O brother! though an ant, thou mayest turn out to be a Solomon. Do not think thou art an impure sinner: though a gnat, thou mayest become a lion.... God raises the monotheist out of the dualist, the faithful out of the faithless, and the devotee out of the sinner.--_Letter 1._ [The following extracts on monotheism from _The Series of 28 Letters_, another work of the author, may be aptly added.--_Trs._] According to a tradition of the Prophet, all beings were created out of Darkness, but each took in Light according to its capacity, and thus became luminous. Hence all beings are sparks of the Divine Light, and their luminosity is derived from It. Now one can fully understand the sacred verse: "God is the Light of heaven and earth."--_Letter 17._ Thou-ness and I-ness pertain to our world. They do not exist in the region of the Beloved. He is the one Reality: futile is the assertion of any existence but His.--_Letter 2._ TURNING TO GOD OR CONVERSION (=TAUBÂH=). =Taubâh= literally means to turn back. But the nature of the turning must be different with different individuals according to the difference in their conditions and stages. Ordinary people would turn from sin with apology in order to escape punishment; middling ones would turn from their deeds to secure the regard of the Master; the Elect would turn from all worlds, here and hereafter, and feel the insignificance and non-existence thereof in order to realise the glory of the Maker. The turning of a beginner cannot be permanent. A saint says of himself: "I turned back 70 times and failed each time; but my seventy-first turning proved steady, and I failed no more." =Khwâjâ= (Master) =Zunnoon= of Egypt observes that the =Taubâh= of ordinary people consists in turning from sins, that of the Elect in turning from heedlessness. =Khwâjâ Sobaid= and many others are of opinion that =Taubâh= consists in remembering one's past transgressions and being ever ashamed of them, so that one may not grow proud of one's many virtues. On the other hand, =Khwâjâ Junnaid= and many others hold the view that =Taubâh= consists in forgetting past transgressions, _i. e._, in expunging their impressions from the heart, so that it may become as pure as if it had never committed them. =Taubâh= is obligatory for all pilgrims at all times, since for each pilgrim there is always a stage higher than his present one. If he halts at any stage, he stops his pilgrimage and commits sin. =Taubâh= consists in a firm and sincere resolution to abstain from sins, so as to assure God of one's unwillingness to commit them in future; and in compensating, to one's best ability, those one has harmed in any way.... =Taubâh= is the basis of all developments, as the ground is for the foundation of a building. The chief requisite is =Îmân= (peace, faith, or moral sense). =Taubâh= and =Îmân= appear together, and the latter illumines the heart in proportion to the former.