Sufism Quotes
Collection of top 100 famous quotes about Sufism
The tongue is the best masseur of furrowed brows.
— Idries Shah
Only the search for truth is valid, the desire for wisdom the motive. The method is assimilation, not study.
— Idries Shah
Almost every day I am reminded of Saadi's reflection that there is no senseless tyranny like that of subordinates.
— Idries Shah
When humility is exercised, people begin to realise that they do not, as it were, exist at all.
— Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetMonkishness
No monkery in Islam. — Idries Shah
Definitions from Mulla Do-PiazaTruthful man:
He who is, secretly, regarded by everyone as an enemy. — Idries Shah
We and all our existences are non-entities. Thou art the absolute being whose appearance is transitory.
— Idries Shah
among roses, be a rose, among thorns, be a thorn
— Idries Shah
It is the goldsmith who can assay the gold.
— Idries Shah
There is no wisdom where there is no common sense: it cannot under those conditions find any expression.
— Idries Shah
Worry is itself an illness, since worry is an accusation against Divine Wisdom, a criticism of Divine Mercy.
— Said Nursi
What has he found who has lost God?And what has he lost who has found God? — Ibn 'Ata'illah Al-Iskandari
It was being written in the East that 'Sufism was formerly a reality without a name: now it is a name without a reality'. — Idries Shah
The secret protects itself. It is found only in the spirit and practice of the Work. — Idries Shah
RemedyYour medicine is in you, and you do not observe it. Your ailment is from yourself, and you do not register it.
Hazrat Ali — Idries Shah
The fruit of timidity is neither gain nor loss. — Idries Shah
Deep in the sea are riches beyond compare. But if you seek safety, it is on the shore. — Idries Shah
Satisfaction is a treasure which does not decay.Proverb — Idries Shah
The function of a nutrient is to become transmuted, not to leave unaltered traces. — Idries Shah
One lie will keep out forty truths. — Idries Shah
The Sufi must be able to alternate his thought between the relative and the Absolute, the approximate and the Real. — Idries Shah
Better to be safe than to be sorry' is a remark of value only when these are the actual alternatives. — Idries Shah
To bind one free man with love is better than to release a thousand slaves. — Idries Shah
Sufi secrets are perceived, not understood by words. — Idries Shah
Sufism is the doing in this lifetime what any fool will be doing in then thousand years' time. — Idries Shah
Sufis aim to refine human consciousness. This is Sufi mysticism: not mystification or magic, but a specific Path. — Idries Shah
Wisdom is when you understand what, previously, at best you only knew. — Idries Shah
The automatism of man is overcome, in the words of Dhun'Nun, by aiming for 'being as you were, where you were, before you were'. — Idries Shah
But the Sufis work IN the world, and therefore WITH 'things of the world'. — Idries Shah
How many friends would you have if you went from one to another asking them to conceal a dead body? — Idries Shah
When the mind is full of established biases, it will not be able to graft Sufism on top of them. — Idries Shah
Sufism is the essence of all religions. — Idries Shah
The existence of relative truth does not prove the non-existence of universal truth. — Idries Shah
Words, they say, are the food of minds. But, like other foods, they can do little by themselves. — Idries Shah
I reject any path which rejects life, but I can't help loving Sufism because it sounds so beautiful. It gives relief in the midst of battle. — Naguib Mahfouz
Saying of the ProphetSleep
Sleep is the brother of death. — Idries Shah
Because sugar is not arsenic, many graves are full. — Idries Shah
Forms are vehicles and instruments, and vehicles and instruments cannot be called good or bad without context. — Idries Shah
Never follow any impulse to teach, however strong it might be. The command to teach is not felt as an impulsion. — Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetWomen
Women are the twin-halves of men. — Idries Shah
When you feel least interested in following the Way which you have entered, this may be the time when it is most appropriate for you. — Idries Shah
The door of illumination is open to those for whom other doors are closed. — Idries Shah
If you cannot laugh frequently and genuinely, you have no soul. — Idries Shah
For every Pharoah there is a Moses. — Idries Shah
Politics is the application of Sufism to earthlife ... To refuse to act politically is to starve your children, destroy civilization. — Shamcher Bryn Beorse
Each flies with its own kind: pigeon with pigeon, hawk with hawk. — Idries Shah
Helping othersI order you to assist any oppressed person, whether he is a Moslem or not. — Idries Shah
