Words That Fall Upon the Heart from Sezai Karakoç
The wisdoms of Sezai Karakoç are a selection of short sayings that touch upon 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 (nafs, the lower self), awareness of mortality, knowledge, adab (adab, proper conduct), and maturity of the qalb (qalb, the heart).
On this page, a concise selection of 72 sayings has been compiled for Sezai Karakoç.
01
"For every person who does not succumb to the night, there is, as a reward, a morning and a day, a sun."
02
"They will disregard you, and you will exist even more."
03
"Excessive hope is despair."
04
"If the universe is a man hanging, the adhān (adhān, the Islamic call to prayer) brings him down from the gallows."
05
"Success is not in worshipping life, but in giving life its due."
06
"It was the Qur'an alone that opened luminous doors to a dungeon—my only solace, only hope, only thought."
07
"It is the prophet who, by saving man from the slavery of idols, establishes the civilization of fitra (fitra, primordial nature)."
08
"In every era, no matter how harsh and hopeless the conditions, there is always a Noah's Ark for the believers."
09
"War, in Islam, is not for the nafs but against the nafs. Even against the units of the nafs within history. Jihad is the war waged against external oppression; the greater jihad is against the oppression within."
10
"Justice is the foundation of sovereignty. So, what is the foundation of justice?"
11
"Our cause and our struggle for the cause is the cause of truth, the battle for truth."
12
"To be a hero, one must first break the inner idol. That is why the Exalted Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), upon returning from a battle, said to the Companions (ṣaḥāba): 'The battle is over. The greater battle has begun.'"
13
"Laziness is the bed of the nafs."
14
"Are those who know equal to those who do not know?"
15
"One day, look deep into my eyes. Then you will understand why the dead live."
16
"A person's and a society's reckoning with time, their reckoning with history, is the only guarantee of the present moment."
17
"Let the one who comes to kill you find life in you."
18
"That is, merely psychological Islam, merely sociological Islam, or merely historical Islam is not enough. Every Muslim must first be a Muslim within his own inner world, but inseparably from that, must also realize being a Muslim within society and as a community. And finally, to this psychological and social content, he must certainly add historical consciousness."
19
"Beloved, Most Beloved, O Beloved. Do not prolong my exile in this world."
20
"The testimony of faith is the spiritual armor of the believers. No tank can penetrate it."
21
"The greatest obstacle for a soul that seeks to advance is habits."
22
"Those who leave find a place to go, but to whom shall those who remain take refuge?"
23
"A being (a human) who has not yet solved the question of his own existence has no right to deny."
24
"Never say fate, for above fate there is another fate. Whatever they do is in vain, for there is a decree that comes from the heavens."
25
"It is you whom I have spoken of in all my poems... It was in vain that I tried to hide it, you are so obvious, so clear."
26
"I have come to days when women are superior but not happy. You did not teach me this."
27
"What died within me has died, what remained has remained, I am the same."
28
"The qalb (qalb, the heart) is an ocean, and the tongue is the shore. Whatever is in the ocean washes up on the shore."
29
"Islamic Civilization is at the same time a civilization of thought. Resurrection means valuing thought, bringing thought to the agenda."
30
"The conquest of time is more important than the conquest of space, and is in fact the reason for that conquest."
31
"Societies without faith have no mercy."
32
"To be aware of history does not mean to be its prisoner."
33
"He who seeks himself cannot find without first losing."
34
"The Qur'an, as the eternalized monument of absolute truth, is the absolute book that brings the ideal believer, the ideal Islamic society, its nation, that is, the unchanging superior order of humanity, the absolute humanism."
35
"A city either cries out faith or rebellion. I must be the architect of cities that cry out faith, whose silence resounds with faith. Being a Muslim assigns me this duty."
36
"The color of communism is red. That is, the color of passion and blood. The color of capitalism is black. That is, the color of bigotry and excess. The color of Islam is white, blue, and green. That is, the color of purity, hope, peace, and safety."
37
"Time means the regularity in the imprinting of the human spirit upon things."
38
"The morning adhān takes possession of the universe as a believer and brings it into the light of day."
