A literary history of Persia

412 THE ISMAfLI SECTthat the skins of the damned will be changed into other skins, inorder that these, which have not participated in their sins, may besubmitted to the Torment of the Fire " ?"What are the Seven Gates of Hell- Fire and the Eight Gates of"Paradise ?"Why were the heavens created according to the number Seven,and the Earths likewise ? And why, also, is the firstchapter of theQur'an composed of seven verses ? "" What means this axiom of the philosophers, that man is a littleworld (Microcosm) and the World a magnified man ?Why doesman, contrary to all other animals, carry himself erect ? Why hashe ten digits on the hands, and as many on the feet ;and why arefour digits of the hand divided each into three phalanges, while thethumb has only two ?Why has the face alone seven apertures, 1while in all the rest of the body there are but two Why ? has hetwelve dorsal and seven cervical vertebras ?Why has his head theform of the letter mim, his two hands that of a fjd, his belly that ofa mim, and his two legs that of a ddl, in such wise that he forms, asit were, a written book, of which the interpretation is the name ofMuhammad (M.H.M.D.)?Why does his stature, when erect,resemble the letter alif, while when he kneels it resembles theletter lam, and when he is prostrate * the letter hd, in such wise thathe forms, as it were, an inscription of which the readingis Ildh(I. L. "H.), God ?" Then," says de 3 " Sacy, addressing themselves to those who listento them, they say : 'Will you not reflect on your own state ? Willyou not meditate attentively on it, and recognise that He who hascreated you is wise, that He does not act by chance, that He hasacted in all this with wisdom, and that it is for secret and mysteriousreasons that He has united what He has united, and divided whatHe has divided ? How can you imagine that it is permissible foryou to turn aside your attention from all these things, when youhear these words .of God (Quran, li, 20-21) "There are signs on the:earth to those who believe with a firm faith ; and in your own selves ;will ye not then consider?" And again (Qur'an, xiv, 30), "And Godpropounds unto mankind parables, that perchance they may reflectthereon.'" And " again (Qur'an, xli, 53), We will show them our signsin the horizons and in themselves, that itmay become clear unto them1See p. 408 supra.3These are the three positions in prayer named qiydm, ruku 1 ,andsujud.3 Op. cit., pp. Ixxxvii-lxxxix.