THE BRANCHES OF THE DOCTRINE 39

of this is the more uncertain since the domain of the
soul (an-nafs) is a priori governed by the egocentric
illusion which itself presupposes a blind spot.! All this
amounts to saying that the science of the virtues, which
applies Divine Truth to the soul, directly concerns spiri-
tual realisation. Its criteria are exceedingly subtle; it
could never be summed up in a moral code and its
fixations are no more than paradigms. Its object, which
is spiritual virtue, is a sort of “‘symbol that is lived”, the
right perception of which depends on a certain inner
development. Now this is not necessarily true of doc-
trinal understanding.
_In a certain sense the Sufi method consists in the art
of keeping the soul open to the inflow of the Infinite.
Now the soul has a natural tendency to remain shut up
in itself and this tendency can only be compensated by
a contrary movement acting on the same plane ; this
movement is precisely virtue. Metaphysical Truth as
such is impersonal and motionless ; virtue translates it
into a “personal ’ mode.
Spiritual virtue is not necessarily a social virtue in
a direct sense, and the external manifestations of one and
the same virtue may be different according to the point
of view or the circumstances. Thus certain Sufis have
shown their contempt for the world by wearing poor
and tattered garments; others have affirmed the same

inner attitude by wearing sumptuous raiment. In any

1. All the same man always has a certain awareness of the falsity of his
attitude. even if his reason does not take account of it. It is said in the Quran:
“Assuxedly man is conscious of himself (or : of his own soul) even if he offers
excuses.”” (LXXV, 13). The man who desires to realise Divine Knowledge
while despising virtue is like a robber wanting to become righteous without
restoring the product of his robbery.