Forty Rules of Love by Shams Tabrizi
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1.
How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves. If God
brings to mind mostly fear and blame, it means there is too much fear
and blame welled inside us. If we see God as full of love and
compassion, so are we.
2. The Path to the Truth is a
labor of the heart, not of the head. Make your heart your primary
guide! Not your mind. Meet, challenge, and ultimately prevail over your
nafs with your heart. Knowing your ego will lead you to the knowledge
of God.
3. Each and every reader comprehends the Holy
Qur’an on a different level in tandem with the depth of his
understanding. There are four levels of insight. The first level is
the outer meaning and it is the one that the majority of the people
are content with. Next is the Batıni—the inner level. Third, there is
the inner of the inner. And the fourth level is so deep it can not be
put into words and is therefore bound to remain indescribable.
4.
You can study God through everything and everyone in the universe,
because God is not confined in a mosque, synagogue, or church. But if
you are still in need of knowing where exactly His abode is, there is
only one place to look for Him: in the heart of a true lover.
5.
Intellect and love are made of different materials. Intellect ties
people with knots and risks nothing, but love dissolves all tangles
and risks everthing. Intellect is always cautious and advises, ‘Beware
too much ecstasy,’ whereas love says, ‘Oh, never mind! Take the
plunge!’ Intellect does not easily break down, whereas love can
effortlessly reduce itself to rubble. But treasures are among ruins. A
broken heart hides treasures.
6. Most of the problems
of the world stem from linguistic mistakes and simple
misunderstandings. Don’t ever take words at face value. When you step
into the zone of love, language as we know it becomes obsolete. That
which cannot be put into words can only be grasped through silence.
7.
Loneliness and solitude are two different things. When you are
lonely, it is easy to delude yourself into believing that you are on
the right path. Solitude is better for us, as it means being alone
without feeling lonely. But eventually it is best to find a person,
the person who will be your mirror. Remember, only in another person’s
heart can you truely see yourself and the presence of God within you.
8.
Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might
seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors
remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful!
It is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not
only for what he has been given but also for all that he has been
denied.
9. Patience does not mean to passively endure.
It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process.
What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the
rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be so
shortsighted as to not be able to see the outcome. The lovers of God
never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the
crescent moon to become full.
10. East, west, south, or
north makes little difference. No matter what your destination, just be
sure to make every journey a journey within. If you travel within,
you’ll travel the whole wide world and beyond.
11. The
midwife knows that when there is no pain, the way for the baby cannot
be opened and the mother cannot give birth. Likewise, for anew Self to
be born, hardship is necessary. Just as clay needs to go through
intense heat to become strong, Love can only be perfected in pain.
12.
The quest for Love changes us. There is no seeker among those who
search for Love who has not matured on the way. The moment you start
looking for Love, you start to change within and without.
13.
There are more fake gurus and false teachers in this world than the
number of stars in the visible universe. Don’t confuse the power-
driven, self-centered people with true mentors. A genuine spiritual
master will not direct your attention to himself or herself and will
not expect absolute obedience or utter admiration from you, but
instead will help you to appreciate and admire your inner self. True
mentors are as transparent as glass. They let the Light of God pass
through them.
14. 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?
15. God
is bussy with the completion of your work, both outwardly and
inwardly. He is fully occupied with you. Every human being is a work
in progress that slowly but inexorably moving toward perfection. We
are each an unfinished work of art both waiting and striving to be
completed. God deals with each of us seperately because humanity is a
fine art of skilled penmanship where every single dot is equally
important for the entire picture.
16. It’s easy to love a
perfect God, unblemished and infallible that He is. What is far more
difficult is to love fellow human beings with all their imperfections
and defects. Remember, 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 never truely love nor truely know God.
17.
Real filth is the one inside. The rest simply washes off. There is
only one type of dirt that cannot be cleansed with pure waters, and
that is the stain of hatred and bigotry contaminating the soul. You
can purify your body through abstinence and fasting, but only love
will purify your heart.
18. The whole universe is
contained within a single human being—you. Everything that you see
around, including the things you might not be fond of and even the
people you despise or abhore, is present within you in varying
degrees. Therefore, do not look for Satan outside yourself either. The
devil is not an extraordinary force that attacks from without. It is
an ordinary voice within. If you get to know yourself fully, facing
with honesty and hardness both your dark and bright side, you will
arrive at a supreme form of consciousness. When a person knows himself
or herself, he or she knows God.
19. If you want to
change the way others treat you, you should first change the way you
treat yourself. Unless you learn to love yourself, fully and sincerely,
there is no way you can be loved. Once you achieve that stage,
however, be thankful for every thorn that others might throw at you.
It is a sign that you will soon be showered in roses.
20.
Fret not where the road will take you. Instead concentrate on the
first step. That’s the hardest part and that’s what you are responsible
for. Once you take that step let everything do what it naturally does
and the rest will follow. Do not go with the flow. Be the flow.
21.
We were all created in His image, and yet we were each created
different and unique. No two people are alike. No two hearts beat to
the same rhythm. If God had wanted everyone to be the same, He would
have made it so. Therefore, disrespecting differences and imposing your
thoughts on others is tantamount to disrespecting God’s holy scheme.
22.
When a true lover of God goes into a tavern, the tavern becomes his
chamber of prayer, but when a wine biber goes into the same chamber, it
becomes his tavern. In everything we do, it is our hearts that make
the difference, not our outer appearances. Sufis do not judge other
people on how they look or who they are. When a Sufi stares at someone,
he keeps both eyes closed instead opens a third eye –the eye that
sees the inner realm.
