Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.


-Rumi-

At last you have departed and gone to the Unseen.
What marvelous route did you take
from this world?



- Rumi -

Show me things as they truly are

Let the false appear false

and true as true

O Allah
I seek refuge in Your good pleasure from Your wrath
and in Your protection from Your punishment
I seek refuge with You from You
I cannot praise You enough
and You are as You have praised Yourself


- Dua of the Last Messenger (saw)

Look deeply into nature,

and you will not fail to observe

the signature of the Divine written

all over it

Nothing is more visible than the Real

He is hidden only to the blind

- Misri -

Ostentation

The root source of ostentation (riya) is desire, wanting something from a source other than God. The cure for ostentation is actively and sincerely seeking out purification of the heart by removing four things:
1) love of praise;
2) fear of blame;
3) desire for worldly benefit from people; and
4) fear of harm from people.

This is accomplished by nurturing the certainty (yaqin) that only God can benefit or harm one. This is at the essence of the Islamic creed.

Helen Keller once said that there is no slave in this world that didn't have a king somewhere in his ancestry; and there is no king that didn't have a slave somewhere in his ancestry. This world has peaks and valleys. Nothing in creation is permanent. To spend time and energy seeking permanence in the fleeting things of the world - like praise - and then neglect what lasts forever with our Maker is the summit of human folly.

So recognizing that there is no harm or benefit except with God purifies the heart of vain pursuits and ostentation.



Compiled From:
"Purification of The Heart" - Hamza Yusuf, pp. 57-59

And to Allah is our return

In the world there are invisible ladders,
Leading step by step to the summit of heaven.
There is a different ladder for every group,
A different heaven for every path.
Each one is ignorant of the other's condition in this wide kingdom which
Has no end or beginning.
This one is amazed at that one and wonders why he is happy,
While that one is astonished at this one and asks why he is amazed.
God's earth is spacious: every tree springs up from a certain soil.
The leaves and boughs sing thanks to God:
"What a fine, broad kingdom."
The nightingales hover around the fruiting blossom,calling,
"Give us some of what you drink."
This discourse has no end.


- Rumi

I seek forgiveness from Allah

For the lack of my sincerity when I say

I seek the forgiveness of Allah

- Rabia al-Adawiyyah -

Eyes are at rest, the stars are setting.
Hushed are the stirrings of birds in their nests,
Of monsters in the ocean.

You are the Just who knows no change,
The Balance that can never swerve,
The Eternal which never passes away.

The doors of Kings are bolted now and guarded by soldiers.
Your Door is open to all who call upon You.

My Lord,
Each lover is now alone with his beloved.
And I am alone with You.


-Rabia al-Basri

Never be without rememberance of Him
For His rememberance gives strength and wings
To the bird of the Spirit.


- Jalaluddin Rumi

Allahumma
Salli wa Sallim wa Baarik 'alaa'Ayni'l 'Inaayah
Wa Zayni'l Qiyaamah
Wa Kanzi'l Hidaayah
Wa Tiraazi'l Hullah
Wa 'Arusi'l Mamlakah
Wa Lisaani'l Hujjah
Wa Shafi'il Ummah
Wa Imami'l Hadhrah
Wa Nabiyy i'r Rahmah Sayyidina Muhammadin Kaashifi'l ghummah



O Allah!
Bestow blessings, peace and favours on the spring of grace,
adornment of the Day of Judgement,
source of guidance,
the best type (model) of creation,
a Prince of the Kingdom of heaven,
the tongue that delivers the Divine Argument,
the Intercessor for the believers,
the Leader of those nearest to Allah,
and the Prophet of mercy, Sayyidina Muhammad (SAW), who dispels pain and suffering

Is it any wonder that the spirit doesn't remember its own home, in which it lived and emerged from so long before? This sleep inducing world is wrapped around (the spirit) just as the clouds blot out the stars. (The soul) has travelled through so many cities, and the dust still hasn't been cleared from its senses. Likewise, it hasn't made any serious effort to purify itself and take a good look at the past, so that its heart can cast a glance through the opening of mystery, allowing it to see the beginning and the end with an open eye.


