Friday, January 25, 2008

Hai

I can't remember the first time I've heard the story of Hai bi Yaqazan... it was for me like the fairytale of Cinderella... we all know the story but never read it...
The clearest version of the story of Hai came upon me when I saw an animation of it on TV... and I fell in love with the idea of this kid stranded on an island... discovering it and trying to figure out a meaning to his life...
Recently I advised a friend to read it when I realized that I never did... so I found the book, started reading it... and I finished it yesterday....
The translated version I read was titled "The Journey of The Soul, The Story of Hai bin Yaqzan", written originally by Ibn Tufail or as known in the West Abubacer.
The story of Hai is narrated through his mind and inner thoughts.... how he from his early age started thinking about everything around him... he was the only human being in an island, brought up by a doe... which he witnessed her death... and that triggered him to search and discover the world...
The story takes you through a journey of how a human can acquire knowledge through using his senses, his body, his mind and then his soul....
Hai started with the physical world and ended with the 'other' world.
The story shows you how Hai believed that there must be a Truth, a Creator... a Supreme being... and how Hai embarked to find that Truth... and then find a way to communicate and 'worship' this Divine being...
The story at some point gets very heavy on the mind and the author suggests that we try and do like Hai did and maybe then we can start to experience what he did when his soul soared in the 'other' world.
It is an interesting book to read and would recommend anyone to read it...

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