The first step to self-knowledge is to know that

thou art composed of an outward shape, called the

body, and an inward entity called the heart, or

soul. By "heart" I do not mean the piece of flesh

situated in the left of our bodies, but that which

uses all the other faculties as its instruments

and servants. In truth it does not belong to the

visible world, but to the invisible, and has come into

this world as a traveler visits a foreign

country for the sake of merchandise, and will

presently return to its native land. It is the

knowledge of this entity and its attributes which is

the key to the knowledge of God.



Al-Ghazali - The Alchemy of Happiness

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