THE ALLEGORY OF THE SHIP

The allegory of ship in al-Kindi's "Treatise on the Device for Driving Away Sorrows" makes the broad point that all possessions, not merely superfluous ones, cause sorrow and threaten to harm us. Our passage through this world of destruction, al-Kindi says, is like that of people embarked upon a ship "to a goal, their own resting- place, that they  are intent upon." When the ship stops so that the passengers may attend to their needs, some do so quickly and return to wide, commodious seats. Others-who also tend quickly to their needs but pause to gaze upon the beautiful surrounding sights and enjoy the delightful aromas-return to narrower, less comfortable seats. Yet others-who tend to their needs but collect various objects along the way-find only cramped seating and are greatly discomforted by the objects they have gathered. Finally, others wander far off from the ship, so immersed in the surrounding natural beauty and the objects to be collected that they forget their present need and even the purpose of the voyage.Of these, those who hear
the ship's captain call and return before it sails, find terribly uncomfortable quarters. Others wander so far away that they never hear the captain's call and, left behind, perish in horrible ways. Those who returned to the ship burdened with objects suffer so, due to their cramped quarters, the stench of their decaying possessions, and the effort they expend in caring for them, that most become sick and some even die. Only
the first two groups arrive safely, though those in the second group are somewhat ill at ease due to their more narrow seats.

For al-Kindi, those passengers who endanger themselves and others by their quest for possessions are like the unjust we encounter in daily life. Conversely, the just must be those who attend to their needs or business quickly and do not permit themselves to become burdened with acquisitions or even to be side-tracked into momentary pleasures.

The passengers are all bound for their homeland, but it is not clear where they are heading. At one point, al-Kindi claims that we are going to "the true world" and at another that the ship is supposed to bring us to "our true homelands." There is no doubt, however, that whether the destination be one or many, it can be reached only by acquiring the habits that eschew material possessions.

AL-KINDI

Ref: Great Thinkers Of The Eastern World