It is only through prayer that the soul may arrive at this perception.

It is only through prayer that the soul may arrive at this perception. The prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) said on a certain occasion, "whoever has pride in his heart, though it be only equivalent to a grain of rice, cannot enter Paradise." "Give good news to the humble whose hearts fill with awe whenever God is mentioned." (28) When man invokes the name of God in prayer, his heart trembles with emotion and, if before he felt sad, he is filled with joy; if before he was ill, he is cured; for sincere prayer makes man humble and brings him closer to the contemplation of God.

Illumination "God guides whoever He will to his Light". (29) Illumination means dispelling the darkness of ignorance. The true self obscured by false habits of thinking and desires, is suddenly revealed. Nothing in the life of this person can be the same anymore. The illuminated person begins to live by the knowledge he acquires. "The wind blows where it choose, and you hear the sound of it, but you don't know where it comes from or where it goes.

So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (30) Illumination comes from God, it is a gift of God. It never has a human motive. Illumination, as St. John tells us, is like the wind that blows and goes where it pleases. Thus is divine light.

The Sufi masters tell us that the disciple, although an initiate, cannot do anything without the light that comes from God Himself, and that the spiritual states of illumination can never be the product of any human technique of meditation, concentration or the like. "The Spirit is part of my Lord´s domaine. You have only been given a little knowledge." (31) This does not mean that man does not play an important part in the process of illumination.

Of course he does, and that is, to eliminate all the obstacles that he finds in his life that are impeding him from desiring and achieving that divine illumination.

Those obstacles are, on one hand, his personal ego, which includes ambition for power, social recognition, the love of money and the luxury that money provides, living in a constant bid for social climbing, even at the expense of others; and, on another hand, indifference to the needs of those who are dependent upon him, whether economically, personally or emotionally, owing to the drive to fulfil himself professionally and socially.

Indifference for the problems of one's community, one's local social surroundings, and - of course - indifference for the problems of the world.