Sufism 31 Quotes

If your spirit is not fit to see the Simurgh, neither will your heart be a bright mirror, fit to reflect him. It is true that no eye is able to contemplate and marvel at his beauty, not is it capable of understanding; one cannot feel towards the Simurgh as one feels towards the beauty of this world. But by his abounding grace he has given us a mirror to reflect himself, and this mirror is the heart. Look into your heart and there you will see his image. ~ Attar Of Nishapur

To obey God, is not so much our duty - as our privilege; his commands carry food in the mouth of them. He bids us repent - and why? That our sins may be blotted out. Acts 3:19. He commands us to believe - and why? That we may be saved. Acts 16:31. There is love in every command. It is as if a king should bid one of his subjects dig in a gold mine, and then keep the gold for himself. ~ Thomas Watson

Deteriorated science is a cult, so is imitative or deteriorated Sufism. ~ Idries Shah

As the Eastern saying, by the sage Hilali, has it, 'one person who understands is worth a hundred who merely obey a custom. ~ Idries Shah

Practise your knowledge, for knowledge without practice is a body without life ~ Idries Shah

But the minimum human duty is to serve others: it is no great attainment. ~ Idries Shah

... Faith itself is a substance and an evidence of things that the senses of the body won't declare."
( This Message by preached Brother William Marrion Branham called Believing God was delivered on Sunday, 24th February 1952 at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A.
The sermon, number 52-0224, is 1 hour and 31 minutes. - See Paragraph 56 ). ~ William Marrion Branham

Generosity is also marked by doing what one says one will do. ~ Idries Shah

Definitions from Mulla Do-Piaza
Poverty: The result of marriage. ~ Idries Shah

Inheritance and culture obscure people's higher capacities. ~ Idries Shah

IMPRESSIONS
Time brought a thousand impressions.
Not one of them had I seen in the mirror of the imagination.
(Anwar-i-Suhaili) ~ Idries Shah

The desire to lift, the willingness to help, and the graciousness to give come from a heart filled with love. The poet wrote, 'Love is the most noble attribute of the human soul.' And William Shakespeare cautioned, 'They do not love who do not show their love' (Two Gentlemen of Verona, act 1, sc. 2, line 31). ~ Thomas S. Monson

You must improve yourself on a higher level if you are to be able to help people, and not just weep over them. ~ Idries Shah

Life: sometimes the man on the saddle, sometimes the saddle on the man. ~ Idries Shah

But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). God and His Word, in essence or essential nature, is truth (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalms 5:5; 33:4; 105:5; 119:151, 160; John 1:17; 14:6; 16:13). Many Christians consider all truth as God's truth, yet they will look to other sources beyond the Bible. However, the only reliable source of truth is God's inerrant Word, the Bible (Psalm 18:30; John 8:31-32; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). All other sources are fallible and cannot be used as the measure for truth. ~ Paul Smith

Sufism is experience, and hence not to be defined – imprisoned – in perennial, static categories. ~ Idries Shah

The number 6 was the first perfect number, and the number of creation. The adjective "perfect" was attached that are precisely equal to the sum of all the smaller numbers that divide into them, as 6=1+2+3. The next such number, incidentally, is 28=1+2+4+7+14, followed by 496=1+2+4+8+16+31+62+124+248; by the time we reach the ninth perfect number, it contains thirty-seven digits. Six is also the product of the first female number, 2, and the first masculine number, 3. The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo Judaeus of Alexandria (ca. 20 B.C.-c.a. A.D. 40), whose work brought together Greek philosophy and Hebrew scriptures, suggested that God created the world in six days because six was a perfect number. The same idea was elaborated upon by St. Augustine (354-430) in The City of God: "Six is a number perfect in itself, and not because God created the world in six days; rather the contrary is true: God created the world in six days because this number is perfect, and it would remain perfect, even if the work of the six days did not exist." Some commentators of the Bible regarded 28 also as a basic number of the Supreme Architect, pointing to the 28 days of the lunar cycle. The fascination with perfect numbers penetrated even into Judaism, and their study was advocated in the twelfth century by Rabbi Yosef ben Yehudah Ankin in his book, Healing of the Souls. ~ Mario Livio

Here, then, is a simple rule of thumb for all of us to apply: If the words of Jesus challenge something I believe or challenge the way I live, the problem is not with Jesus. The problem is with me. Charles Spurgeon expressed this in broader, scriptural terms when he said, "If there is any verse that you would like left out of the Bible, that is the verse that ought to stick to you, like a blister, until you really attend to its teaching."31 ~ Michael L. Brown

Definitions from Mulla Do-Piaza
Flattery:
One of the most promising of businesses: always brisk. ~ Idries Shah

What binds Buddhism, Sufism, and Quaker practices together is a belief in our interconnectedness; profound respect for others; being guided by a greater good beyond material possessions, status, and image; valuing silence and stillness of the mind; acceptance of differences; developing inner awareness of one's perceptions and motivation; commitment to service; and seeking guidance from within. ~ Charlotte Kasl

31but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is bthe Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. [30 aOr attesting miracles 31 bI.e. the Messiah] ~ Anonymous

So when a 'heterosexual' man learns to appreciate the noble woman of Proverbs 31, regardless of her looks, he is transcending his sexuality, not EXPRESSING it. Jacob labored fourteen years for Rachel 'beautiful in form and beautiful of face.' But Leah of the 'tender eyes' (Gen. 29:17) proved a much better and nobler wife. Perhaps a 'homosexual' man - a man whose venereal desires are focused more on men than on women - would not have been distracted by Rachel's looks and could have seen Leah's goodness and nobility from the beginning, as Jacob did not (29:30f). Biblically, the dwindling of such desire is not grounds for divorce (Mal. 2:14-16). ~ Jonathan Mills

Sufis aim to refine human consciousness. This is Sufi mysticism: not mystification or magic, but a specific Path. ~ Idries Shah

If you are covetous, you are a prisoner: If you are greedy, you will never be filled. ~ Idries Shah

Making true love is not about feeling the skin,
It's about feeling the soul without touching. ~ Bzam

Recognizing a 'True Master' is possible only when the postulant, man or woman, is what we call 'sincere'. ~ Idries Shah

31 g Heaven and earth will pass away, but h my words will not pass away. ~ Anonymous

Sufism, they say, is that which enables one to understand religion, irrespective of its current outward form. ~ Idries Shah

A short time in the presence of the Friends (the Sufis) is better than a hundred years' sincere, obedient dedication. ~ Idries Shah

Sufism," according to the Sufi, "is an adventure in living, necessary adventure. ~ Idries Shah

Neither imagine that you are false, nor lash yourself, for both may be forms of self-indulgence. ~ Idries Shah

A president and a party that can provide insurance for 31 million more Americans is far preferable to most voters than a party that only says, 'No.' ~ Bernie Sanders

If you want to be a calligrapher, write, and write, and write. ~ Idries Shah

The main problem is that most commentators are accustomed to thinking of spiritual schools as 'systems', which are more or less alike, and which depend upon dogma and ritual: and especially upon repetition and the application of continual and standardised pressures upon their followers.
The Sufi way, except in degenerate forms which are not to be classified as Sufic, is entirely different from this. ~ Idries Shah

One lie will keep out forty truths. ~ Idries Shah

When people believe that the form is more important than the Truth, they will not find truth, but will stay with form. ~ Idries Shah

Saying of the Prophet
Accusations
Anyone reviling a brother for a sin will not himself die before committing it. ~ Idries Shah

the man with one hand turned on an enormous radio and tuned it to a mastermix station where the songs are not sung so much as bleated. Bleated and repeated. ~ David Sedaris