Ibn Quotes

One who is mild rather than forceful has greater capacity for outreach. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

The best revenge is to improve yourself. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

We are a people in more need of a little character than we are in need of an abundance of knowledge. ~ Abdullah Ibn Mubarak

Sins have many side-effects. One of them is that they steal knowledge from you. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

When the invocation descends into the heart, if there is darkness within, it illuminates it; and if there is already light, the invocation increases the light and intensifies it. ~ Ibn Ata Allah

You are master of what you say until you utter it, once you deliver it, you are its captive. Preserve your tongue as you do your gold and money. One word could bring disgrace and the termination of a bliss. ~ Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S

Allah, the Exalted, gave the angels intellect without desires, He gave the animals desires without intellect, and He gave both to the sons of Adam. So a man whose intellect prevails over his desires is better than the angels, whilst a man whose desire prevails over his intellect is worse than the animals. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

No one has ever suffered from his people as I have. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

I desired to praise the Chosen One and was hindered
By my own inability to grasp the extent of his glory.

How can one such as I measure an ocean, when the ocean is vast?
And how can one such as I count the stones and the stars?

If all of my limbs were to become tongues, even then –
Even then I could not begin to praise him as I desired.

And if all of creation gathered together in an attempt
To praise him, even then they would stint in his due.

I have altogether ceased trying – awestruck, clinging to courtesy,
Tempered by timidity, glorifying his most exalted rank.

Indeed, sometimes silence holds within it the essence of eloquence,
And often speech merely fodder for the faultfinder. ~ Ibn Juzayy Al-Kalbi

If the heart becomes hardened, the eye becomes dry. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

This is Zemzem near Mecca. According to this, however, Hagar headed into the Arabian Peninsula rather than toward Egypt. ~ Abraham Meir Ben Ibn Ezra

Whatever is not done by the permission of Allah will not happen, and what is not done for the sake of Allah will not benefit or remain. ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. ~ Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Awaken your heart to kindness and mercy for the people and love and tenderness for them. Never, never act with them like a predatory beast which seeks to be satiated by devouring them, for the people fall into two categories: they are either your brethren in faith or your kindred in creation ... Do not ever say, 'I have been given authority' or 'My command should be obeyed.' Because it corrupts the heart, consumes one's faith, and invites calamities. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Your souls are precious and can only be equal to the price of Paradise, therefore sell them only at that price ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

The possible or impossible for Allah Most High involves the divine attribute of qudra or omnipotence, "what He can do". This attribute in turn relates exclusively to the intrinsically possible, not to what is intrinsically impossible, as Allah says, "Verily Allah has power over every thing" (Qur'an 20:29), "thing" being something that in principle can exist. For example, if one asks "Can Allah create square circle?" the answer is that His omnipotence does not relate to it, for a square circle does not refer to anything that in principle could exist: the speaker does not have a distinct idea of what he means, but is merely using a jumble of words.
"On the validity of all religions in the thought of ibn Al-'Arabi and Emir 'Abd al-Qadir: a letter to `Abd al-Matin ~ Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Men must be free to do what they believe. It is not our right to punish one for thinking what they do, no matter how much we disagree ~ Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad

Government is an institution which prevents injustice other than such as it commits itself. ~ Ibn Khaldun

If you correct your hidden deeds subsequently, Allaah will correct your outward deeds. ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

Paraphrased: The way of al-Junayd includes among other things abstaining constantly from resisting God Most High in whatever happens to one, whether good or bad ... ~ Ibn Ata Allah

Every love that leads away from His love is in fact a punishment; only a love that leads to His love is a heartfelt and pure love. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

Your cure is within you, yet you do not sense it! Your sickness is from you, yet you do not see it! You consider yourself a small body; Yet encapsulated within you is the entire universe! ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

To maintain nice relation with the people is half of intelligence, nice questioning is half of knowledge, and nice domestic arrangements is half of the management of livelihood. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Remembrance is to the heart what water is to the fish. And what is the state of a fish that leaves water? ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

If you are aware of your humility, then you are arrogant. ~ Ibn Ata Allah

Imam Ibn Taymiyya has also stated clearly that a person who does not have the tools of ijtihād, that is, has not spent the many years learning Arabic, mastering Usul-al-Fiqh and Uloom al-Hadith, encompassing the Quranic and Hadithic texts, has no
right to assert an opinion and that rather, he must do taqlīd. ~ Muhammad Sajaad

Happiness comes towards those which believe in him ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

If you find that somebody is not grateful for all that you have done for him, then do not get disappointed because often you will find that someone else feels under your obligation though you have done nothing for him and thus your good deeds will be compensated, and Allah will reward you for your goodness. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

