Renunciation...

The poverty of one who has renounced is real riches compared with the riches of
one who holds them fast.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

The saints and sages and prophets all had to go through this test and trial, and
in proportion to the greatness of their renunciation, so great have these souls
become. Renunciation is the sign of heroes, it is the merit of saints, it is the
character of the masters, and it is the virtue of the prophets. ... It is as
Fariduddin Attar, the great Persian poet, says, 'Renounce the good of the world,
renounce the good of heaven, renounce your highest ideal, and then renounce your
renunciation.'

He who wants anything becomes smaller than the thing he wants; he who gives away
anything is greater than the thing he gives. Therefore, to a mystic each act of
renunciation becomes a step towards perfection.

Forced renunciation, whether forced by morality, religion, law, convention, or
formality, is not necessarily renunciation. The real spirit of renunciation is
willingness; and willing renunciation comes when one has risen above the thing
one renounces. The value of each thing in life - wealth, power, position,
possession - is according to the evolution of man. There is a time in his life
when toys are his treasures, and there is a time when he puts them aside; there
is a time in his life when copper coins are everything to him, and there is
another time when he can give away gold coins; there is a time in his life when
he values a cottage, and there is a time when he gives up a palace. ...

Every step towards progress and ascent is a step of renunciation. The poverty of
the one who has renounced is real riches compared with the riches of the one who
holds them fast. One could be rich in wealth and poverty-stricken in reality;
and one can be penniless and yet richer than the rich of the world... The final
victory in the battle of life for every soul is when he has abandoned, which
means when he has risen above, what once he valued most... Such is the case with
all things of the world; they seem important or precious when we need them or
when we do not understand them; as soon as the veil which keeps man from
understanding is lifted, then they are nothing.