Hayy Ibn Yaqzan: A Philosophical Tale

In the fifth 7-year period of Hayy’s life, when he is 35 years old, he has gained an awareness of the Creator of the world, whom he often refers to as the Necessarily Existent. The sensory, material world becomes less important to him and he spends all his time contemplating the all-powerful Being who created the world.

Hayy first recognizes that while his physical body will be subject to the same decay as everything else, immaterial things must be immortal. Therefore, he wonders what will happen to the immortal soul once his body dies. He reasons that since he now has an awareness of the infinitely good Creator, he will either spend all his time seeking knowledge of Him or else he will turn away from Him and focus on material things. He decides that turning away from an infinitely good and splendid being that is the source of all beauty and knowledge in the universe would be a form of eternal torture, and therefore those who turn away from the Creator will face an eternity of suffering after the body dies.

Hayy begins to wonder what distinguishes him from other animals, who have no knowledge or awareness of the divine.