One who thinks and reflects develops his foresight and vision. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Work for a Better Life as if you live forever,
And work for Better End as if you die tomorrow ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

We are free, in the West, to choose; we have real choice to pursue our own desires; we are free to set the goals and contents of our own lives; the West is made up of individuals who are free to decide what meaning to give to their lives-in short the glory of the West is that life is an open book,[1] while under Islam, life is a closed book, everything has been decided for you: God and the Holy Law set limits on the possible agenda of your life. ~ Ibn Warraq

The shield of the scholar is, 'I do not know', so if he leaves it down, his attacker will strike him. ~ Malik Ibn Anas

The real Muslim is the one who prefers speaking the truth even when it is ruinous to him over lying even when it benefits him, and who finds inner peace in doing so. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

This wordly life is like a shadow. If you try to catch it, you will never be able to do so. If you turn your back towards it, it has no choice but to follow you. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

There are no means of attaining faith and certainty except through the Qur'an. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

The value of everybody depend on his or her PROFICIENCY and Wisdom. ~ Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib

I was about to begin the prayer when a Franj threw himself upon me, seized me, and turned my face to the East, telling me, 'That's how you pray! ~ Usamah Ibn Munqidh

Do not feel lonely on the road of righteousness Because of the fewness of the walkers on it. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

God sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirs in the animal, and awakens in man. ~ Ibn Arabi

From Hunayn ibn-Ishak (Diogenes,8), we learn about his view of women and education: when he saw a man teaching a girl how to read and write, he advised him not to make a bad thing even worse. ~ Luis E. Navia

When the heart becomes empty, the mimbar of the Divine Oneness is placed therein and the sultan of gnosis sits upon it. ~ Ibn Ata Allah

The heart is like a bird: love as its head and its two wings are hope and fear. ~ Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawzziya

Live for this life as though you live in it forever and live for the life to come as though you die tomorrow ~ 'Amr Ibn Al-'As

Imam Hussein Ibn Ali al-Shaheed said: Death with dignity is better than life with humility. ~ Allama Majlisi Biharol Anwar Vol. 44 P. 192

A calamity that makes you turn to Allah is better for you then a blessing which makes you forget the remembrance of Allah ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

The sincere hearts and the pious supplications are soldiers which can never be defeated ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

Whoever desires Paradise, proceeds towards goodness; whoever fears Hell, refrains from the impulses of passions; whoever believes firmly in death, detests wordly life; and whoever recognises the worldly life, the trials and tribulations (of life) become slight for him. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Lead such a life, that, when you die, the people may mourn you, and while you are alive they long for your company. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

A man's behavior is the index of the man, and his discourse is the index of his understanding. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Every person who was a genius, a mental giant, or a great contributor to the human race watered the seeds of his greatness from the well of isolation, until the seed became a plant, and then finally, a formidable tree. ~ Aaidh Ibn Abdullah Al-Qarni

None but God is loved in the existent things. It is He who is manifest within every beloved to the eye of every lover – and there is nothing in the existent realm that is not a lover ~ Ibn Arabi

The implausible, well-nigh-miraculous functioning anarchy that we know as New York is adorned with every excellence of Western art. It is a city of manifold suggestions, which ministers to every ambition, engenders a thousand talents, nurtures ingenuity and experimentation. ~ Ibn Warraq

Today there are deeds and no judgment, and tomorrow there will be judgment and no deeds ~ Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib R.A

There is none more lonely than the man who loves only himself. ~ Abraham Ibn Ezra

If you are truthful you will survive. If you lie you shall perish. ~ Khalid Ibn Al-Walid

In the early part of the ninth century, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, a mathematician working in Baghdad, wrote a seminal textbook in which he highlighted the usefulness of restoring a quantity being subtracted (like 2, above) by adding it to the other side of an equation. He called this process al-jabr (Arabic for "restoring"), which later morphed into "algebra." Then, long after his death, he hit the etymological jackpot again. His own name, al-Khwarizmi, lives on today in the word "algorithm. ~ Steven H. Strogatz

The entire religion revolves around acknowledging the truth and then acting upon it. ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

What can he tell them? He, who knows nothing. Ibn al Mohammed has not planned atrocities nor committed them. He has never been in the presence of terrorists. Yet Satan's agents suspect him. He is dark-complected. His hair and beard are black. His name is Muslim. Body tall and slender, hands large, their fingers long and tapered. Dark eyes sunken in a narrow face. Irises like obsidian. He prays on hands and knees, forehead touching the floor. Thoughtlessly aligned, his cage obliges him to face a white plastic wall to bow toward Mecca. No matter; Ibn al Mohammed requires no sight of ocean or sky to know his place in the universe. He knows himself as one chosen, beloved of God. A man whose devotion will allow him to be saved.

