“ Greed harms you: generosity helps you. This is why is has been said: 'Greed is the mother of incapacity'. Idries Shah
“ Scholars of the East and West have heroically consecrated their whole working lives to making available, by means of their own disciplines, Sufi literary and philosophical material to the world at lar… Idries Shah
“ The Seeking of the Master. Musa Najib was asked why he charged a fee from those who came to his sessions; and why he often did not even address his audience. He said: 'I charge for this object lesson:… Idries Shah
“ The would-be students wish to transcend books.But, ask yourselves: if someone says that books do not contain wisdom, and yet he writes books; books do not contain Sufism, and yet he continues to publi… Idries Shah
“ Salute to the Thief. Junaid of Baghdad was passing the scene of a public hanging, where a thief was on the scaffold. Junaid bowed towards the criminal. Someone asked him: 'What did you do that?' Junai… Idries Shah
“ The Book of Wisdom. Simab said: 'I shall sell the Book of Wisdom for a hundred gold pieces, and some people will say that it is cheap.' Yunus Marmar said to him: 'And I shall give away the key to unde… Idries Shah
“ Dramatic. A well developed sense of the dramatic has values beyond what people usually imagine. One of these is to realise the limitations of a sense of the dramatic. Idries Shah
“ If a pot can multiply. One day Nasrudin lent his cooking pots to a neighbour, who was giving a feast. The neighbour returned them, together with one extra one – a very tiny pot. 'What is this?' asked… Idries Shah
“ Sufism, the "secret tradition," is not available on the basis of assumptions which belong to another world, the world of intellect. Idries Shah
“ In the modern world we are in a paradoxical situation; because although in theory man knows that he can extend his attention to something and then remove it, he very often does not do so. In many area… Idries Shah
“ Contrary to Expectation. A wise man, the wonder of his age, taught his disciples from a seemingly inexhaustible store of wisdom. He attributed all his knowledge to a thick tome which was kept in a pla… Idries Shah
“ A Better Beard that Yours. 'All true devotees wear a beard,' said the Imam to his audience. 'Show me a thick and lustrous beard and I'll show you a true believer!' 'My goat has a beard far bushier and… Idries Shah
“ WisdomSufian said: 'The wisdom which is invisible but which sustains is a hundred times better than the appearance of wisdom, for that has itself to be sustained. Idries Shah
“ As the Eastern saying, by the sage Hilali, has it, 'one person who understands is worth a hundred who merely obey a custom. Idries Shah
“ Voice in the nightA voice whispered to me last night: 'There is no such thing as a voice whispering in the night! Idries Shah
“ If you are uninterested in what I say, there's an end to it. If you like what I say, please try to understand which previous influences have made you like it. If you like some of the things I say, and… Idries Shah
“ Counsels of BahaudinYou want to be filled. But something which is full has first to be emptied. Empty yourself so that you will fill properly, by observing these counsels, which you can do as duties t… Idries Shah
“ The people of the world have a fixed destiny. But the spiritually developed receive what is “not” in their destiny. Idries Shah
“ ServiceI will not serve God like a labourer, in expectation of my wages.Rabia el-Adawia. Idries Shah
