Hazrat Inayat Khan on ISHQ (Divine Love)

The Sufi says, "Ishq Allah, Ma'abud Allah - God is love and Beloved". This word love we have so altered, so degraded in our ordinary life. We say, "I love you, because you love me. I am your friend, your well-wisher, because you are my friend and well-wisher". This friendship lasts a short time and then it is gone. It is as if we say: "I like this flower because it is beautiful", and when its beauty is gone, it is thrown away.

Question: What is the best way to learn not to look for appreciation and reciprocity? Answer: To develop independence in nature. When one loves one must love for the sake of love, not for a return. When one serves one must serve for the sake of service, not for acknowledgement. In everything a person does, if he does not think of reciprocity or appreciation in any manner or form, he may perhaps seem a loser in the beginning, but in the end that person will be the gainer, for he has lived in the world and yet held himself above the world; it cannot touch him.

Furthermore the tendency to doubt, to be depressed, the tendency towards fear, suspicion and confusion, the tendency to puzzle - where does it all come from? It all comes from the thought of getting something in return: "will another give me back what I have given him? Shall I get the just portion back, or less?" If that is the thought behind one's acts there will be fear, doubt, suspicion, puzzle and confusion. For what is doubt? Doubt is a cloud that stands before the sun, keeping its light from shining. So is doubt: gathering around the soul it keeps its light from shining out, and man becomes confused and perplexed. Once selflessness is developed, it breaks through the cloud saying, "What do I care whether anyone appreciates it; I only know to give my service, and that is all my satisfaction. I do not look forward to get it back. I have given it and it is finished; this is where my duty ends". That person is blessed, because he has conquered, he has won.