Sufism Quotes

Having drunk the dregs of Your Love, I am intoxicated beyond recognition. Now, I only pray for the nearness of You so I may advance in my annihilation.

~ Kamand Kojouri

The lover drinksand the cup-bearer pours.The lover thinksbut the cup-bearer knows:love begets love.Since this wine is love,then this cup is love,then this tavern is love,then this life is love.

~ Kamand Kojouri

I am humbled by the grace of God.I am humbled by the beauty of this universe.Humbled by others' kindness.Humbled by life.I drop down to my knees and give thanks.

~ Kamand Kojouri

If you want to find God, then all you need to do is love.

~ Kamand Kojouri

Put down your stones. Why are you breaking the window when God has left the door wide open? If you are afraid, lover, follow me. I will guide the way.

~ Kamand Kojouri

It is not enough that you look for Him.You must hunt for God each and every dayas if your life depends on it.Because it does.

~ Kamand Kojouri

It is wonderful, this whole business of tickling and kissing God every night.

~ Kamand Kojouri

How can you be a lover of loveand not be a lover of God?It is impossible.

~ Kamand Kojouri

Do not be frightened, friend. Let us dance our way to God.

~ Kamand Kojouri

I spent all nightweaving a poem for you to wear. You look so beautifulwhen you wear my light.

~ Kamand Kojouri

What has he found who has lost God?And what has he lost who has found God?

~ Ibn 'Ata'illah Al-Iskandari

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

Three ThingsThree things cannot be retrieved:The arrow once sped from the bowThe word spoken in hasteThe missed opportunity.(Ali the Lion, Caliph of Islam, son-in-law of Mohammed the Prophet)

~ Idries Shah

Religion, for instance, cannot be accepted or rejected out of hand, until the student knows exactly what religion means.

~ Idries Shah

Knowledge cannot be attained except through humility.

~ Idries Shah

Knowledge gives nothing to a man until he gives everything to it.

~ Idries Shah

Sufis (the name for the realised individual, not the learner or follower) are reunited with objective Reality and Unity.

~ Idries Shah

Definitions from Mulla Do-PiazaFlattery:One of the most promising of businesses: always brisk.

~ Idries Shah

The teaching must, of course, work with the best part of the individual, must be directed to his or her real capacity.

~ Idries Shah

The clothes may vary, but the person is the same.

~ Idries Shah

Why did I do such-and-such a thing?' is all very well. But what about 'How otherwise could I have done it?'.

~ Idries Shah

Is your division of Understanding into Greater and Lesser common to all Sufis? Nothing which is put into words is common to all Sufis.

~ Idries Shah

If you assume that it is there, you will generally not be far off the truth.

~ Idries Shah

Man thinks many things. He thinks he is One. He is usually several. Until he becomes One, he cannot have a fair idea of what he is at all.

~ Idries Shah

Correct teaching brings out human excellence.

~ Idries Shah

Sufis deny the absolute reality of time, space and physical form. These things are both relative and local. They only appear to be absolute.

~ Idries Shah

The first time I heard you laugh, I only wanted to say funny things so you would always be laughing. You know what happens to chocolate when you leave it out in the sun? I’m that unfortunate chocolate and you, you are the laughing sun. For this reason, I am offering myself to you not as a martyr or some selfless fool, but as a self-indulgent moth who actively pursues the light without much fear for the flame. The moth who revels in the heat and declares: Burn me.

~ Kamand Kojouri

You have no choice. You must leave your ego on the doorstep before you enter love.

~ Kamand Kojouri

O You !Come under the roof of LOVE.this is the only place where PEACE exist.

~ Ashiqhussain

This is a day of celebration!Today, we are divorcing the pastand marrying the present.Dance,and you will find Godin every room.Today, we are divorcing resentmentand marrying forgiveness.Sing,and God will find you in every tune.Today, we are divorcing indifferenceand marrying love.Drink, and play that tambourine against your thighs.We have so much celebrating to do!

~ Kamand Kojouri

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 loverand started celebratingyour love for God.

~ Kamand Kojouri

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

~ Kamand Kojouri

I want a God that makes me twirl.' I jumped off the couch. I untucked and unbuttoned my shirt so it would flow like a robe. 'Like this. I can do this for God.' I held my hands out. I twirled and twirled and twirled. 'Look,' I said. 'Look.

~ Rabih Alameddine

Thou seekest Lailâ. Yet she manifesteth herself within thee.Thou deemest her to be elsewhere, but elsewhere existeth not.That is a madness, well-known to lovers. So be on your guard, for otherness is the epitome of separation.Seest thou not, how her beauty enfoldeth thee.She disappeareth only if thou refusest part of thee.Come close to me, thou sayst to her, to her who is thine All.And when she loveth thee, she leadeth thee to thyself.Bliss ineffable is the meeting with her.No one reacheth her, who knoweth not essence without form.I have dissimulated about her,After I had truly displayed her through my veil.I hid her from myself, with the garment of mine own existence,And, out of jealousy, I hid her from the envier.Dazzling beauty! Should the light of thy countenanceTouch the eyes of a blind man, he would see each particle of dust.She is adorned with every grace pertaining unto beauty.And wherever she appeareth, she is desired by those who love.(Diwân)

~ Muhammad Al-Harrâq

To live in love is my life’s purpose.

~ Kamand Kojouri

Dance less in motion and more in spirit, awaken the dreamer within.

~ Shah Asad Rizvi

Music does not need language of words for it has movements of dance to do its translation.

~ Shah Asad Rizvi

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

~ Shah Asad Rizvi

Soar like an eagle beyond skies of heavens reach, as wings of dreams dance with winds of reality.

~ Shah Asad Rizvi

World seems like a void of silence every time footsteps are deprived of dancing shoes.

~ Shah Asad Rizvi