RITES 133

to the Prophet and asked : Who is the best among men ?
The Prophet answered : Blessed is that person whose
life is long and his actions good. The Beduin said :
O Prophet! What is the best and the best rewarded of
actions ? He replied : The best of actions is this: to
separate yourself from the world and to die while your
tongue is moist with repeating the Name of God.”!—
“A man said : O Prophet of God, truly the laws of
Islam are many. Tell me a thing by which I can obtain
the rewards. The Prophet answered : Let your tongue
be ever moist with mentioning God.”

The universal character of invocation is indirectly
expressed by the simplicity of its form and by its power
of assimilating to itself all those acts of life whose
direct and elemental nature has an affinity with the
““existential” aspect of the rite. Thus the dhikr easily
imposes its sway on breathing, the double rhythm of
which sums up not only every manifestation of life but
also, symbolically, the whole of existence.

Just as the rhythm inherent in the sacred words
imposes itself on the movement of breathing, so the
rhythm of breathing in its turn can impose itself on all
the movements of the body. Herein lies the principle
of the sacred dance practised in Sufi communities.?
This practice is the more remarkable since the Moslem

1. Kabirsaid : “Just as a fish loves water and the miser loves silver and
a mother loves her child so also Bhagat loves the Name. The eyes stream
through looking at the path and the heart has become a pustule from ceaseless-
ly invoking the Name.”

2. According to a %adith ¢ he who does not vibrate at remembrarce of
The Friend has no friend.”” This saying is one of the scriptural foundations of
the dance of the dervishes.