“One of the basic Sufi needs is to enable people to see themselves as they really are.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“The selection and following of a spiritual guide is the most important duty of a Sufi.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“The Sufi teacher’s mission is to be in the service of those who can learn.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk. — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“The teacher works in accordance with the prospects of his students and the possibility of maintaining the community of Sufis.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Sufism is therefore not 'Do as I say and not as I do', or even 'Do as I do', but 'Experience and… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Sufism, the "secret tradition," is not available on the basis of assumptions which belong to another world, the world of intellect.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“To be a Sufi is to detach from fixed ideas and from preconceptions; and not to try to avoid what is your… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“The Sufis,' runs the saying, 'understand with their hearts what the most learned scholars cannot understand with their minds” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
The Way of the Sufis cannot be understood by means of the intellect or by ordinary book learning. — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Sufis are not here to satisfy a demand. They exist to share what they have got. These two things are not always… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“A book, for the Sufis, is an instrument as much as it is something to give information…The key is the teacher.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“It is a Sufi contention that truth is not discovered or maintained by the mere repetition of teachings. It can only be… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“It is no accident that Sufis find that they can connect most constructively with people who are well integrated into the world,… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk. As Prince Dara Shikoh says, in a Persian poem:… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“These lecture provide material for the consideration of common factors, in theory and in development, from the viewpoint of the idea of… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Sufism is experiential. Capacities, even those for learning beyond a certain point, are provoked by Sufis, by one's own efforts and what… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
We view Sufism not as an ideology that molds people to the right way of belief or action, but as an art… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Definition of a Sufi To learn, people must give up a great deal, and this includes ritual as something from which they… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
Christian scholars often say that Sufi theories are close to those of Christianity. Many Moslems maintain that they are essentially derived from… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
The main problem is that most commentators are accustomed to thinking of spiritual schools as 'systems', which are more or less alike,… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Sufism," according to the Sufi, "is an adventure in living, necessary adventure.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Abu-Yaqub al-Susi: the Sufi is 'One who does not care when something is taken from him, but who does not cease to… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
The Sufi is One who does not care when something is taken from him, but who does not cease to seek for… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“The Sufis are unanimous that a Guide (Sheikh) is absolutely essential, though never available on demand: 'the Sufis are not merchants'.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Sufis hold that the superior experience and knowledge comes to a man or woman in exact accordance with his worth,capacity,and earning of… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“To be a Sufi is to detach from fixed ideas and from preconceptions; and not to try to avoid what is your lot.” — Idries Shah Copy Share
Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right… — Idries Shah Copy Share
A king who feared wasps once decreed that they were abolished. As it happened, they did him no harm. But he was eventually stung… — Idries Shah Copy Share
“Do not tell your secrets to everyone in this headquarters, Earth. We have surveyed it well. There was nobody to whom to entrust secrets.” — Idries Shah Copy Share
“Sufis are those who have expunged from their minds the human tendencies of envy and enmity.” — Idries Shah Copy Share
The human being, whether he realises it or not, is trusting someone or something every moment of the day. — Idries Shah Copy Share
“You may be able to get the bone down your throat But if it reaches your stomach it will tear your navel. (Gulistan)” — Idries Shah Copy Share
“People are always trying to understand. There is only one way to do that. It is to discover < + i + >why< +… — Idries Shah Copy Share
We view Sufism not as an ideology that molds people to the right way of belief or action, but as an art or science… — Idries Shah Copy Share
