Nevertheless, the actions of East and West are directed towards two different poles. The material progress of the East has been hindered by the climate, a climate which makes part of the day useless for active work. One would prefer to sit and dream rather than be active and work, and this also makes a difference in inclinations.

Moreover very much of Western progress is due to the uniformity of the people, and much of the backwardness of the East is due to lack of uniformity. Every man in the East may have his own individual progress; but whenever there is individualistic progress, it may be very free, yet it will not be recognized by those who do not understand this particular way. It is like a scientist who comes with a new invention which is not understood by another scientist, who then will be sure to oppose him.

In the East, therefore, whenever an intelligent person progresses in his own line, he has to face great opposition, and he finds no one who can quite understand him. But in the West it is the contrary. There are academies and associations and people who understand things and who can give encouragement. Yet on the other hand uniformity pulls people back from individual progress.

Now, owing to modern communications, East and West have been brought closer together, and this gives us great hope that East and West, which depend for their progress upon mutual exchange and understanding, will soon unite. In industry, in politics, in all things they can unite and benefit from each other; but the greatest benefit that can come from the meeting of East and West is through the interchange of thought and ideal, through meeting in that light which is the light of intelligence and which is divine by nature.

The Sufi Movement has directed all its efforts towards this goal, that the East may be able to appreciate all that is good and worth while in the West, and that the West may understand and sympathize with all that is worth understanding in the East. Words cannot explain to what extent the world would benefit by the realization of this ideal. Just now the East is working in its own way and the West is working in its own way; this is like working with one eye open and the other eye closed. It is in the unity of East and West that the vision will become complete, and it is in this conception that the great disasters and troubles which have kept the world in such uneasiness will be rooted out. And by the unity of East and West in wisdom, one can look forward to a real peace.