Words That Fall Upon the Heart from ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī
The wisdoms of ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī are a selection of short sayings that touch the heart, character, and inner discipline of a person. Although each saying may appear as a simple note on its own, behind it lie fundamental issues such as the discipline of the nafs (the lower self), awareness of mortality, knowledge, adab (etiquette), and maturity of the qalb (the heart).
On this page, a concise selection of 72 sayings has been compiled for ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī.
01
"Consider your state well; nothing is clear now. Tomorrow, when the dust settles, it will be seen who is mounted and who is on foot."
02
"It is not appropriate for us to dwell on fate and use it as an excuse. Rather, we work and strive, and neither object nor become lazy."
03
"The habit of the believer is to think first and then speak. The hypocrite, however, speaks first and then thinks."
04
"Inner knowledge is the light between you and your Lord."
05
"If a person who guides others does not possess the following qualities, he cannot be a guide: being one who conceals and forgives faults, being compassionate and gentle, being truthful and a doer of good, enjoining good and forbidding evil, being hospitable and worshipping at night while people sleep, being learned and courageous."
06
"Is it fitting to perform deeds for show before people, and then wish for Allah the Exalted to accept them? Abandon greed, arrogance, rebellion, and attachment to the world. Lessen your joy and cheerfulness a little. Be somewhat sorrowful. The noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would smile to bring relief to the hearts of others."
07
"The Qur'an has two aspects: the aspect that is in His hand, and the aspect that is in our hand."
08
"When one of the righteous was asked, 'What do you desire?' he replied, 'I desire not to desire.'"
09
"Sufis are wise with respect to the Hereafter, but mad with respect to the world."
10
"The lover and the one who does not love are distinguished not in contentment, but in displeasure."
11
"There is no good in a person who does not experience hardship. Hardships are the swallows of Allah."
12
"The murīd (aspirant, disciple) stands in the shade of his tawba (repentance), while the murād stands in the shade of his Lord's grace."
13
"For the Sufis, their nights are not night, and their days are not day."
14
"Every calamity that befalls the son of Adam is due to his complaining about his Lord."
15
"One of the Sufis said: 'Conform to Allah regarding people; do not conform to people regarding Allah!'"
16
"It has been said: 'Every ḥaqīqa (inner reality) to which the sharia (the sacred law) does not bear witness is heresy.'"
17
"One who is sincere in the love of Allah neither exposes faults nor listens to faults."
18
"Whoever desires the Hereafter must practice zuhd (asceticism) in this world; whoever desires Allah must practice zuhd in the Hereafter."
19
"All people desire you for their own benefit, but Allah desires you for your benefit."
20
"Knowledge is life; ignorance is death."
21
"The journeys of the Sufis end in the land of nearness to the Real (ḥaqq)."
22
"The intelligent person is one who thinks of death and is content with what fate brings."
23
"O my Lord! With my incapacity to ask for all Your forgiveness, I ask You for Your forgiveness."
24
"Only those who abandon everything besides Him can draw near to Allah."
25
"O poor one! Cease speaking about things that do not benefit you. Occupy yourself with deeds that will benefit you in this world and the Hereafter. Leave off idle pursuits. Remove worldly thoughts from your qalb (the heart). For soon you will be taken from the world and brought to the Hereafter. Do not seek a comfortable and pleasant life in this world. The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said: 'Life is the life of the Hereafter.'"
26
"The qalb (the heart) finds tranquility through the secret, and the secret finds tranquility by trusting in the Real (ḥaqq)."
27
"For one who does not know his place, fate will teach him his place."
28
"The stronger a person's iman (faith), the more severe his test."
29
"Every qalb (the heart) gives off the scent of the flower within it."
30
"Tawba (repentance) is a change of governance."
31
"Every creature is a veil except the Messenger of God (peace be upon him); the Messenger of God is the door."
32
"You will not lose what is destined for you; no one else can consume it. It will not be someone else's portion. You cannot obtain your portion by showing greed for it."
33
"Afflictions teach the servant to knock at the door of the Lord of Majesty."
34
"One of the Sufis said: Only the ʿārif (knower of God) servants smile at the face of the sinner."
