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But abandoning the custom of this group is not a condition of their path. As for their wearing woolen garments less nowadays, there are two reasons: one is that wool has become disturbed and scarce, and the livestock, amid the raids, have been scattered from place to place; and the other is that a group of innovators have made the woolen garment their emblem, and opposing the emblem of innovators, even though it be contrary to the sunna, is itself sunna.

As for the elaborate effort in sewing the patched cloak, they permit it for this reason: their standing among people grew great, and everyone made himself resemble them and put on a patched cloak (muraqqa'), while unseemly deeds appeared from them, and being in the company of opposites was a torment to them. So they devised an adornment that none but they knew how to sew, and made it a sign by which they recognized one another, and made it an emblem, to such a degree that a dervish came to one of the shaykhs with a patch he had sewn crosswise into his garment, and that shaykh shunned him. The meaning of this is that the foundation of purity (safa) is delicacy of nature and refinement of temperament, and crookedness in nature is never good; and just as uneven poetry does not please a good nature, an improper act too the nature will not accept.

And again there is a group who, in having and in not-having, undertake no affectation of dress. If their Lord has given them a cloak (aba) they wear it, and if He has given them a robe (qaba) they wear that too, and if He has kept them naked they remain so. And I, who am Ali ibn Uthman al-Jullabi, may God grant me success, have approved this path and have done the same in my travels.

And it is in the tales that when Ahmad ibn Khazruya came to visit Bayazid, may God have mercy on them both, he wore a qaba, and when Shah Shuja came to visit Abu Hafs he wore a qaba; and that was not their customary dress, for at times they also wore the muraqqa', and at times a woolen garment, or put on a white shirt, as it happened.

And the human soul is habituated, and it has an intimacy with habits; and when something becomes a habit to it, it becomes like a nature; and when it becomes nature it becomes a veil. And it was for this that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 'The best of fasts is the fast of my brother David, peace be upon him.' They said: 'O Messenger of God, how is that?' He said: 'That he would fast one day and not fast one day', so that it not become a habit to the soul and one not be veiled by it.

And in this meaning, more correctly, was Abu Hamid Dustan of Marw, may God have mercy on him, upon whom his disciples would put a garment; then whoever had need of it would seek the opportunity, and when it was free he would draw that garment off him. He would neither say to the one putting it on: 'Why do you put it on?' nor to the one taking it off: 'Why do you take it off?'

And at this time there is an old man in Ghazna, may God Almighty protect it, who is called by the title Murid (Disciple), may God be pleased with him; in dress he has neither choice nor discrimination, and concerning that the hadith is sound.

As for the meaning of why most of their garments are blue (kabud): one is that they have founded the basis of their path upon wandering and travel, and a white garment does not remain in its state on a journey, its washing is difficult, and everyone covets it; and the other is that wearing blue is the emblem of those who suffer loss and calamity, the garment of mourners, for the world is an abode of tribulation, a ruin of calamity, a desert of grief, a demon of separation, and a cradle of affliction. Since they did not find the heart's aim attained in the world, they put on blue and sat down in mourning for lost union. And another group saw in their conduct nothing but shortcoming, in their heart nothing but ruin, and in the times nothing but loss (fawt), so they put on blue, for 'loss is more severe than death' (al-fawt ashaddu min al-mawt). One wore blue over the death of a dear one, and another over the loss of an aim.

One of the pretenders to knowledge said to a dervish: 'Why have you worn this blue?' He said: 'From the Prophet, peace be upon him, three things remained: one, poverty; the second, knowledge; and the third, the sword.'

'The sultans took the sword and did not employ it in its proper place; the scholars chose the knowledge of the learned and contented themselves with mere learning; and the poor chose the poverty of the poor and made it an instrument of wealth. I have worn blue in mourning over the calamity of these three groups.'

And it is related from Murta'ish, may God have mercy on him, that he was passing through one of the quarters of Baghdad. He became thirsty, went up to a door, and asked for water. Someone came out with a jug of water; when he drank, his heart became the prey of the beauty of the cupbearer. He sat down right there until the master of the house came. He said: 'O master, my heart was heavy for a draught of water. From your house they gave me a draught of water and stole my heart.' The man said: 'That is my daughter. I give her to you in marriage.' Murta'ish, in seeking the heart, entered the house and made the contract. This master of the house was among the wealthy of Baghdad; he sent him to the bath, put his own garment on him, and drew off that muraqqa'. When night came, Murta'ish stood in prayer, recited his litanies (awrad), and busied himself with seclusion. In the midst of that a cry arose: 'Bring my muraqqa'!' They said: 'What has happened to you?' He said: 'It was recited into my secret heart: With one glance that you looked contrary to Us, We drew off the garment of righteousness and the muraqqa' from your exterior. If you look with another glance, We will draw the garb of intimacy from your interior.'

A garment whose cause of wearing is nearness to God, and which is worn in conformity with the friends (awliya) of God Almighty, persevering in it is blessed, if you can live truly by its right; and if not, one must guard one's own religion, and treachery in the garment of the friends of God is not permissible, for that you be a Muslim in verification without any false claim is better than that you be a saint (wali) in falsification.

But wearing it rightly befits two groups: one, those cut off from the world (munqati'an); and the other, those who yearn for the Presence of the Lord (mushtaqan).

And in the customs of the shaykhs, may God be pleased with them, the sunna has gone thus: that when a disciple attaches himself to them for the sake of blessing (tabarruk), they discipline him for three years, in three meanings. If he stands by that meaning, well; and if not, they say: 'The path does not accept this one': one year in the service of people, the second year in the service of the Truth, and the third year in the tending of his own heart.

The service of people he can perform when he places himself in the rank of servants and all people in the rank of the served; that is, he serves all without discrimination, considers them better than himself, holds the service of all incumbent upon him, and does not thereby regard himself as superior to others through that service, for that would be a great loss, a manifest fault, and a gross deception; and among the afflictions of the age, from time to time, one incurable calamity is this.

And the service of the Truth, glorified be His majesty, he can perform when he can wholly cut off all his portions from this world and the next and worship the Truth absolutely, glorified and exalted, for His sake; for as long as a servant worships the Truth for the expiation of sin and the attainment of the degrees of worship, he is not worshipping Him, let alone if it be to reach the means of this world.

And the tending of the heart he can perform when his aspiration (himma) has become gathered and the diverse cares have risen from his heart, and in the Presence of intimacy he guards the heart from the occasions of heedlessness.

And when these three conditions are attained in the disciple, wearing the muraqqa' is granted to him by verification, not by imitation.

As for the one who clothes the disciple in the muraqqa', he must be upright in state, having passed through all the ups and downs of the path, tasted the savor of the states, found the drink of the works, and seen the subjugation of majesty (jalal) and the grace of beauty (jamal); and he must be aware of his disciple's state, knowing where in the end he will arrive: will he be among those who turn back, those who halt, or those who attain? If he knows that one day he will turn back from this path, let him tell him not to begin; if he will halt, let him assign him practice; and if he will attain, let him nurture him.

And the shaykhs of this path are the physicians of hearts, and when the physician is ignorant of the patient's ailment, he destroys the patient with his own medicine, because he does not know his nurture, does not recognize his danger-points, and makes his food and drink contrary to his ailment; for his (the Prophet's) saying, peace be upon him: 'The shaykh among his people is like the prophet among his nation.' So the prophets...