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Tasawuf Quotes

Browse 17 quotes about Tasawuf.

Tasawuf Quotes

“Sûfîsm cherishes the esoteric secret of woman, even though Sûfîsm is the esoteric aspect of a seemingly patriarchal religion. Muslims pray five times a day facing the city of Makkah. Inside every Mosque is a niche, or recess, called the Mihrab - a vertical rectangle curved at the top that points toward the direction of Makkah. The Sûfîs know the Mihrab to be a visual symbol of an abstract concept: the transcendent vagina of the female aspect of divinity. In Sûfîsm, woman is the ultimate secret, for woman is the soul.”

“In Arabic to say, for example, "Wisdom is precious," you could repeat the feminine pronoun: al-hikmah hiya thamînah, literally "Wisdom, she is precious." It is stated by some Sûfî Sheikhs (Masters) that Sûfîsm originally was named Sophia, which connects Sûfîsm with the Christian Gnostic tradition, in which Wisdom is personified as a woman, the divine Sophia. The physical mother of Jesus was an external image of manifestation of the Virgin Sophia, the word 'Sophia' stemming from Sophos (wisdom). The Gnostics, whose language was Greek, identified the Holy Spirit with Sophia, Wisdom; and Wisdom was considered female.”

“The crescent moon goddess (and virgin warrior Goddess of the morning star), Al-Uzza, was known to the pre-Islamic Arabs as "The Mighty". Some scholars believe that in very ancient times, it was she who was considered enshrined in the black stone of Makkah, where she was served by priestesses. Her sacred grove of acacia trees once stood just south of Makkah, at Nakla. The Acacia tree was sacred to the Arabs who made the idol of Al-Uzza from its wood.”

“Humanity has the power of imagination, the quwwat al-khal, as does the Omniconscious Unicity. When the Omniconscious Unicity uses this power, worlds are created. When humanity uses this power, the Omniconscious Unicity is created. In our eye, the Omniconscious Unicity sees Its eye.”

“Now the author will consider the third name, and perhaps the most outstanding of all: al-Dhât. This word, in Arabic, is also feminine. Allâh is Beyond the Beyond, higher than any action, manner or condition, and any thought that any being may have. This transcendence of all qualities denotes the Divine Feminine. The renowned Sûfî master Najm al-Din Kubra wrote of the Dhât as the "Mother of the divine attributes." On this makam or "level of existence", femininity corresponds to interiority and masculinity to manifestation. The ancient Celtic Druids would perform a strange rite after two people married. The Druid would go into the house in which the marriage was consummated and reappear dressed in the bride's gown. He would do this to demonstrate the balance between the masculine and feminine aspects within himself. The Druids were ancient Celtic priests, shamans and philosophers.”

“Humanity's form is drawn from twenty-eight letters comprise the Arabic alphabet. Each section of the human form is represented by one of these letters. When the Murid becomes the Complete Human Being, he or she becomes the eternal mother source of the Qur'an revealed to Muhammad (Peace be upon him). The inner pilgrimage to Macca (al-Mukarramah) is accomplished when the Murid becomes the Complete Human Being.”

“The first ayât (verse) of Al-Fatiha (the most important chapter in the Qur'a-n) firmly establishes that the two names Al-Rahmân and Al-Rahîm refer to Allâh, the Supreme Power, and to Allâh exclusively. The two names' etymology stems from the same root: RAHM, which can mean "womb" or "place of origin". There is a hadîth qudsî that specifically addresses that: Allâh says, "I am al-Rahmân. I created the womb and I derived its name from My name. I will be connected to whoever stays connected to it, and I will be cut off from whoever stays cut off from it.”

“The true Sufi cannot utter any prayer beginning with the word 'I,' for example: 'I want to know Thee better.' For to do this presupposes that there are two beings: the Sufi and Allah. This is the greatest sin. Iblis cried, 'Ana khayrun minhu! (I am better than he is!') The personal pronoun 'I' is the classic Sufi symbol for pride in its extreme form.”

“When you make Zikr and contemplate on a Name of the One Living Reality, focus on your heart. Become aware that this One Living Reality exists within your heart. However, before you begin, pray to this One Living Reality beseeching forgiveness for your actions and thoughts of duality (what the traditional teachings call 'sin'). As you contemplate on the Name, allow your heart to fill with this Attribute of the One Living Reality. That is all. Do not walk around thinking 'God is inside me,' for that is pride and dualistic behavior. You are privileged even to say the Name. Do not think you are special, for believing in a 'you' is to set up partners with the One Living Reality.”

“There are many probability axes in Allah's creation. Space, time and probability all have an axis on which it is possible to move. This is why they often refer to the greatest Sufi saints and Sheikhs as Qutubs, Poles, or Axial Centralities of the Universe.”

“Therefore, in this seemingly patriarchal mystery tradition (Sûfîsm), we see that woman is the Hidden Initiatrix, the Shadow Guide, the Blackness that births the Light. 'Da tariki, tariqat' - "In the darkness, the Path," is a Sufic maxim. The void has been described as a dark cave, a shadowy mihrab, the Concealed or Secret Radiance, the Black Stone of the Ka'ba, Ghayb ul-Ghaib ( Mystery of Mysteries ), Amma (Darkness), and returning to the Womb of Fatima ('Alaiha Assalam) the Mother.”

“It is a great mistake to say that the thorn does not have anything to do with the rose, or that the thorn is the absence of the rose. The thorn is as much rose bush as the rose is. The thorn has as much validity as the rose. Let this Rose Bush be the symbol of the Heart of Real Spirituality. We are not asking you to like the thorn, but we are asking you to see it as an expression of Allah.”