35
"If the qalb (the heart) acts according to the Book and the sunnah, it attains nearness (qurb). When it attains this, it knows and sees what is for or against itself, what is for Allah or for others, and what is true and false."
36
"The world is wisdom, the Hereafter is power. Wisdom needs tools and means; power does not."
37
"Everything besides Allah is an idol."
38
"The outward sciences are the light of the visible part. The inward sciences are the light of the invisible part."
39
"The Sufi is one who purifies his inner and outer self by conforming to the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger. As his purity increases, he emerges from the sea of existence; he abandons his will, wishes, and choice."
40
"Sufis, forgetting the why and the how, the do and do not, have thrown themselves before their Lord."
41
"The intelligent person looks not at the beginning of things, but at their end."
42
"The eye of the truthful one sees not with the sun and the moon, but with the light of Allah."
43
"He is the One who creates both the affliction and the cure. He afflicts in order to teach Himself. Thus, He shows that He can both give affliction and remove it."
44
"The world belongs to one group, the Hereafter to another, and the Real (ḥaqq) to yet another group."
45
"Think well of the Muslims. Correct your intention regarding them. Strive to do every kind of good deed. In matters you do not know, ask the scholars who think of the Hereafter."
46
"If you knew Him, your tongues would be rendered mute before Him; your qalbs (hearts) and other limbs would be well-mannered in every state."
47
"Those who wait eagerly at every door are those who cannot enter any door."
48
"Do not suppose that your qalb (the heart) will be happy as long as it is attached to the world. You are in a sleep of heedlessness until morning; life is short, and I fear that when you awaken, it will already be morning."
49
"O Allah, who manifests His greatness and majesty beneath the canopy of the Throne! For the sake of Your attributes, which no existent can attain in exaltedness, I beseech You for a nearness that wipes away the traces of the coldness of thought in everything that the secret of fate brings before me. So that all my time may be beautified with You, and I may beautify all my time for Your pleasure."
50
"Every qalb (the heart) gives off the scent of the flower within it."
51
"One who gives himself weight has no weight at all."
52
"The journey is the journey of the qalb (the heart). Union is the union of secrets."
53
"The believer is a stranger in this world, the ascetic is a stranger in the Hereafter. The ʿārif (knower of God) is a stranger everywhere except with Allah."
54
"If you are patient with the difficulties of the beginning, the ease of the end will reach you."
55
"If remembering something causes you to forget Allah, that thing is inauspicious for that person."
56
"If you knew Him, you would deny others, and then you would know others through Him."
57
"The ʿārif (knower of God) is a stranger both in this world and in the Hereafter."
58
"Follow the great scholars; do not deviate to the path of innovation or to things newly introduced into the religion. Obey, do not oppose. Be patient, do not complain. Remain steadfast, do not separate and scatter. Wait, do not despair. Purify your essence from sin, do not defile it. Above all, never leave the door of your Lord."
59
"The qalbs (hearts) of the righteous know both benefit and harm from their Lord."
60
"Learn the outward fiqh, then turn to the inward fiqh."
61
"This knowledge, the knowledge of Sufism (taṣawwuf), is not taken from the pages of books, but from the mouths of the friends of Allah (awliyāʾ)."
62
"Visit graves. Visit the righteous. Do good deeds. If you do so, all your affairs will be set right."
63
"As long as the qalb (the heart) remains attached to one of the desires of the world and pursues one of its fleeting pleasures, it is impossible for it to love the Hereafter."
64
"Whoever knows Allah loves Him. Whoever loves Him follows Him."
65
"In everything there is a name from His names; the name of everything is from His name."
66
"The ʿārif (knower of God) is, at every moment, closer to Allah than before."
67
"Do not be disturbed by the coming of fate; no one can turn it back and no one can prevent it. What is decreed will certainly come to pass."
68
"How ignorant is the one who forgets the Creator of means of livelihood and becomes attached to the means themselves, who forgets the Eternal and rejoices in the transient!"
69
"One who expects to be rewarded for his deeds is not a muḥlis (one who has ikhlas, sincerity)."
70
"The beginning of this matter is to bear witness that there is no god but Allah; its final point is that all objects and actions become the same."
71
"Benefit from the Qur'an not by arguing about it, but by acting upon what is in it."
72
"One who knows Allah no longer has a will of his own before Him."