23. Life is a temporary loan, and
this world is nothing but a sketchy imitation of Reality. Only
children would mistake a toy for the real thing. And yet human beings
either become infatuated with the toy or disrespectfully break it and
throw it aside. In this life stay away from all kinds of extremities,
for they will destroy your inner balance.
24. The human
being has a unique place among God’s creation. “I breathed into him of
My Spirit,” God says. Each and everyone of us without exception is
designed to be God’s delegate on earth. Ask yourself, just how often
do you behave like a delegate, if you ever do so? Remember, it falls
upon each of us to discover the divine spirit inside and live by it.
25.
Hell is 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 scend to heaven. Every time we
hate, envy, or fight someone, we tumble straight into the fires of
hell.
26. The universe is one being. Everything and
everyone is interconnected through an invisible web of stories.
Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all in a silent
conversation. Do not harm. Practice compassion. And do not gossip
behind anyone’s back –not even a seemingly innocent remark! The words
that come out of our mouths do not vanish but are perpetually stored
in infinite space, and they will come back to us in due time. One
man’s pain will hurt us all. One man’s joy will make everyone smile.
27.
This world is like a snowy mountain that echoes your voice. Whatever
you speak, good or evil, will somehow come back to you. Therefore, if
there is someone who harbors ill thoughts about you, saying similarly
bad things about him will only make matters worse. You will be locked
in a vicious circle of malevolent energy. Instead for forty days and
nights say and think nice things about that person. Everything will be
different at the end of forty days, because you will be different
inside.
28. The past is an interpretation. The future is
an illusion. The world does not move through time as if it were a
straight line, proceeding from the past to the future. Instead time
moves through and within us, in endless spirals.
Eternity does not mean infinite time, but simply timelessness.
If
you want to experience eternal illumination, put the past and the
future out of your mind and remain within the present moment.
29.
Destiny doesn’t mean that your life has been strictly predetermined.
Therefore, to leave everything to fate and to not actively contribute
to the music of the universe is a sign of sheer ignorance.
30.
The true Sufi is such that even when he is unjustly accused,
attacked, and condemned from all sides, he patiently endures, uttering
not a single bad word about any of his critics. A Sufi never
apportions blame. How can there be opponents or rivals or even
“others” when there is no “self” in the first place?
How can there be anyone to blame when there is only One?
31.
If you want to strengthen your faith, you will need to soften inside.
For your faith to be rock solid, your heart needs to be as soft as a
feather. Through an illness, accident, loss, or fright, one way or
another, we all are faced with incidents that teach us how to become
less selfish and judgemental, and more compassionate and generous. Yet
some of us learn the lesson and manage to become milder, while some
others end up becoming even harsher than before. 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.
32. Nothing
should stand between yourself and God. Not imims, 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.
Stay
away from all sorts of idolatry, for they will blur your vision. Let
God and only God be your guide. Learn the Truth, my friend, but be
careful not to make a fetish out of your truths.
33.
While everyone in this world strives to get somewhere and become
someone, onl to leave it all behind after death, you aim for the
supreme stage of nothingness. Live this life as light and empty as the
number zero. We are no different from a pot. It is not the
decorations outside but the emptiness inside that holds us straight.
Just like that, it is not what we aspire to achieve but the
consciousness of nothingness that keeps us going.
34.
Submission does not mean being weak or passive. It leads to neither
fatalism nor capitulation. Just the opposite. True power resides in
submission –- a power that comes from within. Those who submit to the
divne essence of life will live in unperturbed tranquillity and peace
even when the whole wide world goes through turbulence after
turbulence.
35. In this world, it is not similarities or
regularitiesthat take us a step forward, but blunt opposites. And all
the opposites in the universe are present within each and every one of
us. Therefore the believer needs to meet the unbeliever residing
within. And the nonbeliever should get to know the silent faithful in
him. Until the day one reaches the stage of Insan-ı Kamil, the perfect
human being, faith is a gradual process and one that necessitates its
seeming opposite: disbelief.
36. This world is erected
upon the principle of reciprocity. Neither a drop of kindness nor a
speck of evil will remain unreciprocated. Fear not the plots,
deceptions, or tricks of other people. If somebody setting a trap,
remember, so is God. He is the biggest plotter. Not even e leaf stirs
outside God’s knowledge. Simply and fully in that. Whatever God does,
He does beautifully.
37. God is a meticulous clockmaker.
So precise is His order that everthing on earth happens in its own
time. Neither a minute late nor a minute early. And for everyone
without exception, the clock works accurately. For each there is a
time to love and a time to die.
38. It is never too late to ask yourself ‘Am I ready to change the life I am living? Am I ready to change within?’
Even
if a single day in our life is the same as the day before, it surely
is a pity. At every moment and with each new breath, one should be
renewed and renewed again. There is only one way to be born into a new
life: to die before death.
39. While the parts change,
the whole always remains the same. For every thief who departs this
world, a new one is born. And every descent person who passes away is
replaced by a new one. In this way not only does nothing remain the
same but also nothing ever really changes.
For every Sufi who dies, another is born somewhere.
40.
A life without love is of no account. Don’t ask yourself what kind of
love you should seek, spiritual or material, divine or mundane,
Eastern or Western… Divisions only lead to more divisions. Love has no
labels, no definitions. It is what it is, pure and simple.
Shams Tabrizi
