Great Throughts Treasury

"Do not make me more disheartened. You are the chamber of the sun, you are the abode of venus, you are the garden of all hope. Oh, Beloved, let me enter."

"Do you hear what the music is saying? Come and follow me and you will find the way. Your mistakes can also lead you to the truth. When you ask, the answer will be given."

"Do you pay regular visits to yourself? Don't argue or answer rationally. Let us die, and dying, reply."

"Do you know what you are? You are a manuscript of a divine letter. You are a mirror reflecting a noble face. This universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you are already that."

"Don't allow your animal nature to rule your reason."

"Do you think I know what I'm doing? That for one breath or half a breath I belong to myself? As much as a pen knows what it is writing it may be the satisfaction I need depends on my going away. So that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home."

"Don't be fooled by my Beauty... the Light of my face comes from the Candle of my Spirit."

"Don’t wait any longer. Dive in the ocean, Leave and let the sea be you."

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."

"Don't let others lead you. They may be blind or, worse, vultures. Reach for the rope of God. And what is that? Putting aside self-will."

"Don't knock on any random door like a beggar. Reach your long hand out to another door, beyond where you go on the street, the street where everyone says, How are you? and no one says How aren't you?"

"Don't put blankets over the drum! Open completely. Let your spirit ear listen to the green dome's passionate murmur."

"Don't let your throat tighten with fear. Take sips of breath all day and night, before death closes your mouth."

"Don't make the body do what the spirit does best, and don't put a big load on the spirit that the body could easily carry."

"Don't try to steer the boat. Don't open shop for yourself. Listen. Keep silent. You are not God's mouthpiece. Try to be an ear, and if you do speak, ask for explanations."

"Don't turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That is where the light enters you."

"Drum sound rises on the air, its throb, my heart. A voice inside the beat says, I know you're tired, but come. This is the way."

"Each has to enter the nest made by the other imperfect bird."

"Drink from the presence of saints, not from those other jars. I've said before that every craftsman searches for what's not there to practice his craft."

"Each moment from all sides rushes to us the call to love. We are running to contemplate its vast green field. Do you want to come with us?"

"Even when tied in a thousand knots, the string is still but one."

"Every bird will follow its species."

"Every moment a taste of that beauty in our mouths, another stashed in a pocket. Impossible to say what: no cypress so handsome, no sunlight, a lonely hiddenness. Other pleasure gathers a crowd, starts a fight, lots of noise there. But soul beauty stays quiet… his amazing whereabouts unknown inside my heart."

"Every object and being in the universe is a jar overflowing with wisdom and beauty, a drop of the Tigris that cannot be contained by any skin. Every jarful spills and makes the earth more shining, as though covered in satin... Make peace with the universe. Take joy in it. It will turn to gold. Resurrection will be now. Every moment, a new beauty."

"Every part of you has a secret language your hands and your feet and every need brings in what's needed."

"Every object, every being, is a jar full of delight."

"Every story is us."

"Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still."

"Everyone has been made for some particular work and the desire for that work has been put in every heart."

"Every time your spouse or lover says something stupid make your eyes light up as if you just heard something brilliant."

"Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more -- more unseen forms become manifest to him."

"Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself."

"Everyone is so afraid of death, but the real sufis just laugh: nothing tyrannizes their hearts. What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl."

"Faith in the king comes easily in lovely times, but be faithful now and endure, pale lover."

"Everything in the universe is a pitcher brimming with wisdom and beauty."

"Fasting is the first principle of medicine."

"Everything you possess of skill, and wealth and handicraft, wasn't it first merely a thought and a quest?"

"Find the sweetness in your own heart; then you may find the sweetness in every heart."

"Feeling lonely and ignoble indicates that you haven't been patient."

"Finding faults is for those with tired minds."

"For a while we lived with people, but we saw no sign in them of the faithfulness we wanted. It's better to hide completely within as water hides in metal, as fire hides in rock."

"For ages you have come and gone courting this delusion. For ages you have run from the pain and forfeited the ecstasy. So come, return to the root of the root of your own soul. Although you appear in earthly form your essence is pure Consciousness. You are the fearless guardian of Divine Light. So come, return to the root of the root of your own soul. When you lose all sense of self the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish. Lose yourself completely, Return to the root of the root of your own soul. You descended from Adam, by the pure Word of God, but you turned your sight to the empty show of this world. Alas, how can you be satisfied with so little? So come, return to the root of the root of your own soul. Why are you so enchanted by this world when a mine of gold lies within you? Open your eyes and come - Return to the root of the root of your own soul. You were born from the rays of God's Majesty when the stars were in their perfect place. How long will you suffer from the blows of a nonexistent hand? So come, return to the root of the root of your own soul. You are a ruby encased in granite. How long will you deceive us with this outer show? O friend, we can see the truth in your eyes! So come, return to the root of the root of your own soul. After one moment with that glorious Friend you became loving, radiant, and ecstatic. Your eyes were sweet and full of fire. Come, return to the root of the root of your own soul. Shams-e Tabriz, the King of the Tavern has handed you an eternal cup, And God in all His glory is pouring the wine. So come! Drink! Return to the root of the root of your own soul. Soul of all souls, life of all life - you are that. Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving - you are that. The road that leads to the City is endless; Go without head and feet and you'll already be there. What else could you be? You are That."

"Flow down and down in always widening rings of being."

"For sixty years I have been forgetful every minute, but not for a second has this flowing toward me stopped or slowed."

"For me to praise is interrupting praise. Gamble everything for love, if you are a true human being."

"Fortunate is he who does not carry envy as a companion."

"Forget the future. I'd worship someone who could do that."

"For the thirst to possess your love, Is worth my blood a hundred times."

"Free of who I was, free of presence, free of dangerous fear, hope, free of mountainous wanting."

"For without you, I swear, the town has become like a prison to me. Distraction and the mountain."