Words That Fall Upon the Heart from Hacı Bektaş Veli
The wisdoms of Hacı Bektaş Veli 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 discipline of the nafs (the lower self), awareness of mortality, knowledge, adab (proper conduct), and maturity of the qalb (the heart).
01
"If you know your essence, you are freed from excuses."
02
"The path not taken with knowledge has no end."
03
"Heat is in the fire, not in the pan. Karāma (a saintly wonder) is in the head, not in the crown. Whatever you seek, seek it within yourself. It is not in Jerusalem, Mecca, or the ḥajj (pilgrimage)."
04
"The ʿārif (gnostic) is both a bee and a purifier."
05
"The male is not questioned in the language of love. Everything created by Ḥaqq (the Real, i.e., God) is in its proper place. In our view, there is no difference between woman and man. Deficiency and imperfection are in your own perspective."
06
"Whatever you seek, seek it within yourself."
07
"If you know yourself, your face is hudā (guidance); if you do not know yourself, the Truth is separate from you."
08
"The first maqām (spiritual station) of the people of maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God) is adab (proper conduct)."
09
"The first maqām (spiritual station) of ḥaqīqa (inner reality) is the knowledge that we will become earth."
10
"You seek as much as you find, but you do not find as much as you seek."
11
"Even if you are hurt, do not hurt."
12
"To attain one's desire is through sabr (patient endurance)."
13
"A wise person has three soldiers: sabr (patient endurance), modesty, and contentment."
14
"We look not at the tongue and speech, but at the essence and the ḥāl (spiritual state)."
15
"Let us be united, let us be great, let us be alive. Great = big, alive = strong, vibrant."
16
"Love and affection boil in our burning hearth; nightingales come to joy, roses bloom in our garden; greed and hatred disappear in the field of love; lions and gazelles are friends in our embrace."
17
"The end of the path not taken with knowledge is darkness."
18
"A wise person has three soldiers: sabr (patient endurance), modesty, and contentment."
19
"There is no veil between Allah and the heart."
20
"Iman (faith) is a treasure, Iblis is a thief, and the intellect is the treasurer. If the treasurer leaves, the thief steals the treasure."
21
"The beauty of a person is the beauty of their words."
22
"Whatever their language, religion, or color, the good are good."
23
"Purify the place you reach, and earn the morsel you eat."
24
"A person whose eyes are ahead but whose heart is behind cannot walk the path."
25
"To wound a person's heart is to be an executioner."
26
"My Kaʿba is the human being."
27
"Blessed are those who shed light on the darkness of thought."
28
"The darkness of matter is illuminated by the light of the intellect; the darkness of ignorance by the light of knowledge; the darkness of the nafs (the lower self) by the light of maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God); the darkness of the heart by the light of love."
29
"The true beauty of a person is the beauty of their words."
30
"The darkness of matter is illuminated by the light of the intellect; the darkness of ignorance by the light of knowledge; the darkness of the nafs (the lower self) by the light of maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God); the darkness of the heart by the light of love."
31
"Do not forget that even your enemy is a human being. Blessed are those who shed light on the darkness of thought. Whoever exalts knowledge and wisdom is never belittled or degraded."
32
"We dwell in the hearts of those who love us, and we speak on their tongues."
33
"No matter how much you wash someone who is impure inside from the outside, they will not be purified."
34
"Not everyone in the form of Adam is truly Adam. The Adam-ness of Adam is with intellect, modesty, and knowledge."
35
"Nations that do not educate their women cannot rise."
36
"The highest wealth is knowledge."
37
"Be careful that the morsel does not eat you; you eat the morsel!"
38
"Whatever there is in the world—permitted, forbidden, pure, and impure—all is known through the religion of Islam."
39
"Every person is protected by three hundred and sixty angels. Among so many angels, you consider yourself alone and behave without adab (proper conduct) and morality, yet you would not act without adab in the presence of someone like yourself. So where is your belief in the angels?"
40
"Research is an open test."
41
"Guard your hand, your loins, and your tongue."
42
"Prophets and awliyāʾ (friends of God) are a gift of God to humanity."
43
"The greatest book to be read is the human being."
44
"Knowledge begins in the cradle and ends in the grave."
45
"Those who live without working are not of us."
46
"Do not forget that even your enemy is a human being."
47
"Maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God) is not to erase the nafs (the lower self), but to know it."
48
"Do not blame any nation or person."
49
"Do not do to anyone what is burdensome to your own nafs (the lower self)."
50
"Do not do to others what is burdensome to yourself!"
51
"One must avoid what Allah has commanded to avoid. Not avoiding it is not believing in Him. Those who are truly human should know themselves and avoid what Allah has forbidden."