Topic: Sufi Sayings

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Sufism means that God causes you to die to yourself and give you life in Him. ~ Al Junayd

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GOD raises him who lowers himself.

Quran

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He who does not have a pure intention (niya) will not evolve in the way, even if he spends all of his life in the company of the Prophet.

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 Real knowledge is obtained only with a humble heart. The way to acquire real knowledge is similar to the way in which a person desiring to drink from the water from a stream. He must lower himself and bend down in order to drink.  Water is always to be found in the lowest place. We must become like the water.

 Every stage of the voyage is more beautiful than the previous stage.

 Everyone issues from the same light. There is no distinction.

 We see only exteriors but the inner realities are hidden from our perception. Our bodies live in this world, but our inner beings live in another dimension, another realm. Access to this inner being is the entire function of the way.

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Beware of mere intellectual perception and understanding.  There exists a perception of the senses and a perception derived from luminosity and intuition. Perception of the senses has its limits.  In order to transcend it one must work on oneself and cultivate the company of the people in the way of GOD. Only GOD can transform perception of the senses into a perception derived from luminosity and intuition: This is a perception lit by the light of the heart.

 The world is like an passing shadow. Thus when the sun rises over an object, a shadow appears for a moment then is dissipated. It is the same thing for this world in relation to its reality.

 Those that have knowledge of GOD have no shadow. Truly it is only those who lack perception sees them as having shadows. It is in this way that one can understand the attribute of the Prophet (...) : that he cast no shadow.

 He who can see the unity of GOD sees only that. Such a person perceives that all normal shapes and forms even those of other human beings are only illusions. 

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The Opening (fath) is the sudden opening of Divine Reality and thus the end of illusion.  It is like a snow ball thrown into the ocean, the snowball symbolising the nafs or ego and the ocean being Divine Reality. The snow ball is nothing else than frozen water and when thrown into the ocean it becomes water again, like a small drop in the ocean. The ego has only an transitory existence which is mere illusion if it is taken on its own separated from its origin. In like manner to the snow ball if one is sure of one’s own present state, and one’s consistence of the moment, it appears very different from water as if it were made of a different substance and has a quite different nature, in reality it consists only of a few drops of water similar to all the other drops in the ocean. There is only one water but it exists in different forms and states.

 There is no reality but Divine Reality.' La ilaha IL L'ALLAH ' (There is no Deity except Allah)

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Spiritual need is a living and luminous fire placed by God in the breast of His servants that their "self" (nafts, or ego) may be burned; and when it has been burned this fire becomes the fire of "longing" (shawq) which never dies, neither in this world nor in the next.

~Abu Sa'id Ibn Abi-l-Khayr

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One must have "spiritual need," for there is no shorter way to God for the devotee; if it passes through solid rock, water springs forth. "Spiritual need" is fundamental for the Sufis; it is the bestowal of God's mercy upon them.

~Abu Sa'id Ibn Abi-l-Khayr

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You'll be free from the trap of your being,
when, through spiritual need,
You're trodden underfoot, like a mat
in the mosque and the winehouse.

Sana'i

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Know that you are the veil which conceals yourself from you. Know also that you cannot reach God through yourself, but that you reach Him through Him. The reason is that when God vouchsafes the vision of reaching Him, He calls upon you to seek after Him and you do.

Al-Junayd

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It is he who suffers his absence in me
Who through me cries out to himself.
Love's most strange, most holy mystery-
We are intimate beyond belief.

~Rumi

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When God wishes to befriend one of His servants, He
opens for him the gate of His rememberance. When he experiences the sweetness of rememberance, He opens for him the gate of nearness. Then He raises him into the gatherings of His intimacy. Then He settles him upon the throne of unity. Then He lifts the veil from him and leads him into the abode of unicity and reveals for him the divine splendor and majesty. When his eyes fall upon the divine splendor and majesty, naught of himself remains. Thereupon His servant is entirely extinguished for a time. after this he comes under God's exhalted protection, free from any pretensions of his self.

~Abu Sa'id Al-Kharraz

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You imagined that you would accomplish this task through your own strength, activity, and effort. This is the wont I have established: expend everything you have in Our way. Then Our bounty will come to you. On this endless road, We command you to travel with your own feeble hands and feet. We know that you cannot traverse this way with feet so feeble. Indeed, a hundred thousand years you will not arrive at the first way station. However, when you travel this road until your legs are exhausted and you fall down flat, until you have no more strength to move forward, then God's grace will take you in its arms.

~Rumi

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Whether your lot be glory or disgrace, be pure of both hatred and love of self. Polish your mirror, and perhaps that sublime beauty from the regions of mystery will shine in your breast - just as it did for the prophets. And then, with your heart illuminated by that splendor, the secret of the Beloved will no longer be concealed from you.

~Jami

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Someone who seeks God through logical proof is like someone who looks for the sun with a lamp.  ~Traditional Sufi Saying