Sayings of Abu al-Hasan al-Kharaqani: Sufi quotations
Contents
Abu al-Hasan al-Kharaqani (d. 1033), of Khurasan, is one of the most singular Sufi masters: he called himself a direct disciple of Bayazid al-Bistami, dead more than a century before him, by way of invisible initiation (uwaysi).
Kharaqani: the most beneficial in knowledge
The most beneficial thing in knowledge is works, and among works the most beneficial are those God has prescribed.
Kharaqani: a day without harming anyone
The man who spends a whole day without harming anyone will spend that day in the Prophet’s company, but if he harms someone, God will not accept his prayers of that day.
Kharaqani: my ego, my nafs, a bad dog
Kharaqani used to say that on the Day of Judgement, God would ask him: “O Abu’l-Hasan! What have you brought back from your earthly existence?” Kharaqani said he would answer: “Nothing, Lord, nothing. My whole life long, You entrusted me with a bad dog: my ego. I had to watch constantly lest it harm others or myself. You placed me in a filthy hovel: my soul. I spent my time trying to clean it. I failed. What could I have brought back?”
Kharaqani
One blind in the eyes is better than one blind in the heart.
Kharaqani
The sick heart is doing well, for in reality its only remedy is God.
Kharaqani
Some heard the verse “Am I not your Lord?” as “Am I not God?” Others as “Am I not your Friend?” Others again as “Am I not All?”
Kharaqani
If you set fire to your clothes, you would hasten to put it out. Why then are you not worried that the fire of pride, envy and hypocrisy should catch in your heart? Yet it is indeed that fire which will extinguish your faith.
Kharaqani
He who is a man beside God is small beside men, and he who is a man beside men is a sub-man in this place.
Kharaqani
I had learnt that there were four hundred exiles among men. I wanted to know who they were. I walked until I came to a sea, until I glimpsed a light. Then I saw that the exiles were those who no longer had God.
Kharaqani
Take care not to be dead souls or praying machines.
Kharaqani
One night, as he was praying, a voice said to him: “Beware, Abu’l-Hasan! Do you want Me to tell everyone what I know about you, so that they stone you?” “And You, Lord, do You want me to tell everyone what I know of Your mercy and Your generosity, so that no one addresses a single prayer to You any more?” “Be silent, and I shall be silent,” answered the voice.
Kharaqani: do not worry about your bread before its time
Just as He does not ask you to perform the prayer before its time, so you should not worry about your bread before its time.
Kharaqani: Muslim before and after the pilgrimage
It was pointed out to him that men often did not come back better from the pilgrimage (hajj). “They must set out Muslim to come back Muslim,” he answered.
Kharaqani: how many men are dead in reality
How many men living on this earth are dead in reality, and how many lying beneath the earth are alive in reality!
Kharaqani: invocation, abstinence…
The invocation of God (dhikr), abstinence, generosity and the frequenting of the Men are among the greatest things.
Kharaqani: be among those who lift sadness from hearts
Be among those who lift sadness from hearts, not among those who bring it to them. Be among those who erase cares from hearts, not among those who add to them and unload their own burden onto others. Be among those who say: “It is You we adore, and You whose help we implore” (Qur’an 1, 5); “Make me die Muslim (in submission) and place me among the virtuous” (Qur’an 12, 101); “Forgive us and efface our sins” (Qur’an 3, 193); “Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not show us mercy, we are among the losers” (Qur’an 7, 23).
Kharaqani: non-being
All men wonder what they could bring yonder that would be worthy of it. It is impossible to bring yonder anything from here, save one thing that is unknown there, and that thing is non-being.
Kharaqani: a gold coin to a miser
If God turned the world into gold and made a gift of it to a believer, the believer would spend it all to please Him. Whereas if you give a gold coin to a miser, he will dig a well and hide it there so that after his death his heirs find it and quarrel over it.
Kharaqani: purifying one’s heart
To pray and to fast are admirable acts. But to clean and purify one’s heart so as to banish arrogance, jealousy and greed from it are actions more admirable still.