aliud quam Deus arridet.

Sic non est magis unum hominem quam alterum errorem, quia hoc ipsum quod est Cor Dei, aliud refragantibus, quod alio est Cor Dei. Nam eodem modo terrentur Mussulmen id circumierunt minima erroris occasionem satagerent Mecca versus usque ad os in ordinem desit locus, ita quoque contra omnes homines praeter maculam Cor Dei, ut omnino nusquam scire potest Cor Dei: et ita fallibilia animalia nihil nisi quam humilitas et obsecratio ad salutem petunt suscipit non meritis nostris.
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Turning, then from superstition; for superstition is only the crude work of the ignorant, which is disrespectfully scrawled upon the works of greater men, by those imitating what they cannot comprehend, and defacing all that comes to hand.

The Compass did become a great symbol of thought, so great that the Academy took its name from that device.   It is said that the similarity between the word "Al-Kompas", and the other word compassion made even more truly the certainty of that Academy that they should be called such.

For the Mussulmen did believe that in their prayers, they were to turn a certain way, towards that place where their Prophet had lived and taught.  For those Mussulmen in early days, living nearby the place called Mecca, the fulfillment of such a command was no great challenge.  Some who lived east of Mecca would turn west to pray; and those who lived west of Mecca, would turn east to pray, and such.  

But then as the Mussulmen did migrate and travel far away, their commandment to pray in that direction endured, notwithstanding their distance from that home of the Prophet.  Therefore, they were forced, not from their duty to wisdom but merely from their ignorant religion, to become great geometers, in order that they might construct maps to show them in which direction they might pray. 
Although it sounds most peculiar that God would endow one place with such eternal importance, the Mussulmen were fixated upon it; for not only were they commanded to pray to that place, they also were certain that God wished them to travel to that City at least one time in their lives.  Naturally, their interest in geometry was practical in this instance, for they needed to know not only the direction of that place, but also the means of travel thereto.  Having been taught the science of magnetite and the compass, therefore, the Mussulmen became much enabled in their geometry and travels.

As they became not only more facile with the compass, but also more skilled in the ways of thought, over the centuries some had noticed that each individual location had its own direction to Mecca.  No compass could be constructed by any sort of ingenious invention which would point true to Mecca.  In fact, only those places which were accidentally north or south of that town did ever possess the fortunate instance that the compass should point in the direction of Mecca.

The Mussulmen of old puzzled over such a paradox – for alone, a compass was worthless for knowing whither Mecca might be.  However, without this device, a Mussulman could not ever determine in what direction he should pray.  Thus, a compass was not only completely useless in determining the direction to Mecca, but also absolutely necessary.

Within each man lies a compass which ever points true to the Heart of God.  Notwithstanding wherever he might be, the path to God remains forever true, whether or not that man can perceive it at a certain instance in time.  

Nevertheless, that path is not ever invariant; for as two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time, without being one identity, nevertheless two persons cannot turn to the Heart of God in the identical direction.  For as one person is different than the other, and is judged independently of the other, no two persons can face God in the same manner.  Otherwise, one person might commit a sin, for which the other might be judged; or one might do a great and god-fearing thing, for which God smiles upon the other.  

Thus, one man may not be in greater error than another, for saying that the Heart of God is exactly this way, and another disagreeing, saying that the Heart of God is in another direction.  For in the same way that the Mussulmen fear – that the tiniest error with a compass while attempting to facing towards Mecca might cause one to face in a direction that far misses the mark; so, too, all humans miss the mark in facing the Heart of God, as we can never know the Heart of God exactly; and being such fallible creatures, we have nothing but humility and prayer to beg for that salvation which we cannot earn on our own merit.

