"This is what is signified by the words Anā l-Ḥaqq, "I am God." People imagine that it is a presumptuous claim, whereas it is really a presumptuous claim to say Ana 'l-'abd, "I am the slave of God"; and Anā l-Ḥaqq, "I am God" is an expression of great humility. The man who says Ana 'l-'abd, "I am the servant of God" affirms two existences, his own and God's, but he that says Anā l-Ḥaqq, "I am God" has made himself non-existent and has given himself up and says "I am God", that is, "I am naught, He is all; there is no being but God's." This is the extreme of humility and self-abasement."

"I died as a mineral and became a plant, I died as plant and rose to animal, I died as animal and I was Man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying? Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar With angels blest; but even from angelhood I must pass on: all except God doth perish. When I have sacrificed my angel-soul, I shall become what no mind e'er conceived. Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence Proclaims in organ tones, 'To Him we shall return.'"

"Whatever possessions and objects of its desires the lower self may obtain, it hangs on to them, refusing to let them go out of greed for more, or out of fear of poverty and need."

"The lower self does not want anyone to receive anything from anybody else, and if it is aware of something receiving a special boon, it seeks to destroy it."

"If in thirst you drink water from a cup, you see God in it. Those who are not in love with God will see only their own faces in it."

"Are you fleeing from Love because of a single humiliation? What do you know of Love except the name? Love has a hundred forms of pride and disdain, and is gained by a hundred means of persuasion. Since Love is loyal, it purchases one who is loyal: it has no interest in a disloyal companion. The human being resembles a tree; its root is a covenant with God: that root must be cherished with all one's might."

"How can these works and this earning in the way of righteousness be accomplished without a master, O father? Can you practice the meanest profession in the world without a master's guidance?"

"Reason is like an officer when the King appears; The officer then loses his power and hides himself. Reason is the shadow cast by God; God is the sun."

"Love is the ark appointed for the righteous, Which annuls the danger and provides a way of escape. Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. Cleverness is mere opinion, bewilderment intuition."

"Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more — more unseen forms become manifest to him."

"When you see anyone complaining of such and such a person's ill-nature and bad temper, know that the complainant is bad-tempered, forasmuch as he speaks ill of that bad-tempered person, because he alone is good-tempered who is quietly forbearing towards the bad-tempered and ill-natured."

"The eye of outward sense is as the palm of a hand, The whole of the object is not grasped in the palm. The sea itself is one thing, the foam another; Neglect the foam, and regard the sea with your eyes."

"Some Hindoos were exhibiting an elephant in a dark room, and many people collected to see it. But as the place was too dark to permit them to see the elephant, they all felt it with their hands, to gain an idea of what it was like. One felt its trunk, and declared that the beast resembled a water-pipe; another felt its ear, and said it must be a large fan; another its leg, and thought it must be a pillar; another felt its back, and declared the beast must be like a great throne. According to the part which each felt, he gave a different description of the animal. One, as it were, called it "Dal," and another "Alif.""

"Many have been led astray by the Qur'an: by clinging to that rope many have fallen into the well. There is no fault in the rope, O perverse man, for it was you who had no desire to reach the top."

"That which God said to the rose, and caused it to laugh in full-blown beauty, He said to my heart, and made it a hundred times more beautiful."

"Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune: Every success depends upon focusing the heart."

"If an ant seeks the rank of Solomon, don't smile contemptuously upon its quest. Everything you possess of skill, and wealth and handicraft, wasn't it first merely a thought and a quest?"

"Even though you're not equipped, keep searching: equipment isn't necessary on the way to the Lord."

"Whoever undertakes a profession without a master becomes the laughingstock of city and town."

"Whoever enters the Way without a guide will take a hundred years to travel a two-day journey."

"When the remedy you have offered only increases the disease, then leave him who will not be cured, and tell your story to someone who seeks the truth."

"God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly, not one."

"There is no worse sickness for the soul, O you who are proud, than this pretense of perfection. The heart and eyes must bleed a lot before self-complacency falls away."

"If you wish to shine like day, burn up the night of self-existence. Dissolve in the Being who is everything."

"Anyone in whom the troublemaking self has died, sun and cloud obey. As his heart is afire with knowledge and love, the sun cannot burn him."

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

"If you are wholly perplexed and in straits, have patience, for patience is the key to joy."

"Were there no men of vision, all who are blind would be dead."

"Whoever gives reverence receives reverence."

"The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself."

"Many of the faults you see in others, dear reader, are your own nature reflected in them."

"If you dig a pit for others to fall into, you will fall into it yourself."

"If you wish mercy, show mercy to the weak."

"The idol of your self is the mother of all idols. To regard the self as easy to subdue is a mistake."

"Fortunate is he who does not carry envy as a companion."

"This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross. This testing purifies the gold by boiling the scum away."

"The fault is in the one who blames. Spirit sees nothing to criticize."

"Ibrahim Gamard and Rawan Farhadi, The Quatrains of Rumi (2008)"

"John Baldock, The Essence of Rumi (London: Arcturus, 2005)"

"Andrew Harvey, Teachings of Rumi (Shambhala, 1999)"

"Shahram Shiva, Hush, Don't Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi (Jain Publishing, 1999)"

"Fatemeh Keshavarz, Reading Mystical Lyric: The Case of Jalal al-Din Rumi (1998)"

"James Fadiman and Robert Frager, Essential Sufism (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997)"

"Coleman Barks, The Essential Rumi (HarperCollins, 1995)"

"Camille and Kabir Helminski, Jewels of Remembrance: A Daybook of Spiritual Guidance (1996)"

"Camille and Kabir Helminski, Rumi Daylight: A Daybook of Spiritual Guidance (1990)"

"William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi (1983)"

"Reynold A. Nicholson, Rumi: Poet And Mystic (George Allen and Unwin, 1950)"

"Reynold A. Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam (1914)"

"Edward Henry Whinfield, Masnavi I Ma'navi: The Spiritual Couplets of Maulána Jalálu-'d-Dín Muhammad Rúmí (1898)"