By Azim Jamal. Grade: B

Is a minute enough to change the course of our lives?

With grace, spiritual enlightenment can happen in a fraction of a second. We need to be open and receptive to this blessing. Using down-to-down earth stories and examples, The One-Minute Sufi provides small doses of inspirational Sufi principles, allowing us to reflect on them as we go about our daily business. These principles can change the course of an entire day – and gradually, our destiny.

Learn how to:

Love one and all, irrespective of religion, culture, colour and creed

Stay on your path and yet respect all other paths to the same truth

Go with the flow and yet pursue your purpose

Be in the moment and learn from every experience and every encounter

Go to sleep at night eager to wake up, looking forward to another great day and having no regrets if you never wake up.

From the pen of Azim Jamal comes another book of Corporate Sufi series: The One-Minute Sufi consisting of short chapters which give insights into the Sufi way of dealing with corporate life.

I’ll be straight to the point. The first half of the book is all about the spiritual aspect i.e. it’s all Sufi. It is only when you are halfway through the book that you start getting glimpses of the incorporation of the Sufi principles into the corporate way.

There is a common pattern I’ve seen as far as the Corporate Sufi series is concerned. Every chapter starts with a Sufi saying or another great quote, which about sums up the coming chapter. As far as writing is concerned, this could go both ways. The reader could become thoroughly interested in the chapter reading the quote and continue or could skip the chapter if he gets any inkling that the chapter could be boring or irrelevant to the purpose of his reading. Make no mistake – the writing is not at fault. It is only the applicability which is in question.

There are some quotes which really make an impression on the mind:

“Joy and sorrow go hand in hand. When one is awake, the other is half-asleep. The key is to appreciate both feelings, since they are both needed for growth and ultimate success.”

“If we want to make real progress, we need to find a cause that excites us, a cause we feel we can die for, a cause in which we can wager ourselves with confidence and dive in wholeheartedly. When we put a concerted effort into our cause without worrying too much about the risks and obstacles, we create unstoppable momentum.”

The above quote only emphasises the fact that from most of the people in today’s era, where people participate in a rat race on a daily basis, the passion and the drive is missing. People don’t have that one thing which could lead them to greatness and elevate them from mediocrity. If only one would take the time and effort to find that drive, nobody could stop him from being the best he can be, if not more.

The book was written in a nice, complete flow and ends with a revision of all that has been covered in the book. The only qualm remains with the extent to which the teachings of the book are applicable, which again is both subjective and subject to interpretation. Another highlight of the book were the illustrations. The illustrations were very succinct and descriptive at the same time.

Overall, if you don’t have time to sit and read the intermingling of an ideology and a way of life in detail, go ahead and read The One-Minute Sufi.