“Ṣúfí” is a name which is given, and has formerly been given, to the perfect saints and spiritual adepts. One of the Shaykhs says: _Man ṣaffáhu ´l-ḥubb fa-huwa ṣáf^{in} wa-man ṣaffáhu ´l-ḥabíb fa-huwa Ṣúfiyy^{un}_, “He that is purified by love is pure, and he that is absorbed in the Beloved and has abandoned all else is a ‘Ṣúfí’.” The name has no derivation answering to etymological requirements, inasmuch as Ṣúfiism is too exalted to have any genus from which it might be derived; for the derivation of one thing from another demands homogeneity (_mujánasat_). All that exists is the opposite of purity (_ṣafá_), and things are not derived from their opposites. To Ṣúfís the meaning of Ṣúfiism is clearer than the sun and does not need any explanation or indication. Since “Ṣúfí” admits of no explanation, all the world are interpreters thereof, whether they recognize the dignity of the name or no at the time when they learn its meaning. The perfect, then, among them are called _Ṣúfí_, and the inferior aspirants (_ṭálibán_) among them are called _Mutaṣawwif_; for _taṣawwuf_ belongs to the form _tafa``ul_, which implies “taking trouble” (_takalluf_),[36] and is a branch of the original root. The difference both in meaning and in etymology is evident. _Purity (ṣafá) is a saintship with a sign and a relation (riwáyat)_, and _Ṣúfiism (taṣawwuf) is an uncomplaining imitation of purity (ḥikáyat^{un} li´l-ṣafá bilá shikáyat)._ Purity, then, is a resplendent and manifest idea, and Ṣúfiism is an imitation of that idea. Its followers in this degree are of three kinds: the _Ṣúfí_, the _Mutaṣawwif_, and the _Mustaṣwif_. The _Ṣúfí_ is he that is dead to self and living by the Truth; he has escaped from the grip of human faculties and has really attained (to God). The _Mutaṣawwif_ is he that seeks to reach this rank by means of self-mortification (_mujáhadat_) and in his search rectifies his conduct in accordance with their (the Ṣúfís’) example. The _Mustaṣwif_ is he that makes himself like them (the Ṣúfís) for the sake of money and wealth and power and worldly advantage, but has no knowledge of these two things.[37] Hence it has been said: _Al-mustaṣwif `inda ´l-Ṣúfiyyat ka-´l-dhubáb wa-`inda ghayrihim ka-´l-dhi´áb_, “The _Mustaṣwif_ in the opinion of the Ṣúfís is as despicable as flies, and his actions are mere cupidity; others regard him as being like a wolf, and his speech unbridled (_bé afsár_), for he only desires a morsel of carrion.” Therefore the _Ṣúfí_ is a man of union (_ṣáḥib wuṣúl_), the _Mutaṣawwif_ a man of principles, (_ṣáḥib uṣúl_), and the _Mustaṣwif_ a man of superfluities (_ṣáḥib fuḍúl_). He that has the portion of union loses all end and object by gaining his end and reaching his object; he that has the portion of principle becomes firm in the “states” of the mystic path, and steadfastly devoted to the mysteries thereof; but he that has the portion of superfluity, is left devoid of all (worth having), and sits down at the gate of