do good only for the sake of goodness


 
The Sufi moral is this:

Love another and do not depend

upon his love; and: do good to another

and do not depend upon receiving good

from him; serve another and do not look

for service from him. All you do for another

out of your love and kindness, you should think

that you do, not to that person, but to God. And

if the person returns love for love, goodness

for goodness, service for service, so much

the better. If he does not return it, then

pity him for what he loses; for his

gain is much less than

his loss.

 

Do not look for thanks

or appreciation for all the good you do to

others, nor use it as a means to stimulate your vanity.

Do all that you consider good for the sake of

goodness, not even for a return

of that from God.

 

Hazrat Inayat Khan

 

add to goodness from your own heart

the way of jesus

 

Whenever we see

that goodness is lacking,

we may add to it from our own heart

and so complete the nobility of human nature.

This is done by patience, tolerance, kindness, forgiveness.

The lover of goodness loves every little sign of goodness.

He overlooks the faults and fills up the gaps by

pouring out love and supplying that

which is lacking. This is real

nobility of soul.

 

Hazrat Inayat Khan

the stream of love

 

the kingship of the dervish

patch-robed monks

 

Fleeting time

and the changes of matter

make all the kings of the earth but

transitory kings, ruling over transitory kingdoms;

this is because of their dependence upon their environment

instead of their imagination. But the kingship of the dervish,

independent of all external influences, based purely on

his mental perception and strengthened by the forces

of his will, is much truer and at once unlimited

and everlasting. Yet in the materialistic view

his kingdom would appear as nothing,

while in the spiritual conception

it is an immortal and

exquisite realm

of joy.

 

Hazrat Inayat Khan

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