with the miraculous works of his knowledge. Then after completing it, he set up in the palace broad tables containing the most delicious of every kind of food and every sort of bounty. He specified an appropriate table for each group. He set out such a munificent and artful banquet it was as though the boundless priceless bounties he spread out had come into existence through the works of a hundred subtle arts. Then he invited his people and subjects from all the regions of his lands to feast and to behold the spectacle.

Later the king appointed a supreme commander as teacher, to make known the purposes of the palace and the meanings of its contents; to describe its maker and its contents to the people, make known the secrets of the palace’s embellishments, teach what the arts within it were pointing to, and to explain what the well-set jewels were, and the harmonious embroideries; to explain to those who entered the palace the way in which they indicated the perfections and arts of the palace’s owner; to inform them of the correct conduct in beholding them; and to explain the official ceremonies as the king, who did not appear, wished them to be. The teacher and instructor had an assistant in each area of the palace, while he himself remained in the largest apartment among his students, making the following announcement to all the spectators. He told them:

“O people! By making this palace and displaying these things our lord, who is the king of the palace, wants to make himself known to you. You therefore should recognize him and try to get to know him. And with these adornments he wants to make himself loved by you. You, too, make yourself loved by him by appreciating his art and admiring his works. Also, he shows his love for you through these bounties that you see, so you should love him too by obeying him. And through these bounties and gifts which are to be seen he shows his compassion and kindness for you, so you should show your respect for him by offering thanks. And through these works of his perfection he wants to display his transcendent beauty to you, so you should show your eagerness to see him and gain his regard. And through placing a particular stamp and special seal and an inimitable signet on every one of these adorned works of art that you see, he wants to show that everything is particular to him, and is the work of his own hand, and that he is single and unique and independent and removed. You therefore should recognize that he is single and alone and without peer or like or match, and accept that he is such.” He spoke further fitting words to the spectators like these concerning the king and this station. Then the people who had entered the palace separated into two groups.

The First Group: Since these people had self-knowledge, were intelli-