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The Comte De Gabalis

By Abbé N. de Montfaucon de Villars

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The Inmates of the Cave, or the Story of the Seven Sleepers

"Hast thou reflected that the Inmates of THE CAVE and of Al Rakim were one of our wondrous signs?

When the youths betook them to the cave they said, "O our Lord! grant us mercy from before thee, and order for us our affair aright."

Then struck we upon their ears with deafness in the cave for many a year:

Then we awaked them that we might know which of the two parties could best reckon the space of their abiding.

We will relate to thee their tale with truth. They were youths who had believed in their Lord, and in guidance had we increased them;

And we had made them stout of heart, when they stood up and said, "Our Lord is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth: we will call on no other God than Him; for in that case we had said a thing outrageous.

These our people have taken other gods beside Him, though they bring no clear proof for them; but, who more iniquitous than he who forgeth a lie of God?

So when ye shall have separated you from them and from that which they worship beside God, then betake you to the cave: Your Lord will unfold His mercy to you, and will order your affairs for you for the best."

And thou mightest have seen the sun when it arose, pass on the right of their cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in its spacious chamber. This is one of the signs of God. Guided indeed is he whom God guideth; but for him whom He misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a patron, director.

And thou wouldst have deemed them awake, though they were sleeping: and we turned them to the right and to the left. And in the entry lay their dog with paws outstretched. Hadst thou come suddenly upon them, thou wouldst surely have turned thy back on them in flight, and have been filled with fear at them.

So we awaked them that they might question bne another. Said one of them, "How long have ye tarried here?" They said, "We have tarried a day or part of a day." They said, "Your Lord knoweth best how long ye have tarried: Send now one of you with this your coin into the city, and let him mark who therein bath purest food, and from him let him bring you a supply: and let him be courteous, and not discover you to anyone.

For they, if they find you out, will stone you or turn you back to their faith, and in that case it will fare ill with you for ever."

And thus made we their adventure known to their fellow citizens, that they might learn that the promise of God is true, and that as to "the Hour" there is no

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doubt of its coming. When they disputed among themselves concerning what had befallen them, some said, "Build a building over them; their Lord knoweth best about them." Those who prevailed in the matter said, "A place of worship will we surely raise over them."

Some say, "They were three; their dog the fourth," others say, "Five; their dog the sixth," guessing at the secret: others say, "Seven; and their dog the eighth." SAY: My Lord best knoweth the number: none, save a few, shall know them.

Therefore be clear in thy discussions about them, . . . And when thou hast forgotten, call thy Lord to mind; and say, "Haply my Lord will guide me, that I may come near to the truth of this story with correctness."

THE KORAN, SURA 18, THE CAVE. EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY EDITION, PAGES 181-182.

INTERPRETATION.
In sacred writings the aas of the principal characters are often symbolic, revealing to the Initiated an inner meaning. The Story of the Seven Sleepers is related for the purpose of conveying a profound spiritual truth to those prepared to receive and make it their own. The Inmates of the Cave symbolically represent the seven ganglia of the sympathethic nervous system.

"Hast thou reflected that the Inmates of THE CAVE and of Al Rakim were one of our wondrous signs?"

Every letter of the word Rakim has a sacred orhidden meaning, the sum of which is equivalent to the true meaning of the word:--

R. External manifestation.

A. The Divine Principle.

K. Concavity or turning. †

I. Extension.

M. Amplitude or evolution. Thus translated and interpreted Rakim is seen to be the external manifestation of the Divine Principle in man, the focussing centres for its extension through evolution, or the ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system through which the  *Divine Force passes in its external manifestation.

"When the youths betook them to the cave they said, 'O our Lord! grant us mercy from before thee, and order for us our affair aright.' Then struck we ‡ upon their ears with deafness in the cave for many a year:"

During the passage of the Sun through the upper signs of the Zodiac, the centres correspondent to them in man were in a state of activity, but with the descent of the Sun into Libra, the sign of the balances, and the correspondent descent of the Divine Principle into matter and balance of the divine and material natures in man, their activity was stilled in preparation for the new cycle of evolution. The evolution of the animal man reached its zenith in the Golden Age and has been followed by a gradual decline or somnolence of the masses prior to regeneration in the coming spiritual cycle. Thus the statement is made by St. Paul, "The first man Adam became a living animal (Gen. ii, 7); the last Adam is a life-giving spirit." ‡ And in the Koran, Sura xcv, The Fig, it is written "Of goodliest fabric we created man, then brought him down to be the lowest of the low;--save who believe and do the things that are right, for theirs shall be a reward that faileth not." "NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN SPEECH." R. F. WEYMOUTH, D.LIT.
"Then we awaked them that we might know which of the two parties could best reckon the space of their abiding."

The two parties are the higher and lower nature of man. *
"We will relate to thee their tale with truth. They were youths who had believed in their Lord, and in guidance had we increased them; And we had made them stout of heart, when they stood up and said,

"Our Lord is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth: we will call on no other God than Him; for in that case we had said a thing outrageous. These our people have taken other gods beside Him, though they bring no clear proof for them; but, who more iniquitous than he who forgeth a lie of God?"

The enlightened members of the Muhammedan faith define Allah (God) as Nature the Indefinable. The awakening of the ganglia through the play of Solar Force bears witness to man of Allah, Nature, giving him a knowledge of the Divine Mystery which creeds and theologians oft-times misinterpret.
"So when ye shall have separated you from them and from that which they worship beside God, then betake you to the cave: Your Lord † will unfold his mercy to you, and will order your affairs for you for the best."

