Knowledge is to purification and asceticism what ablution is to prayer. No practice is possible without knowledge, as no prayer is possible without ablution.... Knowledge is of two kinds: that received from teachers and books, and that unfolded in the soul. Again the latter kind is twofold: (1) The Knowledge transmitted from the Divine Sanctuary into:-- (_a_) The Soul of a Prophet. Such Knowledge is called =Wahî=.[10] (_b_) The Soul of a Master. Such Knowledge is =Ilbâm= (inspiration). (2) The knowledge transmitted into:-- (_a_) The Soul of a Master from a Prophet. (_b_) The Soul of a Disciple from a Master. [10] A revelation received from God through an Angel (mostly Gabriel).--_Trs._ As a Master sees God in the Soul of a Prophet, so a Disciple sees God in the Soul of a Master. "So long as the tablet of thy heart bears the impression of letters, thou dost not know any of the secret meanings. When the letters completely vanish from the tablet of thy heart, then comes the knowledge of the secret meanings." Knowledge is the key to all virtues, as ignorance is the key to all vices. Knowledge ushers in liberation, ignorance brings in destruction. The celestial ranks and abnormal sacred powers spring from knowledge; chastisements in the various grades of hell result from ignorance. So the faithful should shun ignorance and the ignorant in the same way as vice and infidelity. "A wise man is my friend, and a fool is my foe." As ignorance and the ignorant are to be avoided, so is it obligatory to seek knowledge and the company of the wise--not worldly knowledge, but the moral; not the worldly wise but the morally wise. "If you acquire knowledge thoughtlessly, you will use it as a means of gaining worldly position. True Knowledge is that which leads to the Divine Sanctuary, not that which leads to wealth, rank and passional gratifications." The company of a Sage for a day is more conducive to progress than purification and asceticism.--_Letter 55._ [The following note may be added from "_The Series of 28 Letters_."--_Trs._] Real knowledge comes from the Soul, and a true knower is he in whom lies the original and final Knowledge. The purer the Soul, the deeper and more subtile its comprehensions.--_Loc. cit., Letter 6_. THE STEPS OF A DISCIPLE. The first step is Religion (=Sharîat=). When the disciple has _fully_ paid the demand of Religion, and aspires to go beyond, the Path (=Tarîqat=) appears before him. It is the way to the Heart. When he has fully observed the conditions of the Path, and aspires to soar higher, the veils of the Heart are rent, and Truth (=Haqîqat=) shines therein. It is the way to the Soul, and the Goal of the Seeker.