| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Koran: believe in what I am sent with, and a party who believe not, then wait
patiently until God judges between us, for He is the best of
judges.' Said the crowd of those who were big with pride amongst His
people, 'We will of a surety turn thee out, O Sho'haib! and those
who believe with thee, from our village; or else thou shalt return
unto our faith.' Said he, 'What even if we be averse therefrom? We
shall have devised a lie against God if we return unto your faith,
after God has saved us from it; and what should ail us that we
should return thereto, unless that God our Lord should please? our
Lord embraces everything in His knowledge;- on God do we rely. O our
Lord! open between us and between our people in truth, for Thou art
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gorgias by Plato: CALLICLES: You always contrive somehow or other, Socrates, to invert
everything: do you not know that he who imitates the tyrant will, if he
has a mind, kill him who does not imitate him and take away his goods?
SOCRATES: Excellent Callicles, I am not deaf, and I have heard that a
great many times from you and from Polus and from nearly every man in the
city, but I wish that you would hear me too. I dare say that he will kill
him if he has a mind--the bad man will kill the good and true.
CALLICLES: And is not that just the provoking thing?
SOCRATES: Nay, not to a man of sense, as the argument shows: do you think
that all our cares should be directed to prolonging life to the uttermost,
and to the study of those arts which secure us from danger always; like
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