Darvesh or Dervish ( Arabic and Persian: درویش ), as it is known in European languages, refers to members of Sufi Muslim ascetic religious Tariqah, known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars, also called fakirs amongst Muslims .
Dar in Persian means 'a door', so Darvesh literally means 'the one who goes from door to door' . The term comes from the Persian word Darvīsh [1] (درویش), which usually refers to a mendicant ascetic. This latter word is also used to refer to an unflappable or ascetic temperament (as in the Urdu phrase darwaishana thabiyath for an ascetic temperament); that is, for an attitude that is indifferent to material possessions and the like.
As Sufi practitioners, dervishes were known as a source of wisdom, medicine, poetry, enlightenment, and witticisms. For example, Mollah Nasr-ad-Din (Mulla Nasrudin, Hoja Nasrudin) had become a legend in the Near East and the Indian subcontinent, not only among the Muslims.
