E 'know, for people like me who has a passion for anything that smacks of ancient, exotic and uncertain, that in the book "The meadows of gold" written by Arab historian Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas'ud, have collected a lot of facts about the ancient world, even before the banner of Islam were to succeed in punctuating the sands of the Arabian peninsula, waving first in military camps, and then in the utopian city resulting from the human dream of establishing a universal order on this earth. The Abbasid Baghdad
was certainly a brilliant attempt to realize this dream, if it is true, as there is reason to believe that the palace should Caliphate, with its concentric walls in imitation of those of ancient Babylon, representing the orbits of the nine planets, with wagons with torches acts to walk the perimeter, simulating the natural course of the stars in the sky. At the center of this wall stood the palace of the Caliph, the vicar of the Prophet, counterpart of the Sun, the center of human existence. Al-
Mas'udi was probably the very embodiment of this shining civilization, and while it is true that it feeds his intellect hungry for knowledge, we must recognize the man paying for not only his country but the entire world, for the fortunes that the lot fell. Philologist according to the custom of the time, he was well accustomed to the philosophical texts of Plato and Aristotle, Al Farabi and Razi, the medical science of Galen, the mathematics of 'India and astronomy of Ptolemy. He also had a way to travel the four corners of the globe, reaching perhaps as far as China and Sri Lanka, collecting as much as he could of the customs and the genius of the people he visited, and then make a gift to the memory of humanity so that his text full of wonder as to insinuate a suspicion in the minds of historians dell'inattendibilità ill prepared.
Luck, or the case, wanted I imbattessi in an ancient incunabulum found among the sands of Mali, after careful consideration was undoubtedly due to the "Golden Meadows" illustrious learned Arabic, and could go to enrich his work with important new pages, which show through the words of an unknown traveler, the facts of a people located somewhere beyond the river Oxus, known today as the Amu Darya, in the Turkmenistan. From the ancient chronicles it is easy to imagine that the river should be the Arab nations for a more impenetrable boundary of homegrown Pillars of Hercules, because over the course of the Oxus to the traveler would have found the frozen north steppes of Russia, while to the east would have had to overcome asprissime mountains and arid, and then come Orrido Taklamakan Desert, whose name would mean, according to the Uyghur people, "If I go not go out anymore." E 'for the symbolic value of this limit then, that would at least recklessly groped to draw a map of the places described in these pages, and humbly rely on the memories and wisdom of the great Arab scholar. At
Mas'udi back then the words of a traveler, whose name is a philological puzzle, describing his experience as follows:
"From a camp near Tashkent, and after having consulted the heavens, We followed the path towards the constellation Taurus. By Aldebaran to guide us marched for seven months and five weeks to the Levant, until we came to a people excelled in the art of divination, so that their entire civilization is based on an oracle in book form. Within its pages there is only one letter, but only trigrams composed of symbols that seem elusive governed by their own logic. The cover of this book consists of two tables covered with small mirrors, arranged so as to break up the reflection of what there is in front, so that anyone who approaches the oracle to know the future, would see the reflection in the mirror first its uncertainty, and the second one at your dismay.
In this regard, I intend to bring a matter that concerns an ancient king of that land is said that they wanted to go to war with the unruly nomadic tribes that surrounded its territories, in order to place them all under the empire of peace and order, but fearing to fail in the enterprise. Therefore called the wisest among its magi, to query the oracle. The king said: I have to go to war with the tribes of the steppe to secure peace for ourselves and our children. Said the magician then consult the oracle, so you can find in your victory.
The king did as he was told, made the troops and called the generals, but upon leaving the curb doubt. I call him the wizard a second time, saying: In truth I perceive my intentions behind the failure. Said the magician then consult the oracle, so you can find in your loss.
The king did as he was told, disbanded troops and dismissed the generals, but in a few months, its cities were invaded and looted by nomadic tribes. He called it the magician for the third time, and said I want to be remembered for bringing peace to this land. Said the magician then consult the oracle for as long as you need it, and you'll know exactly what to do.
Months went by and the years, changed even the constellations in the sky, and finally the king went to war against his enemies. His troops were defeated, and he himself died in battle, but it is said that when he died, was the happiest man in the world and wiser.
asked what was the meaning of this story, and I said to the fathers of our fathers, hundreds of years ago, wanted to create this prophecy that the world envies us, because it is the answer to each question, the cornerstone of the heavenly decree, the intension of each extension. But the past eras and obscure the real reason why the oracle was created, so that today our people spend their lives trying to interpret the arcane symbols to steal the secret of creation, and yet we die from disease, hunger, famine, sorrow.
In truth the oracle does not give answers. It 'a system of signs that suggest the logic, but that does not preach anything. It was designed in imitation of the absurd created to flatter the man's mind and lead to frustration. Only when they fall patterns can develop the perfect laugh that shakes the very core of existence. Only in this way, Oracle has really all the answers. "Thus spoke the
travelers. And thus ends the writing of al-Mas'udi.
Since then much has changed, the old Baghdad lies in the sand, old Foggia new dream jewels, and other wisdom awaits, somewhere, to be brought to light, while oblivion covers the latest findings. The man continues to roll out its network in the world with holes to catch the sense of being, in the absurd nature of everything is indifferent to his efforts. As for me, I am now a prisoner of my own network, unable to grasp anything except through the words of the books along the back roads of the time trying to understand the present, always in search of meaning, always misled by language in Meanwhile, I forgot myself, the sound of my own voice.
Who of you has the courage to feel, I dedicate this my writing.
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