A _fourth_ set proudly declare that everything is according to the Divine Will. What is the use of exertion?--When the Prophet spoke of the Divine Will, his companions said, "We shall depend upon it and refrain from exertion." The Prophet replied, "_Ye shall exert_, and [then] what has been ordained will be given." Thus, man should not refrain from exertion. If he has in the beginning been ordained to a noble destiny, he will attain to it [by exertion]. Good and evil destinies hinge upon virtue and vice, in the same way as health and death upon food and starvation.--_Letter 18._ THE OUTER AND INNER AILMENTS. Man has been formed of two different substances, the earthly and the heavenly. As his earthly frame is liable to ailments, so is the heavenly; and there are doctors for the treatment and cure of both. The doctors of the bodily ailments are the physicians, and those of the moral ailments are the Prophets and [later on] the Saints who are their successors. As a sick man would certainly die if not treated by a skilled physician, so a soul suffering from the moral diseases would certainly die, if not helped by a Prophet or a perfect Saint. As a physician examines the pulse to ascertain the disease of a patient, and recommends him to resort to one thing and abstain from another, with a view to restore physical equilibrium and health,--so also the Divine Messenger ascertains the moral ailments of the disciple, and prescribes different duties based on the Law according to his receptivity and capacity, recommending this, disallowing that, so as to reduce his inner perplexities and desires to a state of harmony required by the Law, and bring about moral health in the shortest possible time. As a sick man going against the instructions of his physician gets worse and worse and has to die, so a moral patient disobeying the Law gets more and more perverse and has to perish through ignorance.--_Letter 19._ THE ORIGIN OF THEOSOPHY The institution of Theosophy (=Tasavvuf=) is ancient. It has been practised by the Prophets and the Saints. As evil impulses predominate in the world, the Theosophist (=Sûfî=) is looked down upon by men. The Theosophist is one who has lost the self, exists in the True One, is beyond the reach of the lower nature, and is at one with Truth. A Theosophical student (=mutasavvif=) is he who seeks to become a Theosophist through asceticism and purification, and disciplines himself in the ways of the Theosophist....