ĆEIF

Ćeif is something special, something which is probably unknown to any other people in the world except to our Muslims. And same as the French have their esprit, our Muslims have their ćeif. But what a huge difference there is between ćeif and esprit?! While esprit implies something deft, eager, ćeif means that the man has calmed down, that both his body and his spirit have calmed down. Ćeif refers to the state “when you ascend to a carefree realm, without knowing, for a moment, whether you are breathing, whether you are drinking coffee or chewing tobacco.” Thus, it is something similar to the Italian: “Dolce far niente.” In a broader sense, ćeif refers to what we would say “I feel like” or “I fancy”. If the man has done something and if someone asks him why he did it, he will reply, “It was to my ćeif (It was to my liking).” In the same vein, if you ask him why he hasn't done something, he will tell you, “It wasn't to my ćeif (It wasn't to my liking)” – and everybody is happy.