ly
partially understood. In the Middle Ages his fame was eclipsed by that
of Averroes, whose commentary on Aristotle is alluded to by Dante, and
was studied by Thomas Aquinas and the schoolmen. Averroes' system was
rounded and complete, but Ghazzali was one of those "whose reach exceeds
their grasp"; he was always striking after something he had not
attained, and stands in many respects nearer to the modern mind than
Averroes. Renan, though far from sympathising with his religious
earnestness, calls him "the most original mind among Arabian
philosophers," and De Boer says, "Men like Ghazzali have for philosophy
this significance that they are a problem alike for themselves and for
philosophy, because they are a fragment of spiritual reality that
requires explanation. By the force of their personality they remove
what hinders them in the construction of their systems without troubling
about correctness. Later thinkers make it their business to explain the
impulses that guide such men both in their work of destruction and of
restoration. Original minds like his supply food for reflection to
future generations."

[44] Imam, _i.e._ leader.

[45] A sect which declared the impossibility of arriving at truth
except through an "Imam" or infallible guide.

[46] D.B. Macdonald "Life of Ghazzali."

CHAPTER XII.

Fariduddin Attar
(AD 1119-1229)

Fariduddin Attar was born in the village of Kerken near Nishapur in
Khorassan, A.D. 1119 under the Sultan Sandjar. Some years after his
birth his father removed to Schadbakh, where he kept a druggist's shop.
On his father's death, Fariduddin carried on the business, whence he
received his cognomen Attar (druggist). His call to the religious life
was as follows: One day while he was seated in his shop surrounded by
servants busily attending to his orders, a wandering dervish paused at
the door and regarded him silently, while his eyes slowly filled with
tears. Attar sharply told him to be off about his business. "That is
easily done," replied the dervish; "I have only a light bundle to carry,
nothing in fact but my clothes. But you with your sacks full of valuable
drugs, when the time comes to go, what will _you_ do? Had you not better
consider a little?" The appeal went home. He promptly abandoned his
business in order to devote himself to a religious life. Bidding a
decisive adieu to the world, he betook himself to a Sufi convent,
presided over by Sheikh Ruknud