Spiritual/Sufi poetry/quotes

[queen bee]

It’s good to leave each day behind,like flowing water, free of sadness.Yesterday is gone and its tale told.Today new seeds are growing. –Rumi

Your true friend is the one who participates in your efforts and for the sake of your gain, is prepared to suffer losses. –Ali RA

Forgiveness is part of the treasure you need/To craft your falcon wings/And return/To your true realm of/Divine freedom. –Hafiz

“For instance, if a man ceases to take any concern in worldly matters, conceives a distaste for common pleaures, and appears sunk in depression, the doctor will say, “This is a case of melancholy, and requires such and such prescription. The physicist will say, “This is a dryness of the brain caused by hot weather and cannot be relieved till the air becomes moist.” The astrologer will attribute it to some particular conjunction or opposition of plantes. “Thus far their wisdom reaches,” says the Koran. It does not occur to them that what has really happened is this: that the Almighty has a concern for the welfare of that man, and has therefore commanded His servants, the planets or the elements, to produce such a condition in him that he may turn away from the world to his Maker.The knowledge of this fact is a lustrous pearl from the ocean of inspirational knowledge, to which all other forms of knowldge are as islands in the sea.” -The Alchemy of Happiness, Imam Al-Ghazali

Brilliant book the way, amazing read. Defo reccomnd.

Something missing in my heart tonight Has made my eyes so soft. My voice So tender My need of God Absolutely Clear. -Hafiz

Do not sit long with a sad friend. When you go to a garden, do you look at the weeds? Spend more time with the roses and jasmines. -Maulana Jelaluddin Rumi

If anyone asks you how the perfect satisfaction of all our sexual wanting will look, lift your face and say, Like this. When someone mentions the gracefulness of the nightsky, climb up on the roof and dance and say, Like this. If anyone wants to know what "spirit" is, or what "God’s fragrance" means, lean your head toward him or her. Keep your face there close. Like this. When someone quotes the old poetic image about clouds gradually uncovering the moon, slowly loosen knot by knot the strings of your robe. Like this. If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead, don’t try to explain the miracle. Kiss me on the lips. Like this. Like this. When someone asks what it means to "die for love," point here. If someone asks how tall I am, frown and measure with your fingers the space between the creases on your forehead. This tall. The soul sometimes leaves the body, the returns. When someone doesn’t believe that, walk back into my house. Like this. When lovers moan, they’re telling our story. Like this. I am a sky where spirits live. Stare into this deepening blue, while the breeze says a secret. Like this. When someone asks what there is to do, light the candle in his hand. Like this. How did Joseph’s scent come to Jacob? Huuuuu. How did Jacob’s sight return? Huuuu. A little wind cleans the eyes. Like this. When Shams comes back from Tabriz, he’ll put just his head around the edge of the door to surprise us Like this. ''The Essential Rumi'' - Rumi

Again, brilliant book.



....Do share

[Bandar]

ocean of inspirational knowledge

Thats brilliant.

I didn't know you were spiritual Queenie. I just thought u were a dumbo.

Rumi is so refreshing. I have his books somewhere...

U need to read stuff by Kabir...Ah, its so amazing how he talks about being a drop of that divine ocean, how we need to merge back and soul transcending.

U a sufi?

[Zero]

If you like Sufi poetry, you should have a look into some of Sir Muhammad Iqbal's philosophical works.

[queen bee]

Bandar, you shtupid cow Being Typecast And Stereotypes!

Nopes, I don't practice Sufism. I'm a Sunni Muslim, but the spiritual aspect of Sufi teachings are amazing, simply beautiful.

The Idiot Self If you cannot find in a man an appropriate example of dedication, study the lives of the Sufis. Man should also say to himself: 'O my soul! You think yourself clever and are upset at being called idiotic. But what else are you in reality? You make clothes for winter, but no provision for another life. You are like a man in winter who says: " I shall not wear warm clothes, but place trust in God's kindness to protect me form the cold." He does not realize that, in addition to creating cold, God placed before man the means to protect himself from it.'

Zero, thanks ill look him up

[Bandar]

Originally Posted by queen bee Bandar, you shtupid cow Being Typecast And Stereotypes!

Which idiot made that thread?!

Sufi teachings are spot on.

Thing is tho, higher realm teachings are too big for the mind to comprehend. Thats why we always deny the existense of other spritual regions.

[queen bee]

The aim which the Sufis set before them is as follows: To free the soul from the tyrannical yoke of the passions, to deliver it from its wrong inclinations and evil instincts, in order that in the purified heart there should only remain room for God and for the invocation of his holy name.

Isn't that what we (those who believe) all strive for? That life style. The pure practice entwined with theory, the unknown. You can't practice sufism by definition, even if you were to allow your mind to accept those higher realms, you would practice it to its purest through experience. The ecstacy of the experience.

