Quotes by Idries Shah

Sufism is, in fact, not a mystical system, not a religion, but a body of knowledge.

Learning without action is like wax without honey.(Anwar-i-Suhaili)

Even if false gold makes a man happy:At the mint it will be identified.

A loan is the scissors of friendship.A mans own tongue may cut his throat.The cage has no value without the bird.

What do I sing, and what does my tambourine sing?

Dye your hair, certainly. But what can you do for your face?

EPITAPH OF JALALUDIN RUMIWhen we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men.

THE HEAVENSTo the mallet of the Highest MindThe heavens are the smallest possible ball.(Akhlaq-i-Mohsini)

THE BIRD AND THE WATERA bird which has not heard of fresh waterDips his beak in salt-water year after year.(Anwar-i-Suhaili)

You may be able to get the bone down your throat But if it reaches your stomach it will tear your navel.(Gulistan)

Knowledge. How curious that a man who closes his hand upon air so often thinks that he has a ruby within his grasp.

When there is a true or useful thing, there is sure to be a counterfeit.

Miracles, to the Sufi, are not evidential, they are instrumental.

Eat what you desire, but dress like other people.

Continuously, in commemoration of the FriendWe drank wine, even before the creation of the vine.

Whoever knows God, does not (any longer) say “God”.

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

Everyone does not know the secrets of TruthThe States of Truth are not evidential.

Sufism is always systematised only for limited or transitory periods: because Sufism is primarly instrumental, not for enjoyment or display.

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