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Manage episode 417551750 series 3573575
“My dear pupil, ever since you resolved to come to me, from a distant
country, and to study under my direction, I thought highly of your
thirst for knowledge, and your fondness for speculative pursuits, which
found expression in your poems. I refer to the time when I received
your writings in prose and verse from Alexandria. I was then not yet
able to test your powers of apprehension, and I thought that your
desire might possibly exceed your capacity. But when you had gone with
me through a course of astronomy, after having completed the [other]
elementary studies which are indispensable for the understanding of
that science, I was still more gratified by the acuteness and the
quickness of your apprehension. Observing your great fondness for
mathematics, I let you study them more deeply, for I felt sure of your
ultimate success. Afterwards, when I took you through a course of
logic, I found that my great expectations of you were confirmed, and I
considered you fit to receive from me an exposition of the esoteric
ideas contained in the prophetic books, that you might understand them
as they are understood by men of culture. When I commenced by way of
hints, I noticed that you desired additional explanation, urging me to
expound some metaphysical problems; to teach you the system of the
Mutakallemim; to tell you whether their arguments were based on logical
proof; and if not, what their method was. I perceived that you had
acquired some knowledge in those matters from others, and that you were
perplexed and bewildered; yet you sought to find out a solution to your
difficulty. I urged you to desist from this pursuit, and enjoined you
to continue your studies systematically; for my object was that the
truth should present itself in connected order, and that you should not
hit upon it by mere chance. Whilst you studied with me I never refused
to explain difficult verses in the Bible or passages in rabbinical
literature which we happened to meet. When, by the will of God, we
parted, and you went your way, our discussions aroused in me a
resolution which had long been dormant. Your absence has prompted me to
compose this treatise for you and for those who are like you, however
few they may be. I have divided it into chapters, each of which shall
be sent to you as soon as it is completed. Farewell!”
6 episodes