For it is doubts that lead to the truth. Whoever does not doubt does not look, whoever does not look does not see, and whoever does not see remains in blindness and error.
إذ الشكوك هي الموصلة إلى الحق. فمن لم يشك لم ينظر، ومن لم ينظر لم يبصر، ومن لم يبصر بقي في العمى والضلال.
İz'iş-şükûkü hiye'l-mûsıletü ile'l-hak. Fe-men lem yeşük lem yenzur, ve men lem yenzur lem yubsır, ve men lem yubsır bakıye fi'l-amâ ve'd-dalâl.
Al-Ghazali, Mizan al-Amal, final section (11th-12th century).
Doubt is often counted a flaw.
Al-Ghazali places it on the first rung of a ladder.
Doubt, looking, seeing.
If you have never once taken up
a belief you received ready-made and weighed it,
you cannot know whether it is yours.
This sentence comes at the very end of the book.
As the reader closes the cover
a question is left in his hand.
Al-Ghazali seems to have wanted just that.