Standing at the bars, he stares at the plastic wall. Modesty panel, they call it. The detainee wills nothing, attempts nothing, merely stares at blankness as his mind opens toward such signs as might appear. Something, nothing. However little, however great, whatever God vouchsafes is sufficient. The least sign is enough. A crease in the plastic. A shadow cast against its insensate skin, then fleeing, gone. A raindrop: trickling through the roof, one small drop might touch the wall, leave a transparent streak, a tear without sorrow to confirm his understanding of what is and must be. Recognition. Acceptance. By such a sign he will know he is not forsaken. That God notices and prepares a place.

He will not serve in the harvest. He will ~ John Lauricella I 2094 I

We should not be ashamed to acknowledge truth and to assimilate it from whatever source it comes to us, even if it is brought to us by former generations and foreign peoples. For him who seeks the truth there is nothing of higher value than truth itself; it never cheapens or debases him who reaches for it but ennobles and honors him. ~ Yaqub Ibn Ishaq Al-Kindi

Always consider your intellect to be lacking; otherwise too much faith in it surely leads to error. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

And to have spent the night sleeping and awoken regretful, is better than to have spent the night standing (in prayer) and awaken impressed with oneself! ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

Happiness is attained by three things: being patient when tested, being thankful when receiving a blessing, and being repentant upon sinning. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

Ibn Taymiyyah lived poorly. He was imprisoned and threatened. But I have never seen anyone as happy as him. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

A moment of patience in a moment of anger prevents a thousand moments of regret. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

The People of the Sunnah are the most knowledgeable of mankind concerning the truth, and the most merciful of the creation towards the rest of creation. ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

Persist in that invocation until the unity of the world is subsumed for you in a single sphere, so that with the eye of your heart you will see naught in the two worlds save the One. ~ Ibn Ata Allah

The ibtilaa' (testing) of the believer is like medicine for him. It cures him from illness. Had the illness remained it would destroy him or diminish his reward and level (in the hereafter). The tests and the trials extract these illnesses from him and prepare him for the perfect reward and the highest of degrees (in the life to come). ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

He who is greedy is disgraced; he who discloses his hardship will always be humiliated; he who has no control over his tongue will often have to face discomfort. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Eventually, Aristotle appeared among the Greeks. He improved the methods of logic and systematized its problems and details. He assigned to logic its proper place as the first philosophical discipline and the introduction to philosophy. Therefore he is called the First Teacher. ~ Ibn Khaldun

According to Mustafa Elhussein, secretary of a center for Muslim intellectuals known as the Ibn Khaldun Society, "There is a great deal of bitterness that such groups have tarnished the reputation of mainstream Muslims" because "self-appointed leaders . . . spew hatred toward America and the West and yet claim to be the legitimate ~ Craig Unger

Muslims pursued knowledge to the edges of the earth. Al-Biruni, the central Asian polymath, is arguably the world's first anthropologist. The great linguists of Iraq and Persia laid the foundations a thousand years ago for subjects only now coming to the forefront in language studies. Ibn Khaldun, who is considered the first true scientific historian, argued hundreds of years ago that history should be based upon facts and not myths or superstitions. The great psychologists of Islam known as the Sufis wrote treatise after treatise that rival the most advanced texts today on human psychology. The great ethicists and exegetes of Islam's past left tomes that fill countless shelves in the great libraries of the world, and many more of their texts remain in manuscript form.
In the foreword of "Being Muslim. A Practical Guide" by Dr. Asad Tarsin. ~ Hamza Yusuf

As you can taste a pot full of food with a spoon likewise someone's tounge can tell you about his heart. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

We cannot hope to win the ideological battle against Islam without criticism of Islam, it is essential that we continue to criticize Islam. ~ Ibn Warraq

Acquire knowledge, and learn tranquility and dignity. ~ Umar Ibn Al-Khattab

The most helpless person is the one who is helpless in reforming himself. ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

It is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every sign, gazed upon by every eye, worshipped in every object of worship, and pursued in the unseen and the visible. Not a single one of His creatures can fail to find Him in its primordial and original nature.

al-Futûhât al-Makkiyya ~ Ibn Arabi

Associate with people in such a manner that they weep for you when you die and long for you if you are alive ~ Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib

I follow the Way of Love,
and where Love's caravan takes its path,
there is my religion, my faith. ~ Ibn Arabi

Whoever mocks his brother for a sin they repented from will not die till he himself falls into the same sin. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

Know then that the arbitrary appropriation by the government of men's property results in the loss of all incentive to gain, when men realize that what they have accumulated will be taken away firom them. A loss of incentive will lead to a slackening in enterprise, the slackening being proportional to the extent and degree of confiscation. Thus if confiscation is widespread, covering all forms of economic activity, there will be a general slackening, owing to the feeling that no branch offers any longer any hope of gain. If however confiscation be mild, there will be only a relatively slight falling off in economic activity.

