God is the author of the acts of the human race; it is He who controls the will of man, which is _not_ free in its action. Like all animals man possesses an original mind, an animal or living mind, a mind instinctive, but he has also a human mind, breathed into him by God, and of the same character as the original and constructive element itself. The concomitant mind comprehends the original element and the human mind; it extends itself over the triple domain: animal, vegetable, and mineral. The soul, which existed before the body, is confined in the body as in a cage; death, then is, the object of the Sufi's desires, since it returns him to the bosom of the Divinity. This metempsychosis permits the soul which has not fulfilled its destiny here below to be purified and worthy of a re-union with God. This spiritual union all can strive for ardently, but all cannot attain, because it is a product of the grace of God. The Sufi, during his sojourn in the body, is uniquely occupied in meditating upon his unity with God (_Wahdanija_), the reminiscence of the names of God (_Zikr_), and the progressive advancement in the _tarika_ or journey of life, up to his unification with God. What is the Sufi journey, then? Human life has been likened to a voyage, where the traveler is seeking after God. The aim of the voyage is to attain to a knowledge of God, for human existence is a period of banishment for the soul, which cannot return to God until it has passed through many successive stages. The natural state of man is called _nasout_ (humanity); the disciple should observe the law and conform to all the rites of believers. The other stages are: the nature of the angels (_malakout_), where one follows the way to purity, the possession of power (_djabrout_), the degree to which knowledge corresponds (_m'arifa_), and finally, extinction or absorption in the Deity, the degree to which truth corresponds. The voyager agrees to renouncement, which is of two kinds: external and internal. The first is the renouncement of riches and worldly honors; the second is the renouncement of profane desires. And he should especially guard against idolatry, which for some is the adoration of worldly achievement, for others a too assiduous practice of praying and fasting.