Sufism Quotes

“What has he found who has lost God?
And what has he lost who has found God?”
― Ibn 'Ata' Allah Al-Iskandari

“The happiness of the drop is to die in the river.”
― Imam Al-Ghazali

“Reflection is the lamp of the heart. If it departs, the heart will have no light.”
― Imam Al-Haddad

“I have loved in life and I have been loved.
I have drunk the bowl of poison from the hands of love as nectar,
and have been raised above life's joy and sorrow.
My heart, aflame in love, set afire every heart that came in touch with it.
My heart has been rent and joined again;
My heart has been broken and again made whole;
My heart has been wounded and healed again;
A thousand deaths my heart has died, and thanks be to love, it lives yet.
I went through hell and saw there love's raging fire,
and I entered heaven illumined with the light of love.
I wept in love and made all weep with me;
I mourned in love and pierced the hearts of men;
And when my fiery glance fell on the rocks, the rocks burst forth as volcanoes.
The whole world sank in the flood caused by my one tear;
With my deep sigh the earth trembled, and when I cried aloud the name of my beloved,
I shook the throne of God in heaven.
I bowed my head low in humility, and on my knees I begged of love,
"Disclose to me, I pray thee, O love, thy secret."
She took me gently by my arms and lifted me above the earth, and spoke softly in my ear,
"My dear one, thou thyself art love, art lover,
and thyself art the beloved whom thou hast adored.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Dance of the Soul: Gayan, Vadan, Nirtan

“Worry is itself an illness, since worry is an accusation against Divine Wisdom, a criticism of Divine Mercy.”
― Said Nursi

“Listen, O drop, give yourself up without regret,
and in exchange gain the Ocean.
Listen, O drop, bestow upon yourself this honor,
and in the arms of the Sea be secure.
Who indeed should be so fortunate?
An Ocean wooing a drop!
In God's name, in God's name, sell and buy at once!
Give a drop, and take this Sea full of pearls.”
― Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

“Farsi Couplet:
Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.


English Translation:
If there is a paradise on earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this”
― Amir Khusrau, The Writings of Amir Khusrau: 700 Years After the Prophet: A 13th-14th Century Legend of Indian-Sub-Continent

“It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.”
― Idries Shah, The Sufis

“There are two aspects of individual harmony: the harmony between body and soul, and the harmony between individuals. All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony. And harmony is the best given by producing harmony in one's own life. ”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Man (and woman) has an infinite capacity for self-development. Equally, he has an infinite capacity for self-destruction. A human being may be clinically alive and yet, despite all appearances, spiritually dead.”
― Idries Shah, Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

“You must empty out the dirty water before you fill the pitcher with clean.”
― Idries Shah

“در غم ما روزها بی گاه شد
روزها با سوزها همراه شد”
― مولانا جلال الدین بلخی

“I will speak of love
until you go mad
and join me
in my mad worship
of love.”
― Kamand Kojouri

“Not a believer in the mosque am I,
Nor a disbeliever with his rites am I.
I am not the pure amongst the impure,
I am neither Moses nor Pharaoh.
Bulleh, I know not who I am.

Not in the holy books am I,
Nor do I dwell in bhang or wine,
Nor do I live in a drunken haze,
Nor in sleep or waking known.
Bulleh, I know not who I am.

Not in happiness or in sorrow am I found.
I am neither pure nor mired in filthy ground.
Not of water nor of land,
Nor am I in air or fire to be found.
Bulleh, I know not who I am.

Not an Arab nor Lahori,
Not a Hindi or Nagouri,
Nor a Muslim or Peshawari,
Not a Buddhist or a Christian.
Bulleh, I know not who I am.

Secrets of religion have I not unravelled,
I am not of Eve and Adam.
Neither still nor moving on,
I have not chosen my own name!
Bulleh, I know not who I am.

From first to last, I searched myself.
None other did I succeed in knowing.
Not some great thinker am I.
Who is standing in my shoes, alone?

Bulleh, I know not who I am.”
― Bulleh Shah

“Q: What is a fundamental mistake of man's?
A: To think that he is alive, when he has merely fallen asleep in life's waiting-room.”
― Idries Shah, Seeker After Truth: A Handbook

“The sufis believe that they can experience something more complete.”
― Idries Shah, The Sufis

“Real generosity is anonymous to the extent that a man should be prepared even to be considered ungenerous rather than explain it to others.”
― Idries Shah, Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

“I belong to no religion. My religion is love. Every heart is my temple.”
― Rumi

“Deep in the sea are riches beyond compare. But if you seek safety, it is on the shore.”
― Idries Shah, The Sufis

“You know how it goes:
at some point in your life,
you fell in love with someone
and had a glimpse of God.
Then you abandoned life and lover
and started celebrating
your love for God.”
― Kamand Kojouri

“We seek the fire of the spark that is already within us.”
― Kamand Kojouri

“Sayings of the Prophet
Trust: Trust in God – but tie your camel first.”
― Idries Shah, Caravan of Dreams

“گفتم: ای پیر، چشمه ی زندگانی کجاست؟
گفت: در ظلمات.
گفتم: راه از کدام جانب است؟
گفت: از هر طرف که بروی، می رسی.
گفتم: نشانی ظلمات چیست؟
گفت: تو خود در ظلماتی، اما نمی دانی.”
― شهاب‌الدین سهروردی, عقل سرخ

“The union of the mind and intuition which brings about illumination, and the development which the Sufis seek, is based upon love.”
― Idries Shah

“Good. Show me a man who thinks that he knows what 'good' is, and I will probably be able to show you a horror of a person. Show me a person who really knows what 'good' is, and I will show you that he almost never uses the word.”
― Idries Shah, Caravan of Dreams

“You only truly possess that which you cannot lose in a shipwreck.”
― أبو حامد الغزالي

“They will become Godly when they will have God in their hearts.”
― Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, The Religion of God

“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”
― Said Nursi

“My father used to tell me that stories offer the listener a chance to escape but, more importantly, he said, they provide people with a chance to maximize their minds. Suspend ordinary constraints, allow the imagination to be freed, and we are charged with the capability of heighetned thought.
Learn to use your eyes as if they are your ears, he said, and you become connected with the ancient heritage of man, a dream world for the waking mind.”
― Tahir Shah, In Arabian Nights: A Caravan of Moroccan Dreams

“God said to him [Eblis], 'You have become proud.' He replied, 'If I had been with you but a moment my pride would have been justified; I have been with you for centuries.”
― Mansur al-Hallaj, The Great Satan