On Practice

This chapter concerns worship. It opens with a remark concerning the role of the body. Bodily forms of worship can be useful in directing knowledge to the heart; acts of worship done with the body are likened to the capital with which one starts a business. Supererogatory acts then follow just as profits follow upon a good investment of capital. The chapter then discusses protective measures: measures against sinning with the body and the tongue in particular, as well as measures to guard against “scourges of the heart.” Here, Ibn Kammūna offers a general observation: it is harder to refrain from transgressions than it is to perform positive commandments. Our bodies and faculties are God's gift to us; we should not use them against Him. Finally, the chapter describes the “stations” that the seeker—here qualified as the seeker after worship and knowledge—must climb through.

On Knowledge

This chapter focuses on the soul. It begins by defining the soul as the referent of I whenever someone states something in the first person. For Ibn Kammūna, the fixed identity to which I refers whenever I speak of myself is critical. Personal improvement, through ethical refinement and the acquisition of knowledge, is indeed pivotal for the way of life he advocates. These changes all affect the same immortal, immaterial core person. The chapter next deals with the indestructibility of the soul. The issue is clearly of great importance, and Ibn Kammūna musters several proofs. It goes on to address the destiny of the soul and its ultimate perfection. To conclude, this chapter argues for the supremacy of intellectual pleasures over sensual ones.

On Knowledge

This chapter is a treatise on knowledge. It first discusses the “categories of knowledge” and explicates on what the true knowledge—or the knowledge of “true realities”—consists of. It then introduces the “Supreme Being,” an entity whose name's meaning is rather subtle and rife with philosophical connotations. Afterward, the chapter takes up attributes (properties, descriptions) of the deity that must be confirmed, and another set that must be denied. From there on, the chapter makes a significant refutation of dualism—the counterpart to monotheism—which becomes a major focus of the final section of this chapter. To this end, this chapter demonstrates that the “Governor of the Cosmos” has no partner and also makes a very brief rebuttal of the possibility that there be more than one cosmos.