By the grace of God, a lost soul found the light of guidance and joined the circle of the enlightened.
Thanks to the blessings of the dervishes and the sincerity of their breath, his bad morals were transformed into good ones.
He abandoned his desires, yet the tongues of the slanderers remained long against him, claiming he was still the same and his piety and devotion were unreliable.
One can escape God’s punishment through repentance,
But one cannot escape the tongues of people.
Unable to bear the slander, he complained to the spiritual leader.
The leader replied: “How can you not be grateful for this blessing, that you are better than they think you are?!”
How often do you say that the ill-wishers and the envious
Are my poor critics?
Sometimes they rise to shed my blood,
Sometimes they sit to wish me ill.
It is better to be good and have people speak ill of you,
Than to be bad and have them see you as good.
But for me, who enjoys the perfect goodwill of everyone while being full of flaws, it is appropriate to worry and be concerned.
I am hidden from the eyes of my neighbors,
But God knows my secrets and my public actions.
I have closed my door to people,
So they do not spread my faults.
What use is a closed door when the Knower of the unseen
Knows all that is hidden and revealed?
