then they are far more noble and excellent than what is found here—because those celestial substances are purer, more luminous, more transparent, more complete, and more perfect."

Another said: "If those sensory realities existing there were not more noble and excellent than what is here, and if souls had no way of attaining them, then the philosophers' encouragement to return to the world of spirits, and the prophets'—may their glory be exalted—exhortations and kindling of desire toward the bliss of Paradise, would be vain, false, and a slander. Far be it from Allah that such should be the case!"

The Brethren of Purity (Ikhwan al-Safa): "And know, my brother, that when a human being reflects, he finds that the similitude of the body is like a ship, the soul is like its captain, actions are like the merchants' merchandise, the world is like the sea, death is like the shoreline, the Hereafter is like the city of the merchants, and Allah the Exalted is the King who dispenses rewards there. The human being is built upon the form of the cosmos: the structure of his body is like the earth, his bones are like mountains, the marrow within them is like minerals, his interior cavity is like the seas, his intestines are like rivers, his veins are like streams, his flesh is like soil, his hair is like plants,