The Sufis of the earliest days of Islam were ascetics. Austerity and a God-fearing piety were their real concerns. In the Tasawwuf of later times metaphysics and theorizing mixed. Tasawwuf then ceased to be mere asceticism and mingled with philosophy. Hama Ust [All is HeJ, the slogan of the pantheists, is not a religious but a philosophical theme. Islam has nothing to do with wahdat and kathrat. The essence of Islam is Tawhid opposite of the latter is not kathrat but shirk. Any philosophy or religious teaching that prevents the blossoming and maturing of the human personality is worthless. Tasawwuf has inflicted much damage on the scientific spirit. People run after amulets instead of consulting a physician. To shut one's ears and eyes to the material world and to emphasize only the inward perception is a sign of stagnation and degeneration. It is the search after easy ways instead of making the effort for the conquest of nature by dynamic struggle. I think the forbidden tree means Tasawwuf. Pure Islamic Tasawwuf is that in which the divine injunctions become imperatives ensuing from one's own wishes:
The Believer isn't known by a casual look.
Though reciter he seems, yet himself is the Book.
"Iqbal, the Poet-Philosopher" p. 53-54
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