The Forty Rules of Love

by Elif Shafak

They say there is a thin line between losing yourself in God and losing your mind.

Cities are erected on spiritual columns. Like giant mirrors, they reflect the hearts of their residents. If those hearts darken and lose faith, cities will lose

their glamour. It happens, and it happens all the time.”

“The sharia is like a candle,”

“It provides us with much valuable light. But let us not forget that a candle helps us to go from one place to another in the dark.

If we forget where we are headed...

concentrate on the candle, what ...

“So you see, don’t judge the way other people connect to God,” concluded Shams. “To each his own way and his own prayer. God does not take us at our word. He looks deep into our hearts. It is not the ceremonies or rituals that make a difference, but whether our hearts are sufficiently pure or not.”

Submission is a form of peaceful acceptance of the terms of the universe, including the things we are currently unable to change or comprehend.

Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?

joy and sorrow as dependent on each other as a bird’s wings.

one can only know what one is capable of loving. There is no wisdom without love. Unless we learn to love God’s creation, we can neither truly love nor truly know God.

A wandering dervish arrived in a town where the natives didn’t trust strangers. “Go away!” they shouted at him. “No one knows you here!” The dervish calmly responded, “Yes, but I know myself, and believe me, it would have been much worse if it were the other way round.”

Hell is in the here and now. So is heaven. Quit worrying about hell or dreaming about heaven, as they are both present inside this very moment. Every time we fall in love, we ascend to heaven. Every time we hate, envy, or fight someone, we tumble straight into the fires of

hell.

If the whole world were swallowed by the sea, what would it matter to a duck?

For your faith to be rock solid, your heart needs to be as soft as a feather.

The only way to get closer to Truth is to expand your heart so that it will encompass all humanity and still have room for more Love.”

Nothing should stand between yourself and God. Not imams, priests, rabbis, or any other custodians of moral or religious leadership. Not spiritual masters, not even your faith. Believe in your values and your rules, but never lord them over others. If you keep breaking other people’s hearts, whatever religious duty you perform is no good.

“A man with many opinions but no questions! There’s something so wrong with that.”

the torment a person can inflict upon himself is endless. Hell is inside us, and so is heaven.

it is not what we aspire to achieve but the consciousness of nothingness that keeps us going.”