Reality in which Alone is and in whose existence it finds
its own abiding existence (BAQR).
Hence the Quranic expression:
All that upon the earth
is perishing, yet still
abi~es the face of thy
Lord.
c..Quran, LV, 25)
The transmission of spiritual education is provided29.within the Sufi Orders C1URUQ, plural of 1AR1QAH). Through-
out the centuries the disseminatiort of spiritual education
has, for the most part, remained oral. The method of
teaching used by the Sufis to pass spiritual realities is
founded within the framework of the Islamic law CSHARICAH).
For the efficacy of the method, there must be a regular
chain of masters (SILSILAH) going back to the Prophet him-
self and passing down his BARAKAH (Divine Grace) from one
generation to the next.l
In the early days of Islam, the esoteric teachings of
the Prophet were delivered orally to a few companions who,
though they were not known as Sufis at the time, nonetheless
became the first contemplative.s. ..^2 It was as late as the
12th century that groups of aspirants began to organize
themselves into orders so as to identify with and continue
the teaching of a particular shaikh.^3 The initiation into
a Sufi order begins with an oath of allegiance made to the
shaikh of the ordir. According to the Sufi doctrine, under
no circumstances would a Sufi consider himself fit to practice
Remembrance unless he were properly initiated into an order.With regard to the organizational structure of the Sufi
orders, it varies from one order to anothe~. Sometimes the