Sincerity is the jewel that forms in the shell of the heart.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
Very few realize what power sincerity carries. A false person, however physically strong or however great the will-power, is kept down by falsehood; it never allows that person to rise. It eats into the person because it is rust. Those who have done great things in life, in whatever walk of life it be, have done them by the power of truth, the power of sincerity.
Sincerity is the principal thing in life. Youth is the age which is most attracted to superficiality. That is the reason why many youths adopt an artificial manner of thought, speech and action, which is very undesirable and does not benefit their life. It is important to inculcate sincerity in the character of the youth. To give a youth a love of sincerity is extremely useful, for the power of sincerity can work miracles.
The more sincerity is developed, the greater share of truth you will have. And however much sincerity a person may have, there is always a gap to fill, for we live in the midst of falsehood, and we are always apt to be carried away by this world of falsehood. Therefore we must never think we are sincere enough, and we must always be on our guard against influences which may carry us away from that sincerity which is the bridge between ourselves and our ideal. No study, no meditation is more helpful than sincerity itself.
( from “Supplementary Papers (aka Dutch Papers), Classes for Mureeds I” [unpublished] )
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
This being a condition of the heart, mind cannot grasp it. It is one of those truths which have to be posited without being explained. To test it in one way is to enter Darood, or better yet, Fikar, and concentrate on sincerity. You will find it in the heart. Or concentrate on the heart; you will find sincerity at its very core.