More of the History of Alkonbas

Enim videtur in veritate quod omnia, quae per unusquisque tempus in sua, contendere se atque in suo ad conveniens aeternam formam, conveniens quod formam quisque in suo ordine secundum essentiam utriusque. Fortasse aliqui sunt, ut tempus sit falsus arcus, formae ad quam nullo modo sequitur, quod medium inter autem est et non esse,

Non solum ex ad muniendum educationis teleologia animi temperantia sed etiam dare, ut ipsa suis fidelibus mandat cursum huc atque illuc invitamenta ad reluctari. Pecuarius imperitis re utilitas imperitis super frenum equi est, quod visum finiret, ut non reverteretur a via ex distractione. Miles uero, cum equo utitur comitem et imperandi potestatem esse, quo se feret velit.

Et similiter dicendum est de fine Al-kompas tentatio, cum virtutis et sapientiae fons. Nam in pascua decet tantae eruditionis ac effondere gaudium humani effectus. Sed per viam, quam ripas suscipit ergo hic tantum pauca referre Al-kompas et in magnitudine et occasum.

Legenda casus Al-kompas et infernalis describitur creatura in hoc, praebet superstitioni dependens, ex uno crure quod suspensus est, et quod sibi fornicem cicatrix per aspera saxa, et ut impleatur in eis creaturae causa mortis eius. Ut super saxa, et linivit limus factus cemento quod aer non præteribit inter saxa commorabitur. Etenim eo loco, ne diu se ipsa nocte, et super Crucis signo se abstinuit tactu, de illud nequam spiritu. Post triduum coeperunt aeris foedam referant signati ex arce, in modum odoris ossarii.

Sed etiam malum noctis initio, facta incessanter ab intus signato fornicem longinqua sicco risum quasi saxa maximum moverentur super sese.

Ventus vehemens irruit in tempestate in noctis, lavit ex limo saxa, et ecce! non ibi stetit, quoniam una ingens saxum Hurghada eiusmodi antiquis notus est pater fumus, in quo concurrit per venas sanguine rubrum, et indivisus esset et corpore.

For it seems in truth that all things, each by virtue of their existence in Time, strive independently towards Becoming that which is their eternal and proper form, each in its own turn, depending on the essence of each.  Maybe some thinkers themselves, might have said that Time itself is a false arch, having no form within towards which it thus pursues; but is merely rather the space between which Being and Non-Being, the Perfection and the Nullity, arch.

The end of education is not only to strengthen the mind, but also to give it temperance, that itself may command its faithful direction, resisting the temptation to turn this way and that.  The unskilled drover uses blinders upon the horse, that it may not turn from the path due to distraction.  The knight, on the other hand, uses the power of command and comradeship with the steed, that it shall bear him whither he desires. 

So, too, the temptation is great to speak endlessly of Al-kompas, being a fountainhead of virtue and wisdom.  Indeed, it is fitting to frolic in the pasture of such great learning and human accomplishment.  Rather than creating a path that is only a meander, then, only a few incidents shall be recounted here of Al-kompas and its greatness; and its fall.

The legend of the fall of Al-kompas and that infernal creature herein described, offers the superstition that it was hanged dependent from one leg, and that the arch itself was closed up with rough stones, so as to seal the creature therein and cause its death.  Mud was created and spread upon the stones as a cement, that air not pass between the stones.   For long after that night did people avoid that location, and did make the sign of the Cross upon themselves, that they might be spared the touch of that evil spirit.   After three days, a foul air began to waft from the sealed arch, and did smell of a charnel house.

But even beginning that evil night, there came unceasingly from within the sealed arch a distant dry laughter as though great stones were being moved upon themselves.

And then a great wind came upon the storm at night, and washed the mud from the stones, and behold! there stood instead, a single massive stone, of that type known to the ancients as Hurghada, the ‘Father of Smoke’, wherein blood-red veins ran through it; and it was undivided and solid.

Memoriam Alkonbas

O Alkonbas! O tua pietate! O Contritionem tuam!
Nihil in mundo participatur per fontem scripturae divinae sapientiae!

