The heart is comforted by true words,
just as a thirsty man is comforted by water.

[Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi (Mathnawī VI, 4276)]

If you cannot be of benefit to the Muslims, then do not harm them; if you cannot make them happy, then do not make them sorrowful; if you cannot please them, then do not abuse them; and if you cannot praise them, then do not disparage them. [Yahya ibn Mu’adh]

Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking. [Kahlil Gibran]

Whoever gives advice to a heedless man is himself in need of advice. [Saadi al-Shiraz]

As a poet said:

"Use a sweet tongue, courtesy and gentleness,

and thou may manage to guide an elephant with a hair."

Such is the power of gentleness.

Force more often than not is futile

because it offers a temporary solution to a permanent problem.

Force is met with resistance,

it represses, suppresses and oppresses.

Gentleness addresses the problem, it alleviates, mitigates and obviates the pain of others.

Respect is earned, just as trust is.

Should you abuse either, your reward will be neither.

Isn't it true that only those with faults complain about the faults of others?

Gentleness is the mark of the spiritual person,

one who sees the commonality of all.

"Teach me to feel another's woe,

to hide the fault I see,

that mercy I to others show,

that mercy show to me."