ABSTRACT
The first stage on the way, then, is tawba—repentance or conversion. This, like any other spiritual blessing, is a sheer gift of grace (‘aṭā maḥẓ). At the same time, unlike the ‘states’, it is put within the reach of every man or woman and involves his or her co-operation. It means turning one’s back on worldly vanities, realizing that the world is a ‘rotting carcase’ and that self is a fickle support. So the soul, awakened from its dream world of carelessness and neglect (ghiflat), begins to advance towards God and perfection and away from the snares and baits of created pleasures. The Qorān itself is full of such instigations.