Alkonbas accidit, tam cito finis bibliothecae, qui in tenebris, et memoriam eius redacta cadunt in mille partes tenebris involutam.

Maurus chorum vulgus quidam dicunt in vinculis, inducti ; flagellabatur, habentem in capite suo arietem cornibus. In superliminari scriptus esset verba "vere mendacium fornicem." Maurus suspensus est robustus funiculum per unum crurem.

Hæc sunt omnes fabulas et superstitiones et ultra. Sed tamen casu dicere nefas est et finis loquitur S. Alkonbas.

Tamen et ipsi locuti sunt casus, qui postea horrore de bibliotheca Alkonbas.
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O Alkonbas! O thy devotion! 

In thy destruction, nothing is left of that fountainhead of God’s wisdom shared into the world through His scriptures!

The end befell the books of Alkonbas so quickly, that the memories of its fall are shrouded in darkness and fragmented into a thousand fragments of blackness.

Some say that the mob was led by a dancing Moor in chains, and whipped, having the horns of a ram upon his head. At the lintel was carved the words "false arch", and the Moor was hanged from a stout cord by one leg.  All these fables are superstitions, and no more.   But they speak nevertheless of the fall of the Library of Alkonbas and the horror that came thereafter.

Hajj Miriam (2)

In Baetica quodam loco maxime notabilis doctorum hominum coetum plusquam aliis locis in Baetica, ex variis religionibus fidem non inuenit in mundo sunt omnium quae fidei Academia ad discussionem omnibus hominibus.

Nam ita fuisse Athenis antiquitus in Academia et sapientium et doctorum hominum, qui homines studiosa natura disseruit aeterna, ita ut nemo fidem conterere, sed pro quibus ipsa ratio vulgo abhorrens praeter .

Etiam apud infideles, sapientes fuisse rationem dialecticam extulit arma cognita acceptaque de natura Dei. Et quia existimarent quod nullus homo poni ratio ex propositionibus per naturam Dei capere possent, tamen esset officium omnibus exquirentibus se animo et studio divinis possent. Hos paucis alumni  qui persecutus est Academia has quaestiones Alkonbas strenue se vocabant, seu "circuitus".

Nam in scripturis sacris habetur Mussulmen, quod fide crederent per mandatum Dei, ut noveritis eos, qui servant testamentum Abraham, et facere bene in nobis, qui sequebatur Iesus, qui dicitur "Isa" secundum linguam suam.

Magis mirabile est, Mussulmen cognoverunt, quod Deus erudierunt propheta Muhammad simpliciter veritatem, et veritas Dei eorum factus est simpliciter scripta legis et evangelii, in sacris litteris ipso Deo amabiles et sine erroris.

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In a certain place in Andalusia, most notable for its gatherings of learned men, moreso than other places elsewhere in Andalusia, men of faith of the various religions practiced in the world did found a academy for the discussion of matters of faith that are universal to all men.  

For there existed in ancient times in the Academy of Athens such wise and learned men who could understand and discuss matters of the Eternal, in such a way as to bruise the faith of no men, excepting the unlettered and those for whom reason itself was repellent.  

Even amongst the infidels, there existed men of wisdom who exalted logic and dialectic as instruments of discovery of the nature of God.   They supposed from propositions using logic and reason that although no ordinary man could possibly apprehend the true nature of God, nevertheless it was the duty of all men to seek out the nature of God as eagerly and wholeheartedly as they possibly could.  The small academy of students who pursued these questions energetically called themselves Alkonbas, or “The Compass.”

For in the writings considered to be holy by the Mussulmen, they did believe that the faithful were commanded by God, to respect those who keep the covenant of Abraham, and to respect those who follow Jesus, who is named 'Isa' in their language.

  More amazingly, Mussulmen knew that God had instructed their Prophet Muhammad only the Truth, and the Truth of the Gospel and the Scriptures of the Law of God was holy and were sacred books, and given of God Himself without error.