Theologians From Spain

"After logic we must proceed to philosophy proper. Here too we have to learn from our predecessors, just as in mathematics and law. Thus it is wrong to forbid the study of ancient philosophy. Harm from it is accidental, like harm from taking medicine, drinking water, or studying law."

"Praise be to God with all due praise, and a prayer for Muhammad His chosen servant and apostle. The purpose of this treatise is to examine, from the standpoint of the study of the Law, whether the study of philosophy and logic is allowed by the Law, or prohibited, or commanded either by way of recommendation or as obligatory."

"The double meaning has been given to suit people's diverse intelligence. The apparent contradictions are meant to stimulate the learned to deeper study."

"If we admit the existence of the prophetic mission, by putting the idea of possibility, which is in fact ignorance, in place of certainty, and make miracles a proof of the truth of man who claims to be a prophet it becomes necessary that they should not be used by a person, who says that they can be performed by others than prophets, as the Mutakallimun do."

"The necessary connexion of movement and time is real and time is something the soul (dhihn) constructs in movement."

"The Law teaches that the universe was invented and created by God, and that it did not come into being by chance or by itself."

"This is one of the most intricate problems of religion. For if you look into the traditional arguments () about this problem you will find them contradictory; such also being the case with arguments of reason. The contradiction in the arguments of the first kind is found in the Qur'an and the Hadith."

"The texts about the future life fall into, since demonstrative scholars do not agree whether to take them in their apparent meaning or interpret them allegorically. Either is permissible. But it is inexcusable to deny the fact of a future life altogether."

"There is no city that is truly one other than this city that we [anahnti] are involved in bringing forth."

"It is quite clear to you that all the people see that lower kinds of creation could have been made in a different way from that in which they really are, and as they see this lower degree in many things they think that they must have been made by chance."

"On the whole, a man who denies the existence of the effects arranged according to the causes in the question of arts, or whose wisdom cannot understand it, then he has no knowledge of the art of its Maker."

"The Asharites have expressed a very peculiar opinion, both with regard to reason and religion; about this problem they have explained it in a way in which religion has not, but have adopted quite an opposite method."

"Philosophers do not claim that God does not know particulars; they rather claim that He does not know them the way humans do. God knows particulars as their Creator whereas humans know them as a privileged creations of God might know them."

"Come the Day of Judgment, some believe that the body will be different from our present body. This is only transient, that will be eternal. For this also there are religious arguments."

"If understanding followed no rule at all, there would be no good in the understanding nor in the matter understood, and to remain in ignorance would be the greatest good."

"Tota dona val mes quan letra apren"

"Knowledge is the conformity of the object and the intellect."

"To master this instrument the religious thinker must make a preliminary study of logic, just as the lawyer must study legal reasoning. This is no more heretical in the one case than in the other. And logic must be learned from the ancient masters, regardless of the fact that they were not Muslims."

"[In the introduction to his Middle Commentary on Aristotle's Topics, Averroes said] This art has three parts. The first part sets forth the speeches from which dialectical conversation is composed — i.e., its parts, and the parts of its parts on to its simplest components. This part is found in the first treatise on Aristotle's book. The second part sets forth the topics from which syllogisms are drawn — syllogisms for affirming something or denying it with respect to every kind of problem occurring in this art. This is the next six treatises of Aristotle's book The third part set forth how The third part sets forth how the questioner ought to question and the answerer answer. It also sets forth how many kinds of questions and answers there are. This is in the eighth treatise of Aristotle's book.""

"If teleological study of the world is philosophy, and if the Law commands such a study, then the Law commands philosophy."

"Theological necessity was among the main reasons which led St. Isidore of Seville, in the seventh century, to incorporate this theory [of the later development of insects out of carrion, following the initial creation], supported by St. Basil and St. Augustine, into his great encyclopedic work [Etymologiae] which gave materials for thought on God and Nature to so many generations. He familiarized the theological world still further with the doctrine of secondary creation, giving such examples of it as that "bees are generated from decomposed veal, beetles from horseflesh, grasshoppers from mules, scorpions from crabs," and, in order to give still stronger force to the idea of such transformations, he dwells on the biblical account of Nebuchadnezzar, which appears to have taken strong hold upon medieval thought in science, and he declares that other human beings had been changed into animals, especially into swine, wolves, and owls."