No practice exists in isolation. — Idries Shah
You must improve yourself on a higher level if you are to be able to help people, and not just weep over them. — Idries Shah
Be a dog, but don't be a younger brother.Proverb. — Idries Shah
The great poet Hafiz says that you should dye your prayer-carpet with wine if your teacher tells you to do so. — Idries Shah
Brave is the thief who carries a lamp in his hand. — Idries Shah
Assume that you are part-hypocrite and part heedless, and you will not be far wrong. — Idries Shah
What you are pleased to call Sufism is merely the record of past method. — Idries Shah
The sufis believe that they can experience something more complete. — Idries Shah
One of the great Sufis said: 'A saint is a saint unless he knows that he is one. — Idries Shah
The major barrier to understanding is wishful thinking and following that which pleases one. — Idries Shah
You will never reach Mecca, I fear: for you are on the road to Turkestan. — Idries Shah
What do I sing, and what does my tambourine sing? — Idries Shah
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. — Idries Shah
Unbelief and belief are both marching on His road, while both are saying, 'He is one and He has no associates'. — Idries Shah
Most systems end up by making imagined humility into a form of vanity, so they end up with vanity just the same. — Idries Shah
Our thoughts have prepared for us thehappiness or unhappiness we experience. — Hazrat Inayat Khan
If you cannot sit on a throne like a king, seize, like a tent-pitcher, the rope of the Royal tent. — Idries Shah
Take the straight path, even if it is long: marry no widow, even if she is a houri. — Idries Shah
Sufism is transmitted by means of the human exemplar, the teacher. — Idries Shah
The stupidest man I ever met had a favourite saying. It was: 'What do you think I am, stupid, or something? — Idries Shah
A stolen kiss is not easily returned. — Idries Shah
The man who knows must discharge a function. The one who does not, cannot arrogate one to himself; he can only try to do so. — Idries Shah
No colour comes after black. — Idries Shah
Exercise power by means of kindness, and you may be causing more damage than you could by cruelty. Neither approach is correct. — Idries Shah
He who knows himself, knows his Lord' means, among other things, that self-deception prevents knowledge. — Idries Shah
The practice of Sufism is the intention to move toward truth by means of love and devotion. — Javad Nurbakhsh
SENTENCES OF THE KHAJAGANRUDBARI : Heart to heart is an essential means of passing on the secrets of the Path. — Idries Shah
It is experience which teaches, not controversy based on supposed logic and assumptions of what is likely to be true. — Idries Shah
He had found riches beyond worldly imagination. He had found the never ending well of love. — Soroosh Shahrivar
Words have to die if humans are to live. — Idries Shah
Better to quarrel with a friend than to support enemies. — Idries Shah
To Him who has sense, a sign is enoughFor the heedless, however, a thousand expositions are not enough. — Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetEnvy
Envy devours good deeds, as a fire devours fuel. — Idries Shah
The Sufis have said: 'The importance of something is in inverse proportion to its attractiveness. — Idries Shah
Whoever is to be wise despises himself. Only the ignorant trust their own judgement. — Idries Shah
The degree of necessity determines the development of organs in man ... therefore increase your necessity. — Idries Shah
Form is useful, but it is secondary. — Idries Shah
Do not dwell upon whether you will put yourself into the hands of a teacher. You are always in his hands. — Idries Shah
I am an idol worshipper; for I understand what idol worship means, and the idolater does not. — Idries Shah
A MOTTO OF THE HUMAN RACETell me what to do; but it must be what I want you to tell me. — Idries Shah
Dye your hair, certainly. But what can you do for your face? — Idries Shah
Study institutions may become visible when the head is more emptied of imaginings. — Idries Shah
Progress comes through capacity to learn, and is irresistible. — Idries Shah
A great deal of thought is only a substitute for the thoughts that the individual would really find useful at the time. — Idries Shah
Remember that greed includes greed for being not greedy. — Idries Shah
Sufism is, in fact, not a mystical system, not a religion, but a body of knowledge. — Idries Shah
Definitions from Mulla Do-PiazaBribe
Substitute for law, which is a substitute for justice. — Idries Shah
Those who say 'I am ready to learn', or 'I am not ready to learn' are as often mistaken as they are correct in their surmise. — Idries Shah
Saying of the ProphetDistribution
God it is who gives: I am only a distributor. — Idries Shah