ABSTRACT
THE word suf signifies in Arabic ' wool ', and Mr. Lane, in his 102nd note on the lOth chapter of The Arabian Nights, says that the so-called Sufis derive their title either from their wearing woollen garments, or from the Greek word uotp/Js, because of their philosophical tenets. He adds, that " there is an Order of Muslim Darweshes called Sufis, ' 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 Sunni Sufis are in a great degree mystical and latitudinarian ; but not so much so as the Sufis of the Persian sect."
