Peace, one and all…
‘Culture (adab) really means ‘the collection of virtuous qualities’, though in ordinary language anyone is called ‘cultured’ (adib) who is acquainted with Arabic philology and grammar. But, the Sufis define culture (adab) as ‘dwelling with praiseworthy qualities’, and say that it means ‘to act with propriety towards God in public and private; if you act thus, you are ‘cultured’, even if you are a ‘foreigner’ (i.e. non-Arab) and if not, you are the opposite’
(al-Huwjiri, Kashf al-Mahjub)
