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Saadi, a Persian poet and prose writer from the medieval period is still recognized and
remembered for his writings and the depth and morality of his thoughts. While there is little
information on Saadi beyond his writings, people have built stories of his life from said
writings. Today we will be applying Saadi’s wisdom on Edhi Foundation, a non-profit social
welfare organization from Pakistan.

In Bustan the story illustrative of practical charity is one that can be applied to the founding
leader of the Edhi Foundation, Mr. Abdul Sattar Edhi.

Benevolence is an important trait to any human. One must not denounce the inherent good in
themselves, when faced with any business scenario. In any situation, things done with a good
intention often leads to positive results. In the contemporary era, any business professional
cannot achieve greatness by working monotonously like a well-oiled cog denouncing feelings
and compassion. One must be kind in all aspects and endeavors of life. The life of Abdul
Sattar Edhi vouches the validity of this story. Edhi Sahab reached the epitome of being caring

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and generous. His selfless nature can be gauged from the fact that he lived in a conservative
room all his life. He could have left Pakistan due to constant criticism from his
commentators, however, he continued the social work and remained in the hearts of millions
of people despite all the hardships. Similarly, he supported millions of impoverished without
any prejudice again any cast, creed, or religion. Furthermore, he denounced accumulating any
worldly wealth which could be seen from his demeanor that he maintained throughout his
life. Today, he sleeps beneath the earth but lives on in spirit, his name has lasted more than
his life did because of the path he took throughout his life.

As Saadi mentions in Bustan

“Excellence is attained by generosity, not by vigils in the night. Idle words are a hollow
drum; invocations without merit are a weak support.”

Edhi could have run his organization by sermonizing and without conducting any substantial
work effort. We can see a plethora of examples like these in our daily lives, similarly many of
the leaders are also manifestation of this fact. People spending their nights prostrating in front
of Allah lack the internal capability to put that supplication into action in the real world. Edhi
Foundation, under the leadership of Abdul Sattar Edhi, is completing its part to do common
good with practical effort that is not attained by any other institution or organization in the
contemporary era.

“Humility is the only ritual for a devotee. If thou desire greatness, be humble; no other
ladder is there by which to climb.”

The demeanor and life that Edhi led was not one that showed his rank. He stayed humble
through and through and remained a great leader bringing stability to the Edhi Foundation.
Being humble is the way to climb up the ranks in any organization and elevating your
organization.

“He who is headstrong and obdurate falleth headlong; if thou desire greatness, abandon
pride.”

No leader can survive by not communicating with his team. To be a great leader pride is
something that ought to be discarded from life. Edhi is an exemplary person who was known
to have no pride. He became the symbol of love, selflessness, and humanity because of this.
The community never had a second thought when donating to his organization because they
knew who the leader was and what the organization preached and practiced for the people of

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Pakistan. Headstrong isn’t a word even close to describing Edhi, instead all those that met
him only had praise for him. A man known to have no pride, none whatsoever.

“A man is not better than his fellows by reason of his wealth, for an ass, though covered with
a satin cloth, is still an ass.”

In life wealth is not a descriptor of success, wealthy people automatically do not become
better people. Good leaders or good professionals are not those that have accumulated more
wealth. Edhi was known as the richest, poor man in Pakistan. He was never dressed
exuberantly but oozed sheer humility. He had two pairs of Shalwar Kameez and his room was
sparsely furnished with just a bed, no windows a sink and a hotplate.

“The virtuous follow this rule in life — when they suffer oppression, they display kindness.”

In many organizations the concept of hierarchy has increased the oppression that can be faced
by the employees, but strong ones are those that stay kind and steadfast in the face of
adversary. When Abdul Sattar Edhi saw the state being unable to provide for his family and
sick mother, instead of being demoralized by it and becoming vengeful, he instead built his
organization from scratch and focused on philanthropy to benefit the masses.

“Forbearance is at first like poison, but when engrained in the nature it becomes like
honey.”

Restraint does not come easy, things in life can go wrong in a million ways but learning to
stay strong and being patient, having “Sabr”, to deal with everything is how you grow. Edhi
remained patient and resilient even when criticized by many in the country. He endured it
patiently and continued with his work.

“He who worships grandeur is the slave of pride; he knows not that greatness consists in
meekness.”

People get easily impressed by the appearance of individuals. This inculcates pride in oneself
and strays them from their ultimate goal by striving to appear in an extravagant
manner.However, true greatness is in humility, something that Edhi and his Foundation have
been exemplary in.

“If thou be sorrowed by those above thee, be not harsh with thine inferiors.”

In an organizational setting when people senior to you inflict pain upon you, the juniors
should not bore the brunt of the pain and anger that is inflicted on you. Edhi foundation has

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always worked for those that were pointed out as the inferior part of the society. The
foundation's ethos was one of humanitarianism that cut beyond boundaries of race and
religion while empowering the public. Similarly, despite constant criticism and character
assassination of the EDHI foundation by certain segments of the society, their leader did not
change his attitude towards those inferior to him.

“He whose stomach is full is void of wisdom. The prey is entrapped in the snare because of
its greed.”

Contentment with what you have is extremely important, reflecting on your growth in your
job, or life is extremely important. Edhi’s grandson would say that his granddad would often
have stale food and he would ask him why? Was he poor? Edhi would respond with
contentment, the stale food was a remembrance of his past, to never forget his roots and his
beginning. Doing things like that, staying true to your core saves you from greed and builds
in contentment for what you have achieved. According to Maslow’s Hierarchical Theory, it
preaches that self-actualization is something that one reaches to when they are content with
their emotional, physical, and spiritual needs. However, no man has ever been satisfied, but
in Edhi’s case we can observe that he was able to come so very close.

