Hazrat Inayat Khan here begins from a sura of the Quran and uses it to give an explanation of the journey that all beings, from the most humble to the most evolved, must make.

“Every being is from God and will return unto Him.” This Sura of the Quran tells us the fact that for all, good and bad, wise and foolish, believers and unbelievers, pious and infidel, there is one goal in the end, that which has been the origin of all. You may call it God, consciousness or the first cause of all causes. Also the above Sura explains that the journey from the original source to the manifestation is as necessary as the return from manifestation to the origin. Either by an effort or without it, the circle will be accomplished by both willing and unwilling, developed and undeveloped; the difference only lies in time, in sooner or later, which seems not different and yet it makes a vast difference. 

The various aspects of the manner of reaching or attaining can be described as a person journeying on foot, or on horseback, or on a bicycle, or in a motor[-car], or in the electric train, or in a balloon, or he may reach his destination in an airplane. There is no fixed period for the time of arriving. For some it needs but a moment of time for their upliftment, while for others a thousand such lives would not be sufficient. The speed of accomplishment depends alone on the proportion of one’s illumination. Generally speaking there are five paths chosen by the seekers after truth: devotion, morality, wisdom, power and annihilation. 

Although each one of them is equally important and necessary, yet the attainment of self-realization is necessary, and without self-realization they are not of great use for perfection. Of course one helps the other, the heartfelt devotion causes morality to spring forth in the nature, and the development of morals illuminates a person, making him wise and it is wisdom which gives unchallengeable power and it is that power which fights against delusions and conquers the mortal self. 

This Sura explains that the original source, the true self of all the selves, has journeyed through different planes in order to manifest in the universe, and its necessary re-action is the journey back towards the goal. Therefore man, beast, bird, insect – all things and beings are attracted to Him. All are journeying toward the goal unconsciously, with the exception of man, and yet man has to go also without the knowledge of his journey for some time through life, until he has found the true cause of his life’s miseries. There is an innate yearning for something comforting, agreeable and beautiful, but at first man seeks the object to satisfy his yearning among the seeming objects on earth. This goes on until at each earthly attainment he experiences either a momentary satisfaction or a disappointment for certain. He then chooses the freedom from dependence upon the objects without, and seeks the true object which always attracted and which was within himself.

God bless you.