Chapter Twenty: That the Souls of Animals Are Not Rational

the doctrines; and so it has become evident that they are, one and all, void.

As for the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures which indicate the confirmation (1) of what we say and the falsity of metempsychosis (tanāsukh), they are the word of Dāwūd: « My soul is straining toward Thee, O my living God; when shall I come and behold Thy face? » (2); and the word of Sulaymān: « The body returns to the earth, and the soul rises up with (3) the Lord who brought it into being » (4). And the pure Gospel says, at the death of Lāʻāzar: « The angels carried him over to Ibrāhīm » (5). And Isṭafānūs said: « O our Lord Yasūʻ, receive my soul » (6). And Būlus said: « I long to depart, so as to be with al-Masīḥ » (7).

The Twentieth Chapter

On the fact that the souls of animals are not rational

If they were rational, it would follow (8) that they are equal in nature to the souls of rational beings [43]; and that is not found in them (9).

— Notes —

[37] 1) In the original: al-taṣadduq.

[37] 2) The Book of Psalms 41:3.

[37] 3) Had he said « tarqā ilá al-rabb », it would have been more eloquent.

[37] 4) The Book of Ecclesiastes 12:7.

[37] 5) The Gospel of Lūqā 16:22.

[37] 6) The Acts of the Apostles 7:58.

[37] 7) The Epistle of Saint Būlus to the people of Fīlibbī 1:33.

[37] 8) In the original: lazima.

[37] 9) In the original: fīhi.