Sufism Quotes

The secret of Sufism is that it has no secret at all'.

The sufis believe that they can experience something more complete.

It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.

I searched for God and found only myself. I searched for myself and found only God.

The thing we tell of can never be found be seeking, yet only seekers find it.

If anybody asks what Sufism is, what kind of religion is it, the answer is that Sufism is the religion of the heart, the religion in which the thing of primary importance is to seek God in the heart of mankind.

Remember. The way you make love is the way God will be with you.

People who were also traders were also men of Sufism, as we see around Java, people who were outwardly trading but were also men of very high spiritual character. Otherwise no trader would be able to convert a person from one religion to another. It was because they were men of spiritual character.

Without Sufism, Islam would not have spread into two thirds of what we call the Islamic world.

Why should I be unhappy? Each parcel of my being is in full bloom.

Now is the time to unite the Soul and the world.

Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.

Now is the time to unite the soul and the world. Now is the time to see the sunlight dancing as one with the shadows.

If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?

Love is the cure, for your pain will keep giving birth to more pain until your eyes constantly exhale love as effortlessly as your body yields its scent.

Gamble everything for love, if you're a true human being.

If I repent now will God forgive me? No, but if God forgives you, you will repent.

I smile like a flower not only with my lips but with my whole being.

Sufism has always had the function of purifying Islamic ethics and that fasting and tazkiya is like lighting a lamp.

Sufism and yoga are one and the same thing. They are just words, in wisdom there is no difference. All the teachings are absolutely the same. They are only different paths to the One.

True Sufism is resistance: spiritual, intellectual, social, cultural, political and economic resistance. It cannot be, for sure, supporting dictators.

The practice of Sufism is the intention to move toward truth by means of love and devotion.

My god how gentle you are with me in spite of my great ignorance and how merciful You are with me in spite of my ugly deeds

There is no religion in the world where there is a possibility of spiritual development outside of the context of that religion. This is only a modern invention. For example, Christian mystics were also Christians. They also went to Church and followed Christian laws. Hindu mystics were practicing Hindus; they didn't kill cows and have steak. They follow the Hindu laws and so on and so forth down the line and Sufism is no exception.

Anyone who genuinely and consistently with both hands look for something, will find it.

I think that Sufism fits all over the world. The concept is not anything that fits standard Western ideas - it's always related to culture, to music, to religion. It is a dominant religion in Senegal.

Tear down the mosque, the temple, everything in sight. But don't break a human heart. For that is where God resides.

You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

Amongst the friends of Allah (Awliya), the Qur'an is considered as a love letter from Allah, which inevitably is read continuously to remind them of their Beloved.

We view Sufism not as an ideology that molds people to the right way of belief or action, but as an art or science that can exert a beneficial influence on individuals and societies, in accordance with the needs of those individuals and societies ... Sufi study and development gives one capacities one did not have before.

Sufism is not a religion or a philosophy, it is neither deism nor atheism, nor is it a moral, nor a special kind of mysticism, being free from the usual religious sectarianism. If ever it could be called a religion, it would only be as a religion of love, harmony, and beauty.

I love Sufism as I love beautiful poetry, but it is not the answer. Sufism is like a mirage in the desert. It says to you, come and sit, relax and enjoy yourself for a while.

This is love: to fly toward a secret sky

This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.

I reject any path which rejects life, but I can't help loving Sufism because it sounds so beautiful. It gives relief in the midst of battle.

If someone remarks "What an excellent man you are!" and this pleases you more than his saying, "What a bad man you are!" know that you are still a bad man.

To those who say "Sufism is apolitical" or "no politics," I respond: "No politics is politics." Look at the very old African Sufi tradition, the Asian Sufi tradition, or the North African Sufi tradition. Then you get it and understand what Sufism is all about wisdom, courage and resistance.

Everything in life is speaking in spite of it's apparent silence.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.

From it genesis twelve hundred years ago to today, Islamic philosophy (al-hikmah; al-falsafah) has been one of the major intellectual traditions within the Islamic world, and it has influenced and been influenced by many other intellectual perspectives, including Scholastic theology (kalam) and doctrinal Sufism (al-ma'rifah or al-tasawwuf al-'ilmi) and theoretical gnosis ('irfan-i nazari).

Look at Senegal, about 90% of the Muslims in Senegal are Tijani or Qadiri Sufis. Among them, they have very great teachers who have written poems about al-Hallaj, and they have not been killed. In fact, it's Sufism that brought Islam through all of Senegal, right under our noses the last couple of centuries. And you can go down the same line through Indonesia and Malaysia.

When I am with you, we stay up all night. When you're not here, I can't go to sleep. Praise God for those two insomnias! And the difference between them.

The basis of Sufism is consideration of the hearts and feelings of others. If you haven't the will to gladden someone's heart, then at least beware lest you hurt someone's heart, for on our path, no sin exists but this.

The very essence of the Sufi spiritual tradition requires you to purify your heart, to liberate yourself from your ego and to be courageous in facing any corrupt power, injustice and oppression. Unfortunately, colonial powers pushed an agenda by using Sufism against resistance, and some ulama played that game in the past and in the present.

Reason is powerless in the expression of Love.