The Cave may be said to mean the recesses of man's own nature or being. The Cave symbolises the dormant lower nature which shuts out the light of the Sun and its manifestation in man prior to Initiation. In many lands and ages caves have been the places chosen for the performance of the Rites of Initiation.

"And thou mightest have seen the sun when it arose, pass on the right of their cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in its spacious chamber. This is one of the signs of God."

Reference is here made to the path of the Sun through the signs of the Zodiac and to the passage of the Solar Force through the centres corresponding to them in man.
"Guided indeed is he whom God guideth; but for him whom He misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a patron, director."

The statement is made that Allah (God) both guides and misleads man. Therefore Allah is here acknowledged as the Source of both good and evil. Allah, as the patron and director of man, may be said to be Nature's Force made manifest in man as the illuminator of the mind and giver forth of knowledge. Allah as the misleader of man is Nature's Force manifesting in man misgoverned by the human mind. "Thus (Allah) God misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will doth He guide aright." * KORAN, SURA, lxxiv, "THE ENWRAPPED." EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY EDITION, PAGE 23.
"And thou wouldst have deemed them awake, though they were sleeping:"

Man believes these ganglia to be awake and alive while they are stirred by the slow moving nerve force, not realising that when compared with the augmentation of life wherewith the inflowing Solar Force endues them, their present atrophied state is sleep or death in life.
"and we turned them to the right and to the left."

May be interpreted as meaning and we turned them for good and for evil.'
"And in the entry lay their dog with paws outstretched."

A commentary upon the Koran states of the dog that "One of its traditional names is Katmir, a word whose letters, it should be observed, are with one exception identical with Rakim." The added letter T has the meaning of sequel or continuation. Therefore Katmir, the dog, is seen to be the sequel or continuation of the external manifestation of the Divine Principle in man,--the body, lower nature, emotions and mind which, as it were, sleeping, lie across the threshold of man's Divine Nature and its evolution. In ancient Greece the lower nature and its three aspects were in like manner symbolised by a dog, Cerberus, a monster with three heads having the tail of a serpent, and said to guard the entrance to Hades.

"Hadst thou come suddenly upon them, thou wouldst surely have turned thy back on them in flight, and have been filled with fear at them."

This is an allusion to the fad that premature awakening of these centres in man is sometimes fraught with much physical and mental suffering.
"So we awaked them that they might question one another."

The agents of Allah, God manifesting in Nature, awaken these ganglia in man and establish their natural relationships through the medium of the divine or Solar Force.
"Said one of them, 'How long have ye tarried here?' They said, 'We have tarried a day or part of a day.' They said, 'Your Lord knoweth best how long ye have tarried: Send now one of you with this your coin into the city, and let him mark who therein hath purest food, and from him let him bring you a supply:

This passage has several meanings, the most obvious being that when man consciously enters upon the awakening of his centres through the right use of Solar Force he should send this coin or Force throughout his city or system,--and should seek through taking only pure materials into the body, pure emotions into the heart, and pure thoughts into the mind, to prepare and strengthen them to sustain their part in his divine evolution.
"'and let him be courteous, and not discover you to anyone."'

Man should seek in self the knowledge of his own evolution. Divinity must be experienced and cannot be engrafted.
"'For they, if they find you out, will stone you or turn you back to their faith, and in that case it will fare ill with you forever.'"

Man through Initiation becomes a law unto himself, by virtue of communion with the Lord within;--and this experience of truth is superior to creeds or faiths which often persecute or seek to proseletyse the Lord-enlightened man.
"And thus made we their adventure known to their fellow citizens, that they might learn that the promise of God is true, and that as to 'the Hour' there is no doubt of its coming."

The fellow citizens are the centres of the cerebro-spinal system whose awakening reveals to man those higher states of consciousness in which he is able to apprehend the Divine or Cosmic Plan and consciously to participate in it.

"When they disputed among themselves concerning what had befallen them, some said, 'Build a building over them; their Lord knoweth best about them.' Those who prevailed in the matter said, 'A place of worship will we surely raise over them."'

The truest form of worship of Allah, God manifesting in Nature, is obedience to Its Divine Purpose by seeking to further Its manifestation in self. "The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." ST. PAUL.
"Some say, 'They were three; their dog the fourth:'

Some say that the Fire, Air, Water and Earth bodies of man are signified by the Sleepers and their dog.
"others say, 'Five; their dog the sixth,' guessing at the secret: others say, 'Seven; their dog the eighth.' SAY: My Lord best knoweth the number: none, save a few, shall know them. Therefore be clear in thy discussions about them. . . And when thou has forgotten, call thy Lord to mind; and say, 'Haply my Lord * will guide me, that I may come near to the truth of this story with correctness.'"

May this story bear witness that the Koran is a book of great mystery concealing that truth which only the pure in heart shall fathom and make their own; for Islam and Christianity received their illumination from the same source--Allah, Nature, God.
Footnotes
257:† The energised ganglia may be described as concave rotating disks.

257:* Solar Force Defined page 48, 50, 42.

257:‡ Angel Gabriel speaking.

258:‡ 1 CORINTHIANS, XV, 45.

258:* "The soul and the mind. The 'sacred war,' the greater, is the putting down of the mind (resignation to the unknown) in order that the soul may be master over it. Islam may be translated, resigned to the soul."

259:† The Divine Self.

260:* Compare Satan Cabalistically Defined, page 116.

264:* Divine Self.