Idries Shah, The Sufis Quotes

The Way of the Sufis cannot be understood by means of the intellect or by ordinary book learning.

It is the message, not the man, which is important to the Sufis.

The sufis believe that they can experience something more complete.

He who sleeps on the Road will lose either his hat or his head.

If you will not reprove yourself, ’ Saadi says, ‘you will not welcome reproof from another.

Sufism is the essence of all religions.

He who is fortunately enlightened [the Sufi]Knows that sophistry is from the devil and love from Adam.

It is necessary to note, " says Rumi, "that opposite things work together, even though nominally opposed" (Fihi Ma Fihi).

The pathways into Sufic thinking are, it is traditionally said, almost as varied as the number of Sufis in existence.

The totality of life cannot be understood, so runs Sufi teaching, if it is studied only through the methods which we use in everyday living.

Practise your knowledge, for knowledge without practice is a body without life

The secret protects itself. It is found only in the spirit and practice of the Work.

Before garden, vine or grape was in the world, " writes one, "our soul was drunken with immortal wine.

Until you can understand illogicality, and the meaningfulness of it, shun the Sufis except for limited, precise, self-evident services.

The Apparent is the Bridge to the Real

Sufism, in one definition, "is" human life.

Sufism, the "secret tradition, " is not available on the basis of assumptions which belong to another world, the world of intellect.

The function of a nutrient is to become transmuted, not to leave unaltered traces.

Sufism is transmitted by means of the human exemplar, the teacher.

The practice of the Sufis is too sublime to have a formal beginning,

The sight of God in woman is the most perfect of all." Ibn Arabi.

Sufism is known by means of itself.

When you are still fragmentated, lacking certainty — what difference does it make what your decisions are?

Deep in the sea are riches beyond compare. But if you seek safety, it is on the shore.

A Sufi school comes into being in order to flourish and disappear, not to leave traces in mechanical ritual, or anthropologically survivals.

among roses, be a rose, among thorns, be a thorn

The basic urge toward mysticism is never, in the unaltered man, clear enough to be recognized for what it is.

Take the wheat, not the measure in which it is contained

It is axiomatic that the attempt to become a Sufi through a desire for personal power as normally understood will not succeed.

Religion, for instance, cannot be accepted or rejected out of hand, until the student knows exactly what religion means.

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

Fettered feet in the presence of friends is better than living in a garden with strangers.