The State of Paradise

Khwāja Aḥmad Yesevī once advised: “If you wish to always find yourself in a state of paradise, be easy with everyone and never keep anger in your heart. If you wish to progress on this path, do not censure others. You must be a salve for a wound, not a barb that rips it open. If you wish no harm to come to you from others, do not speak cruelly, do not think badly of others, and do not engage in dishonesty. A true dervish does not despair when people hurt him. A true dervish does not retaliate, even when he has the right to do so.”

– The Kitāb al-fawā’id

Photo: Dervish Feriku, Albania, 1940s