It teaches you to examine your actions, reach for something higher, constant need to be closer to your Lord, as you go higher and higher through these realms the closer you are to your Lord.

I know a lot of people say Sufi's aren't Muslims, but just because they practice SOME THINGS outside the Sunnah and Qur'an doesn't mean they aren't muslim, infact they stem back to Sunni roots and their teachings are grounded in the Shari'ah.
(Kind of off-topic, I apologise.) Lol, I just know someones gonna reply 'Can you give me proof for your statements, sister'. Blah. I don't wait a Sufi-Muslim debate. I'm just saying.

[Bandar]

Yeh spot on.

Apparently our passions control the mind. The mind controls the soul. This should be the other way around where your mind should control your passions enabling your soul to rise above and out of your body.

Even Greek Philosophers like Socrates suggest to 'Know Thyself'. Our real self is the soul. The body is just a cage to hold the soul.

There's so many reference all over the place related to light and sound. A typical one being the light at the end of the tunnel. This apparently is one of the visions you see, or realsm you pass through to get higher

[queen bee]

Yeah.. anything beyond the mind, the nourishment of the soul - 'The opium of the masses'.

If you already have faith, you can't shun 'spirituality' or mysticism. I know some love it, some hate it. Sure, Each to their own. But they go hand in hand.. do they not?

A knowledge through which one knows the states of the human soul, praiseworthy or blameworthy, how to purify it from the blameworthy and ennoble it by acquiring the praiseworthy, and to journey and to proceed to Allah Most High, fleeing onto Him. Its fruits are the heart's development, knowledge of God through direct experience and ecstasy, salvation in the next world, triumph through gaining Allah's pleasure, the attainment of eternal happiness, and illuminating and purifying the heart so that noble matters disclose themselves, extraordinary states are revealed, and one perceives what the insight of others is blind to. (Shaykh Nuh Keller, Reliance of the Traveller 1994, p. 861)

Beautiful.

[Guji-Ji]

Your right. Many Sufi Saints were big religiou scholars. For example Khwaja Moiunddin Chishti whose tomb is in Agra is revered by both Muslims and Hindus and many of the things that happen at his tomb are pure shirk(like bowing down and praying to him). However i was told that he himself was massively knowledged and amazing individual so it isn't Sufiism itself that is shirk but its what some people have done to it.

Love the poetry and quotes btw.

[queen bee]

Yeah, there's that reason why its classed as Shirk and because of the notion of 'Finding God through one's self..', some poems by Rumi are classed as Shirk and plain wrong because some would describe it as 'Eroticism', the passion for The beloved, to the extremes.

Example, one of Rumis poems where he expresses that he is searching, searching for God. And realises that he need not search, since he would be searching for himself.

I supose it is down to the context in which it is taken and how you interpret it, just that the power of God and that divine feeling is within him and close to his heart, perhaps? As opposed to a bold/shirk, 'I Am' meaning.

[Scrooge]

Originally Posted by queen bee Isn't that what we (those who believe) all strive for? That life style. The pure practice entwined with theory, the unknown. You can't practice sufism by definition, even if you were to allow your mind to accept those higher realms, you would practice it to its purest through experience. The ecstacy of the experience. It teaches you to examine your actions, reach for something higher, constant need to be closer to your Lord, as you go higher and higher through these realms the closer you are to your Lord. I know a lot of people say Sufi's aren't Muslims, but just because they practice SOME THINGS outside the Sunnah and Qur'an doesn't mean they aren't muslim, infact they stem back to Sunni roots and their teachings are grounded in the Shari'ah. (Kind of off-topic, I apologise.) Lol, I just know someones gonna reply 'Can you give me proof for your statements, sister'. Blah. I don't wait a Sufi-Muslim debate. I'm just saying.

If they are practicing outside the boundaries of the quran and sunnah, i think that makes them non muslim.

[queen bee]

What about the different sects we currently have that practice out of the Sunnah and Qur'an. So, flogging one's self is okay? Slandering the name and denying the existance of the beloved Prophet Muhammed Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam? Where does that put those Muslims. They may not be CORRECT, thus making them not 'proper' Muslims, but the Fundamentals are there. The basic teachings without the dancing Dervishes and 'state of intoxication'. Is pure, and clean and abides with the teachings of Islam.

