Others, again, do not trouble themselves about clothes at all. They wear either a religious habit (`abá) or an ordinary coat (qabá), whichever God may have given them; and if He keeps them naked, they remain in that state. I, who am `Alí b. `Uthmán al-Jullábí, approve of this doctrine, and I have practised it in my journeys. It is related that Aḥmad b. Khaḍrúya wore a coat when he visited Abú Yazíd, and that Sháh b. Shujá` wore a coat when he visited Abú Ḥafṣ. This was not their usual dress, for sometimes they wore a muraqqa`a and sometimes a woollen garment or a white shirt, as it might happen. The human soul is habituated to things, and fond of custom, and when anything has become habitual to the soul it soon grows natural, and when it has grown natural it becomes a veil. Hence the Apostle said: Khayr al-ṣiyám ṣawm akhí Dáwud `alayhi ´l-salám, “The best of fasts is that of my brother David.” They said: “O Apostle of God, what kind of fast is that?” He replied: “David used to keep his fast one day and break it on the next day,” in order that his soul should not become accustomed either to keeping the fast or to breaking it, for fear that he might be veiled thereby. And, as regards this matter, Abú Ḥámid Dústán[[46]] of Merv was the most sound. His disciples used to put a garment on him, but those who wanted it used to seek him out when he was at leisure and alone, and divest him of it; and he would never say to the person who put it on him: “Why do you put it on?” nor to the person who took it off: “Why do you take it off?” Moreover, at the present day there is at Ghazna—may God protect it!—an old man with the sobriquet Mu´ayyad, who has no choice or discrimination with respect to his clothes; and he is sound in that degree.
Now, as to their garments being mostly blue (kabúd), one of the reasons is that they have made wandering (siyáḥat) and travelling the foundation of their Path; and on journeys a white garment does not retain its original appearance, and is not easily washed, and besides, everyone covets it. Another cause is this, that a blue dress is the badge of the bereaved and afflicted, and the apparel of mourners; and this world is the abode of trouble, the pavilion of affliction, the den of sorrow, the house of parting, the cradle of tribulation: the (Ṣúfí) disciples, seeing that their heart’s desire is not to be gained in this world, have clad themselves in blue and have sat down to mourn union (with God). Others behold in the practice (of devotion) only imperfection, in the heart only evil, in life only loss of time: therefore they wear blue; for loss (fawt) is worse than death (mawt). One wears blue for the death of a dear friend, another for the loss of a cherished hope.
A dervish was asked why he wore blue. He replied: “The Apostle left three things: poverty, knowledge, and the sword. The sword was taken by potentates, who misused it; knowledge was chosen by savants, who were satisfied with merely teaching it; poverty was chosen by dervishes, who made it a means of enriching themselves. I wear blue as a sign of mourning for the calamity of these three classes of men.” Once Murta`ish was walking in one of the quarters of Baghdád. Being thirsty, he went to a door and asked for a drink of water. The daughter of the householder brought him some water in a jug. Murta`ish was smitten with her beauty and would not leave the spot until the master of the house came to him. “O sir,” cried Murta`ish, “she gave me a drink of water and robbed me of my heart.” The householder replied: “She is my daughter, and I give her to you in marriage.” So Murta`ish went into the house, and the wedding was immediately solemnized. The bride’s father, who was a wealthy man, sent Murta`ish to the bath, where they took off his patched frock (muraqqa`a) and clothed him in a night-dress. At nightfall he rose to say his prayers and engage in solitary devotion. Suddenly he called out, “Bring my patched frock.” They asked, “What ails you?” He answered, “I heard a voice within, whispering: ‘On account of one disobedient look We have removed thy muraqqa`a, the garb of piety, from thy body: if thou lookest again We shall remove the raiment of intimacy from thy heart.’” Only two kinds of men are fitted to wear the muraqqa`a: (1) those who are cut off from the world, and (2) those who feel a longing for the Lord (mushtáqán-i mawlá).
The Ṣúfí Shaykhs observe the following rule. When a novice joins them, with the purpose of renouncing the world, they subject him to spiritual discipline for the space of three years. If he fulfil the requirements of this discipline, well and good; otherwise, they declare that he cannot be admitted to the Path (Ṭaríqat). The first year is devoted to service of the people, the second year to service of God, and the third year to watching over his own heart. He can serve the people only when he places himself in the rank of servants and all other people in the rank of masters, i.e. he must regard all, without any discrimination, as being better than himself, and must consider it his duty to serve all alike; not in such a way as to deem himself superior to those whom he serves, for this is manifest perdition and evident fraud, and is one of the infectious cankers of the age (az áfát-i zamána andar zamána yakí ínast). And he can serve God Almighty only when he cuts off all his selfish interests relating either to this world or to the next, and worships God absolutely for His sake alone, inasmuch as whoever worships God for any thing’s sake worships himself and not God. And he can watch over his heart only when his thoughts are collected and cares are dismissed from his heart, so that in the presence of intimacy (with God) he preserves his heart from the assaults of heedlessness. When these three qualifications are possessed by the novice, he may wear the muraqqa`a as a true mystic, not merely as an imitator of others.
