the aristocracy of the heart

 

Tawazu’ in Sufic terms

means something more than hospitality.

It is laying before one’s friend willingly what one has,

in other words sharing with one’s friend all the

good one has in life, and with it,

enjoying life better.

 

When this tendency

to tawazu’ is developed, things that

give one joy and pleasure become more enjoyable by

sharing with another. This tendency comes from the aristocracy

of the heart. It is generosity and even more than generosity. For the

limit of generosity is to see another pleased in his pleasure,

but to share one’s own pleasure with another is greater

than generosity. It is a quality which is foreign

to a selfish person, and the one who

shows this quality is on the

path of saintliness.

 

Hazrat Inayat Khan