Now the state of a society and the prosperity of business depend on the intensity of human efforts and the search for gain; should, therefore, men slacken in their economic activity the markets would slump and the state of society deteriorate. People would forsake that country and migrate elsewhere in search of gain, the result being a general depopulation and the desertion of cities. And this deterioration in society would be followed by a weakening of the State, for the State is as the Form whose condition follows that of its Matter, Society. . .

Oppression ruins society, while the ruin of society leads to the weakening and destruction of the State. ~ Ibn Khaldun

The life of Islamic philosophy did not terminate with Ibn Rushd nearly eight hundred years ago, as thought by Western scholarship for several centuries. Rather, its activities continued strongly during the later centuries, particularly in Persia and other eastern lands of Islam, and it was revived in Egypt during the last century. ~ Seyyed Hossein Nasr

There are two things that if you do them you will attain the good of this world and the hereafter; [They are] that you bear what you dislike if it is beloved to Allah and you leave what you like if it is disliked by Allah. ~ Ibn Hazm

The most enviable person in my estimation is a believer who is light of back (having little property), prays a great deal, makes good his worship of his Lord, Mighty and Magnificent, and makes do with little. The fingers of people do not point at him and he remains patient with this untill he meets Allah, Mighty and Magnificent; then, when death comes to him, his inheritance is paltry and his mourners are few. ~ Ibn Rajab Al Hanbali

The gnosis of God is intermediate between immoderation, which is ascribing human characteristics to God, and negligence, which is denying any attributes to God ... The Truth lies in the balance between the two extremes. ~ Ibn Ata Allah

Fight against your ego with the four swords of training: eat little, sleep little, speak little, and be patient when people harm you ... Then the ego will walk the paths of obedience, like a fleeing horseman in the field of battle. ~ Yahya Ibn Mu'adh Al-Razi

Because of its exceptional capacity for self-criticism, the West took the initiative in abolishing slavery; the calls for abolition did not resonate even in black Africa, where rival African tribes took black prisoners to be sold as slaves in the West. ~ Ibn Warraq

Don't depend too much on anyone ... ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

How many lessons there are and how little they are taken ~ Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Man is wise only while in search of wisdom; when he imagines he has attained it, he is a fool. ~ Solomon Ibn Gabirol

The heart will rest and feel relief if it is settled with Allah. And it will worry and feel anxious if it is settled with the people. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

The more humble, needy, and subdued you are before Allah, the closer you will be to Him. ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

There is no rest for the person who has envy, and there is no love for the person who has bad manners. ~ Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S

Seek (beneficial) knowledge,
because seeking it for the sake of Allaah is a worship.
And knowing it makes you more God-fearing;
and searching for it is jihad,
teaching it to those who do not know is charity,
reviewing and learning it more is like tasbeeh.
Through knowledge Allaah will be known and worshiped. ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

Among the principles of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah lie the attitude of peace and purity of their heart and tongue towards the Sahaba(Companions) of the Prophet (saw). ~ Ibn Taymiyyah

If He opens a door for you, thereby making Himself known, pay no heed if your do not measure up to this. For, in truth, He has not opened if for you but out of a desire to make Himself known to you. Do you not know that He is the one who presented the knowledge of Himself to you, whereas you are the one who presented Him with deeds? What a difference between what He brings to you and what you present to Him! ~ Ibn Ata Allah

Whoever educates himself and improves his own morals & character is superior to the man who tries to teach & train others. ~ Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib

Absorption in worldly affairs breeds darkness in the heart, and absorption in the affairs of the next world enkindles light in the heart ~ Uthman Ibn Affan

When you get ill do not get nervous about it and try as much as possible to be hopeful. ~ Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S

Sitting with the poor and less fortunate people removes the ego and pride from your heart. ~ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

Faith is the cure that heals all troubles. Without faith there is no hope and no love. Faith comes before hope, and before love. (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Zaidi bani Tihama) ~ Paul Torday