Sufi Way Quotes

“[T]he song of the Sufis, once it starts, never ends.

There is a traditional saying that you should never waste your time trying to find real Sufis because they are the ones who will find you. And this turned out to be perfectly true.”
― Peter Kingsley, A Book of Life

“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

“Out of the shell of the broken heart emerges the newborn soul.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“The more we are illuminated, the more we want others to experience that also. We can't help but be generous and giving, because self and other is one, and the nature of self and the nature of other is one; it is true nature giving itself to itself. (p. 9)”
― A.H. Almaas, The Alchemy of Freedom: The Philosophers' Stone and the Secrets of Existence

“What does it mean to become spiritual, or godly? It means to have a higher view of life, to look at life from a higher point of view. It is the high point of
view in life which ennobles the soul; it is by a broad outlook on life that spiritual aristocracy is realized.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Holistic, unconditional love, agape, is the unity in which duality disappears. It is as if a certain internal boundary has vanished. With agape what we love is ourselves, the way a mother loves her child as herself. This is the meaning of loving another as yourself – transcending our phenomenal borders and experiencing ourselves in another and the other in, not apart from, us. Eventually, if love is comprehensive, it unites us with everything and allows us to know that we are everything. Therefore, how can we support the illusion of this isolated, separate self that is threatened by and defends itself from everything outside? Love returns us to the unity that is actually Reality. Reality is not the isolation, suspicion, envy, selfishness, and fear of loss that we have come to accept as normal; it is that we are all part of one Life. The same Spirit moves in us all. You come to know this better when you realize that we all have the same kinds of feelings, the same wish to be known and respected, to share ourselves and let down our defenses. We are continually faced with a choice between personal achievement, personal security, and comfort on the one hand, and working for the whole and helping everyone and everything toward perfection on the other. We are faced with a choice between looking out for ourselves and contributing wholeheartedly to a common good. We are faced with focusing on self-love or increasing our love of all Life. (p. 191)”
― Kabir Edmund Helminski, Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness & the Essential Self

“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

“What does it mean to become spiritual, or godly? It means to have a higher view of life, to look at life from a higher point of view. It is the high point of view in life which ennobles the soul; it is by a broad outlook on life that spiritual aristocracy is realized.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“And the day when the soul realizes itself, that day a new life begins, a new birth. It is the self-realized soul which grows, which expands. So long as the soul has not realized itself, it does not develop, it does not grow. Therefore it is at the moment when the soul begins to realize itself that a man really begins to live in the world. But it must be understood that the magnetism of the selfrealized soul is greater than any magnetism one could ever imagine. It is power, it is wisdom, it is peace, it is intelligence, it is all. It is this magnetism that heals, heals bodies and heals minds; and it is this magnetism that raises those fallen into difficulties, in pain and sorrows. It is this magnetism that brings others out of their confusion, their darkness. It is by this magnetism that the illuminated souls spread out their love, thereby attracting all beings. It is of this magnetism that Christ said to the fishermen, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It is with this magnetism that the great ones, such as Buddha, such as Moses, Christ, Muhammad, came and attracted humanity. And humanity during the ages has not forgotten. It is their magnetism which, after their having left this earth, has held millions and millions of people in one bond of brotherhood, of sympathy, of friendship. The immense power that the soul-magnetism gives shows that it is divine
magnetism. It is a proof of something behind the seen world.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“When the healer thinks he is healing, his power is as small as a drop; when he thinks God is healing, and when owing to this thought his own self is forgotten and he is only conscious of the Self of God, then his power becomes as large as the ocean. (Inayat Khan's advice to healers)”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“The whole of life in all its aspects is one music, and to tune one’s self to the harmony of this perfect music is the real spiritual attainment.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“And the day when the soul realizes itself, that day a new life begins, a new birth. It is the self-realized soul which grows, which expands. So long as the soul has not realized itself, it does not develop, it does not grow. Therefore it is at the moment when the soul begins to realize itself that a man really begins to live in the world. But it must be understood that the magnetism of the selfrealized soul is greater than any magnetism one could ever imagine. It is power, it is wisdom, it is peace, it is intelligence, it is all. It is this magnetism that heals, heals bodies and heals minds; and it is this magnetism that raises those fallen into difficulties, in pain and sorrows. It is this magnetism that brings others out of their confusion, their darkness. It is by this magnetism that the illuminated souls spread out their love, thereby attracting all beings. It is of this magnetism that Christ said to the fishermen, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It is with this magnetism that the great ones, such as Buddha, such as Moses, Christ, Muhammad, came and attracted humanity. And humanity during the ages has not forgotten. It is their magnetism which, after their having left this earth, has held millions and millions of people in one bond of brotherhood, of sympathy, of friendship. The immense power that the soul-magnetism gives shows that it is divine magnetism. It is a proof of something behind the seen world.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“The soul’s happiness is in itself; nothing can make the soul fully happy but self-realization.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“What is religion to the mystic? The religion of the mystic is a steady progress towards unity. How does he make this progress? In two ways. In the first way, he sees himself in others, in the good, in the bad, in all; and thus he expands the horizon of his vision. This study goes on throughout his lifetime, and as he progresses he comes closer to the oneness of all things. And the other way of developing is to become conscious of one’s own self in God, and of God in one’s self, which means deepening the consciousness of our innermost being. This process takes place in two directions: outwardly, by being one with all we see, and inwardly, by being in touch with that one Life which is everlasting, by dissolving into it, and by being conscious of that one Spirit being the existence, the only existence.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“There is a perfect wisdom working continually day and night. The mystic sees it in everything with open eyes; and that is the great miracle.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“To attain spirituality is to realize that the whole universe is one symphony in which every individual is one note. His happiness lies in becoming perfectly harmonious with the symphony of the universe.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“When the soul is attuned to God, every action becomes music.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

