ABSTRACT
The word sūf signifies in Arabic ‘wool’, and Mr. Lane, in his 102nd note on the 10th chapter of The Arabian Nights, says that the so-called Sūfīs derive their title either from their wearing woollen garments, or from the Greek word σoΦόs, because of their philosophical tenets. He adds, that “there is an Order of Muslim Darweshes called Sūfīs, ‘who make profession of a more regular and more contemplative life than Darweshes in general; and many of this class have written books of spirituality, of devotion, and of contemplation, which mostly bear the title of tasawwuf, that is, of spiritual life.’… The Sunnī Sūfīs are in a great degree mystical and latitudinarian; but not so much so as the Sūfīs of the Persian sect.”
