1
It is not Sufism if it does not perform its function for you. A cloak is no longer a cloak if it does not keep a man warm.Idries Shah
2
They asked Abboud of Omdurman: 'Which is better, to be young or to be old?' He said: 'To be old is to have less time before you and more mistakes behind. I leave you to decide whether this is better than the reverse.Idries Shah
3
Ali, Son of the Father of the SeekerAli said: 'None may arrive at the Truth until he is able to think that the Path itself may be wrong. This is because those who can only believe that it must be right are not believers, but people who are incapable of thinking otherwise than they already think. Such people are not men at all. Like animals they must follow certain beliefs, and during this time they cannot learn. Because they cannot be called “humanity”, they cannot arrive at the Truth.Idries Shah
4
People change and needs change. So what was Sufism once is Sufism no more.Idries Shah
5
Never follow any impulse to teach, however strong it might be. The command to teach is not felt as an impulsion.Idries Shah
6
You will always have doubts, but only discover them at a useful time for your weakness to point them out.Idries Shah
7
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.Idries Shah
8
If you forsake a path, it is because you were hoping for conviction from it. You seek conviction, not self-knowledge.Idries Shah
9
Do not dwell upon whether you will put yourself into the hands of a teacher. You are always in his hands.Idries Shah
10
Debating whether one trusts or not is a sign that one does not want to trust at all, and therefore is still incapable of it.Idries Shah
11
Sufism is that which succeeds in bringing to man the High Knowledge.Idries Shah
12
What you are pleased to call Sufism is merely the record of past method.Idries Shah
13
Counsels of BahaudinYou want to be filled. But something which is full has first to be emptied. Empty yourself so that you will fill properly, by observing these counsels, which you can do as duties to yourself: First Never follow any impulse to teach, however strong it might be. The command to teach is not felt as an impulsion.Idries Shah
14
WisdomSufian said: 'The wisdom which is invisible but which sustains is a hundred times better than the appearance of wisdom, for that has itself to be sustained.Idries Shah
15
The Book of Wisdom. Simab said: 'I shall sell the Book of Wisdom for a hundred gold pieces, and some people will say that it is cheap.' Yunus Marmar said to him: 'And I shall give away the key to understanding it, and almost none shall take it, even free of charge.Idries Shah