The Sufi Path of Love Quotes

“The temporal cannot know the Eternal, so to the extent that the Sufi contemplates God in his heart, God Himself is the contemplator: Ultimately, the Witness, the Witnesser, and the Witnessing are all one. (p. 288)”
― William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi

“Whoever enters the Way without a guide will take a hundred years to travel a two-day journey. . . . – Rumi (p. 123)”
― William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi

“The just Witness is the Beloved‘s Eye. (p. 292)”
― William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi

“Certainly many if not most of Sufi love poems can be read as if they were addressed to a woman. In fact, without doubt a certain number of them were inspired by a woman‘s beautiful features, but this did not prevent the poet from viewing her loveliness as the mirror of God‘s Beauty. (p. 287)”
― William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi

“There are no „others“. What appears to be „other than God“ is in fact foam upon the Ocean, forms manifesting meanings, the Hidden Treasure displaying itself outwardly, sunlight upon a wall. All multiplicity is the manifestation of Unity. (p. 304)”
― William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi

“God is the only object worthy of our love, for He is the True Beloved; every other object of love veils His Face. In describing His Image which they contemplate in their hearts, the Sufis often use terminology pertaining to the primary derivative beloved of the male human being, that is, woman. All the imagery employed by the Persian poets in the ghazal or „love poem“ to praise derivative beloveds takes on a new significance at the hands of the Sufi poets. Again one must keep in mind that this is not a question of poetical convention, since according to Sufi teachings women manifest the divine Attributes of Beauty, Mercy, Gentleness, and Kindness in a relatively direct manner within their outward forms. In Rumi‘s view, their derivative beauty is the closest thing to True Beauty in the material world. For this very reason, the attraction that their beauty exerts upon a man can be one of the greatest obstacles to his spiritual development. As long as he thinks that a woman‘s beauty belongs to her, he will be led astray. But once he is able to see her beauty as the reflection of God‘s Beauty, then his derivative love can be transformed into True Love. (p. 286)”
― William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi

“The Sufi‘s book is not composed of ink and letters: It is naught but a heart white as snow. The scholar‘s provisions are the marks of the pen. What are the Sufi‘s provisions? The footprints of the saints. – Rumi (p. 131)”
― William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi

“The Sufi Way is to follow the model provided by the Prophet‘s representatives on earth, the saints, who are the shaykhs or the spiritual masters. Once having entered the Way, the disciple begins to undergo a process of inward transformation. If he is among those destined to reach spiritual perfection, he will climb the ascending rungs of a ladder stretching to heaven and beyond; the alchemy of the Way will transmute the base copper of his substance into pure and noble gold. The Truth or „attainment to God“ is not a simple, one-step process. It can be said that this third dimension of Sufi teaching deals with all the inner experiences undergone by the traveler on his journey. It concerns all the „virtues“ (akhlaq) the Sufi must acquire, in keeping with the Prophet‘s saying, „Assume the virtues of God!“ If acquiring virtues means „attaining to God,“ this is because they do not belong to man. The discipline of the Way coupled with God‘s grace and guidance results in a process of purification whereby the veil of human nature is gradually removed from the mirror of the primordial human substance, made in the image of God, or, in the Prophet‘s words, „upon the Form of the All-Merciful.“ Any perfection achieved by man is God‘s perfection reflected within him. (p. 11-12)”
― William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi

“The three dimensions of Sufi teaching: the Law, the Way, and the Truth; or knowledge, works, and attainment to God; or theory, practice, and spiritual realization. Knowledge of God, man, and the world derives ultimately from God Himself, primarily by means of revelation, – in the context of Islam – the Koran and the Hadith of the Prophet; and secondarily by means of inspiration or „unveiling“, the spiritual vision of the saints, or the realized Sufis. Knowledge provides the illumination whereby man can see everything in its proper place. (p. 11)”
― William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi