Quotes from Idries Shah

Principles and inelastic rules are the last bastion of the primitive. Principles are guides which substitute for knowledge; rules are drawn up to guide those who do not know. Primitive man has stayed with us for aeons, sustained by the pessimistic belief that, since knowledge is impossible, substitutes must always be employed instead.

Helping others I order you to assist any oppressed person, whether he is a Moslem or not.

El hombre y la mujer tienen una infinita capacidad para el autodesarrollo. E igualmente, una infinita capacidad para la autodestrucción.

The lightning said to the oak tree: 'Stand aside, or take what is coming to you!

Much travel is needed before the raw man is ripened.

Poor greedy one, wherever he runs He's after food, and death is after him. (Saadi)

The bird which has no knowledge of pure water, has his beak in salt water all year round.

The worst of sages is a visitor of princes; the best of princes is a visitor of sages.

What you have to learn is how to find the unworldly in everything.

The tongue is the best masseur of furrowed brows.

When you feel least interested in following the Way which you have entered, this may be the time when it is most appropriate for you.

The Sufi must be able to alternate his thought between the relative and the Absolute, the approximate and the Real.

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

Whoever has taught me one letter has made me his slave.

You may have forgotten the Way: But those who came before Did not forget you. Saying of Master Bahaudin Naqshband of Bokhara

HE is a Master who may teach without it being totally labelled teaching; HE is a student who can learn without being obsessed by learning.

Do not dwell upon whether you will put yourself into the hands of a teacher. You are always in his hands.

Question 3: Why should a person study Sufism? Answer: Because he was created to study it; it is his next step.

Whatever goes into a salt-mine becomes salt.

Whoever might perfume a scorpion Will not thereby escape its sting. Bahaudin Naqshband

Saying of the Prophet Distribution God it is who gives: I am only a distributor.

Definitions from Mulla Do-Piaza Bribe Substitute for law, which is a substitute for justice.

Saying of the Prophet Monkishness No monkery in Islam.

The fruit of timidity is neither gain nor loss.