Now as to the person who invests the novice with the muraqqa`a, he must be a man of rectitude (mustaqím al-ḥál) who has traversed all the hills and dales of the Path, and tasted the rapture of “states” and perceived the nature of actions, and experienced the severity of the Divine majesty and the clemency of the Divine beauty. Furthermore, he must examine the state of his disciples and judge what point they will ultimately reach: whether they will retire (ráji`án), or stand still (wáqifán), or attain (bálighán). If he knows that some day they will abandon this Path, he must forbid them to enter upon it; if they will come to a stand, he must enjoin them to practise devotion; and if they will reach the goal, he must give them spiritual nourishment. The Ṣúfí Shaykhs are physicians of men’s souls. When the physician is ignorant of the patient’s malady he kills him by his art, because he does not know how to treat him and does not recognize the symptoms of danger, and prescribes food and drink unsuitable to his disease. The Apostle said: “The shaykh in his tribe is like the prophet in his nation.” Accordingly, as the prophets showed insight in their call to the people, and kept everyone in his due degree, so the Shaykh likewise should show insight in his call, and should give to everyone his proper spiritual food, in order that the object of his call may be secured.
The adept, then, who has attained the perfection of saintship takes the right course when he invests the novice with the muraqqa`a after a period of three years during which he has educated him in the necessary discipline. In respect of the qualifications which it demands, the muraqqa`a is comparable to a winding-sheet (kafan): the wearer must resign all his hopes of the pleasures of life, and purge his heart of all sensual delights, and devote his life entirely to the service of God and completely renounce selfish desires. Then the Director (Pír) ennobles him by clothing him in that robe of honour, while he on his part fulfils the obligations which it involves, and strives with all his might to perform them, and deems it unlawful to satisfy his own wishes.
Many allegories (ishárát) have been uttered concerning the muraqqa`a. Shaykh Abú Ma`mar of Iṣfahán has written a book on the subject, and the generality of aspirants to Ṣúfiism display much extravagance (ghuluww) in this matter. My aim, however, in the present work is not to relate sayings, but to elucidate the difficulties of Ṣúfiism. The best allegory concerning the muraqqa`a is this, that its collar (qabba) is patience, its two sleeves fear and hope, its two gussets (tiríz) contraction and dilation, its belt self-abnegation, its hem (kursí)[[47]] soundness in faith, its fringe (faráwíz) sincerity. Better still is the following: “Its collar is annihilation of intercourse (with men), its two sleeves are observance (ḥifẕ) and continence (`iṣmat), its two gussets are poverty and purity, its belt is persistence in contemplation, its hem (kursí) is tranquillity in (God’s) presence, and its fringe is settlement in the abode of union.” When you have made a muraqqa`a like this for your spiritual self it behoves you to make one for your exterior also. I have composed a separate book on this subject, entitled “The Mysteries of Patched Frocks and Means of Livelihood” (Asrár al-khiraq wa-´l-ma´únát), of which the novice should get a copy.
If the novice, having donned the muraqqa`a, should be forced to tear it under compulsion of the temporal authority, this is permissible and excusable; but should he tear it of free will and deliberately, then according to the law of the sect he is not allowed to wear a muraqqa`a in future, and if he do so, he stands on the same footing as those in our time who are content to wear muraqqa`as for outward show, with no spiritual meaning. As regards the rending of garments the true doctrine is this, that when Ṣúfís pass from one stage to another they immediately change their dress in thankfulness for having gained a higher stage; but whereas every other garment is the dress of a single stage, the muraqqa`a is a dress which comprises all the stages of the Path of poverty and purity, and therefore to discard it is equivalent to renouncing the whole Path. I have made a slight allusion to this question, although this is not the proper place for it, in order to settle the particular point at issue; but, please God, I will give a detailed explanation of the principle in the chapter on rending (kharq), and in the revelation of the mystery of “audition” (samá`). Furthermore, it has been said that one who invests a novice with the muraqqa`a should possess such sovereign mystical powers that any stranger on whom he looks kindly should become a friend, and any sinner whom he clothes in this garment should become a saint.
Once I was travelling with my Shaykh in Ádharbáyaján, and we saw two or three persons wearing muraqqa`as, who were standing beside a wheat-barn and holding up their skirts in the hope that the farmer would throw them some wheat. On seeing this the Shaykh exclaimed: “Those are they who have purchased error at the price of true guidance, but their traffic has not been profitable” (Kor. ii, 15). I asked him how they had fallen into this calamity and disgrace. He said: “Their spiritual directors were greedy to gather disciples, and they themselves are greedy to collect worldly goods.” It is related of Junayd that he saw at the Báb al-Ṭáq[[48]] a beautiful Christian youth and said: “O Lord, pardon him for my sake, for Thou hast created him exceeding fair.” After a while the youth came to Junayd and made profession of Islam and was enrolled among the saints. Abú `Alí Siyáh was asked: “Who is permitted to invest novices with the muraqqa`a?” He replied: “That one who oversees the whole kingdom of God, so that nothing happens in the world without his knowledge.”