“I will not serve God like a labourer, in expectation of my wages. Rabia” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“When prayer, rituals and ascetic life are just a means of self-indulgence, they are harmful rather than beneficial.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Inner Knowledge -- You want to become wise in one lesson: First become a real human being.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Forms are vehicles and instruments, and vehicles and instruments cannot be called good or bad without context.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Service I will not serve God like a labourer, in expectation of my wages. Rabia el-Adawia.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“One of the great Sufis said: 'A saint is a saint unless he knows that he is one.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
When a belief becomes more than an instrument, you are lost. You remain lost until you learn what 'belief' is really for. — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“The means through which people may perceive Truth have forms; Truth has no form.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“The people of the world have a fixed destiny. But the spiritually developed receive what is “not” in their destiny.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Three Things Three things cannot be retrieved: The arrow once sped from the bow The word spoken in haste The missed opportunity.… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“abandonment of spiritual values which makes us stand aghast.’ The Mir answered: ‘Neither could you provide entertainment for your people, nor could… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“From a personal experience and the examination of literature, I feel that we cannot take for granted that a dialogue, without information… — 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
... when we are talking about 'Christians' and 'Moslems' we must first make sure that we are talking about people who have… — 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
“The important place held by Jesus among the world's six hundred million Moslems... and the agreement of both religions about the necessity… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
Materialism, attachment to things of the world, includes pride. Many religious people suffer from pride: taking pleasure or even delight in being… — 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
“And there are many people, both Moslem and Christian, who have a good grasp of each others0 conceptions of surrender to God… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Servicio No serviré a Dios como un obrero a la espera de mi salario. Rabia el-Adawia.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“They asked Abboud of Omdurman: 'Which is better, to be young or to be old?' He said: 'To be old is to… — 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
“All forms are limited. Some of the limitations are time, place, culture, language.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Day and Night The night is long: do not shorten it by sleep. The day is fair: do not darken it with… — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“The question of divine knowledge is so deep that it is really known only to those who have it.” — 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
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
“Sufis are those who have expunged from their minds the human tendencies of envy and enmity.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
“Yes, the world is an illusion. But Truth is always being shown there.” — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
The human being, whether he realises it or not, is trusting someone or something every moment of the day. — Idries Shah Copy Share Image
