1
When the mind is full of established biases, it will not be able to graft Sufism on top of them.Idries Shah
2
Knowledge is not gained, it is there all the time. It is the "veils" which have to be dissolved in the mind.Idries Shah
3
Sufism is experiential. Capacities, even those for learning beyond a certain point, are provoked by Sufis, by one's own efforts and what results from them, and by an element of what is referred to by Sufis as the Divine.Idries Shah
4
Sufism was formerly a reality without a name: now it is a name without a reality.Idries Shah
5
You may have forgotten the Way: But those who came before Did not forget you. Saying of Master Bahaudin Naqshband of BokharaIdries Shah
6
The donkey which brought you to this door must be dismissed if you want to get through it’.Idries Shah
7
It was being written in the East that 'Sufism was formerly a reality without a name: now it is a name without a reality'.Idries Shah
8
Sufism is experience, and hence not to be defined — imprisoned — in perennial, static categories.Idries Shah
9
Sufism is always systematised only for limited or transitory periods: because Sufism is primarly instrumental, not for enjoyment or display.Idries Shah
10
The would-be students wish to transcend books. But, ask yourselves: if someone says that books do not contain wisdom, and yet he writes books; books do not contain Sufism, and yet he continues to publish books on Sufism, what is really happening? It really is your duty, and not mine, to ask and to find the answer to that question, if you are interested enough.Idries Shah