BiographyType: Writer, Publisher Born: 16 June 1924, Simla, India Died: 23 November 1996 (aged 72), London, UK Idries Shah also known as Idris Shah, and by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies. |
Poor greedy one, wherever he runs
He's after food, and death is after him.
(Saadi)
Patience is a garment which has never worn out.
What you are seeking in your retreat, I see clearly in every road and alleyway.
People who cannot trust are themselves not trustworthy, and therefore cannot be entrusted with important things.
The barren branches may appear inelegant: They are, to the cook, the means to make his fire.
Sufism, they say, is that which enables one to understand religion, irrespective of its current outward form.
The lightning said to the oak tree: ‘Stand aside, or take what is coming to you!
None should say: ‘I can trust,’ or ‘I cannot trust’ until he is master of the option, of trusting or not trusting.
The Sufi is one who does what others do – when it is necessary. He is also one who does what others cannot do – when it is indicated.
Most of the supposedly Sufi organizations, exercises and “orders” are in fact only of archaeological interest.
Greed harms you: generosity helps you. This is why it has been said: 'Greed is the mother of incapacity'.
Remember the proverb: 'A sign is enough for the alert, but a thousand counsels are not enough for the negligent.
Laziness is always your fault. It is the sign that a man has persevered in uselessness for too long.
One of the great Sufis said: 'A saint is a saint unless he knows that he is one.
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