- Jalaluddin Rumi

A thorn in the foot is hard enogh to find, so much harder would it be to find a thorn in the heart? Answer me that! If every unlucky person could find the thorn in his heart, then how could sadness ever prevail over him?

- Jalaluddin Rumi

The happiness of the believer lies in loving Allah,and love for the sake of Allah brings deeper happiness whose taste is known to sincere believers who do not accept any substitute for it.

Even if you were a powerful king who posseed every fortune, remember still that fortune is something else, besides you. One day your wordly fortune will disappear, and you`ll be left with nothing, like a pauper. Let your soul be your fortune, O chosen one. When you are your own fortune, O person of truth, then how can you, who are fortune personified, ever lose yourself ? How can you lose yourself, O person of goodness, when your very essence has become your kingdom and your treasure ?


- Jalaluddin Rumi

Balaghal ula be kamaalihi
Kashafad duja be jamaalihi
Hasanat jami'u khisaalihi
Sallu 'alayhi wa aalihi



He taught people with his best way
He showed his beauty
He was all good
So peace be on him and his family


- Saadi al-Shiraz commenting on the ways of the Blessed Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

I am amazed concerning the Hellfire, how does the one who could flee from it sleep?
And I am amazed concerning the Jannah, how does the one who desires it sleep?
For by Allah, if you neither desire Paradise, nor fear the Hellfire, then you are destroyed and grievous will be your sorrow, interminable your sadness and without limit your tears.
You will be amongst the wretched, the punished ones.
So if you claim that you are amongst those who seek refuge from the Fire and desire Paradise, then strive for that which you seek and do not be misled by your worldly desires.


- A pious slave

(This is beautiful)

Imam Malik said:


Man tasawwafa wa lam yatafaqqa fa qad tazandaqa

wa man tafaqqaha wa lam yatasawwaf fa qad tafassaqa

wa man jama`a bayn al-ithnayn fa qad tahaqqaqa


He who practices Tasawwuf without learning Sacred Law,corrupts his faith. While he who learns Sacred Law, without practicing Tasawwuf, corrupts himself. Only he who combines the two proves true.

Good Manners ... Imam al-Haddad ...

Know disciple, that the beginning of the path is patience, and its end is thankfulness. Its beginning is difficulty, and its end is bliss. Its beginning is toil and weariness, and its end is opening, unveiling and arrival at the ultimate goal which is gnosis of God, arrival to Him, being comforted by Him, and standing in His noble presence with His angels standing before Him. The one who makes gracious patience the foundation of all his affairs turns to every goodness, reaches everything that he hopes for, and wins all that he seeks.

If those who do not possess knowledge avoid the scholarly discussions,disagreement will end.


-Abu Hamid al-Ghazali

Do not allow the fear of people to prevent you from proclaiming the Haqq (the truth of Allah's Deen)

- Muhammad (SAW)

To admonish your brother in private is to advise him and improve him.
But to admonish him publicly is to disgrace and shame him.


-Imam Shafi (ra)

One evening a Cherokee elder told his grandson
about the battle that goes on inside people.

He said,
“My son, the battle is between the two ‘wolves’ that live inside us all.

One is Unhappiness. It is fear, worry, anger, jealousy, sorrow, self-pity, resentment and inferiority.

The other is Happiness. It is joy, love, hope, serenity, kindness, generosity, truth and compassion. ”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
“Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed”.



-Native Indian wisdom tradition

What is done for you ... allow it to be done
What you must do yourself ... make sure you do it


-Khawwas

True speech is the fruit of not speaking.
Too much talking clouds the heart.

If you want to clear the heart,
say this much, the essence of all talking:
Speak truly. God speaks through words truly spoken.

Falsity ends in pain.

Unless you witness all of creation in a single glance,
you're in sin even with all your religion.

The explanation of the Law is this:
The Law is a ship. Truth is her ocean.
No matter how strong the wood,
the sea can smash the ship.

The secret is this:
A 'doctor' of religion may in reality be an unbeliever.

