There is something blotted out in man when society devours his every waking moment: the apotheosis of society is the death of the transcendent soul. There are times when a man must draw back a bit and meditate—a moment of withdrawal to balance with the rest of life, a moment in which reason and the power of the soul can find a truth tradition can never impart. It was the ideal of that withdrawal embodied in the peaceful soul of Hayy Ibn Yaqzān which Ibn Tafayl singled out for praise.