“Honey is not worth the price of a sting; better it is to be content with the syrup of dates than
expose oneself to that.”

Exposing yourself to risks in projects and situations is not the way to go by, being content
with steady growth is enough at times. Edhi had never vied for more than his basic
philanthropic cause, he has always displayed contentment with what has been achieved.

“A word suffices to him who puts into practice what he reads.”

People read a lot but without applying it practically. The leader of the Edhi foundation had
received no formal education and had spent a life filled with hardships yet he practiced better
than many literate people around him.

“Bemoan not thine own misfortune when thou seest another more wretched than thyself.”

When you see your teams having a hard time, don’t discard your own hardships on them as
well instead always be grateful for what you have achieved. For Edhi, the world of suffering
was his tutor and source of wisdom. His own misfortune never stopped him from easing the
misfortune of others.

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“Waste-not thy time in sorrow and regret, for opportunity is precious and Time is a sword.”

If Edhi had spent his life in sorrows and not taken the opportunity to turn it into something
good for the rest of the world, Pakistan would never have seen an organization like this one.
Life if a choice given to you, you can either waste it, or you can build something that lasts out
of it.

“In this garden of the world there is not a cypress that has grown which the wind of death
has not uprooted.”

When mistakes are made, learn from them, don’t waste time in hiding them. Learn and grow
from them. All mistakes are forgotten once they have been obscured by bigger mistakes.
Today, Edhi remains no more, but the stories of his persona, his organization remains, and
millions still stay grateful to their countless efforts.

From the Pand Namah (Scroll of Wisdom) we can see many verses that can applied to Edhi
Foundation and its exceptional leader.

“Generosity will be the source of delight; Generosity will be the harvest of life.”

Being generous like Edhi with your subordinates or those around you will bring more joy
than any monetary gain will.

“Benevolence is the attribute of men of piety, Benevolence is the duty of the prosperous.”

Those who grow and prosper in life are those that choose to act with kindness. The whole
organization is one that has portrayed nothing but kindness.

“Whoever is accustomed to humility Will enjoy rank and power.”

Today, Edhi and his foundation enjoy rank and power because of the humility that they
stayed with. At time when power is achieved, people forget to be humble but not Mr. Edhi.

“Pride is the habit of the ignorant, Pride doth not proceed from men of intelligence.”

A smart leader will never be one filled with pride. The organization has achieved great
milestones because it was run by a man who did not have an ounce of pride in him.

“Gold and silver are the glory of the rich, But the poor have inward repose.”

In chasing monetary gains, ensure never to let your inner peace go. Edhi built no home for his
own children, but he gave many children a home.

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 “Whosoever hath fallen into the snare of greed Giveth the harvest of his life to the winds.”

Any manager that falls prey to greediness will give his life’s achievements away and face
downfall. If Edhi had become greedy in his mission, the organization would not be what it is
today, it would not be known for what it is known for today.

“Thy wealth and possessions are increased by gratitude; Victory entereth thy door, owing to
gratitude.”

Practicing gratitude will increase the wealth automatically. Having morals, sets up the path
for a more satisfied life. What goes around does come around. Non-profit organizations when
done right achieve their goals and emerge victorious but there ought to be a lot of gratitude
and humility involved. An example of non-profit organizations pulling through could also be
LUMS.

“If patience is thy helper Thou wilt attain everlasting happiness.”

Many times, we are impatient with our decisions and choices and that makes us incur losses.
Building patience into your life will ensure inner peace that leads to gratification. The
Foundation did not take off in a day and there must have been many points where many
people would have given up, backlash from some might have forced many of us to give up,
but not Edhi, the foundation survives because at the helm was a patient man.

“O soul! if thou makest choice of rectitude, Fortune will become to thee an auspicious
companion.”

Upholding high moral standard is what we all must focus on. The rest will follow. As Edhi
died, he donated his eyes, two blind people see the world as he rests today.

“Falsehood putteth a man to shame, Falsehood depriveth a man of dignity.”

Lying is never the solution to any problem, instead it causes nothing but suffering. For every
cause that Edhi put his energies on, resources flowed in. His credibility was such that, people
just handed him all sorts of bills whether they were large or small even if he stood on the
streets. He indiscriminately received donations from all strata of the society starting with
pocket money from kids to jewels by women even the poor gave their savings to him. All of
them gave money to Edhi and his foundation. He raised a lot of money from the public thanks
to his simplicity, integrity, commitment, and honesty. The foundation produced outcomes and
showed local social influence.

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From Gulistan we can apply Saadi’s wisdom to Edhi as well

“Amidst the state patronage and authority of office they might take umbrage at their
acquaintance; but on the day of vexation and loss of place they would impart their mental
disquietudes to their friends.”

No matter how strong a position you reach up to, the day you lose it you will need to be with
friends. Maintaining a work life balance is essential, since the work might be temporary, but
the friend might be a permanent source of support and joyousness. Edhi was a friend to many,
a messiah to some, a hope to everyone that had lost it all.

“Take warning by the mischance of others, that others may not take warning by thine.”

Misfortune is something that can befall anyone, stories around you should be a lesson
converted into greatness. Learning from others is better than being a warning example for
people. The stories that came out of the Edhi foundation could be a lesson to all of us, to be
better, to not be someone that the story is about.