There is another thing; the Sufi path should not be condemned because of the evils of some orders that have adopted practices outside the bounds of taqwa, and even of Islam, and have wrongfully called them­selves Sufi paths. Quite apart from the elevated religious and spiritual fruits of the Sufi path and those that look to the hereafter, Sufi orders were the first, and most effective and ardent means of spread­ing and strengthening brotherhood, the sacred bond of the Islamic world. They were also one of the three unassailable strongholds of Islam, which held out against the awesome attacks of the world of unbelief and the politics of Christendom. What pre­served Istanbul, the centre of the Caliphate for five hundred and fifty years against the whole Christian world, were the lights of belief that poured out of five hundred places in Istanbul and the powerful faith of those who recited "Allah! Allah!" in the tekkes behind the big mosques, which were a firm source of support for the people of belief in that cen­tre of Islam, and their spiritual love arising from knowledge of God, and their fervent murmurings.

O you unreasoning pseudo-patriots and false nationalists! What evils are there in the Sufi paths that can negate all this good in the life of your soci­ety? You say!

FOURTH ALLUSION

Together with being very easy, the way of saint­hood is very difficult. Together with being very short, it is very long. In addition to being most valu­able, it is very dangerous. And together with being very broad, it is very narrow. It is because of these points that some of those who take the path drown, some become harmful, and some return and lead others astray.

In Short: There are two ways on the Sufi path, known by the terms of inner journeying and outer journeying.

The Inner Way starts from the self, and drawing the eyes away from the outer world, looks to the heart. It pierces egotism, opens up a way from the heart, and finds reality. Then it enters the outer world. The outer world then looks luminous. It com­pletes the journey quickly. The reality it sees in the inner world, it sees on a large scale in the outer world. Most of the paths that practise silent recollec­tion take this way. Its essential principles are break­ing the ego, renouncing the desires of the flesh, and killing the evil-commanding soul.

The Second Way starts from the outer world; it gazes on the reflections of the divine names and attributes in their places of manifestation in that greater sphere, then it enters the inner world. It observes their lights on a small scale in the sphere of the heart and opens up the shortest way within them. It sees that the heart is a mirror to the Eternally Besoughted One, and is united with the goal it is seeking.

If people who travel the first way are unsuccessful in killing the evil-commanding soul, and if they can­not give up the desires of the flesh and break the ego, they fall from the rank of thanks to that of pride, then descend from pride to conceit. If such a person feels the captivation of love and becomes intoxicated by the captivation, he will make high­flown claims far exceeding his mark, called ecstatic utterances (§atahat). This is harmful both for him­self and for others.