In the terms of the Sufis the divine manner is called Akhlak-i Allah. Man thinks, speaks, and acts according to the pitch to which his soul is tuned. The highest note he could be tuned to is the divine note, and it is that pitch, once man arrives at it, that he begins to express the manner of God in everything he does.

And what is the manner of God? It is the kingly manner, a manner which is not even known to the kings, for it is a manner which only the King of the heaven and of the earth knows. And that manner is expressed by the soul who is tuned to God, a manner which is void of narrowness, a manner which is free from pride and conceit, the manner which is not only beautiful but beauty itself, for God is beautiful and He loves beauty. The soul who is tuned to God, also becomes as beautiful as God, and begins to express God through all that it does, expressing in life the divine manner.

Why is it a kingly manner? By the word "kingly" we only signify someone who possesses power and wealth in abundance. The soul tuned to God, before whom all things fade away and in whose eyes the importance of all little things, of which every person thinks so much, is lessened, that soul begins to express the divine manner in the form of contentment. It might seem to an ordinary person that to this soul nothing matters, no gain is exciting, no loss is alarming; if anyone praises, it has no consequence: if anyone blames, it does not matter to him; the honor and the insult, this all to him is a game, for in the end of the game, neither the gain is a gain nor the loss is a loss; it was only a pastime.

One might think, "What does such a person do to the others; what good is he to those around him?" That person, for the others and those around him, is a healing; that person is an influence for uplifting souls -- the souls who are suffering from the narrowness and from the limitation of human nature.

For human nature is not only narrow and limited, but it is foolish and it is tyrannous. The reason is that the nature of life is intoxicating. Its intoxication makes people drunken. And what does the drunken man want? He wants his drink: he does not think about another. In this life there are so many liquors that man drinks: the love of wealth, passion, anger, possession; man is not only satisfied with possessing earthly properties, but he also wishes to possess those whom he pretends to love, and in this way proves to be tyrannous and foolish. For all things of this world that man possesses, he does not in reality possess them, only he is possessed by them, be it wealth or property or a friend or position or rank.

The soul with divine manner is therefore sober compared with the drunken man of the world: it is this soberness that produces in him that purity which is called Sufism, and it is through that purity that God reflects in his mirror-like soul.

For the soul who reflects God, nothing frightens; he is above all fright, for he possesses nothing, and all fright is connected with the possessions that man has. Does it mean that he leaves the world and goes and passes his life in the caves of the mountain? Not in the least. He may have the wealth of the whole world in his possession, he may have the kingdom of the whole universe under him, but nothing binds him, nothing ties him, nothing frightens him, for that only belongs to him which is his own.

And when his soul is his own, all is his own, and what belongs to him cannot be taken away. And if anyone took it away, it is he himself who did it. He is his friend and his foe, and so there is no longer a pain or suffering, a complaint or grudge; he is at peace, for he is at home, be he on earth or be he in heaven.

The difference between God and man is that God is omniscient and man only knows of his own affairs. As God is omniscient, He loves all and His interest is in all; and so it is with the godly soul.

The divine personality, expressed through the godly soul, shows itself in its interest for all, whether known or unknown to that soul. His interest is not only for another because of his kind nature or of his sympathetic spirit; he does not take interest in another person, in his welfare and well-being, because it is his duty, but because he sees in another person himself. Therefore, the life and interest of another person to the godly soul is as his own. In the pain of another person the godly soul sorrows; in the happiness of another person the godly soul rejoices. So the godly soul, who has almost forgotten himself, forgets also the remaining part of the self in taking interest in others.

From one point of view it is natural for the godly soul to take interest in another. The one who has emptied himself of what is called "self" in the ordinary sense of the word is only capable of knowing the condition of another. He sometimes knows, perhaps, more than the person himself, as a physician knows the case of his patient.

Divine manner, therefore, is not like that of the parents to their children, of a friend toward his beloved friend, of a king to his servant, or of a servant to his master. Divine manner consists of all manners; it is expressive of every form of love; and if it has any peculiarity, that peculiarity is one, and that is divine. For in every form of love and affection, there somewhere the self is hidden, which asks for appreciation, for reciprocity, for recognition. The divine manner is above all this. It gives all and asks nothing in return in any manner or form, in this way proving the Action of God through man.