The Timeless Sufi Wisdom of Shaykh Nazim

Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani was a guide and mentor to thousands of people during his long and fruitful life. He was one of the most significant figures in Sufism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Like Sufis before him, Shaykh Nazim had a relentless sense of humor, a keen eye, and a shining heart. Envision a man who, rather than becoming cynical over time, had blossomed ever more childlike. Shaykh Nazim expressed his love for his fellow human beings by listening carefully to their observations and concerns and thoughtfully advising them. He would relate ancient wisdom and bring those teachings to life by creating an atmosphere of joyful companionship.
Shaykh Efendi, as we called him, traveled extensively, teaching the Sufi tradition in English to a generation of Western spiritual seekers and also in Arabic and Turkish to people from all corners of the Islamic world.
Not long after meeting the Shaykh, I stepped into the role of his book editor, publishing the Mercy Oceans series. I collected those teachings from 1978 until 1986 in Damascus and Cyprus and drew from his talks in London and during our travels across Europe.
The Timeless Sufi Wisdom of Shaykh Nazim is a re-edited and adapted compilation of the highlights of the Mercy Oceans series. I have organized the chapters by themes, including advice on living an ethical life and making wise decisions.
Included are many Sufi teaching stories based on the lives of Sufi masters and the writings of Rumi and Saadi. There are many stories from the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and numerous chapters present amusing apocryphal legends of the top figures of the Bible and Qur'an. You will enjoy the many old photos of the Shaykh and the tombs of Sufi saints mentioned in the stories.

Excerpt
Counter Harm with Goodness
A primary condition for peace to be achieved among people is that they begin to look toward one another with kindness. Admire these beautiful gardens: the same soil and so many hundreds of different kinds of trees and plants! They cannot be seen complaining about sharing the soil with the other types of plants. They are not fanatics insisting that all the trees in the area should be of the same variety
If we could look at one another in such a manner, we would be more accepting and tolerant. As a result, familiarity, appreciation, and, ultimately, love would blossom, and peace would prevail.
Divine love is the very yeast of your being and also that of any people you may quarrel with. Love runs through all hearts as a river runs to an ocean. That love current may even seem to disappear entirely like a river that flows under a mountain, only to re-emerge on the other side. But there can be no doubt that a current is running through every heart that flows irresistibly towards Love Oceans. Therefore, don't imagine that your so-called adversaries are cut off from divine love-it must be with them, whether that is now apparent to you and themselves or not.

Value your Time: Live Every Moment
If you wish to know how much a person values themselves, look at the value they assign to their time. Some can comprehend the meaning of the passage of time and observe it with the eye of wisdom. Such people deal with time by grasping the reins of each passing day, opening their eyes wide to move their lives in the right direction.
First, we must understand the value of time and how it is irretrievable once spent. If all the nations were to pool their resources to try and reclaim even one second of the past to change a catastrophic decision, for example, would they succeed?
In the morning, you must make your intention, and at night, after having gone on your way all day long, you must take account of your actions: "Am I now as I hoped to be when I made my intention in the morning? Am I a little better than when I started the day? Have today's actions been for or against me, profit or loss?"