We will master this science and read this book of Love.
God instructs. Love is His school.

Since the glance of the saintly masters fell on poor Yunus
nothing has been a misfortune.



-Yunus Emre (1240 - 1320)

"Only the dead see the end of war"

- Plato -

Life can be found only in the present moment.
The past is gone,
the future is not yet here,
and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment,
we cannot be in touch with life.

Adornments ...

The adornments of the present world are three things:
livelihood
children
and companion

The adornments of the afterworld are three things:
knowledge
keeping away (from unreal worldly distractions)
and charity

The adornments of the body are three things:
little eating
little sleeping
and little talking

The adornments of the heart are three things:
patience
silence
and gratitude



- Wisdom from Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

Saying Allahu Akbar (God is Great), doesn't mean He is greater than something else, because there is nothing else for Him to be greater than.

It means He is too Great to be perceived by the senses and too deep to be understood by the intellect.

Too Great indeed, to be known by anything other than Him.

Only God (fully) knows God.


-Ahmad ibn Ata'illah

A friend of God must display hospitality like the earth

We are raised and cradled in its lap

and yet it is always under our feet

Cowards do not count in battle

they are there

but not in it

The world is held up by Four pillars:

The Wisdom of the Learned

The Justice of the Great

The Prayers of the Righteous

And the Valour of the Brave

(Inscription at the entrance of the University of Granada in Muslim Spain)

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise,

seek what they sought

"There comes a time when silence is betrayal"

- Martin Luther King -

And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth
until the hour of separation.

-Kahlil Gibran

Rulers usually appoint people to watch over their subjects. I appoint you a watcher over me and my behaviour. If you find me at fault in word or action guide me and stop me from doing it.

- Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (Rahimahullah)

"It is better to sit alone than in company with the bad; and it is better still to sit with the good than alone. It is better to speak to a seeker of knowledge than to remain silent; but silence is better than idle words"

- Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

Blessed is he who has but one thing to worry about,
and whose heart is not preoccupied by what his
eyes have seen and his ears have heard.
He who has known God is abstemious
about everything that distracts from Him.

I Carry Your Heart With Me ... E E Cummings ...

I carry your heart with me

(I carry it in my heart)

I am never without it

(anywhere I go you go,my dear;

and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling)

I fear no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet)

I want no world (for beautiful, you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

Ibn Abid-Dunya mentioned that Dawud (as) asked Allah:

'What is the least of your blessings?

Allah revealed to him.
'O Dawud ,take a breath.'

Dawud (as) did so and Allah told him,

'This is the least of My blessings on you'

Wherever I shine the lamplight of Divine breath,
there the difficulties of a whole world are resolved.
The darkness which the earthly sun did not remove,
becomes through My breath a bright morning.


- Jalaluddin Rumi

RUMI ... Mathnawi ( I,836-7 ,852 ) ...

When you feel pain, ask pardon of God;
this pain has its uses.
When He pleases, pain becomes joy;
bondage itself becomes freedom.
When you take a clear look,
you'll see that from God
are both the water of mercy and the fire of anger.

"If Salafi's are calling you a Sufi and Sufi's are calling you a Salafi, then u are in a good place to be "

- Hamza Yusuf

All night, a man called "Allah"
Until his lips were bleeding.
Then the Devil said, "Hey! Mr Gullible!
How come you've been calling all night
And never once heard Allah say, "Here, I am"?
You call out so earnestly and, in reply, what?
I'll tell you what. Nothing!"

The man suddenly felt empty and abandoned.
Depressed, he threw himself on the ground
And fell into a deep sleep.
In a dream, he met Abraham, who asked,
"Why are you regretting praising Allah?"

The man said, " I called and called
But Allah never replied, "Here I am."
Abraham explained, "Allah has said,
"Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality
My attempts to reach you.
Your fear and love are a noose to catch Me.
In the silence surrounding every call of "Allah"
Waits a thousand replies of "Here I am."

"Terrorism is the war of the poor.
And war is the terrorism of the rich."

