Page 64 - Demo

It now remains to say few words about the Muslim60Sufism and the Greek word Sophia (wisdom); and a discussion of these two systems of high knowledge does lie outside the scope of this article. Philosophy, in the wider sense of the term, is the study or science of the first principles of being; in other words, it transcends the limits of physics to study the pure being, and leaves behind the study of causes or laws of that whichhappens or is seen in Nature. It takes the greatest pains to find the truth. The Muslim Sufism is the contemplation on Allah and self, and takes the greatest pains to achieve a union between the two. The superiority of the Islamic Sophia to the Greek philosophy is manifest from the object it views at. It is decidedly superior to the Christian celibacy and monasticisminitsindifferencetowardstheconsciencesand the beliefs of other people. A Muslim Sophi (súfí) always entertains respect for other religions, laughs at the idea of “heresy” and abhors all persecutions and oppressions. Most of the Christian Saints were either persecutors of or the persecuted by heretics and their celebrity consists in their excess of intolerance. This is, alas, only very true.As a secondary remark, I should like to add that the Muslim authors have always written the Greek word “philosophy” in the form of Phelsepha with sin instead of sadi or tzadi, which is one of the constituent letters in the Hebrew and Arabic words Sapha and Sophi. I think this form was introduced into the Arabic literature by the Assyrian translators who formerly belonged to the Nestorian sect. the Turks write the name St. Sophia of Constantinople with sadi, but philosophy with sin, like the samekh of the Hebrews. I believe that the Greek Sophia is to be identified etymologically with the Hebrew word; and the idea that the Muslim word Sophia (Sofiya) is derived from the soph, which means “wool,” ought to be abandoned.