Words from Yunus Emre That Fall Upon the Heart
The wisdoms of Yunus Emre are a selection of brief 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 matters such as discipline of the nafs (the lower self), awareness of mortality, knowledge, adab (proper conduct), and maturity of the qalb (the heart).
01
"Skill is to be able to see the beautiful, to attain the secret of loving. Let the world, the universe, everyone know: the greatest act of worship is to be able to love."
02
"If you have broken a heart even once, the prayer you perform is not prayer; even seventy-two nations will not wash your hands and face clean."
03
"The end of one who prospers through oppression will be ruin."
04
"I did not come for contention, my work is for love. The house of the Friend is the hearts; I came to build hearts."
05
"If a person knows the time to speak and the value of words, a single word can turn this hellish world into eight paradises."
06
"The pen has a crooked tongue, the ink a black face, the paper is two-faced! Now, whom shall I make privy to my petition as I rise to write it?"
07
"The world is a window; everyone who comes looks and passes by."
08
"Small people seek their equal, great people seek themselves."
09
"A word can end a war, a word can have a head cut off, a word can turn a venomous rebel into honey and butter."
10
"Let us love, let us be loved, for this world remains to no one."
11
"Paradise, paradise, they speak of it; a few pavilions and a few houris. Give them to whoever wants them; as for me, I need You, only You."
12
"Just be upright, let those who wish think you are crooked. But never forget: as long as you do not consider yourself to be something, you are a true person."
13
"A person who never makes mistakes is a person who does nothing. And the greatest mistake in life is to think oneself faultless."
14
"A person is stoned as much as their goodness, ostracized as much as their mercy, and tested as much as their servitude."
15
"Owner of goods, owner of property, where is the first owner of these? Wealth is a lie, property is a lie, come, you too amuse yourself a little."
16
"The ḥaqīqa (inner reality) is a sea, sharia (the sacred law) is its ship: Many have not left the ship and dived into the sea."
17
"Why fear death? Do not fear, you are eternal."
18
"Wealth is a lie, property is a lie, come, you too amuse yourself a little."
19
"Do not break the qalb (the heart) of a friend; there is no master to repair it. Do not let the flower of the heart wither; there is no pitcher to water it."
20
"If being a dervish were by crown and cloak, we too would have bought them at thirty or forty."
21
"Whatever comes from You is pleasing to me. Whether a rosebud or a thorn, whether life or a shroud. Your delicacy is pleasing, Your light is pleasing, Your wrath is pleasing, Your grace is pleasing."
22
"From the mother's womb we came to the market, we bought a shroud and returned to the grave."
23
"Let it be, do not worry, the Creator is just. Do not think the oppressor's deed is gain. The sigh of the oppressed brings down the mighty. Everything has its appointed time."
24
"It is the nafs (the lower self) that leaves you stranded on the road; whoever follows the nafs is left on the road."
25
"If you cannot enter a garden, do not stand and gaze. If you cannot build a heart, do not destroy and lay waste."
26
"There are times when a person is calm, just as there are times when one is tired, but it is the times when one is broken that take away one's life."
27
"I am a handful of earth, and a little water. With what shall I boast? This is what I am."
28
"He was clothed in flesh and bone, and appeared as Yunus."
29
"Whoever's concern is the world, has as much trouble as the world."
30
"Dervishhood is in the head, not in the crown. Fire is in the wood, not in the pan."
31
"Either take my hand and lift me up, or let me reach union with You. You have made me cry much, now make me smile. Come, see what love has done to me."
32
"Skill is to be able to see the beautiful, to attain the secret of loving. Let the world, the universe, everyone know this: the greatest act of worship is to be able to love."
33
"Regard the created kindly, for the sake of the Creator."
34
"We did not come for contention, our work is for love; the house of the Friend is the hearts, we came to build hearts."
35
"Love makes the lover secret, chains the lion, turns hard stone into wax."
36
"Whether contempt or respect, it comes to a person from words. Who would come to eat food cooked with poison?"
37
"Abandon the claim of selfhood, do not be distant from love, let the heart be filled with love, strive to be tolerant."
38
"A human who cannot fall in love is like a tree without fruit."
39
"Much wealth cannot be without unlawfulness, many words cannot be without lies."
40
"They have called all kinds of suffering by the name of love."
41
"O our Lord, grant goodness, be a friend to Muḥammad, make our grave full of light, on the night I reach the grave."
42
"Few words are the burden of the mature, many words are the burden of animals."
43
"Knowledge is to know oneself."
44
"Do not say 'me' is in me, I am not in me; there is a 'me' within me, deeper than me."
45
"We become full by sharing. We become nothing by dividing."
46
"Knowledge is to know knowledge, knowledge is to know oneself. If you do not know yourself, what kind of reading is this?"
47
"Abandon the claim of selfhood. Do not be distant from love. Let the heart be filled with love. Strive to be tolerant."
48
"Get along well with the flowers, do not hurt the honey, O heart; for a small fruit, do not hurt the branch, O heart. Even if your head is high, your eyes should be on the ground, do not hurt the path by walking with arrogance, O heart."
49
"A handful of earth, and a little water am I. With what shall I boast? This is what I am..."
50
"If your intention is to ascend above the seven heavens, you will not find a better ladder than love."
51
"What you share is yours, not what you accumulate."
52
"I did not come for strife, my work is for love..."
53
"All words are true if you are true; truth cannot be found if you are crooked."
54
"If you break the qalb (the heart) of a believer, the prostration you perform is not to the Truth."
55
"I do not rejoice in wealth, nor do I grieve in poverty. I find solace in Your love; I need You, only You."
56
"O those who drink from the river of life! Come, let us ask the souls: what happened to their beauty that they are leaving? They always said, 'I am yours,' what have they found now that they are leaving?"
57
"There is no head without trouble in this world. The sigh of the troubled does not cease."
58
"Skill is to be able to see the beautiful, to attain the secret of loving. Let the world, the universe, everyone know this: the greatest act of worship is to be able to love..."
59
"Do not trust this world, do not think you will find loyalty. The life given is wasted, most are in regret."
60
"In the morning I went to the cemetery, I saw that everyone was lying there, each one helpless, having lost their life, lying there."
61
"Patience (sabr, patient endurance) brings eternal happiness; whoever has patience receives their share."
62
"Why should I desire paradise? My eyes never look upon it."
63
"Knowledge is to know knowledge, knowledge is to know oneself; if you do not know yourself, what kind of reading is this?"
64
"If you do not want to say 'I wish' one day in the future, choose three things correctly! Your spouse, your job, your friend."