Bayazid Bistami, a Sufi Master, wrote in his autobiography:
“When I was young, the basis of all my prayers was the desire to change the world. I asked:
- Lord, give me strength so that I can change the world!
Everything seemed wrong to me. I was a revolutionary, I wanted to change the face of the Earth.
As I grew older, I began to pray like this:
- This seems to be a bit much; life is leaving my hands. Half of it has passed and I haven’t changed a single person yet. Therefore, O Lord, let me change my family!
And when I got old, I realized that even a family is too much. Wisdom came to me, and I realized that if I manage to change myself, it will be enough, more than enough. And I began to pray like this:
- Lord, I understand everything, and I want to change myself! Let me do this!
And then God answered me:
- Now you have no time left. This is where we should have started. You should have thought about this at the very beginning."
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru