I know not whether it is the dregs or the bricks. [57] 670
The peoples were poisoned by his intoxication:
He slumbered and took no delight in deeds.
FOOTNOTES:
[56] The direct influence of Platonism on Moslem thought has been comparatively slight. When the Moslems began to study Greek philosophy, they turned to Aristotle. The genuine writings of Aristotle, however, were not accessible to them. They studied translations of books passing under his name, which were the work of Neoplatonists, so that what they believed to be Aristotelian doctrine was in fact the philosophy of Plotinus, Proclus, and the later Neoplatonic school. Indirectly, therefore, Plato has profoundly influenced the intellectual and spiritual development of Islam and may be called, if not the father of Mohammedan mysticism, at any rate its presiding genius.
[57] I.e. it is worthless in either case. The egg-shaped wine-jar is supported by bricks in order to keep it in an upright position.
VIII
Concerning the true nature of poetry and the reform of Islamic literature.