Seek God in all souls, good or bad, wise and foolish, attractive and unattractive; in the depths of each there is God.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
As fruit ripens in the course of nature, so it is in the course of nature that the soul should mature; and it is no use being disappointed or disheartened about ourselves and about those near and dear to us, worrying because our husband, wife, father, or mother does not look at spiritual matters in the same way as we do. In the first place no one, however wise or pious, has the right to judge another soul. Who knows what is hidden behind every action, appearance, speech, and manner? No one. And when we begin to know what is hidden in the human soul, in spite of all deluding appearances we will have respect, a respect for humankind, as we realize that in the depth of every soul is God whom one worships.
Just as the religious person has a religious attitude in a temple, so the Sufis have that attitude before every being, for to them every being is the temple of the Divine. Therefore the Sufis are always before their Lord. Whether a servant, a master, a friend, or a foe is before them, they are in the presence of God. For those whose God is in the high heavens there is a vast gulf between them and God, but those who have God always before them — they are always in God’s presence, and there is no end to their happiness.
God is in all things, and still more is in all beings. Seek God in all souls, good and bad, wise and foolish, attractive or unattractive, for in the depth of each there is God.
Humanity swimming in the sea does not know the fish living in the sea, so we living in God do not recognize all souls living in God also. God is all around and about us at every moment, we are living God’s Life, we are breathing God’s Breath, and yet we are ignorant of the perfection of Beauty which unites and inspires every soul.
( from Unpublished Papers from the Nekbakht Foundation Archives: Cupid and Psyche, May 5th 1921 )
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
Since God is the only being, God is the essence and life of all souls. To confuse the soul with the nufs of personality is to draw confusion to one’s own mind. If there were not some good in the personality, the mind and body could not function. Evil is weakness, and goodness is strength — even the strength that holds body together as a unit or mind together as a unit. The cause of suicide is weakness, and murderers are often suicides who objectify their own weakness. Unable to dominate themselves they desire to dominate others.
The way to overcome this weakness in others is to practice the spiritual breaths in their presence and so build up the atmosphere. The more positive one is in the presence of such people, the more respect is gained and so everybody can be helped. It is not necessary to judge: the stone is a stone, the tree is a tree, the bird is a bird, but the life in all is God.