340 quotes
Exert thyself, O man; put shoulder to the wheel
The prophets and the saints to imitate in zeal.
Exertion’s not a struggle against Providence,
’Twas Providence enjoined it; made it our defence
Blasphemer may I be, if ever single man
Bestowed in vain one effort to fulfil God’s plan.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
As we are all members of Adam
We have heard these melodies in Paradise;
Though earth and water have cast their veil upon us
We retain faint reminiscences of those earthly songs;
But while we are thus shrouded by gross earthly veils
How can the tones of the dancing spheres reach us?
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
Defects are the mirrors of the attributes of beauty
The base is the mirror of the High and Glorious One,
Because one contrary shows forth its contrary
As honey’s sweetness is shown by vinegar’s sourness,
Who recognises and confesses his own defects
Is hastening in the way that leads to perfection.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
In this prison the food of true faith is scarce,
And by the tricks of this dog what there is, is lost,
In spite of prayers and fasts and endless pains
Our food is altogether devoured by him,
Let us seek refuge with Allah from Satan,
Alas! we are perishing from his insolence.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
God created pain and grief for this purpose,
To wit, to manifest happiness by its opposites.
Hidden things are manifested by their opposites,
But as God has no opposite, He remains hidden,
God’s light has no opposite in the range of creation
Whereby it may be manifested to view,
Perforce ‘Our eyes see Him not, though He sees us,’
Behold this in the case of Moses and Mount Sinai.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
O God there are hundreds of snares and baits
And we are even as greedy and foolish birds;
Every moment our feet are caught in a fresh snare,
Yea, each one of us though he be a falcon or Simurgh,
Thou dost release us every moment and straightway
We again fly into the snare, O Almighty one.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
First he appeared in the class of inorganic things,
Next he passed therefrom into that of plants,
For years he lived as one of the plants,
Remembering naught of his inorganic state so different,
And when he passed from the vegetive to the animal state
He had no remembrance of his state as a plant.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
How many letters thou writest with Thy Almighty pen
Through marvelling thereat stones become as wax;
These letters exercise and perplex reason,
Write on, O skilful Fair-writer,
Imprinting every moment on Not-being the fair forms
Of the world of ideals to confound all thought.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
Since the latter of your states were better than the former,
Seek annihilation and adore change of state;
You have already seen hundreds of resurrections
Occur every moment from your origin till now;
One from the inorganic state to the vegetive state,
From the vegetive state to the animal state of trial;
Thence again to rationality and good discernment,
Again you will rise from this world of sense and form.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
Thou who dost blame injustice in mankind
'Tis but the image of thine own dark mind;
In them reflected all thy nature is
With all its angles and obliquities;
Around thyself thyself the noose hast thrown
And dost a self-inflicted wound bemoan;
‘Back to each other we reflections throw’
So spoke the holy Prophet long ago:
And he who gazes through a glass that’s dim
What wonder if the world look dark to him?
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
Know you a name without a thing answering to it?
Have you ever plucked a rose (Gul) from Gaf and Lam?
You name His name; go seek the reality named by it.
Look for the moon in heaven, not in the water.
If you desire to rise above mere names and letters
Make yourself free from self at one stroke.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
Every night spirits are released from this cage (the body)
And set free, neither lording it nor lorded over,
At night prisoners are unaware of their prison,
At night kings are unaware of their majesty,
Then there is no thought or care for loss or gain,
No regard to such an one or such an one,
The state of the ‘knower’ is such as this even when awake
God says ‘Thou would’st deem him awake though asleep,’
Sleeping to the affairs of the world day and night
Like a pen in the directing hand of the writer.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
A bird flies with its wings towards its nest,
The wings of a man are his aspiration and aim.
If a lover be befouled with good and evil
Yet regard not these; regard rather his aspiration,
Though a falcon be all white and unmatched in form,
If he hunts mice, he is contemptible and worthless,
And if an owl fixes his affection on the king,
He is a falcon in reality; regard not his outward form.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
The mind’s ear becomes the sensorium of inspiration,
For what is this Divine voice but the inward voice?
The spirit’s eye and ear possess this sense,
The eye and ear of reason and sense lack it.
The word ‘compulsion’ makes me impatient for love’s sake,
’Tis he who loves not, who is fettered by compulsion,
This is close communion with God, not compulsion,
The shining of the sun, and not a dark cloud.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
All elephants, wolves and lions of the forest,
All dragons and snakes and even little ants,
Yea, even air, water, earth and fire,
Draw their sustenance from Him both winter and summer,
Every moment the Heaven cries to Him, saying
‘O Lord, guilt not Thy hold of me for a moment!
The pillar of my being is Thy aid and protection.’
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
Love is a perfect muzzle of evil suggestions;
Without love who ever succeeded in stopping them?
Be a lover and seek that fair beauty,
Haunt for that waterfowl in every Stream!
How can you get water from that which cuts it off,
How gain understanding from what destroys understanding,
Apart from principles of reason are other principles
Of light and great price to be gained by love of God,
Besides this reason of yours God has other reasons
Which will procure for you heavenly nourishment.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
Of rhymes do I dream? ’Tis my love orders me
Of love still to dream; swain devoted to be,
‘Thyself make thou happy. Rhymes leave now alone
The rhyme I seek thou art. I love thee my own.
What’s rhyme that thou turnest thy thoughts thitherward,
Mere bramble on wall, hedging round our vineyard,
I care not for words, for asseverations,
My time if I pass in these sweet delusions.’
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
The warden of a castle on the marches laid,
Far from his sovereign, distant from much-needed aid,
Defends his post with valour from beleaguering foe,
Disdains to be bought over, scorns the tempter’s foe,
His station’s on a frontier, no eye sees him act
To duty true, he honestly fulfils his pact.
Then in his monarch’s presence honours due he gains,
Above the brave men fighting in the royal trains,
Man’s faith and piety on earth are prized of God,
But after death professed, less value have than clod.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
O honoured guest in love’s high feast, O bird of the angel sphere,
’Tis cause to weep if thou wilt keep thy habitation here.
A voice at morn to thee is borne—God whispers to the soul,
‘If on the way the dust thou’llt lay, thou soon wilt gain the goal,
That road be thine toward the shrine; and lo! in bush and briar
The many slain by love and pain in flower of young desire,
Who on the track fell wounded back and saw not ere the end
A ray of bliss, a touch, a kiss, a token of the Friend.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
From the moment you came into the world of being
A ladder was placed before you that you might escape,
First you were mineral, later you turned to plant,
Then you became animal: how should this be a secret to you?
Afterwards you were made man, with knowledge, reason, faith,
Behold the body which is a portion of the dust-pit, how perfect it has grown!
When you have travelled on from man, you will doubtless become an angel,
After that you are done with this earth; your station is in heaven.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)