A real Dervish is he who desires for himself ......

Sufi: Sufi means who are interested in inner knowledge, those who are interested in finding a way of practice towards inner awakening and enlightenment.

Sufi is concern to be detached from that which is transitory and which distracts him/her from spiritual progress. In order for one to stop being distracted constantly by the mundane aspects of life, one needs a way to deflect the mind from thinking about such matters.

Dervish: A real Dervish is he who desires for himself nothing, has no egotism, and is meed and lowly, and willing to accept all things as coming from Allah. The gains of a dervish are seclusion and retirement, refraining from the utterance of all profane language, reflection, contentment, patience, silence, and resignation, and to watch and obey the will of Allah; to keep the commands of the Murshid (Sheikh); to war with his own wild passions; to chance his evil feelings for those which are good, and to be faithful to his Order, according to Quran, xxix.69:"We lead in our paths all those who are jealous in propagating our faith, and God is with those who do good. We make the lesser war (of this world), and also the greater (upon our own wild passions), and this is the true world of God)"

Strong dervish is the one who have the power over his/her nafs (ego). A dervish should have some habits such as: not to claim to have knowledge, otherwise his/her nafs draws him/her to destruction; to be patient and not hoping something from people but Allah; to keep secret and not to complain; to do what he/she does for the sake of Allah. Dervish should be steady, not inconstant and weak.

The Believers! Remember God abundantly. (Al-Ahzab, 41)

Surely, in the remembrance of Allah, all hearts are comforted. (Al-Rad, 28)

Remember Me (God) so that I will remember you.” (Al-Baqhara, 152)

Those who have faith remember God when sitting, standing and lying down in their side and think about the creation of the Heavens and the Earth. (Al-Imran, 191)

Remember the name of your Lord. (Alâ, 15)

The foremost duty is to remember Allah.” (Al-Ankabut, 45)

Sayyed Ahmad Rifai says his disciples that to reach the love of Allah, one should continue dhikr (remembrance/chanting), reflect on Allah`s blessings and favors, strengthen the tie with friends of Allah, obey the command of Allah and pray to Allah for love. He said that learn love from a candle.

Do not think that your task is over with fasting and prayer,
The union for devotee is the Remembrance and Knowledge...

Love: According to Qur’an, the creation began with the divine command, ‘Be!’ (Qur’an 16:40; 19:35; 36;82). Within that command is contained the entire book of Reality. From the Sufi point of view, every ‘heart’ contains a blueprint of truth.

There is something within the core of everyone which reveals the truth. That something does not change, for it is primal and sub-genetic. Physically, everyone appears to be different, but that which is ingrained sub-genetically in man is his innate nature.

The original blueprint of divine laws is preserved in this innate nature of man. If that blueprint is not tarnished or obscured, then it is easier for a man to recognize and acknowledge the messengers and Reality.

Allah also says in the Qur’an that your ‘heart’ never lies. How does one distinguish between guidance coming from ‘heart’, and that which is coming from one’s emotions, desires, fears, and imagination? The innate nature in each one of us has been tarnished to varying degrees, due to family and other influences during our early life. In order to return to our original state of innate nature, we need again the guidance of the outer code of divine law.

Let non dare to enter the Valley of Love,
without the fire of yearning lighted in him.
Love does not welcome him
who burns not like a flame...

Because, when the madness of love overpowers him all thought of multiplicity disappears from his thoughts. If the divine eye were opened in an individual, the very atoms of creation will reveal to him great secrets, and he shall see that all universe is a manifestation and gift of His love.

The outer law is my action,
The Path of purification is my way
And the inner reality is my state

http://www.rifai.org/?id=sf