  In further support of some stronger senses in which Saadya employs revelation in support of reason, there seems to emerge what we might identify as a kind of ‘illuminationist’ strain in Saadya's epistemology, a strain in light of which human reason seems ultimately grounded upon a personal divine revelation of sorts. Consider how Saadya, right at the Amânât's outset, revealingly qualifies the nature of human reason in a discussion of his own role as ‘knower’ through an especially evocative image of sinking men in the hands of a salvific diver. Describing his reaction to the state of his community's ignorance and doubt, Saadya says: