"DeathIf he is a good man, death will be a release;If he is a bad one, it will release others from him."

"Generosity is also marked by doing what one says one will do."

"The man who knows must discharge a function. The one who does not, cannot arrogate one to himself; he can only try to do so."

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

"To Him who has sense, a sign is enoughFor the heedless, however, a thousand expositions are not enough."

"Sufism, they say, is that which enables one to understand religion, irrespective of its current outward form."

"Whatever goes into a salt-mine becomes salt."

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

"He is the completed Man who, from his completeness, performs, with his Mastership, the work of a slave."

"People carry on whole conversations in proverbs. But they are not LIVING the proverbs."

"Show me a person who really knows what 'good' is, and I will show you that he almost never uses the word."

"When sense has left a head, it should be called a tail."

"What goes into a salt-mine becomes salt."

"The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk."

"The Sufis are unanimous that a Guide (Sheikh) is absolutely essential, though never available on demand: 'the Sufis are not merchants'."

"Have you noticed how many people who walk in the shade curse the Sun?"

"A man must be a Salomon before his magical ring will work."

"Laziness - The laziness of adolescence is a rehearsal for the incapacity of old age."

"When prayer, rituals and ascetic life are just a means of self-indulgence, they are harmful rather than beneficial."

"Yes, the world is an illusion. But Truth is always being shown there."

"I am the Real, for I have not ceased to be real " through the Real."

"There is no one way to teach; no one method is superior to another."

"Our heads are filled with 'knowledge', a knowledge that in some areas pre-empts our seeing anything at all."

"I will not serve God like a labourer, in expectation of my wages."

"Whoever might perfume a scorpionWill not thereby escape its sting."

"Our objective is to achieve, by the understanding of the Origin, the Knowledge which comes through experience."

"One of the basic Sufi needs is to enable people to see themselves as they really are."

"Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information."

"One lie will keep out forty truths."

"Sufism is known by means of itself."

"That which is given free is never knowledge. It may be information....but knowledge does not come in that manner."

"A problem is a problem only when it is taken as a problem."

"The aspirant has to be guided by a mentor. The stage at which this guidance can take effect is seldom, if ever, perceptible to the learner."

"True learning is a journey without end."

"God provides the food, men provide the cooks."

"The Sufi is one who does what others do " when it is necessary. He is also one who does what others cannot do " when it is indicated."

"Everything man needs is in the world."

"Feeling important is a vice, not a virtue, however concealed as participation in something noble."

"The major barrier to understanding is wishful thinking and following that which pleases one."

"The skilled artisan uses the same iron to make a horseshoeAs he does for a polished mirror for the King."

"The object of Sufi preparatory study, however, being to illustrate, expose and out-manoeuvre superficial ambition."

"The existence of relative truth does not prove the non-existence of universal truth."

"When prayer, rituals and ascetic life are just a means of self-indulgence, they are harmful rather than beneficial. This is quite obvious to people nowadays, when it is widely recognised that fixations are not the same as valuable and laudable observances. One should not pray if that prayer is vanity; rituals are wrong when they provide lower satisfactions, like emotional stimulus instead of enlightenment; he or she should not be an ascetic who is only enjoying it."

"A man's capacity is the same as his breadth of vision."

"Any society which enjoins its members to adhere to both of these (politeness and truth) is a fraud."

"Voice in the nightA voice whispered to me last night: 'There is no such thing as a voice whispering in the night!"

"To drown in treacle is just as unpleasant as to drown in mud.People today are in danger of drowning in information; but because they have been taught information is useful, they are more willing to drown than they need be.If they could handle information, they would not have to drown at all.The lightning said to the oak tree: 'Stand aside, or take what is coming to you!"

"Take the straight path, even if it is long: marry no widow, even if she is a houri."

"Greed harms you: generosity helps you. This is why it has been said: 'Greed is the mother of incapacity'."

"If you are 'humble', it may help you in ordinary life. If you are not, you will get nowhere in higher things."