The process of self-perfection, for Ostad Elahi, consists mainly in practising ethics. If I wish to perfect myself, I must see to it that the way I behave and whatever I do, say, or even think, be ethical. That sounds gigantic; it is, however, what we should be heading for. After all, perfecting oneself means nothing other than striving to achieve such a high goal. Having actually started practising, very soon we come to realise that ethical work involves, in the first place, battling against oneself. To work means to make efforts.

In brief: in Ostad Elahi’s model of the self, the imperious self is the source of impulses within the psyche that imperiously drive us to act against ethical and divine principles and to violate the rights of others. Let us illustrate this with an example from everyday life. The following is Romain’s account of an [...]