Sufis

"Beats there a heart within that breast of thine, Then compass rev’rently its sacred shrine; For the true spiritual K‘aba is the heart And no proud pile of perishable art, When God ordained the pilgrim rite, that sign Was meant to lead thy heart to things divine, A thousand times he treads that round in vain, Who e’en one human heart would idly pain."

"Our breathings are lifted up in fear of God, Offerings from us to the throne of Eternity, Then come down to us rewards for our praises The double thereof yea mercies from the king of glory, Therefore are we constrained to utter these praises That slaves may attain the height of God’s gifts, And so this rising and descent go on evermore, And cease not for ever and aye."

"Body is not veiled from soul, neither soul from body, Yet no man hath ever seen a soul."

"Till the corn be ground with the mill, how can our table be furnished with bread?"

"The lamp of the heart that is a timid trader Acquires neither loss nor gain by its ventures, Nay it acquires loss, for it is precluded from gain, ’Tis the lamp that takes fire that acquires light."

"I am a painter, a maker of pictures; every moment I shape a beauteous form, And then in thy presence I melt them all away. I call up a hundred phantoms and endue them with a spirit When I behold thy phantom, I cast them in the fire, Art thou the vintner’s cup-bearer or the enemy of him who is sober, Or is it thou who mak’st a ruin of every house I build? In thee the soul is dissolved, with thee it is mingled, So I will cherish the soul, because it has a perfume of thee."

"Form is born of that which is without form, Wherefore to thee every moment comes death and ‘return,’ Mustafa saith ‘The world endureth only a moment,’ So thought is an arrow shot by God into the air, How can it stay in the air? It returns to God."

"The life of this world is a truce between opposites."

"The Sufi is as it were, the ‘son of the season’ But the pure is exalted above season and state, Religious raptures depend on feelings and will But the pure one is regenerated by the breath of Jesus, You are a lover of your own raptures, not of me, You turn to me only in hope of experiencing raptures."

"O base one, behold a hundred thousand souls Dancing towards the deadly sword of his love, Behold water in a pitcher; pour it out; Will that water run away from the stream? When that water joins the water of the stream It is lost therein and becomes itself the stream."

"Nor gold nor silver seek I but above All gifts, the heart, and buy it with my love, Yea! one sad contrite heart which men despise, More than my throne and fixed decree I prize."

"Look to your hearts! I whatever betide, O Moslems, Am so mingled with Him, that no heart is mingled with me, I was born of His love at the first, I gave Him my love at the last, When the fruit springs from the bough, on that bough it hangs."

"Giving thanks for blessing increases blessings But fatalism snatches those blessings from your hands, Your fatalism is to sleep on the road; sleep not Till ye behold the gate of the king’s palace."

"The wine of God’s grace hath no brim, If it appear to have a brim, ’tis the fault of the cup."

"Though the material sun is unique and single, We can conceive similar suns like to it, But the Sun of the soul beyond this firmament, No like thereof is seen in concrete or abstract."

"When the day dawns from heaven, night flees away What then can its darkness know of the nature of light? The gnat scuds away before the blast of the winds, What then knows the gnat of the savour of the winds? When the Eternal appears, the transitory is annulled, What then knows the transitory of the Eternal?"

"The head whose reason has fled is a tail."

"I journeyed years and months for love of that moon, Heedless of the way, absorbed in God, With bare feet I trod upon thorns and flints, Seeing I was bewildered, and beside myself and senseless; What knows the heart of road and stages, What of distant and near, while it is drunk with love."

"The Word is become foul with mingled earth, The water is become muddy; close the mouth of the well, Till God makes it again pure and sweet, Yea, till He purifies what He has made foul; Patience will accomplish thy desire, not haste, Be patient, God knows what is best."

"The million spears of Pharaoh vaunting in his might, By Moses’ wand were broken in the appointed night: And many sons of skill, for healing science famed By Jesu’s curing halt, lame, blind, deaf, mad, were shamed; How many poets, orators, great men of note, By word of the Illiterate One were shown to dote."

"O God there are hundreds of snares and baits And we are even as greedy and foolish birds; Every moment our feet are caught in a fresh snare, Yea, each one of us though he be a falcon or Simurgh, Thou dost release us every moment and straightway We again fly into the snare, O Almighty one."

"Though the mere imitator quotes a hundred proofs, They are all based on opinion, not on conviction, He is only scented with musk, he is not himself musk, He smells of musk but is really naught but dung."

"Day and night you are eagerly asking for news, Whilst every member of your body is telling you news, Since each member of your body issued from Not-being, How much pleasure has it seen and how much pain? For no member grows and flourishes without pleasure, And each member is weakened by every pain."

