I so love Sufic Tales and Poems. These are words that have been born in a realm other than ours and tease us as to what lies beyond. Reading these sayings provides one with a delectable taste of the spiritual pleasures that a Sufi experiences. One of the best Sufic books I’ve come across is Essential Sufism. I share with you below a few quotes from the book, with the hope that it’ll help me internalise these into practices.
O My Lord, if I worship You from fear of Hell, burn me in Hell; and if I worship You from hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your own sake, do not withhold from me Your Eternal Beauty. ~ Rabia
(This prayer is a modification of an original prayer by Hadhrat Ali (AS))
Act as if there were no one on earth but you and no one in Heaven but God. ~ al Antaki
As long as your lower self rules your heart, you will never lose your love of this world. – Traditional
If you treat your lower self with affection, you will never by saved from it. ~ Traditional
Those who are dead to their lower selves are alive with God. ~ Traditional
Those who are controlled by the lower self must serve it; those who control thee lower self serve others. ~ Traditional
The lower self is like a theif who sneakes into your house at night to steal whatever is valuable and worthwhile. You cannot fight this thief directly, because it will mirror whatever force you bring against it. If you have a gun, the theif will also have a gun. If you have a knife, the thief will have a knife as well. To struggle with the thief is to invite disaster. So, what can you do? The only practical solution is to turn on the light. The thief, who is a coward at heart, will then run out. How do we turn on the light? Through thepractice of remembrance, awareness, and heefulness. ~ Sheikh Tosun Bayrak
A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey. ~ Traditional
( I LOVE this quote! )
Each faculty of our delights in that for which it was created;
lust delights in accomplishing desire, anger in taking vengeance,
the eye in seeing beautiful objects, and the ear in hearing harmonious sounds.
The highest function of the soul is the perception of truth. ~ al-Ghazzali
If words come out of the heart, they will enter the heart,
but if they come from the tongue, they will not pass beyond the ears. ~ al-Shurawardi
Jesus (upon whom be peace!) saw the world revealed in the form of an ugly old hag. He asked her how many husbands she had possessed; she replied that they were countless. he asked whether they had died or been divorced; she said that she had slain them all. “I marvel,” he said, “at the fools who see what you have done to others, and still desire you.” ~ al-Ghazzali
