  Saadya sees himself as the able swimmer setting out to rescue the people Israel — and all of mankind — from their drowning fates, and yet, in his image, his own reliance upon the hand of God is immediately evident: Saadya sees himself as the salvific diver, or, to change imagery, the ‘tongue’ that through books might speak people out of their quandaries, and yet, as he states above, it is “my Lord [who] has granted unto me some knowledge… and endowed me with some ability.” Finding in himself a guiding voice, he is quick to find too that his is a voice that is received from above: His voice is that of the “them that are taught” — his ability to help save those who are drowning is not his own, but is, rather, ‘taught,’ a gift given to him by God. 