Home > Work > The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism (Revised)
1 " Now,the very idea of this warfare is dramatically unfolded when wecome to the Fravartis of human beings. In the prelude to themillenniums of the period of mixture, Ohrmazd offered themthe choice from which their entire destiny originates: theycould either live in the celestial world sheltered from the ravagesof Ahriman, or else descend to earth there to be incarnatedin material bodies and struggle against the counterpowersof Ahriman in the material world. Their answer tothis proposal was the yes which gives their name its full meaning,most significantly for our purpose: those who have chosen. Inpractice the fravarti incarnated in the terrestrial world finallybecame identified in religious representations purely and simplywith the soul. "
― Henry Corbin , The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism (Revised)
2 " My friend, shut your eyelids and look at what you see. If youtell me: I see nothing—you are mistaken. You can see very well,but unfortunately the darkness of your nature is so close to youthat it obstructs your inner sight, to the point that you do notdiscern what is to be seen. If you want to discern it and to see it infront of you even with your eyes closed, begin by diminishing orby putting away from you something of your nature. But the pathleading to that end is spiritual warfare. And the meaning ofspiritual warfare is putting everything to work so as to repel theenemies or to kill them. The enemies in this case are nature, thelower soul, and the devil. "