Paradise and Hell, and all the dogmas of positive religions, are only so
many allegories, the spirit of which is only known to the Sufi.

4. Religions are matters of indifference; they, however, serve as a means
of reaching to realities. Some, for this purpose, are more advantageous
than others. Among which is the Musalman religion, of which the doctrine of
the Sufis is the philosophy.

5. There is not any real difference between good and evil, for all is
reduced to unity, and God is the real author of the acts of mankind.

6. It is God who fixes the will of man. Man, therefore, is not free in his
actions.

7. The soul existed before the body, and is now confined within it as in a
cage. At death the soul returns to the Divinity from which it emanated.

8. The principal occupation of the Sufi is to meditate on the unity, and so
to attain to spiritual perfection--unification with God.

9. Without the grace of God no one can attain to this unity; but God does
not refuse His aid to those who are in the right path.

The power of a Sheikh, a spiritual leader, is very great. The following
account of the admission of a Novice, called Tawakkul Beg, into an Order,
and of the severe tests applied, will be of some interest.[88] Tawakkul Beg
says:--"Having been introduced by Akhund Moolla Muhammad to Sheikh Moolla
Shah, my heart, through frequent intercourse with him, was filled with such
a burning desire to arrive at a true knowledge of the mystical science that
I found no sleep by night, nor rest by day. When the initiation commenced,
{97} I passed the whole night without sleep, and repeated innumerable times
the Surat-ul-Ikhlas:--

"Say: He is God alone:
God the eternal:
He begetteth not, and He is not begotten;
And there is none like unto Him." (Sura cxii.)

Whosoever repeats this Sura one hundred times can accomplish all his vows.
I desired that the Sheikh should bestow on me his love. No sooner had I
finished my task than the heart of the Sheikh became full of sympathy for
me. On the following night I was conducted to his presence. During the
whole of that night he concentrated his thoughts on me, whilst I gave
myself up to inward meditation. Three nights passed in this way. On the
fourth night the Sheikh said:--'Let Moolla Senghim and Salih Beg, who are
very susceptible to ecstatic emotions, apply their spiritual energies to
Tawakkul Beg.'

They did so, whilst I passed the whole night in meditation, with my