Solitary Contemplation Themes
Solitary Contemplation Themes are chosen from great Sufis' sayings and
writings because they are held by Sufi teachers to contain the materials
writings because they are held by Sufi teachers to contain the materials
which are best suited to individual study. Their secondary use is in
company, after they have been well digested by the student.
company, after they have been well digested by the student.
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Being a Sufi is to put away what is in your head-- imagined truth, pre-
conceptions, conditioning-- and to face what may happen to you.
conceptions, conditioning-- and to face what may happen to you.
Abu Said
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WHAT MUST COME
To those who seek truth in conventionalized religion:
Until college and minaret have crumbled
This holy work of ours will not be done.
Until faith becomes rejection
And rejection becomes belief
There will be no true believer.
This holy work of ours will not be done.
Until faith becomes rejection
And rejection becomes belief
There will be no true believer.
Abu Said
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Lord!
If I worship you from fear of hell, cast me into hell.
If I worship you from desire for paradise, deny me paradise.
If I worship you from fear of hell, cast me into hell.
If I worship you from desire for paradise, deny me paradise.
Rabia
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THE DOOR
Salih of Qazwin taught his disciples:
`Whoever knocks at the door continually, it will be opened to him.'
Rabia, hearing him one day, said:
`How long will you say: "It will be opened"? The door has never
been shut.'
`Whoever knocks at the door continually, it will be opened to him.'
Rabia, hearing him one day, said:
`How long will you say: "It will be opened"? The door has never
been shut.'
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LIKE CALLS TO LIKE
Hasan of Basra went to see Rabia. She was sitting in the midst of a
number of animals.
As soon as Hasan approached, they ran away. .
Hasan said:
`why did they do that?'
Rabia answered:
`You have been eating meat. All I had to eat was dry bread.'
number of animals.
As soon as Hasan approached, they ran away. .
Hasan said:
`why did they do that?'
Rabia answered:
`You have been eating meat. All I had to eat was dry bread.'
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FRUIT AND THISTLES
To an ass, a thistle is a delicious fruit.
The ass eats the thistle. It remains an ass.
The ass eats the thistle. It remains an ass.
Habib el-Ajami
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WHEN AVICENNA MET ABU SAID
When the philosopher and the Sufi met, Avicenna said:
`What I know, he sees:
Abu Said remarked:
`What I see, he knows.'
`What I know, he sees:
Abu Said remarked:
`What I see, he knows.'
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THE SUFI CALL
Answer the Sufi Call, as best you are able, in this world, with a loving
heart and honestly. Then you are truly safe in this world and in all the
other worlds.
Salik Hamzavi
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BREAD
If you are entertaining a dervish, remember that dry bread is enough
for him.
Harith Muhasibi
for him.
Harith Muhasibi
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BENEFIT
Most of humanity do not know what it is in their interests to know.
They dislike what would eventually benefit them.
Al-Nasafi
They dislike what would eventually benefit them.
Al-Nasafi
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POINT OF VIEW
To the sinful and vicious I am evil;
But to the good-beneficent am I.
But to the good-beneficent am I.
Mirza Khan, Ansari
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TEACHERS, TEACHINGS, TAUGHT
Teachers talk about teachings.
Real teachers study their pupils as well.
Most of all, teachers should be studied.
Real teachers study their pupils as well.
Most of all, teachers should be studied.
Musa Kazim
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SERVICE AND MASTERSHIP
He who does not know about service knows even less about Mastership.
Tirmizi
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PERCEPTION AND EXPLANATION
For him who has perception, a mere sign is enough.
For him who does not really heed, a thousand explanations are not
enough.
Haji Bektash
For him who does not really heed, a thousand explanations are not
enough.
Haji Bektash
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TO A WOULD-BE DERVISH
My heart has become confused from the world and what is in it.
Within my heart there is nothing but the Friend.
If perfume from the rose-garden of Unity comes to me
My heart, like a rosebud, will burst its outer skin.
Speak to the recluse in his solitude and say:
Because the very edge of our prayer-niche is as the curve of the
Eyebrow
There is no real difference between the Kaaba and the idol-house
-Wherever you may look, there equally is HE.
The being of a dervish is not in what his beard and head are like:
The Path of the dervish is in qualitative exactitude.
A dervish may easily shave his head without regrets
But he is a dervish who, like Hafiz, gives up his head.
Within my heart there is nothing but the Friend.
If perfume from the rose-garden of Unity comes to me
My heart, like a rosebud, will burst its outer skin.
Speak to the recluse in his solitude and say:
Because the very edge of our prayer-niche is as the curve of the
Eyebrow
There is no real difference between the Kaaba and the idol-house
-Wherever you may look, there equally is HE.
The being of a dervish is not in what his beard and head are like:
The Path of the dervish is in qualitative exactitude.
