Sufism: Love & Wisdom as prescribed in the Qurn, the faqr is thus praying for the good of the

whole creation and also for the recovery of his own pristine nature (on that subject, see the essay by Burckhardt). The Way of Recollection (Dhikr) The idea of a return to a primordial, paradisiacal state in which man, created in the image of God, played his full role as a lieutenant (khalfa) of God on earth, according to a recurrent Quranic expression, is a theme of reflection often proposed by the Qurn, the hadth, and the teachings of the Sufi masters. In this Adamic condition, there was no place for the individual will, the human soul being naturally submitted to the Creator and thus celebrating His praise as spontaneously as the leaves of trees sway to the rhythm of the wind, or as joyfully as the birds herald with their chirping the coming of a new dawn. Even more, enlightened by the Spirit which God had breathed into her, the soul was in harmony with all creatures, knowing their names (i.e., their essences) without being enraptured by their mirage and drawn away from worshiping the one Truth. After his own transgressionthe original sinhad left him bereft of this privileged status, man received good tidings that ways and means existed to compensate him for his loss. These paths to salvation are the sacred Traditions which have been bestowed on every human community in the course of history and, singularly, when the last heavenly Message was delivered through the descent of the Qurn. Generally known as the Book of God (Kitbu Llh), or as the Collected Pages (al-Muaf), the Qurn is often called Dhikru Llh, which means the recollection of God and which is also one of the many names given to the Prophet Muhammad. Chapter 38 of the Holy Book (d) opens with the words By the Qurn, bearer of recollection!, and it is a fact that the most repeated and pressing injunctions made to men are commands to remember God, mention Him often, invoke His Name a great deal, day and night, standing, sitting or lying on their side, with reverence, humility and attention . . . For Sufis, these commands have not gone unheeded. Conscious of having been granted a rope of salvation through the Qurn, a mine of sacred formulas ready to unveil their secret meanings and offer their liberating gifts, Muslim mystics have developed a very rich and effecxxiv