' 'And what property of such a being,' said
ALMORAN, 'does the mind of man perceive in itself?' 'That of _acting_,
said OMAR, 'without _motion_. You have no idea, that a material
substance can act, but in proportion as it moves: yet to _think_, is to
_act_; and with the idea of thinking, the idea of motion is never
connected: on the contrary, we always conceive the mind to be fixed, in
proportion to the degree of ardour and intenseness with which the power
of thinking is exerted. Now, if that which is material cannot act
without motion; and if man is conscious, that to think, is to act and
not to move; it follows, that there is, in man, somewhat that is not
matter; somewhat that has no extension, and that possesses no space;
somewhat which, having no contexture or parts that can be dissolved or
separated, is exempted from all the natural causes of decay.'
OMAR paused; and ALMORAN having stood some moments without reply, he
seized this opportunity to impress him with an awful sense of the power
and presence of the Supreme and Eternal Being, from whom his own
existence was derived: 'Let us remember,' said he, 'that to every act of
this immaterial and immortal part, the Father of spirits, from whom it
proceeds, is present: when I behold the busy multitudes that crowd the
metropolis of Persia, in the persuit of business and projects infinitely
complicated and various; and consider that every idea which passes over
their minds, every conclusion, and every purpose, with all that they
remember of the past, and all that they imagine of the future, is at
once known to the Almighty, who without labour or confusion weighs every
thought of every mind in His balance, and reserves it to the day of
retribution; my follies cover me with confusion, and my soul is humbled
in the dust.
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