If the novice, having donned the _muraqqa`a_, should be forced to tear it under compulsion of the temporal authority, this is permissible and excusable; but should he tear it of free will and deliberately, then according to the law of the sect he is not allowed to wear a _muraqqa`a_ in future, and if he do so, he stands on the same footing as those in our time who are content to wear _muraqqa`as_ for outward show, with no spiritual meaning. As regards the rending of garments the true doctrine is this, that when Ṣúfís pass from one stage to another they immediately change their dress in thankfulness for having gained a higher stage; but whereas every other garment is the dress of a single stage, the _muraqqa`a_ is a dress which comprises all the stages of the Path of poverty and purity, and therefore to discard it is equivalent to renouncing the whole Path. I have made a slight allusion to this question, although this is not the proper place for it, in order to settle the particular point at issue; but, please God, I will give a detailed explanation of the principle in the chapter on rending (_kharq_), and in the revelation of the mystery of “audition” (_samá`_). Furthermore, it has been said that one who invests a novice with the _muraqqa`a_ should possess such sovereign mystical powers that any stranger on whom he looks kindly should become a friend, and any sinner whom he clothes in this garment should become a saint. Once I was travelling with my Shaykh in Ádharbáyaján, and we saw two or three persons wearing _muraqqa`as_, who were standing beside a wheat-barn and holding up their skirts in the hope that the farmer would throw them some wheat. On seeing this the Shaykh exclaimed: “_Those are they who have purchased error at the price of true guidance, but their traffic has not been profitable_” (Kor. ii, 15). I asked him how they had fallen into this calamity and disgrace. He said: “Their spiritual directors were greedy to gather disciples, and they themselves are greedy to collect worldly goods.” It is related of Junayd that he saw at the Báb al-Ṭáq[48] a beautiful Christian youth and said: “O Lord, pardon him for my sake, for Thou hast created him exceeding fair.” After a while the youth came to Junayd and made profession of Islam and was enrolled among the saints. Abú `Alí Siyáh was asked: “Who is permitted to invest novices with the _muraqqa`a_?” He replied: “That one who oversees the whole kingdom of God, so that nothing happens in the world without his knowledge.” Footnote 48: A gate in the eastern quarter of Baghdád. CHAPTER V. ON THE DIFFERENT OPINIONS HELD CONCERNING POVERTY AND PURITY.