View source for Kitab Al-Alacir

;[[Sons of the Ether]]

Rooted in the discoveries of this era, a variety of Greek observations are eventually collected by Arab scholars into the Kitab al-Alacir: “Book of the Ether.”

This paradoxical text spans mythology, puzzles,
dialogues, philosophies, and ruminations on truths
that remain impossible to codify. Rather than present
facts as mortals understand the term, this venerable
work inspires Awakenings in the people who manage
to grasp its slippery implications. Centuries after its
composition, the Kitab remains an essential textbook
for – of all people – the Etherite Scientists, who view
its metaphysical complexities as the foundation of
understanding.

Using the analogy of Troy as the cosmos and the
Trojan War as a metaphor for human consciousness,
the Kitab postulates that understanding involves a
perpetual conflict between what can be accepted
and what must be possible. Each person must therefore
become a “hero of Troy,” pursuing glory in the struggle
for ultimate truth. Because only the bravest and most
dedicated souls possess the determination to become
such heroes, most people will remain mere soldiers
inside or outside the walls of this metaphysical Troy.
In that conflict (and its labyrinthine commentary
throughout the Katib), each reader must find his or her
own answers. The core of the work, though, seems to
be this: everything is REAL, but not everything is TRUE.
When we take what’s real and make it true, we create
miracles of Art and Science; when we craft truths to
deny that something’s real, we create disaster.