Section One. The Opinions of the Philosophers

Plato said: “God Most High created all spirits together in the shape of a ball. Then he divided them amongst all creatures, placing them in the body of whomever he chose in his creation.”The author of this book, may God be pleased with him, said: According to this view, love must consist only in the mutual attraction [82] of certain souls to others.

Someone said: “God created the spirits of lovers originally as one spirit. He then split this spirit into two halves and placed each half in a different body. So when two persons happen to have the same original spirit, each half yearns for the other. Indeed, longing was given the name shawq because of the yearning of each half (shiqq) for the other.”

Plato also said: “Love is possible in reality to God alone. Moreover, all things celestial and terrestrial move out of longing for their originator and mover, and for the universal love, which is towards God. Indeed, all the movements of the spheres are the result of their longing for their prime mover and first originator.”

Aristotle said: “A given nature is fond of its like.”Here he is referring to gold, for when copperis mixed with it, its quality is improved, and it will not break if you strike it with a hammer. He also said: “A given nature loves its like.” “Love” here [83] is the solidificationof the molten nature of the elementwhen something else that resembles it is mixed with it, as when gold is added to gold itself, or to some other body that is compatible with it in one element and incompatible with it in another. In the latter case composition is not impossible, but you need to make adjustments to compensate for the way you know one substance to be incompatible with the other.

When he says, “A given nature loves its like,” he means that when brassor copper is mixed with silver, they blend together, and the silver can then be worked suitably, without breaking or becoming brittle, and it does not shatter into pieces when struck with a hammer. Rather, the more it is worked, the greater its malleability and the higher its quality.