"Monks who are working should meditate or sing so that they may be consoled in their labor by the delight of the words and songs of God. For if secular workers do not cease to sing lewd songs among their labors, and thus entangle their mouths in songs and fables, so that they do not withdraw their hands from work, how much more should the servants of Christ, who must work with their hands in such a way that they always have the praise of God in their mouths, and serve with their tongues in psalms and hymns!"

"If [the monks] wish to devote themselves to reading so that they do not work, they are contumacious to reading itself, because they do not do what they read there."

"A detected vice is quickly cured, but the hidden vice, the more it is concealed, the more deeply it creeps, for truly he who neglects to make it known does not wish to be cured at all."

"Law will be honorable, just, possible, according to nature, according to the custom of the country, adapted to the place and time, necessary, useful, clear also, lest it contain anything in its obscurity that tends to fraud, drawn up for no one’s private advantage, but for the common good of all citizens."

"[The abbot] will exhibit himself as one to be imitated in all examples of works; nor shall anyone be allowed to command anything that he has not done himself."

"Offenses are either grave or light. A person guilty of a lighter offense is one who has chosen to be idle; who has come late to duty, to a meeting, or to the table; who has laughed in the choir or engaged in idle tales... who has used a book carelessly... Therefore, these and similar offenses must be corrected with a three-day excommunication."

"For brothers who pass from this life, before they are buried, a sacrifice should be offered to the Lord for the remission of their sins."

"Through idleness, lusts and harmful thoughts grow, but through the exercise of labor, vices are likewise diminished."

"You are ready to give your life for your honour ... Be ready to give up your honour for your soul."

"The strength of a chain is the strength of its weakest link."

"Those in love do not know how to say good-bye: they are with one another all the time."

"Work is man's original vocation. It is a blessing from God, and those who consider it a punishment are sadly mistaken."

"It is easier to bustle about than to study, but it is also less effective."

"The understanding that so many people demand of others is that everyone should join their party."

"The higher a statue is raised, the harder and more dangerous the impact when it falls."

"The pedant interprets the simplicity and the humility of the wise man as ignorance."

"Even in our times, despite those who deny God, earth is very close to Heaven."

"People who are stupid, unscrupulous, or hypocritical, think that others are just the same. And — this is the real pity — they treat them as if they were."

"For everyone, whatever his state — single, married, widowed or priest — chastity is a triumphant affirmation of love."

"Gold, silver, jewels: dust, heaps of manure. Gratification, sensual pleasures, satisfaction of the appetites: like a beast, like a mule, like a cock, like a pig, like a bull. Honours, distinctions, titles: things of air, puffs of pride, lies, nothingness."

"All the things of this world are no more than earth. Place them in a heap under your feet and you will be so much the nearer to heaven."

"I am every day more convinced that happiness in Heaven is for those who know how to be happy on earth."

"First, prayer; then, atonement; in the third place, very much 'in the third place', action."

"You are too calculating. Don't tell me you are young. Youth gives all it can: it gives itself without reserve."

"True virtue is not sad or disagreeable, but pleasantly cheerful."

"With God's grace, you have to tackle and carry out the impossible, because anybody can do what is possible."

"Never say of anybody under you: he is no good. It is you who are no good, for you cannot find a place where he will be of use."

"A person who lives in a place where the norms of behavior are evil and the inhabitants do not follow the straight path should move to a place where the people are righteous and follow the ways of the good.If all the places with which he is familiar and of which he hears reports follow improper paths, as in our times, ... he should remain alone in seclusion. ...If they are wicked and sinful and do not allow him to reside there unless he mingle with them and follow their evil behavior, he should go out to caves, thickets, and deserts."

"It is natural for a man's character and actions to be influenced by his friends and associates and for him to follow the local norms of behavior. Therefore, he should associate with the righteous and be constantly in the company of the wise, so as to learn from their deeds. Conversely, he should keep away from the wicked who walk in darkness, so as not to learn from their deeds."