"On Religion" Summary

An old priest asks about religion, and Almustafa asks what else he has been speaking about today. Religion is all deeds, reflection or wonder and surprise springing in the soul. Faith cannot be separated from actions or belief from occupations. One cannot apportion things between God and oneself or between soul and body. All of one's hours are wings that beat through space from self to self. Those who wear morality as their best garment are better off naked. Those who define their conduct by ethics imprison the songbird in a cage, and the freest songs come not through bars and wires. Worship is a window, which can be open or shut. Daily life is one's temple and religion, and one must take in everything one owns: plough, forge, mallet, lute and everything fashioned in necessity or for delight...