"On the resurrection day all secrets will be disclosed, Yea, every guilty one will be convicted by himself, Hand and foot will bear testimony openly Before the Almighty concerning their owner’s sins. Hand will say, ‘I stole such and such things,’ Lip will say, ‘I asked for such and such things,’ Foot will say, ‘I went after my own desires,’ Arm will say, ‘I embraced the harlot,’ Eye will say, ‘I looked after forbidden things,’ Ear will say, ‘I listened to evil talk.’ Thus the man will be shown to be a liar from head to foot Since his own members will prove him to be a liar."

"When my bier moveth on the day of death, Think not my heart is in this world, Do not weep for me, and cry, ‘Woe! Woe!’ Thou wilt fall in the devil’s snare; that is woe."

"One day I was filled with longing To behold in human form the splendours of the Friend, To witness the ocean gathered up into a drop, The sun compressed into a single atom."

"With muffled heads you cannot see, You’ve wrapped your cloaks in folds about your heads and eyes, Your sense of sight cannot see what before you lies. The world’s eye man is; all the rest’s mere skin and shell, A real eye’s he who strives his Friend to see right well."

"Spirit is very subtle and love is very jealous, What room for form, if the felt is hundredfold?"

"'Twere better that the spirit which wears not true love as a garment Had not been; its being is but shame."

"When the spirit lovingly embraces Thee, In Thy presence all images become spirit."

"The thread and the needle are related to one another; but a camel is not fitted to pass through the eye of a needle; how should the body of a camel become slender except by abstinence and exertion?"

"Mysteries are not communicable save to those who know, Mystery in the ear of infidels is no mystery."

"If the sleeping spirit knew itself to be asleep, Whatever it might see, it would feel neither joy nor sorrow."

"Night and day comes a winged arrow from the hidden bow, Yield up your sweet life; what can you do? you have no shield."

"God created pain and grief for this purpose, To wit, to manifest happiness by its opposites. Hidden things are manifested by their opposites, But as God has no opposite, He remains hidden, God’s light has no opposite in the range of creation Whereby it may be manifested to view, Perforce ‘Our eyes see Him not, though He sees us,’ Behold this in the case of Moses and Mount Sinai."

"Love carried off as plunder the chattels which we possessed, We are independent of profit and loss and market."

"Pity keep for Jesus, pity not the ass (i.e., the body), Let not fleshly impulse intellect surpass; If an ass could somewhat catch of Jesus’ mind, Ranked among the sages he his place would find, Though because of Jesus you may walk in woe, Still from Him comes healing; never let Him go."

"Ah, how many diverse roads are pointed out And each followed by some sect for dear life, If the right road were easily obtainable Every Jew and Gueber would have hit on it."

"In this prison the food of true faith is scarce, And by the tricks of this dog what there is, is lost, In spite of prayers and fasts and endless pains Our food is altogether devoured by him, Let us seek refuge with Allah from Satan, Alas! we are perishing from his insolence."

"The nearness of the voice proves to such an one That the voice proceeds from a friend who is near, The sweetness of the kinsman’s voice too, O beloved, Proves the veracity of that kinsman, To the wise whose hearts are enlightened The mere sound of that voice proves its truth."

"Place a padlock on your throat and hide the key."

"Argue not from the condition of common men, Stumble not at severity and mercy; For mercy and severity, joy and sorrow are transient And transient things die; God is heir of all."

"The day of judgment is the day of the great review, Whoso is fair and enlightened longs for that review; Whoso like a Hindoo is black with sin, The day of review will sound the knell of his disgrace, If his thorn puts not forth a single rose-bud The spring in disclosing him is his foe."

"The warden of a castle on the marches laid, Far from his sovereign, distant from much-needed aid, Defends his post with valour from beleaguering foe, Disdains to be bought over, scorns the tempter’s foe, His station’s on a frontier, no eye sees him act To duty true, he honestly fulfils his pact. Then in his monarch’s presence honours due he gains, Above the brave men fighting in the royal trains, Man’s faith and piety on earth are prized of God, But after death professed, less value have than clod."

"God drops into the heart a single pearl-drop Which is not bestowed on oceans or skies."

"The moon has revealed her face, and opened her radiant wings, Borrow a soul and eyes from some one, if you have them not."

"The base coin says to me with pride every moment, ‘O pure gold, how am I inferior to you?’ The gold replies, ‘Even so, O comrade; But the touchstone is at hand; be ready to meet it!’"

"Of rhymes do I dream? ’Tis my love orders me Of love still to dream; swain devoted to be, ‘Thyself make thou happy. Rhymes leave now alone The rhyme I seek thou art. I love thee my own. What’s rhyme that thou turnest thy thoughts thitherward, Mere bramble on wall, hedging round our vineyard, I care not for words, for asseverations, My time if I pass in these sweet delusions.’"

"We’ve done with outer warfare, lesser as it is, And as the Prophet, wage the greater warfare, his; We put our trust in God, from Him we ask for aid, With His assistance faith can move a mountain staid."

"Accept His command and you will be able to execute it, Seek union with Him and you will find yourselves united, Exertion is giving thanks for Gad’s blessings, Think ye that your fatalism gives such thanks?"