39
"When the mother dies, the child is in the loneliest corner of the garden, with a black stick in his hand and a small stain at his mouth."
40
"A human is human to the extent that he dedicates himself to truth and opens his spirit to it."
41
"To be like everyone else is something impossible. To be like everyone else is like not being at all."
42
"How happy is the community whose torch is the Qur'an!"
43
"And it is always destiny that has the last word."
44
"Your hands meant summer, your eyes would blossom in the spring of my heart."
45
"You do not know, and I do not wish to tell you."
46
"For Muslims to return to themselves may be more difficult than turning to another culture, but it will be their only hope of salvation."
47
"The songs of freedom of both capitalism and communism are false songs. For slaves, for galley convicts in chains, they are narcotic melodies. Empty consolations, distracting, eye-catching arrangements of bondage."
48
"Denial is captivity, faith is freedom."
49
"I must know the East and the West. I must study ancient civilizations in depth. I must deeply investigate the reasons for rises and falls. How can a society that belongs to the Islamic faith and civilization, which is the greatest blessing of Allah to mankind, fall into today's pitiful state? There must be one or several reasons for this. I must know this. In examining all these matters, knowledge will be my guide."
50
"In my eyes, capitalism is one face of the left, communism is the other. I say, let anyone who is truly human spit in the face of both."
51
"O human who has not tasted the flavor of falling! What do you know of the coolness and purity of the heights? O you who fall from the heights with great noise, do you know that you owe a waterfall to these steep rocks?"
52
"My eyes are green, yes, yes, her eyes are black; I am as white as sin, she is as black as repentance."
53
"Civilization is a movement realized by the great sacrifices of people who have an ideal."
54
"A civilization that has not completely lost its vitality, that is, has not entirely severed its connection with truth, always has hope for salvation."
55
"We came, saw the age, and shuddered."
56
"Do not mistake the shadow of lignite smoke cast into the sky for clouds laden with resurrection."
57
"According to my belief, the generation that will turn the present dark course of humanity toward such a bright direction will again emerge as a result of a profound breakthrough and resurrection seen in the East, in the Islamic countries."
58
"That is why the best advice to give people is to look at their 'conditions,' to see what they have been accustomed to, and before the spiritual poisons given to them become an irresistible passion, to keep their eyes wide open."
59
"A Muslim cannot become a Muslim by merely knowing or considering himself a Muslim. He is obliged to make being Muslim a state of existence. He must be filled with the consciousness and responsibility of this existence."
60
"For if development and growth are a destiny, their conditions are also a destiny, included in destiny. If the victory of development is 'predestined,' then the hardships endured and the efforts expended to reach that victory are also 'predestined.'"
61
"There is no salvation by chance. The Islamic world will only find a point of emergence through a very broad, multidimensional, and intense intellectual life and movement, and in the atmosphere of pure excitement and idealism that sustains that life."
62
"Every person is obliged to advance on the path of knowledge as much as he is able."
63
"Thank God, there is a difference from person to person."
64
"Every work desires an echo."
65
"The Testimony of Faith is a divine sword that, like a lightning bolt, fells the black tree in a person's heart, floods it with light, places a luminous sky and a crystal fountain in the hearts."
66
"Monna Rosa, today I am in a certain ḥāl (ḥāl, spiritual state)."
67
"That is, merely psychological Islam, merely sociological Islam, or merely historical Islam is not enough. Every Muslim must first be a Muslim within his own inner world, but inseparably from that, must also realize being a Muslim within society and as a community."
68
"The prayer is the sun that knocks on our door five times a day."
69
"I must know the East and the West. I must study ancient civilizations in depth. I must deeply investigate the reasons for rises and falls. How can a society that belongs to the Islamic faith and civilization, which is the greatest blessing of Allah to mankind, fall into today's pitiful state?"
70
"Life is not always winter. One must not forget summer and spring as well."
71
"Do not open your window, draw the curtains, Mona Roza, I must not see you. A single glance from you would be enough for me to die. Understand, Mona Roza, I am a madman. Do not open your window, draw the curtains."
72
"Yes, according to my belief, a Muslim, a believer, must always be contemporary."