A dervish may easily shave his head without regrets
But he is a dervish who, like Hafiz, gives up his head.
Khwaja Hafiz of Shiraz
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SUFISM
Sufism is truth without form.
Ibn el-Jalali
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BECOMING WHAT ONE CAN BECOME
To be a Sufi is to become what you can become, and not to try to
pursue what is, at the wrong stage, illusion.
pursue what is, at the wrong stage, illusion.
It is to become aware of what is possible to you, and not to think that
you are aware of that of which you are heedless.
you are aware of that of which you are heedless.
Sufism is the science of stilling what has to be stilled, and alerting
what can be alerted; not thinking that you can still or alert where you
cannot, or that you need to do so when you do not need it.
what can be alerted; not thinking that you can still or alert where you
cannot, or that you need to do so when you do not need it.
The following of the Dervish Path is pursuing a concealed Unity in
spite of, and not by means of, the claims of diversity.
spite of, and not by means of, the claims of diversity.
It is taking into account the means which are presented in diversity,
without thinking that the externals of diversity are important in
themselves.
without thinking that the externals of diversity are important in
themselves.
It is approached by studying the factors of learning how to learn; not
by trying to gain knowledge without correct practice in approaching it.
by trying to gain knowledge without correct practice in approaching it.
You come closer to being a Sufi through realizing that habit and
preconception are essentials only in some studies; not by forming habits
and judging by means of unsuitable preconceptions.
preconception are essentials only in some studies; not by forming habits
and judging by means of unsuitable preconceptions.
You must become as aware of insignificance as you think you are of
significance; not seek feelings of significance alone.
significance; not seek feelings of significance alone.
The humble are so because they must be so; and worst of all men or
women are those who practise humility for the purpose of pride, not
as a means of travel.
women are those who practise humility for the purpose of pride, not
as a means of travel.
The method of Sufism is as it always has been, to adopt that which is
of value, when and where it is of value, and with whom it is of value;
not to imitate because of awe, or to copy because of imitativeness.
of value, when and where it is of value, and with whom it is of value;
not to imitate because of awe, or to copy because of imitativeness.
The success of man in raising himself higher comes through the right
effort and the right method, not merely by concentrating upon the
right aspiration or upon the words of others directed to yet others.
effort and the right method, not merely by concentrating upon the
right aspiration or upon the words of others directed to yet others.
It is as it were a trap laid for the ignoble element in you when a man,
a book, a ceremonial, an organization, a method, appears, directly or by
recommendation, to have something which is applicable to all, or
attracts you strongly though incorrectly.
a book, a ceremonial, an organization, a method, appears, directly or by
recommendation, to have something which is applicable to all, or
attracts you strongly though incorrectly.
Sayed Imam Ali Shah
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GOOD AND EVIL
`Being' is absolutely good.
If it contains any evil, it is not Being.
If it contains any evil, it is not Being.
Shabistari
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REMEDY
Your medicine is in you, and you do not observe it.
Your ailment is from yourself, and you do not register it.
Your ailment is from yourself, and you do not register it.
Hazrat Ali
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THE WORLD
The world has no being except as an appearance;
From end to end its state is a sport and a play.
From end to end its state is a sport and a play.
Shabistari, Gulshan-i-Raz
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DIRECTION
If your teacher so directs, dye your prayer-carpet with wine.
The Seeker should not be ignorant of the techniques of the Stages.
The Seeker should not be ignorant of the techniques of the Stages.
Hafiz
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SUFI LITERATURE
There are three ways of presenting anything.
The first is to present everything.
The second is to present what people want.
The third is to present what will serve them best.
If you present everything, the result may be surfeit.
If you present what people want, it may choke them.
If you present what will serve them best, the worst is that, misunder-
standing, they may oppose you. But if you have served them thus,
whatever the appearances, you have served them, and you, too, must
benefit, whatever the appearances.
The first is to present everything.
The second is to present what people want.
The third is to present what will serve them best.
If you present everything, the result may be surfeit.
If you present what people want, it may choke them.
If you present what will serve them best, the worst is that, misunder-
standing, they may oppose you. But if you have served them thus,
whatever the appearances, you have served them, and you, too, must
benefit, whatever the appearances.
Ajmal of Badakhshan
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RESEARCH
Only the bird understands the textbook of the rose:
For not every reader knows the inner meaning of the page.
O you who would learn the section on love from the book of
knowledge -
I fear that you do not know how to fathom it by research.
Hafiz
For not every reader knows the inner meaning of the page.
O you who would learn the section on love from the book of
knowledge -
I fear that you do not know how to fathom it by research.
Hafiz
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DUMBNESS
He takes the tongue from those who share the secret:
So that they may not again speak the king's secret.
So that they may not again speak the king's secret.
Nizami
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THE PEARL
What do ordinary people know of the value of the precious pearl?
Hafiz (protector), give the unique essence only to the elect.
