Sufism Quotes - Page 8

Forms have changed through the centuries in obedience to the external world to which all forms belong.

The bird which has no knowledge of pure water, has his beak in salt water all year round.

Learning how to learn involves examining assumptions. Mulla Nasrudin tales very often fulfil this funcition.

They asked Abboud of Omdurman: 'Which is better, to be young or to be old?' He said: 'To be old is to have less time before you and more mistakes behind. I leave you to decide whether this is better than the reverse.

Saying of the ProphetStruggleThe holy warrior is he who struggles with himself.

Islam and Sufism are one. Teaching that to understand Islam one must be a lover, how can one understand Islam when the heart is empty of love.

When the melody plays, footsteps move, heart sings and spirit begin to dance.

DeathIf he is a good man, death will be a release;If he is a bad one, it will release others from him.

Saying of the Prophet.Ink and Blood:The ink of the learned is holier than the blood of the martyr.

The institution of teachership is there for this reason, that the learner must learn how to learn.

Saying of the ProphetAngerYou ask for a piece of advice. I tell you: 'Do not get angry.' He is strong who can withhold anger.

He causes huge bodies like sun to proclaim His Majesty through His Names the All-Gracious, Great, reciting: ' O Glorious One, O Great One, O Mighty One', while tiny animate creatures like flies and fish proclaim His Mercy, reciting: 'O Gracious One, O Compassionate One, O Generous One

One day we will all wear a garment which has no pockets...

Superior experience and knowledge will be made available to a man or woman in exact accordance with his worth, capacity and earning of it

It is the goldsmith who can assay the gold.

If you want special illumination, look upon the human face:See clearly within laughter the Essence of Ultimate Truth.

Generosity is also marked by doing what one says one will do.

Definitions from Mulla Do-PiazaBribetSubstitute for law, which is a substitute for justice.

If you will not reprove yourself,’ Saadi says, ‘you will not welcome reproof from another.

Salute to the Thief. Junaid of Baghdad was passing the scene of a public hanging, where a thief was on the scaffold. Junaid bowed towards the criminal. Someone asked him: 'What did you do that?' Junaid said: 'I was bowing before his single-mindedness. For his aim, that man has given his life.

Saying of the ProphetSome behaviourI am like a man who has lighted a fire, and all the creeping things have rushed to burn themselves in it.

The aspirant has to be guided by a mentor. The stage at which this guidance can take effect is seldom, if ever, perceptible to the learner.

Definitions from Mulla Do-Piaza. Worry: Something to make you unnecessarily ill.

You can perceive a person's aspiration if it is genuine, because this creates a change in the emanations from such a person.

You may have forgotten the Way: But those who came beforeDid not forget you.Saying of Master Bahaudin Naqshband of Bokhara

When a belief becomes more than an instrument, you are lost. You remain lost until you learn what 'belief' is really for.

BARQI: AESTHETICS IS ONLY THE LOWEST FORM OF PERCEPTION OF THE REAL.

...most systems end up by making imagined humility into a form of vanity, so they end up with vanity just the same.

I see them and they see me but the lovers — we recognise one another: there is light in our eyes.

Saying of the ProphetTHE PEOPLEIt is the people who are God's family.(Muhammad the Prophet)

The liar has a bad memory.

There are as many paths to Truth as there are souls of men.

There is a saying that, according to what a person's mentality is, even an angel may seem to him to have a devil's face.

Eblis said, "No man who thinks ill, will hear the truth despite a hundred signs.When one who fantasises is presented with reason his fantasies increase.When one talks to such a person, their words become the very cause of that person's fantasy. The crusader's sword is a tool for a thief.So the response to him is silence and peace; to talk with an idiot is insa

Soar on to the King, the crown jewel,And then you'll truly seeThat nothing is as beautifulAs His grand Majesty.

The tongue is the best masseur of furrowed brows.

If you seek small things to do, and do them well, great things will seek you, and demand to be performed.

Patience is bitter, but bears a sweet fruit.

Knowledge cannot be attained except through humility.

Worry is a cloud which rains destruction.

Better the demon which makes you improve than the angel who threatens.

As the Eastern saying, by the sage Hilali, has it, 'one person who understands is worth a hundred who merely obey a custom.

Voice in the nightA voice whispered to me last night: 'There is no such thing as a voice whispering in the night!

You must improve yourself on a higher level if you are to be able to help people, and not just weep over them.

That which is capable of perceiving objective reality is, in Sufism, the human soul (ruh).

A man must be a Salomon before his magical ring will work

The secret of Sufism is that it has no secret at all'.

Better to quarrel with a friend than to support enemies.

Presence and AbsenceA certain person may have, as you say, a wonderful presence: I do not know. What I do know is that he has a perfectly delightful absence.

Worry is itself an illness, since worry is an accusation against Divine Wisdom, a criticism of Divine Mercy.

As swords were designed to killThey did well to make them tongue-shaped.(Anwar-i-Suhaili)

Most people, whatever their opinions and protestations, do not want to learn.

Instant Reading. A certain famous Fakir was claiming in the village that he could teach an illiterate person to read by a lightning technique. Nasrudin stepped out of the crowd: 'Very well, teach me – now.' The Fakir touched the Mulla's forehead, and said: 'Now go home immediately and read a book.' Half an our later Nasrudin was back in the market-place, clutching a book. The Fakir had gone on his way. 'Can you read now, Mulla?' the people asked him. 'Yes, I can read – but that is not the point. Where is that charlatan?' 'How can he be a charlatan if he has caused you to read without learning?' 'Because this book, which is authoritative, says: “All Fakirs are frauds”.

If you are uninterested in what I say, there's an end to it. If you like what I say, please try to understand which previous influences have made you like it. If you like some of the things I say, and dislike others, you could try to understand why. If you dislike all I say, why not try to find out what formed your attitude?

A stolen kiss is not easily returned.

But the world itself, as well as special attitudes, properly understood, constitute the Sufi school.

Sufism is about connecting with the intuitive parts of ourselves so that we can attune to the highest vibration in the universe, which is pure love. It's about joining together in the mystical heart.

The happiness of the superficial: when a man who has lost his donkey finds it again.

People who have fallacious objectives are like the barren soil. The flowers grow from soil which is composed of the right objectives.

The selection and following of a spiritual guide is the most important duty of a Sufi.