light? As for God's statement:
Whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself) though no fire
touched it.89
It is obviously meant to emphasise the pellucid nature of the oil. In the
event, what we has been observed and experienced is against what has
been heard from reports. Nasr in his book writes:
The jewellers say that anyone desirous of learning how to dive stuffs
his ears with cotton until the ears begin to fester and worms begin to
breed in them. Later on, there appears a narrow hole in his neck
through which he can breathe in the water in the usual way.
It seems that in the original manuscript the fact that the cotton swab
should have been moistened is missing, since, I believe, putrefaction and
the appearance of worms are possible through the agency of moisture
only. Al-Kindi has reproduced the same thing differently:
The novice first begins to learn how to hold back his breath and in
order to breathe has the root of the ear perforated. Blood and pus
collect in the hold and begin to flow towards the mouth. There are
thus two holes. When the wound cicatrises, breath begins to enter
through these holes. In this way the diver can stay in the sea for
longer periods and can hold his breath for over a quarter of an hour.
The diseases of the ear and the throat are common. Just as sound
and the ear share the capacity to instruct and apprehend, breath consists
in the expulsion and the entry of the air so that the heart may receive
comfort and the innate heat is purified. The heart needs more of the
cold external air, while it does not require the hot air that is expelled
from inside, since it is like the expulsion of the excreta. The heart of
course requires the expulsion of air since the contents of the chest have
to evacuate the air so that fresh air takes its place.
Even if we concede that the diver breathes through two holes, this
breath can be of one kind only, i.e., of the nature of expulsion. This,
however, cannot tranquillise the heart; in fact, the diver would feel all
the more suffocated, and the substitute for which he is looking will not
enter. Whatever would go out of the two holes would be air. Where,
then, is the second kind of breath going to come from, since there is no
air there? And, if water makes its entry, it can prove lethal. Fresh water
is of no use to a person who has been drowned and when there is no
room for its expulsion. I take all these things to be based upon rank
idiocy. Divers told these tall tales to merchants, and these two learned
authors, having verified these tales, offered different exegeses and explanations.
Nasr writes — and his statement has received support from many
quarters and many an observer has said the same thing — that when a
diver intends to dive, he waits for the afternoon and the meridian, so
