Note 236 — Chapter XII

The Súfis call حجاب “veil,” whatever is opposed to perfect union with divinity. In the life of Joneid Abú ’l-Kasem, who was born and educated in Baghdád, and died in the year of the Hejira 297 (A. D. 909), one of the earliest and most celebrated founders of Súfism, we read what follows: “Somebody said to Joneid: ‘I found that the Shaikhs of Khorasan acknowledge three sorts of veils: the first is the nature (of man); the second is the world, and the third concupiscence.’—‘These are, said Joneid, ‘the veils which apply themselves to the heart of the common among men; but there exists another sort of veil for special men; that is, for the disciples of spiritual life, the Súfis: this is the view of works, the consideration of the recompenses due to acts, and the regard of the benefits of God. The Shaikh of Islamism said (relatively to this subject): God is veiled from the heart of man, who sees his proper actions; God is veiled even from him who seeks recompense, and from him who, occupied with considering the benefit, turns his eyes from the benefactor.’”—(See Notices et Extraits des MSS., vol. XII.; p. 435, Joneid’s Life, by Jámi, translated by Silvestre de Sacy.)