Image in Hayy Ibn Yaqzan

One image that struck out me in Ibn Tufayl's Hayy Ibn Yaqzān was the image of fire.  When the character first discovers what fire is, he begins being really curious about it.  He tries touching it and seeing what happens when objects are added to it.  He also learns how to cook a fish from the heat of the fire.  However, what really interested me about this image of fire was its connection to life.  The character connects the heat from the fire to the body heat in animals.  He wondered if the heat from the fire was the same heat inside of living things like the doe, so he would cut open living things and dissect them to find out where the heat inside of bodies originates from.  Are there certain organs that have this heat or warmth like a fire?  I think that this image of fire and its connection to body heat could make the argument that there is some type of warmth inside of living things that allows life to exist.  It can make the case that warmth is what animates objects and makes them come to life.  Heat is also mentioned a lot in other scenarios than just fire like the warmth the doe gave Hayy or the warmth and cold blending in clay in Hayy's formation.  I think that all of the images of heat might connect back to this idea of heat giving life.

Another possible meaning for the image of fire could be that it symbolizes the character's curiosity with the world.  Through learning about fire, the character shows that he is eager to understand how the world works.  Fire is not the only way that the character shows his curiosity about understanding things though.