Page:A Moslem seeker after God - showing Islam at its best in the life and teaching of al-Ghazali, mystic and theologian of the eleventh century (IA moslemseekeraft00zwem).pdf/202



the Cave, and the change they see in themselves and those about them is to them as a dream."

His teaching on prayer as given in the Ihya cer tainly rises very high above that of the ritualist who puts all his attention on the punctiliousness of outward observance. " Prayers are of three de grees, of which the first are those that are simply spoken with the lips. Prayers are of the second kind when with difficulty, and only by a most reso lute effort, the soul is able to fix its thoughts on divine things without being disturbed by evil im aginations; they are of the third kind when one finds it difficult to turn away the mind from dwell ing on divine things. But it is the very marrow of prayer when He who is invoked takes possession of the soul of the suppliant, and the soul of him who prays is absorbed into God, to whom he prays, and, his prayer ceasing, all consciousness of self has de parted, and to such a degree that all thought what soever of the praying is felt as a veil between the soul and God. This state is called by the Sufis absorption/ for the reason that the man is so ab sorbed that he takes no thought of his body, or of anything that happens externally, or even of the movements of his own soul, but is first engaged in going towards his Lord, and finally is wholly in his Lord. If even the thought occurs that he is ab sorbed in the Absolute it is a blemish, for that absorption only is worthy of the name, though they will be called, as I well know, but foolish babbling