“The elixir evolved by the brain is the instinctive spirit, and is, as it were, a lamp in a lantern; but it gives forth after all but a flickering and cloudy light, and man’s object should therefore be to strengthen and purify it by Renunciation and Contemplation, until it give forth the true light which is the Spirit of Humanity. When man has attained to this he necessarily becomes free from all that is evil, and is adorned instead with every good and noble quality.
“The body of man is like a lantern, the Vegetative Spirit is the lamp, the Animal Spirit is the wick, the Instinctive Spirit the oil, and the Spirit of Humanity the fire that kindles all. ‘Verily its oil would almost shine even though no fire kindled it.’ ([Cor. cap. 24, v. 35].) In other words, the Instinctive Spirit should feed and supply the Spirit of Humanity, as the oil feeds and supplies the flame in a lamp. The Traveller must aim at completing this lamp, so that his heart may be illumined, and he may see things as they really are. When the Spirit of Humanity a ‘light upon light’ ([Cor. cap. 24, v. 35]) has thus kindled the Instinctive Spirit, God ‘guideth whom He pleaseth to His own light’ (idem), that is, to the divine light of His own nature, reaching which the Traveller’s Upward Progress is complete; for ‘from Him they spring, and unto Him return.’ ”
VIII. Ṣūfīism adapted to Muḥammadanism.
A clear and intelligible exposition of the principles of Ṣūfīism, or Oriental Spiritualism, is given by Muḥammad al-Miṣrī, a Ṣūfī of the Ilhāmīyah school of thought, in the following categorical form (translated by Mr. J. P. Brown, in the Journal of the American Oriental Society). It represents more particularly the way in which this form of mysticism is adapted to the stern and dogmatic teaching of Islām.
Question.—What is the beginning of at-Taṣawwuf?
Answer.—Īmān, or faith, of which there are six pillars, namely, (1) Belief in God, (2) in His Angels, (3) in His Books, (4) and in His Prophets, (5) in the Last Day, and (6) in His decree of good and evil.
Q.—What is the result of at-Taṣawwuf?
A.—It is not only the reciting with the tongue these pillars of faith, but also establishing them in the heart. This was the reply made by the Murshid Junaidu ʾl-Bag͟hdādī, in answer to the same question.
Q.—What is the distinction between a Ṣūfī and an ordinary person?
A.—The knowledge of an ordinary person is but Īmānu-i-Taqlīdī, or “a counterfeit faith,” whereas that of the Ṣūfī is Īmān-i-Taḥqīqī, or “true faith.”