Deliverance from Error

But those who push their investigation beyond ordinary limits are safe from the suspicion of negligence in pursuing what is within their reach. The author argues that by doubting everything, he is being more thorough, not lazy.

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SEEKERS AFTER TRUTH

When God in the abundance of His mercy had healed me of this malady, Referring to his period of intense skepticism or "sophistry" described on previous pages. I ascertained that those who are engaged in the search for truth may be divided into three groups.

I. Scholastic theologians original: "al-Mutakallimun." These were scholars who used rational argument to defend religious doctrines., who profess to follow theory and speculation.

II. The Philosophers original: "al-Falasifa." Specifically those influenced by Greek logic and Aristotelian thought., who profess to rely upon formal logic.

III. The Sufis original: "al-Sufiyya." Practitioners of Islamic mysticism., who call themselves the elect of God and possessors of intuition original: "mushahada," meaning direct spiritual witnessing. and knowledge of the truth by means of ecstasy original: "dhawq," literally "tasting"—an experiential knowledge of the divine..

“The truth,” I said to myself, “must be found among these three classes of men who devote themselves to the search for it. If it escapes them, one must give up all hope of attaining it. Having once surrendered blind belief original: "taqlid," the unquestioning acceptance of authority or tradition., it is impossible to return to it, for the essence of such belief is to be unconscious of itself. As soon as this unconsciousness ceases it is shattered like a glass whose fragments cannot be again reunited except by being cast again into the furnace and The text cuts off here, likely continuing with "remolded."