Sufi Wisdom Quotes

“‎"Intellect is the knowledge obtained by experience of names and forms; wisdom is the knowledge which manifests only from the inner being; to acquire intellect one must delve into studies, but to obtain wisdom, nothing but the flow of divine mercy is needed; it is as natural as the instinct of swimming to the fish, or of flying to the bird. Intellect is the sight which enables one to see through the external world, but the light of wisdom enables one to see through the external into the internal world.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Death is the protector of life and life is the process of death.”
― Wasif Ali Wasif

“Dear Friend, Your Heart is a polished mirror. You must wipe it clean of the veil of dust which has gathered upon it, because it is destined to reflect the light of divine secrets.”
― ʿAbd Al-Qadir al-Jilani, The Secret of Secrets

“If I told you about a land of love,
friend, would you follow me and come?
In that land are vineyards,
that yield a deadly wine -
no glass can hold it.
Would you swallow it as a remedy?”
― Yunus Emre, The Drop That Became the Sea: Lyric Poems

“The soul is life, it never touches death. Death is its illusion, its impression, death comes to something which it holds, not to the soul itself. The soul becomes accustomed to identify itself with the body it adopts, with the environment which surrounds it, with the names by which it is known, with its rank and possessions, which are only the outward signs that belong to the world of illusion. The soul absorbed in its childlike fancies, in things that it values and to which it gives importance, and in the beings to which it attaches itself, blinds itself by the veils of its illusion. Thus it covers its own truth with a thousand veils from its own eyes.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Behind all created beauty the mystic sees a witness to the source of eternal beauty – the ruby is the heart of the stone, which has been transformed into a priceless jewel through patience and shedding its blood...”
― Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam

“You always find time for things that feed your soul.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“Stand bloody tall - you're the All.”
― Fakeer Ishavardas

“The totality of life cannot be understood, so runs Sufi teaching, if it is studied only through the methods which we use in everyday living.”
― Idries Shah, The Sufis

“The ecological crisis is only an externalizationf an inner malaise and cannot be solved without a spiritual rebirth of Western man […] It is still our hope that as the crisis created by man's forgetfulness of who he really is grows and that as the idols of his own making crumble one by one before his eyes, he will begin a true reform of himself, which always means a spiritual rebirtn and throughis rebirth attain a new harmony with the world of nature around him. Otherwise, it is hopeless to expect to live in harmony with that grand theophany which is virgin nature, while remaining oblivious and indifferent to the Source of that theophany both beyond nature and at the centre of man's being. (p. 9)”
― Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man

“When a person begins to see all goodness as being the goodness of God, all the beauty that surrounds him as the divine beauty, he begins by worshiping a visible God, and as his heart constantly loves and admires the divine beauty in all that he sees, he begins to see in all that is visible one single vision; all becomes for him the vision of the beauty of God. His love of beauty increases his capacity to such a degree that great virtues such as tolerance and forgiveness spring naturally from his heart. Even things that people mostly look upon with contempt, he views with tolerance. The brotherhood of humanity he does not need to learn, for he does not see humanity, he sees only God. And as this vision develops, it becomes a divine vision which occupies every moment of his life. In nature he sees God, in man he sees His image, and in art and poetry he sees the dance of God. The waves of the sea bring him the message from above, and the swaying of the branches in the breeze seems to him a prayer. For him there is a constant contact with his God. He knows neither horror nor terror, nor any fear. Birth and death to him are only insignificant changes in life. Life for him is a moving picture which he loves and admires, and yet he is free from it all. He is one among all the world. He himself is happy, and he makes others happy.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“The greatest iftar is
to break the fast of apathy,
with the feast of affection.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavictor: Kanima Akiyor Kainat

“In the desert there is no sign that says, ' Thou shalt not eat stones.”
― Sufi Proverb

“A famous aphorism tells us, „The Sufi is the child of the moment“ (as-sufi ibn al-waqt). One of its meanings is that the true Sufi lives in the constant awareness that his self is nothing but what he is at the present moment. And since each present moment is unique, each moment of the self is unique. In some Sufi texts, each moment is called a nafas, a „breath.“ The Sufis are then called „the folk of the breaths“ (ahl al-anfas), because they live in full awareness of the uniqueness of the nafs at each nafas, each breath, each instant. (p. 55-56)”
― William C. Chittick, Sufism: A Beginner's Guide

“Love is not something that merely enhances existence - love is existence.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Sin Dios Sí Hay Divinidad: The Pastor Who Never Was

“Ramadan isn't fulfilled by feasting on some tasty beef, the greatest of feast is haram if others go hungry.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Sin Dios Sí Hay Divinidad: The Pastor Who Never Was

“My wounds, my crown.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown

“As for being a Sufi, I think every Iranian by birth is born one. It is in our blood.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“Ramadan Sonnet

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim doesn't mean,
God is merciful only to the muslim.
The spirit of godliness that we hold within,
is meant to light up the world as our kin.
Fasting and feasting all turn mere futile choir,
If, for whatever reason, life is distant from life.
Celebration of Ramadan is celebration of rahmat*,
Ramadan without *compassion is Ramadan without life.
Ramadan is not a muslim festival,
Ramadan is a human festival.
Ramadan is a reminder to rekindle our light,
Ramadan is the end of all feelings uncharitable.
None of us will have faith till we wish for
our neighbor as we wish for ourselves (Hadith 13).
The reward for goodness is goodness itself (Q55:60).”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşk Mafia: Armor of The World

“Celebration of Ramadan is celebration of rahmat (compassion).”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşk Mafia: Armor of The World

“The perfect story is inconsequential. We are here a moment and just like that we are gone.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“Drown your ego before it drowns you.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“Timeworn, so I spin and spin. Reborn, for I am once again.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“She had gone inward. It wasn't the divine journey Sufi mystics preach. She was numb with pain.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“The song ended but the music didn't.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“He could feel every living particle around him. To the eyes, it looks as though the sun revolves and spins around us but he could feel his entire body spin with the earth around the sun.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“Ramadan is not a muslim festival,
Ramadan is a human festival.
Ramadan is a reminder to rekindle our light,
Ramadan is the end of all feelings uncharitable.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“Ramadan is resurrection of a promise divine,
Festival of one people is festival of humankind.
Ramadan is the end of all feelings unkind,
Ramadan is a human being a human's lifeline.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“A hundred hajj won't make you holy, if your heart is ever cold and dead.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“The ruby wine in the golden goblet
Is soul-inspiring, as it were a beautiful pearl.
Welcome is the fire of desire to those inspired with love!
Welcome are the delightful pains of the lords of love!”
― Saadi, Sadi's Scroll of Wisdom