Sayings of Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri Boutchich: Sufi quotations
Contents
Sidi Hamza (1918-2017), guide of the Tariqa Qadiriya Boutchichiya from 1972 to 2017, through whom the path opened to the whole world. See also the sayings of Sidi Hamza and the thematic collections of his words.
Sidi Hamza: knowledge and humility
True knowledge is only obtained with humility. The approach that leads towards it resembles that of a person who wants to drink from a stream: he will have to bend down to drink. Water always lies in the lowest place; we must be like the water.
Sidi Hamza: access to interiority
We perceive the outside of things, but the inside is hidden and veiled from us. The body is in this world, but interiority lies in another dimension, another kingdom. Access to that interiority is the whole of the path.
Sidi Hamza: truth and purity
Do not seek the truth; seek first to purify yourselves.
Sidi Hamza: a mind illumined by the light of the heart
One must beware of purely mental understanding. There is a sensible mind and a luminous mind. The sensible mind has a limit. To go beyond it, one must work on oneself and frequent the men of God. God alone can turn the sensible mind into a luminous mind, a mind illumined by the light of the heart.
Sidi Hamza: invocation and generosity
The two royal gates for reaching God are invocation (dhikr) and generosity.
Sidi Hamza: he who abases himself, God raises up
He who abases himself, God raises up. Some of you find it hard to put themselves at the service of others, but if they make the effort to do so all the same, they can little by little free themselves of the bonds that tie down their soul.
Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri al-Boutchichi
On the day God wishes to favour His servant with His graces, He makes a breath of love penetrate his heart. Thus the servant, though caught up in the affairs of this lower world, constantly tastes the savour of his Lord. The Prophets too worked as we do, but their work did not rule over their heart, which remained firmly attached to God.
Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri al-Boutchichi
A person who plunges into the ocean with his clothes on will sink, for he is encumbered. You have to take off all your clothes to be able to swim freely.