Azhar Book/XD



The Azhar Book is a Bene Gesserit compilation of religious and bibliographic information. Supposedly it preserves the great secrets of the most ancient faiths.

It was a bibliographic marvel that preserved the great secrets of the most ancient faiths, even before the Orange Catholic Bible. The creation of the Azhar Book is also attributed to the Bene Gesserit.

History
The Azhar Book was written in the Azhar language. A copy of it was already in the possession of the Sorceresses of Rossak. Zufa Cenva had one in her room.

It was noted that a copy of the Azhar Book was on display in the Ishaq Hall of Magnificent Documents on Kaitain.

Jessica Atreides noted that a Fremkit manual read like the Azhar Book, and therefore a Manipulator of Religions had been on Arrakis.

Leto Atreides II quoted from the Azhar Book when discussing with Ghanima their suspicions about their aunt Alia: "It is with reason and terrible experience that we call the pre-born Abomination. For who knows what lost and damned persona out of our evil past may take over the living flesh?"

Leto later noted that the watering-place of St. Thomas was preserved in the Orange Catholic Bible and the Azhar Book.

Paul Atreides and the Azhar Book
Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides said words traced back to ancient texts of the Azhar Book:


 * Muad'Dib: "Religion often partakes of the myth of progress that shields us from the terrors of an uncertain future."
 * C.E.T. Commentaries: Identical wording. (The Azhar Book traces this statement to the first century religious writer, Neshou; through a paraphrase.)


 * Muad'Dib: "If a child, an untrained person, an ignorant person, or an insane person incites trouble, it is the fault of authority for not predicting and preventing that trouble."
 * O.C. Bible: "Any sin can be ascribed, at least in part, to a natural bad tendency that is an extenuating circumstance acceptable to God." (The Azhar Book traces this to the ancient Semitic Tawra.)


 * Muad'Dib: "Reach forth thy hand and eat what God has provided thee; and when thou are replenished, praise the Lord."
 * O.C. Bible: a paraphrase with identical meaning. (The Azhar Book traces this in slightly different form to First Islam.)

Contents

 * The basic rule is this:  Never support weakness; always support strength. &mdash; The Bene Gesserit Azhar Book, Compilation of Great Secrets (Dune:  House Atreides)
 * Before us, all methods of learning were tainted by instinct. Before us, instinct-ridden researchers possessed a limited attention span &mdash; often no longer than a single lifetime.  Projects stretching across fifty or more generations never occurred to them.  The concept of total muscle/nerve training had not entered their awareness.  We learned how to learn. &mdash; Bene Gesserit Azhar Book (Dune:  House Harkonnen)
 * How to define the Kwisatz Haderach? The male who is everywhere simultaneously, the only man who can truly become the greatest human of all of us, mingling masculine and feminine ancestry with inseparable power. &mdash; Bene Gesserit Azhar Book (Dune:  House Harkonnen)
 * The less we know, the longer the explanation. &mdash; Bene Gesserit Azhar Book (renegade copy) (Dune:  House Corrino)
 * One cannot hide from history... or from human nature. &mdash; Bene Gesserit Azhar Book (Dune:  House Corrino)
 * There are no facts &mdash; only observational postulates in an endlessly regenerative hodgepodge of predictions. Consensus reality requires a fixed frame of reference. In a multilevel, infinite universe, there can be no fixity; thus, no absolute consensus reality. In a relativistic universe, it appears impossible to test the reliability of any expert by requiring him to agree with another expert. Both can be correct, each in his own inertial system. &mdash; Bene Gesserit Azhar Book (Dune: House Corrino)
 * Many creatures bear the outward form of a man, but do not be fooled by appearances. Not all such life-forms can be considered human. &mdash; Bene Gesserit Azhar Book (Dune: House Corrino)
 * The search for an ultimate, unifying explanation for all things is a fruitless endeavor, a step in the wrong direction. This is why, in a universe of chaos, we must constantly adapt. &mdash; Bene Gesserit Azhar Book (Dune:  House Corrino)
 * All proofs inevitably lead to propositions that have no proof. All things are known because we want to believe in them. &mdash; Bene Gesserit Azhar Book (Dune: House Corrino)
 * It is with reason and terrible experience that we call the pre-born Abomination. For who knows what lost and damned persona out of our evil past may take over the living flesh?
 * The one-eyed view of our universe says you must not look far afield for problems. Such problems may never arrive. Instead, tend to the wolf within your fences. The packs ranging outside may not even exist. &mdash; The Azhar Book; Shamra I:4 (Children of Dune)

Behind the scenes
The Azhar Book is also quoted in epigraphs in the Prelude to Dune series. Though the authors have stated that Frank Herbert left behind unused epigraphs which they later used in their prequels and sequels, it is unknown which of these (if any) are from those notes.

Appearances

 * Dune: House Harkonnen
 * Dune: House Corrino
 * Dune
 * Children of Dune