- Sir Peter Ustinov

O God, we are incapable of praising You;

You are as You have praised Yourself.

All praise belongs to You alone.

" Woe to us! Who has woken us from our sleep. This is just as the Most Merciful has promised, and the messengers have spoken the truth" ( 36:52 ), say the sleepers of this world when they are finally and forcibly removed from the poppy field of pleasure and forgetfulness. The newly awoken come to the realization that they were in fact accountable for every God-given breath, but they have squandered their entire lives foolishly or, worse still, spent them in malevolent deeds.

Breath is a Divine gift, and the tongue is the plane upon which the breezes of the breath blow. To speak , we need a tongue, lips, and breath. To remember God, we need a heart. We have been given all four and reminded by God in every Book of revelation that the reason we are created is to worship Him. In fact, everything in existence is initially created in a state of worship. However, because of their free will, humans can forget the reason for their existence. "And if you forget, remember," says the Qur'an.

- Hamza Yusuf

Shams al Tabriz ...

"I Know the Way You Can Get

I know the way you can get
When you have not had a drink of Love:

Your face hardens,
Your sweet muscles cramp.
Children become concerned
About a strange look that appears in your eyes
Which even begins to worry your own mirror
And nose.

Squirrels and birds sense your sadness
And call an important conference in a tall tree.
They decide which secret code to chant
To help your mind and soul.

Even angels fear that brand of madness
That arrays itself against the world
And throws sharp stones and spears into
The innocent
And into one's self.

O I know the way you can get
If you have not been drinking Love:

You might rip apart
Every sentence your friends and teachers say,
Looking for hidden clauses.

You might weigh every word on a scale
Like a dead fish.

You might pull out a ruler to measure
From every angle in your darkness
The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once
Trusted.

I know the way you can get
If you have not had a drink from Love's
Hands.

That is why all the Great Ones speak of
The vital need
To keep remembering God,
So you will come to know and see Him
As being so Playful
And Wanting,
Just Wanting to help.

That is why Hafiz says:
Bring your cup near me.
For all I care about
Is quenching your thirst for freedom!

All a Sane man can ever care about
Is giving Love!"


- Hafiz

Ibn Ata'llah said:

“People praise you for what they suppose is in you,
but you must blame your soul for what you know is in you.”


- Hikam number 142

Between God and His servant are just two veils;
all other veils become manifest from these two: health and wealth.
He who is healthy says, "Where is God? I don't know and I don't see."
As soon as he begins to suffer, he says, "Oh God! Oh God!", and he begins sharing his secrets with Him and talking to Him. So you see that health was his veil, and God was hidden under his pain. So long as man has riches, he gathers together all the means of achieving his desires.
Night and day he busies himself with them. But as soon as he loses his wealth, his ego weakens and he turns round about God.



- Discourses of Rumi (Fihi ma fihi) 233/240

.•°*”˜˜”*°•.****** رمضان مبارك ******.•°*”˜ ˜”*°•.

"My dear heart never think you are better than others.
Listen to their sorrows with compassion.
If you want peace, do not harbor bad thoughts do not gossip
& do not teach what you do not know."

- Rumi

A sign of compliance with passion (hawa’) is haste in supererogatory good deeds (nawafil) and sluggishness is fulfilling obligations (wajibat).

A sign of the heart’s death is the absence of sadness over acts of obedience that you have neglected and the abandonment of regret over mistakes that you have made.

Among the signs of success at the end is turning to God at the beginning.


- Sidi Ibn Ata’illah (ra)

"The friends of Allah do not die

They move from one place to another"

“The real existence on earth

is of the one who benefits humanity”

Qur'an 13:17

"Nay, but you love instant results"

(Quran 75:20)

"Let them chat and play

until they meet their Day which they are promised."

(Quran 70:42)

To find yourself

Think for yourself

~ Socrates ~

Who taught you to hate yourself?
Who taught you to hate the color of your skin?
Who taught you how to hate the texture of your hair?
Who taught you how to hate the shape of your nose?
Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet?
Who taught you to hate your own kind?
Who taught you to hate the race to which you belong ...?


