from those that come here. We must get to know him and find out what he wants.”
The other man said: “I do not believe it, that there is a person such as the one you speak of, and that he governs this whole world on his own.”
His friend replied to him: “If we do not recognize him and remain indifferent towards him, there is no advantage in it at all, and if it is harmful, its harm will be immense. Whereas if we try to recognize him, there is little hardship involved, and if there is benefit, it will be great. Therefore, it is in no way sensible to remain indifferent towards him.”
The foolish man said: “I consider all my ease and enjoyment to lie in not thinking of him. Also, I am not going to bother with things that make no sense to me. All these things are the confused objects of chance, they are happening by themselves. What is it to me?”
His intelligent friend replied: “This obstinacy of yours will push me, and a lot of others, into disaster. It sometimes happens that a whole country is laid waste because of one ill-mannered person.”
So the foolish man turned to him and said: “Either prove to me decisively that this large country has a single lord and single maker, or leave me alone.”
His friend replied: “Your obstinacy has reached the degree of lunacy; you will be the cause of some disaster being visited on us. So I shall point out to you twelve proofs demonstrating that this world which is like a palace and country which is like town has a single maker and that it is only he who runs and administers everything. He is totally free of all deficiency. This maker, who does not appear to us, sees us and everything, and hears our words. All his works are miracles and marvels. All these creatures whom we see but whose tongues we do not understand are his officials.”
First Proof
FIRST PROOF
Come and look carefully at everything around you: a hidden hand is working within all these works. For something which has not even an ounce of strength, [^1] something as small as a seed, is raising a load of thousands of pounds. And something that does not have even a particle of consciousness [^2] is performing extremely wise and purposeful works. This means that they are not working by themselves, but that a powerful yet hidden
[^1]:This alludes to seeds, which bear trees on their heads.
[^2]:This indicates delicate plants like the grapevine, which themselves cannot climb or bear the weight of fruits, so throwing their delicate arms around other plants or trees and winding themselves around them, they load themselves onto them.