Number 4

The word 'dervish' is spelled with five letters in Persian, and each letter carries a lesson greater than the last. The 'D' is proof of this: make peace with pain, even if a hundred needles prick your body from every side. The 'R': do not put on a face of hypocrisy, for such pretense shames the stranger and torments yourself. The 'V' means saying goodbye to all but God; and that is a rare and blessed task. The 'I': become of one heart and one color on the path of love; no one absorbed in their own self ever becomes whole. The 'SH': the one who gives thanks and never complains, who wishes even his enemy well. Whoever has been given these five qualities, seek him out and take refuge in him, for he is a true dervish.