“Not everything that goes under the name of Sufism is considered Islamic, just as not everything that goes under the name of Fiqh (jurisprudence) can be considered as authentic or proper Fiqh. '' In order to judge something as Islamic, it must be judged and weighed by the well-established criteria and standards of Shari`ah as enshrined in the Book and the Sunnah. Thus if a certain Sufi practice or custom is opposed to the prescribed criteria of the Shari`ah as enshrined in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, it shall be judged as un-Islamic; if, however, it agrees with these criteria it shall be judged as perfectly Islamic. Outstanding Muslim scholars have divided Sufism into two broad categories in order to determine its compatibility or non-compatibility with the Shari`ah. Firstly, genuine and authentic Sufism, which is undoubtedly in perfect agreement with the Book, the Sunnah, and the practices of Salaf As-Salih (early righteous Muslims). Tasawwuf of Sufi masters such as Junyad Al-Baghdadi, Abu Sulayman Al-Darani, etc. belong to this category of authentic and genuine Tasawwuf. Secondly, pseudo-Sufism which includes those who uphold and advocate cultic practices or customs that are contrary to the Sunnah, as well as those who have mixed Sufism with speculative Mysticism/Neo-Platonism, and thus dabble in metaphysical theories about cosmos, emanations, etc. Both these groups are charlatans and impostors. While the former invent new forms of `Ibadah (acts of worship) that are not sanctioned by the Law-giver, the latter mix philosophy with religion and blur the essential distinction between the Creator and creation, which is the basis of Prophetic religion. There is no doubt that indulgence in such forms of Sufism takes humans away from their true purpose and mission in life which is to do God’s will on earth. These pseudo-Sufis turn the goal of human life into contemplation of mysteries of the universe; it is contrary to the Qur’anic definition of the purpose of human existence. It is because of the real dangers inherent in such aberrations, and deviations that the early Sufi masters tirelessly preached the importance of weighing everything by the firm yardstick of the Shari`ah: Abu Al-Qasim Al-Junayd, one of the genuine masters of authentic Tasawwuf, said, “The essence of Tawhid (monotheism) is to distinguish the eternal from the temporal”; he also said, “Whoever does not retain the Qur’an, nor studies the Hadith cannot be trusted in this matter (Tasawwuf) since our knowledge is bound solely by the teachings of the Book and the Sunnah.” Abu Sulayman Ad-Darani said, “Often one of the insights of the Sufi folk occurs to me and yet I do not accept it until I examine it by the testimony of the two of the most reliable witnesses: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.” According to an eminent scholar, “Authentic Tasawwuf is at once a cognitive and practical discipline of souls, curing of diseases of hearts, implanting of virtues, and purging souls off their vices and carnal desires, and training in patience, contentment and obedience to Allah; it is struggle against the carnal soul, and combating its base inclinations and meticulous scrutiny of actions and non-actions, and guarding souls against the invasions and influx of heedlessness and vain thoughts, and severing off all hindrances and obstacles that hinder and hamper one’s journey to Allah; it is asceticism in everything that distracts a person from celebrating remembrance of Allah and make one’s hearts focused on it. It is knowledge of Allah and conviction in Him, affirming His Oneness and glorifying Him, and turning wholly unto Him, and turning away from everything else; it is to be solely focused entirely on worshipping and obeying Allah, and compliance with His limits, and acting according to His Shari`ah, and exposing oneself to the graces and gifts that Allah vouchsafes to His chosen servants as a sheer sign of His grace and mercy.” Another scholar said, “Tasawwuf is to adorn oneself with every noble traits of character and to shun every base one.” Or, stated differently, “It is to examine one’s states and cling to noble manners.” When defined in this way Tasawwuf is not only an authentic Islamic discipline but the quintessence of Islam as an experiential reality.”

[Zero]

But Islam is supposedly "perfected" with the Quran and Sunnah. Thats all you really need to be classified as a "good muslim". Why go further and say, it abides with Quran + Sunnah, but it maybe on borderline Shirkh & Innovation.

To be honest there is no such thing as "sects" in Islam. There is one Islam and that is just Ahl-E-Sunnah. That is, people who follow the teachings of Quran and Sunnah. Its funny that most of the Ahl-e-Sunnah are sunni's...

[queen bee]

Originally Posted by Zero But Islam is supposedly "perfected" with the Quran and Sunnah. Thats all you really need to be classified as a "good muslim". Why go further and say, it abides with Quran + Sunnah, but it maybe on borderline Shirkh & Innovation. To be honest there is no such thing as "sects" in Islam. There is one Islam and that is just Ahl-E-Sunnah. That is, people who follow the teachings of Quran and Sunnah. Its funny that most of the Ahl-e-Sunnah are sunni's...

There ought to be no such thing as ''sects'' in Islam, but there are.
Sunni, Shia, Wahabi, Sufis, Bahai. Those are sects/divisions if you like.
''73 Divisions in Islam and One True Jama'at''

[queen bee]

By the way, I'm not saying 'Omg. Sufi's are Muslims. Why aren't they classed as Muslim' I was just laying my thoughts down.. they are scattered, since I have no concrete opinion on the subject since I don't know too much about it - Only that I like the poetry! (Not those described as 'Shirk' though)