Sayings of Bayazid al-Bistami: Sufi quotations
Contents
Bayazid al-Bistami (d. 874), of Khorasan, is the master of the states of annihilation (fana’); his ecstatic utterances scandalised some and nourished every treatise on Sufism.
Bayazid al-Bistami: …alone, I went towards the Sole One
I have thrice divorced the world, and alone I went towards the Sole One. I stood before the Presence and cried: “Lord God, I desire nothing other than You! If I possess You, I possess everything.”
Abu Yazid al-Bistami: the greatest name of God
Someone asked him: what is the greatest name of God? Say “La ilaha illa Allah” (there is no God, no reality, but God) and carry that affirmation through to the end. “And then?” You will know it by invoking Him.
Bayazid al-Bistami: humility, supplication and the burning of the heart
One day a voice said to me: “My treasury is full of acts of worship and devotion; if you wish to draw near to Me, bring Me what I do not have in My treasury: humility, supplication and the burning of the heart.”
Abu Yazid al-Bistami: la ilaha illa Allah
If I could recite in all sincerity the sacred word “there is no other deity than God” (La ilaha illa Allah), I would no longer have to concern myself with the rest.
Abu Yazid al-Bistami: love the saints of God
Love those whom God has loved (Awliya’ Allah) and see to it that they love you, for God looks into the hearts of His saints seventy times a day and every night. Perhaps He will find your name inscribed in the heart of one of them. He will then love you and cover you with His forgiveness.
Bayazid al-Bistami: paradise is a toy for children
Paradise is a toy for children. A single atom of the love of God is worth more than a hundred thousand paradises.
Abu Yazid al-Bistami
A man came to see Abu Yazid al-Bistami with a rosary in his hand. He said to him: you would need two; with the first you would count your good deeds, with the second the bad ones.