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acquired from below is transported to the branches and causes them to
grow. And they produce what they were created for, be it the generation of leaves, or flowers, or fruits. The digestive organs of animals are quick-acting. Animals are locomotory; they would not stand at one place. (At by-th the animal draws
nourishment from its mother) because of it's proximity to her.) Once it has moved away from that source, it will not derive its nourishment in full from the source which once it had at hand. It is gnawed by its desire to eat, chew, and digest food. God has, therefore, vouchsafed to it locomotory organs through whose agency it roves in search of the. food around it and He has granted it the type of consciousness which is suitable to it. It has been given the five senses so that it can go forward to acquire what it takes and to avoid what is dangerous for it. It has been vouchsafed the auditive faculty, since vision would not serve the purpose here. It becomes accustomed to these sounds and remains on guard. It has been granted the sense of smell, so that it could discover qualitative attributes of things for fulfilling its requirements. Through its sense of taste it can distinguish between the suitable (edible) and unsuitable (inedible) food. The tactile capacity would enable it to distinguish between the hot and the cold, the dry and the humid, the hard and the soft, the smooth and the rough. In this way its sustenance in the world is assured and it remains swift and clever. Pause1
The senses receive reflexes from ordinary impressions, provided they
do not exceed the threshold point and are not liable to cause injury. (For example) the sense of sight provides the impression for receiving vision, and light presents the different bodies in their colours and other attributes, e.g. their forms and characteristics. Likewise, voices result from the auditory faculty, and they are transported by air towards the animal. The impressions resulting from the olfactory faculty are odours which are carried to the nostrils. They get detached from perfumes in the mariner of the vapours that rise from water. The detached ingredients become dissolved in the air. The impressions of the sense of taste are given by victuals. They are carried through the agency of humidity to the body tasting it, which forces their entry into it, as the organs of the sense of taste are the tongue, the palate and the uvula. Once these organs dry up, the body shall not be able to enjoy the taste of anything. All these four senses are connected with different parts of the body, and do not exceed their stations. As for the fifth sense — the tactile — it extends to the whole body, is related to all the organs, and through them is to be found everywhere. It is not specially confined to a single organ, and therefore, the impressions received by it make their impact felt first. |
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