116 AN INTRODUCTION TO SUFI DOCTRINE

tricity which prevents the heart from directly contem-
plating Divine Realities. Since the individual affirma-
tion is made of volition, virtue seizes the ego through
the medium of its volitive manifestations. It may come
about that a turning round of the will suddenly unveils
the centre of consciousness so that a renunciation, a
sacrifice or a “‘conversion” (at-fawbah) may in certain
cases bring with it, suddenly, the vision of the “eye of
the heart” (‘ayn al-qalb). As for spiritual alchemy, this
transmutes the psycho-physical structure of man both
by acting on the organic seats of consciousness and by
becoming the vehicle for the radiation of Grace, which
is mysteriously present in the divine symbols.

To end this chapter we shall quote this saying of
the master al-‘Arabi al-Hasani ad-Darqawi which sums
up more than one aspect of the Way: “The perception
(the spiritual glimpse : al-ma‘na) is most subtle ; it can
only be retained with the help of the sensory (al-hiss)
and can only be made to endure by spiritual conversa-
tion (al-mudhakkarah), invocation (or “recollection” of
God : adh-dhikr) and the breaking of natural habits
(both passive and instinctive).”