Idries Shah

There are two modes of knowledge, through argument and experience. Argument brings conclusions and compels us to concede them, but it does not cause certainty nor remove doubts in order that the mind may remain at rest in truth, unless this is provided by experience.

If it is felt that truth about extraphysical fact must be sought only through a certain way of thinking, the rational and ‘scientific’ one, there can be no contact between the Sufi and the supposedly objective seeker.

Drunk without wine; sated without food; distraught; foodless and sleepless; a king beneath a humble cloak; a treasure within a ruin; not of air and earth; not of fire and water; a sea without bounds. He has a hundred moons and skies and suns. He is wise through universal truth — not a scholar from a book.4
Is he a man of religion? No, he is far, far more: ‘He is beyond atheism and faith alike — what are merit and sin to him? He is hidden — seek him!’

‘The perfected Sufi is great, exalted; he is sublime. Through love, work and harmony he has attained the highest degree of mastership. All secrets are open to him; and his whole being is imbued with magical effulgence. He is the Guide and the Traveller on the Way of infinite beauty, love, attainment, power, fulfilment; the Guardian of the Most Ancient Wisdom, the Trailblazer to the highest secrets; the beloved friend whose very being elevates us, bringing new meaning to the spirit of humanity.’

The human being, according to the Sufis, instead of reaching within himself in a certain manner in order to find and attain his development, searches outside, and follows illusions (metaphysical systems wrongly developed) which in fact cripple him.

In ordinary life, certain forms of understanding become possible because of experience. The human mind is what it is partly because of the impacts to which it has been exposed, and its ability to use those impacts. The interaction between impact and mind determines the quality of the personality. In Sufism this normal physical and mental process is engaged in consciously. The result is felt to be more efficient; and ‘wisdom’, instead of being a matter of time, age and accident, is regarded as inevitable.

But the Sufi’s role as a servant of humanity is brought out by the fact that, although he is operating on a higher level, he helps the formal religionist as far as he can, by showing him the fundamental identity of religious faith.

Humanity is turned into a conditioned animal by non-Sufi systems, while being told that it is free and creative, has a choice of thought and action.

Mankind, according to the Sufis, is infinitely perfectible. The perfection comes about through attunement with the whole of existence. Physical and spiritual life meet, but only when there is a complete balance between them. Systems which teach withdrawal from the world are regarded as unbalanced.

Sufism is believed by its followers to be the inner, ‘secret’ teaching that is concealed within every religion; and because its bases are in every human mind already, Sufic development must inevitably find its expression everywhere.