Sufism is always systematised only for limited or transitory periods: because Sufism is primarly instrumental, not for enjoyment or display.
~ Idries Shah
To Him who has sense, a sign is enoughFor the heedless, however, a thousand expositions are not enough.
Whoever has taught me one letter has made me his slave.
The bird which has no knowledge of pure water, has his beak in salt water all year round.
Rust through washing never became white.
If you cannot sit on a throne like a king, seize, like a tent-pitcher, the rope of the Royal tent.
Those who can’t, try: those who can, don’t have to.
Give and TakeThe Chief takes less than he is givenAnd gives more than he has taken.
Give and TakeThe Chief takes less than he is givenAnd gives more than he has taken
No surgeon can treat the wounds of the tongue.
None meets harm who knows his capacity.
Now that I have found thee, I know that in the first step I took, I moved away from thee.
Hazrat Ali, in a saying attributed to him, says: ‘Man is in disguise, covered by his tongue’.
If you are covetous, you are a prisoner: If you are greedy, you will never be filled.
If you have two shirts, sell one and with the money buy a flower’.
A short time in the presence of the Friends (the Sufis) is better than a hundred years’ sincere, obedient dedication.
The Apparent is the Bridge to the Real
Do not tell your secrets to everyone in this headquarters, Earth. We have surveyed it well. There was nobody to whom to entrust secrets.
Abu-Yaqub al-Susi: the Sufi is 'One who does not care when something is taken from him, but who does not cease to seek for what he has not.
Better to quarrel with a friend than to support enemies.
The mine is always bigger than the gem.
Whoever has not first dug a well, should not steal a minaret.
Sufism is, in operation, pragmatic.
It is the goldsmith who can assay the gold.
I longed to teach, but I had to wait until the desire had left me before I could really do so.
Nobody can stand between you and knowledge if you are fit for it.
The means through which people may perceive Truth have forms, Truth has no form.
Whoever might perfume a scorpionWill not thereby escape its sting. Bahaudin Naqshband
Truth has no form.
A book, for the Sufis, is an instrument as much as it is something to give information....The key is the teacher.
That which is given free is never knowledge. It may be information....but knowledge does not come in that manner.
Sufism, in one definition, is human life.
To say yes to the Sufi way is to say no to imagined escapes.
When prayer, rituals and ascetic life are just a means of self-indulgence, they are harmful rather than beneficial.
Three things cannot be retrieved:The arrow once sped from the bowThe word spoken in hasteThe missed opportunity. Ali, the Lion of Islam.
Feeling important is a vice, not a virtue, however concealed as participation in something noble.
With enough information, it is almost impossible not to predict people's action.
But the minimum human duty is to serve others: it is no great attainment.
Sayings of the ProphetTrust: Trust in God – but tie your camel first.
One lie will keep out forty truths.