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

“Life is progress, and stopping from progress is death. Failure does not matter in life for a progressive person, even a thousand failures do not matter. He has before his view success, and success is his even after a thousand failures. The greatest pity in life is the standstill when life does not move further. A sensible person prefers death to such a life. It is as a paralysis of the soul, of the spirit, and is always caused by holding bad impressions in mind. No soul is deprived of happiness in reality. The soul’s very being is happiness. Man brings unhappiness upon himself by holding in his hands the clouds of bad impressions, which fall as a shadow upon his soul. Once a person is able to clear from his mind, by whatever process, the undesirable impressions, a new power begins to spring from his heart, opening a way before him to accomplish all he wishes, attracting to him all he requires, clearing his path of all obstacles, and making his atmosphere clear, for him to live and move and to accomplish all he wishes to accomplish.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Christ says, “If anyone asks you for your coat, give him your overcoat also.” A worldly man will say, “It is not practical; if someone asked this of me every day, I would be continually buying new coats!” Yet, at the same time, it is more than practical from the point of view of the Master, for according to his view we cannot give anything, in whatever form, without getting it back in some way or other. Pure thought, goodwill, our service, our time— whatever we give—is never lost. It comes back to us according to our willingness to give; it comes back to us a thousandfold. That is why one is never the loser by being generous; one only gains. The mystic sees the law in all things, and this gives him an insight into life. He begins to see why this misery has come upon him, why that pleasure has come; why one person is prospering and another not, why one is progressing and not the other. All these things become clear to him, because he sees the law working in all things. The law of the mystic is not the law of the people. It is the law of nature; it is the real law.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“The way to perfection for the mystic is by the annihilation of the false ego. He understands that in man there is a real ego, that this ego is divine, but that the divine ego is covered by a false ego […] The mystic on the spiritual path perseveres in wiping out this false ego as much as he can, by meditation, by concentration, by prayer, by study, by everything he does. His one aim is to wipe out so much, that one day reality, which is always there buried under the false ego, may manifest. And by calling on the Name of God, in the form of prayer, or in zikr, or in any other form, what the mystic does is to awaken the spirit of the real ego in order that it may manifest. It is just like a spring which rises out of the rock and which, as soon as the water has gained power and strength, breaks even through stone and becomes a stream. So it is with the divine spark in man. Through concentration, through meditation, it breaks out and manifests; and, where it manifests, it washes away the stains of the false ego and turns into a greater and greater stream, which in turn becomes the source of comfort, consolation, healing, and happiness for all who come into contact with that spirit.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“There are many things in the life of a Sufi, but the greatest is to have a tendency to friendship; this is expressed in the form of tolerance and forgiveness, in the form of service and trust. In whatever form he may express it, this is the central theme: the constant desire to prove one’s love for humanity, to be the friend of all.”
― Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Your love has wrested me away from me,
You’re the one I need, you’re the one I crave.
Day and night I burn, gripped by agony,
You’re the one I need, you’re the one I crave.
I find no great joy in being alive,
If I cease to exist, I would not grieve,
The only solace I have is your love,
You’re the one I need, you’re the one I crave.
Lovers yearn for you, but your love slays them,
At the bottom of the sea it lays them,
It has God’s images-it displays them;
You’re the one I need, you’re the one I crave.
Let me drink the wine of love sip by sip,
Like Mecnun, live in the hills in hardship,
Day and night, care for you holds me in its grip,
You’re the one I need, you’re the one I crave.
Even if, at the end, they make me die
And scatter my ashes up to the shy,
My pit would break into this outcry:
You’re the one I need, you’re the one I crave.
“Yunus Emre the mystic” is my name,
Each passing day fans and rouses my flame,
What I desire in both worlds is the same:
You’re the one I need, you’re the one I crave...”
― Yunus Emre

“As you journey along with Sufi Way, you will experience the knowledge that the apparent world is indeed just that: apparent. The Traveler will reach a stage in which the apparent world is temporarily dissolved or seen through. However, the stage where this is experienced is an area where many seekers of Truth are stuck. As the apparent world is experienced to be an illusion, other explanations, reality-maps, entities, and worlds rush in to fill the void and present themselves as how things actually are. These alternative explanations and so forth, are no more The Real (and no less more, that matter) than is the apparent world that they help to expose as illusion.”
― Laurence Galian

“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

“Not all currencies are paper. Not all wealth is tangible.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“A sophist and a Sufi. You are a sufisticated young woman.”
― 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