The Institutes of Akbar 73.2

73.2

I shall first say something about the art of writing, as it is the more important of the two arts. His Majesty pays much attention to both, and is an excellent judge of form and thought. And indeed, in the eyes of the friends of true beauty, a letter is the source from which the light confined within it beams forth; and in the opinion of the far-sighted, it is the world-reflecting cup in the abstract. The letter, a magical power, is spiritual geometry emanating from the pen of invention; a heavenly writ from the hand of fate; it contains the secret of the word, and is the tongue of the hand. The spoken word goes to the hearts of such as are present to hear it; the letter gives wisdom to those that are near and far. If it was not for the letter, the spoken word would soon die, and no keepsake would be left us of those that are gone by. Superficial observers see in the letter a sooty figure; but the deepsighted, a lamp of wisdom. The written letter looks black, notwithstanding the thousand rays within it; or, it is a light with a mole on it that wards off the evil eye. A letter is the portrait painter of wisdom; a rough sketch from the realm of ideas; a dark night ushering in day; a black cloud pregnant with knowledge; the wand for the treasures of insight; speaking, though dumb; stationary, and yet travelling; stretched on the sheet, and yet soaring upwards.