Selections from The Sayings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
August 2009
1. My life is running towards Thee, O divine Ocean, as the river flows to the sea.
Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan
2. Blowing wind, carry my message, I pray, to the dwelling place of the divine Beloved.
3. The water that washes the heart is the continual running of the love-stream.
4. Love is the essence of all religion, mysticism, and philosophy.
5. Love is the merchandise which all the world demands; if you store it in your heart, every soul will become your customer.
6. Love is the Divine Mother’s arms, and when those arms are outspread, every soul falls into them.
7. You are love. You come from love. You are made by love.
8. Life itself becomes a scripture to the kindled soul.
9. The soul’s true happiness lies in experiencing the inner joy.
10. Even to utter the name of God is a blessing that can fill the soul with light, joy, and happiness as nothing else can do.
11. To learn wisdom at every step on the path of life is the only work of the Sufi.
12. When a soul arrives at its full bloom, it begins to show the color and spread the fragrance of the divine Spirit of God.
13. The wise see in every form the divine form; in every heart they see the divine light shining.
14. All names and forms are the garbs and covers under which the one life is hidden.
15. To treat every human being as a shrine of God is to fulfill all religion.
16. The heart of the Holy One is the gate of God’s shrine.
17. Every soul has its own way in life; if you wish to follow another’s way, you must borrow his eyes to see it.
18. He who with sincerity seeks his real purpose in life, is himself sought by that purpose.
19. The universe is like a dome; it vibrates to that which you say in it, and answers the same back to you.
20. We are always searching for God afar off, when all the while He is nearer to us than our own soul.
21. The soul of all is one soul, and the truth is one truth under whatever religion it is hidden.
22. Death is a tax the soul has to pay for having had a name and a form.
23. Death takes away the weariness of life, and the soul begins life anew.
24. Death opens a door between life here and hereafter.
25. Death is a silent voyage to the port of eternity.
Compiled by Rev. Jan Thomas
NOTES
(1) The above quotes are from The Complete Sayings of Hazrat Inayat Khan: Gayan, Vadan, Nirtan, Aphorisms, and The Bowl of Saki (New Lebanon, NY, Sufi Order Publications, 1978). This collection of wisdom sayings can also be accessed on-line at http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/say/
(2) A brief bio of the Sufi Master Hazrat Inayat Khan, who brought Sufism to the West in the early 1900s, can be perused at: http://wahiduddin.net/hik/hik_
(3) For helpful links (in the sidebar) to more information about Universal Sufism, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
(4) To catch a further glimpse of the spirit of Universal Sufism, see “Invincible Spirit,” a fascinating article by Shams Kairys about Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, who was Hazrat Inayat Khan’s son and successor as head of the Sufi Order International. The link is http://universel.net/