THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES 123

different faculties represented by the planets.

From another point of view the heart is compared
to the moon which reflects the light of the divine sun.
In this case the phases of the moon correspond to the
different states of receptivity of the heart or, parallel
with this, to different “revelations” (tajalliyat) of Divine
Being. !

Al-himmah signifies the force of decision, the desire
to rise above oneself or spiritual aspiration. Thus it is
a quality of the will and not an intellectual faculty ; none
the less it should be noted that by anticipation spiritual
will is intellectual. From the point of view of realisa-
tion it is the most important and the noblest faculty of
man. Man is only truly man through his will to be
delivered, by his ascending tendency, pictured in his
vertical posture which distinguishes him from animals.
Al-himmah is also the faith that moves mountains.

The vital spirit, called ar-rizh by analogy with the
transcendent Spirit, is what Hindus call prana and al-
chemists spiritus : it is a subtle modality intermediate
between the immortal soul and the body. It is to the
Divine Spirit as the circumference of a circle is to its
centre. This vital spirit is relatively-=undifferentiated ;
it includes not only the spatially delimited body but also
the sensory faculties with their spheres of experience.
Ordinarily man is not aware of it, but in certain states
of realisation this spirit becomes the vehicle for a dif-
fused spiritual light which may even radiate externally.

1. See the study of Astrology according to Ibn ‘Arabi mentioned in the
previous note.