- Malcom X

"With Him are the keys of the unseen,

the treasures that none knoweth but He"

Qur'an 6:59

Hafiz ...

“One regret dear world,

that I am determined not to have

when I am lying on my deathbed

is that I did not kiss you enough”

"This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. "

-Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 3

Tomorrow's battle is won during today's practice


- Samurai maxim

"The cowards never started.

And the weak died along the way."

A minute, from now,

two days from now,

it will still be now.

The future is still only now.

The least of things with a meaning

is worth more in life

than the greatest of things without it

- Carl Jung -

Qur'an 3:173 ...

" Hasbunallahu wa ni'mal Wakil ''

Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us,

and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us)

And surely what comes after is better for you than that which has gone before.
And soon your Guardian-Lord will give you that so you will be well pleased.
- The Quran 93:4,5


And put your trust in the Ever-living One Who dies not, and celebrate His praise;
and Sufficient is He as the Knower of His servant's shortcomings.
- The Quran 25:58

The breath of dhikr inhales love and exhales kindness
The heartbeat keeps time to the rhythm of intention
Steady the breath with silence and good works
Listen to the heart beat La illa ha ill Allah!
O seeker, the traveller on this path takes no provisions but love ...

- Irving Karchmar

The Tasbih is a metaphor of existence. It is a beautiful tool that reminds our hearts that everything in the creation is created with the Haqq (truth). Each stone, bird, star and sound is a manifestation of the divine attributes, messenging us of His presence, in and with everything. Roll the beads through your fingers and see that all things are touched with His original intention to know, love and worship Him. Let each bead be a witness of what is already in the heart of every human being, the eternal light of the divine.

- Hajj Mustafa

May your heart communion (salaat) be such

that as if you are gazing upon your Lord,

for even if you do not see Him,

(behold well this consciousness that) He sees you.

~ Sacred tradition of Islam ~

"It is better to sit alone than in company with the bad;
and it is better still to sit with the good than alone.
It is better to speak to a seeker of knowledge than to remain silent;
but silence is better than idle words"

- Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)

If your enemy is superior, evade him.
If angry, irritate him.
If equally matched, fight,
and if not split and reevaluate

-Sun Tzu

Forgive him who wrongs you;
join him who cuts you off;
do good to him who does evil to you;
and speak the truth even if it be against yourself.

- Inscribed on the Prophet (SAW) sword

Innumerable changes of moods are yours,
and they are uncontrolled by you.
If you knew their origin,
you would be able to dominate them.
If you cannot localize your own changes,
how can you localize that which formed you?

- Rumi [ Fihi Ma Fihi ]

Wise is he who controls his desires and works towards that which is to occur after death; whilst an ignorant is he who follows that temptation of his desires and (regardless of that) keeps hope in (the mercy of) Allah.

One day the Prophet Abraham invited a person to dinner, but when he learned that he was an infidel he canceled the invitation and turned him out. Immediately the Divine Voice reprimanded him, saying, "You did not feed him food for a day even because he belonged to a different religion, yet for the last seventy years I am feeding him in spite of his heresy. Had you fed him for one night, you would not have become poor on that account."

- al Ghazzali

Iman is not something that I just “perform” in a place of worship.
Iman is life.
Iman is how I interact with Allah during all the breaths that I take.

- Shaykh Habib ‘Ali al Jifri

"He who truly remembers Allah is the one who obeys Him: whoever forgets is disobedient. Obedience is the mark of guidance, disobedience the sign of misguidance. The root of both states lies in remembrance (dhikr) and forgetfulness. Make your heart the focal point of your tongue, which should not move unless the heart indicates, the intellect agrees and your tongue accords with belief.Allah knows what you conceal and what you reveal"

- Imam Ali (ra)

Doubt is a precipice on the way to God. Blessed is he who is freed from its bonds. He who fares without any doubt, adhere to his footprints if you do not know the way. Cleave to the footprints of the deer and advance with care that you may reach the musk-gland. By means of such trekking, even if you walk on fire, you will reach the luminous peak.

- Jalaluddin Rumi