"On Friendship" Summary

A youth asks about friendship, and Mustafa answers that a friend is one's needs answered, a field to sow with love and reap with thanksgiving, a table and fireside and the source of peace when one is hungry. When a friend speaks honestly, one fears saying neither yea nor nay. Friends can be silent and yet share their thoughts, desires, expectations and joy. When one parts from a friend there should be no grief, because the friend will be clearer absent, as a mountain climber sees the plain more clearly than those who stand on it. The only purpose of friendship is deepening the spirit, because love that wants anything beyond disclosing its own mystery is not love and becomes unprofitable. Reserve the best for the friend. Do not go to a friend when you have time to kill...