132 AN INTRODUCTION TO SUFI DOCTRINE

to humble their hearts at the remembrance of God .. .?”
(LVII, 16).—“Call on (or : Remember) the Name of thy
Lord and consecrate thyself to Him with (perfect) con-
secration” (LXXIII, 8).—‘“Happy is he who purifies
himself and invokes the Name of his Lord and prayeth”
(LXXXVII, 14 &15).

To these passages from the Quran must be added
some of the sayings of the Prophet : “It is in pronounc-
ing Thy Name that I must die and live.”” Here the con-
nection between the Name, ‘“death’ and ““life’” includes
a most important initiatic meaning.—““There is a means
for polishing everything which removes rust ; what poli-
shes the heart is the invocation of God, and no action
puts so far off the chastisement of God as this invoca-
tion.! The companions said : Is not fighting against
infidels like unto it ? He replied : No : not even if you
fight on till your sword is broken.”—‘“Never do men
gather together to invoke (or: to remember) God
without their being surrounded by angels, without the
Divine Favour covering them, without Peace (as-
sakinah) descending on them and without God remem-
bering them with those who surround Him.”—“The
Prophet said: The solitaries shall be the first. They
asked : Who are the solitaries (al-mufridin)? And he
replied : Those who invoke much.”—“A Beduin came

1. According to the Vishnu-Dharma-Uttara “water suffices to put out fire
and the rising of the sun (to drive away) shadows ; in the age of Kali repeti-
tion of the Name of Hari, ( Vishnu) suffices to desnoy all errors. The Name
of Hari, precisely the Name the Name which is my life ; there is not, no, there
surely is no other way *> In the Manava Dharma- S/zasna it is said : ‘Beyond
doubt a brahmin will succeed by nothing but japa (mvocatxon) Whether he
carries out other rites or not he is a perfect brahmin.”” Likewise also the
Mahabharata teaches that “‘of all functlons (dharmas) japa (invocation) is for
me the highest function®” and that © of all sacrifices I am the sacrifice of japa.”