Hafiz (protector), give the unique essence only to the elect.
Hafiz
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HAPPINESS AND SADNESS
Whoever gets some knowledge, however little, is happy. Whoever has
it taken from him is sad.
it taken from him is sad.
Ibn-Idris El-Shafai
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REAL GOODNESS
Better than being what you imagine to be good is to be with those who
really are good.
Worse than doing something evil is to be with those who are evil.
really are good.
Worse than doing something evil is to be with those who are evil.
Bayazid
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DEATH
Sleep with the remembrance of death, and rise with the thought that
you will not live long.
you will not live long.
Uwais el-Qarni
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COMMENTING ON A RECLUSE
He has established himself upon a mountain
So he has no Work to do.
A man should be in the market-place
While still working with true Reality.
So he has no Work to do.
A man should be in the market-place
While still working with true Reality.
Sahl
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EIGHT QUALITIES OF THE SUFI
In Sufism, eight qualities must be exercised. The Sufi has:
Liberality such as that of Abraham;
Acceptance of his lot, as Ishmael accepted;
Patience, as possessed by Job;
Capacity to communicate by symbolism, as in the case of Zacharias;
Estrangement from his own people, which was the case with John;
Woollen garb like the shepherd's mantle of Moses;
Journeying, like the travelling of Jesus;
Humility, as Mohammed had humility of spirit.
Liberality such as that of Abraham;
Acceptance of his lot, as Ishmael accepted;
Patience, as possessed by Job;
Capacity to communicate by symbolism, as in the case of Zacharias;
Estrangement from his own people, which was the case with John;
Woollen garb like the shepherd's mantle of Moses;
Journeying, like the travelling of Jesus;
Humility, as Mohammed had humility of spirit.
Junaid of Baghdad
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WHERE IT WENT
I saw a child carrying a light.
I asked him where he had brought it from.
He put it out, and said:
`Now you tell me where it is gone.'
I asked him where he had brought it from.
He put it out, and said:
`Now you tell me where it is gone.'
Hasan of Basra
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AFFINITIES
People who are alike feel an affinity. The attraction of opposites is a
different case. But people who are alike are often mistaken by super-
ficialists for people who are unalike. As an example, one is greedy for
love, another is greedy to love. The uninformed or outward thinker
will immediately imagine and proclaim that these are opposites. The
converse, of course, is the truth. The common factor is greed. They are
both greedy people.
different case. But people who are alike are often mistaken by super-
ficialists for people who are unalike. As an example, one is greedy for
love, another is greedy to love. The uninformed or outward thinker
will immediately imagine and proclaim that these are opposites. The
converse, of course, is the truth. The common factor is greed. They are
both greedy people.
The famous man and his follower are sometimes the same. One wants
to give his attention, the other to attract attention. Both being chained
by an obsession with attention, they fly together, `pigeon with pigeon,
hawk with hawk'.
Simabi
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RICHES
Aim for knowledge. If you become poor it will be wealth for you: if
you become rich it will adorn you.
you become rich it will adorn you.
El-Zubeir son of Abu-Bakr
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DISCIPLESHIP
With a Guide you may become truly Human.
Without a Guide you will remain mainly Animal
If you can still say: `I could not submit to any man'
-You are still worthless for the road.
But if you say: `I wish to submit', in the wrong way
-The road will never find you, and you are lost.
Without a Guide you will remain mainly Animal
If you can still say: `I could not submit to any man'
-You are still worthless for the road.
But if you say: `I wish to submit', in the wrong way
-The road will never find you, and you are lost.
Zulfikar son of Jangi
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Knowledge proceeds from:
`What am I?
To: `I do not know what I am.'
To between `Perhaps I am not' and `I will find myself'; to between
`I will find myself' and `I am', to `I am what I know myself to be', to
`I am'.
Abu-Hasan el-Shadhili
`What am I?
To: `I do not know what I am.'
To between `Perhaps I am not' and `I will find myself'; to between
`I will find myself' and `I am', to `I am what I know myself to be', to
`I am'.
Abu-Hasan el-Shadhili
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SMALL CHANGE
When a man is a beggar, he thinks that small change is a fortune. It is
not. In order to rise above beggarhood, he must rise above small
change, even though he uses it as a means. Used as an end, it will
become an end.
Ibn Ikbal
not. In order to rise above beggarhood, he must rise above small
change, even though he uses it as a means. Used as an end, it will
become an end.
Ibn Ikbal
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WHAT LOOKS AFTER YOU
Knowledge is better than wealth. You have to look after wealth;
knowledge looks after you.
Ali
knowledge looks after you.
Ali
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DESTRUCTIVE
Three things in this life are destructive:
Anger, Greed, Self-esteem.
Anger, Greed, Self-esteem.
The Prophet Muhammad
from The Way of the Sufi, by Idries Shah
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