formality (_rasm_), and thereby he is veiled from reality (_ma`ní_) and this veil renders both union and principle invisible to him. The Shaykhs of this persuasion have given many subtle definitions of Ṣúfiism which cannot all be enumerated, but we shall mention some of them in this book, if God will, who is the Author of success. Footnote 36: Examples of this signification of the form _tafa``ul_ are given in Wright’s Arabic Grammar, vol. i, p. 37, Rem. _b_. Footnote 37: Viz., purity (_ṣafá_) and Ṣúfiism (_taṣawwuf_). SECTION. Dhu ´l-Nún, the Egyptian, says: _Al-Ṣúfí idhá naṭaqa bána nuṭquhu `an al-ḥaqá´iq wa-in sakata naṭaqat `anhu ´l-jawáriḥ bi-qaṭ` al-`alá´iq_, “The Ṣúfí is he whose language, when he speaks, is the reality of his state, i.e. he says nothing which he is not, and when he is silent his conduct explains his state, and his state proclaims that he has cut all worldly ties;” i.e. all that he says is based on a sound principle and all that he does is pure detachment from the world (_tajríd_); when he speaks his speech is entirely the Truth, and when he is silent his actions are wholly “poverty” (_faqr_). Junayd says: _Al-taṣawwuf na`t^{un} uqíma ´l-`abd fíhi qíla na`t^{un} li-´l-`abd am li-´l-ḥaqq faqála na`t al-ḥaqq ḥaqíqat^{an} wa-na`t al-`abd rasm^{an}_, “Ṣúfiism is an attribute wherein is Man’s subsistence.” They said: “Is it an attribute of God or of mankind?” He replied: “Its essence is an attribute of God and its formal system is an attribute of mankind;” i.e. its essence involves the annihilation of human qualities, which is brought about by the everlastingness of the Divine qualities, and this is an attribute of God; whereas its formal system involves on the part of Man the continuance of self-mortification (_mujáhadat_), and this continuance of self-mortification is an attribute of Man. Or the words may be taken in another sense, namely, that in real Unification (_tawḥíd_) there are, correctly speaking, no human attributes at all, because human attributes are not constant but are only formal (_rasm_), having no permanence, for God is the agent. Therefore they are really the attributes of God. Thus (to explain what is meant), God commands His servants to fast, and when they keep the fast He gives them the name of “faster” (_ṣá´im_), and _nominally_ this “fasting” (_ṣawm_) belongs to Man, but _really_ it belongs to God. Accordingly God told His Apostle and said: _Al-ṣawm lí wa-ana ajzí bihi_, “Fasting is mine,” because all His acts are His possessions, and when men ascribe things to themselves, the attribution is formal and metaphorical, not real. And Abu ´l-Ḥasan Núrí says: _Al-taṣawwuf tarku kulli ḥaẕẕ^{in}_ _li-´l-nafs_, “Ṣúfiism is the renunciation of all selfish pleasures.” This renunciation is of two kinds: formal and essential. For example, if one renounces a pleasure, and finds pleasure in the renunciation, this is formal renunciation; but