Quote of the Month

Imagine a certain person who, possessing a very old pool, desired to cleanse the latter of dirt and mire and to restore it. Certainly, a Divine favor has been bestowed upon him. He must therefore ensure that the pool cease to be polluted, occupying himself with its gradual cleansing until it is completely purified. Only after having ascertained that there remained therein no impurity, can the living waters that go forth from the House of God flow therein […]. The foregoing is an allegory alluding to the purification, cleansing and purging of the heart, the correction of its defects and failings and its being emptied of all but the Most High. He ho accomplishes this will comprehend invaluable notions which where hitherto hidden from him, deriving therefrom that which no one else can acquire […].

 

(Obadyah b. Abraham b. Moses Maimon, Al-Maqāla al-Ḥawḍiyya)