A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) wrote:   “Everyone, sober or drunk, is seeking a beloved, Everywhere, mosque or synagogue, is the house of love.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, ‘There is no swalah unless the heart is present!’  Some people thought that if they had attained a state in which the heart was present, they did not need to perform the swalah .  Their argument is that the swalah was a means to an end, therefore seeking the means after attaining the end is to act in vain.   We grant that according to their belief, it may be true that they have attained the perfect state of wilayat , and the presence of heart.  However, their giving up of swalah detracts from all that.   This perfection of state which you have attained, did the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) attain it or not?  If he says, ‘No, he did not attain it’, they would cut off his head and he would be dead.  If he says, ‘Yes, it was attained by the Prophet ( s.a.w. )’, then, I will say, ‘Why did you not then follow the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) who was...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “The intellect and love are made of different materials.   The intellect ties people in knots and risks nothing, but love dissolves all tangles and risks everything.   The intellect is always cautious and advises, ‘Beware too much ecstasy’, whereas love says, ‘Oh, never mind!   Take the plunge!’ The intellect does not easily break down, whereas love can effortlessly reduce itself to rubble.   But treasures are hidden among ruins.   A broken heart hides treasures.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “Whatever happens to you, do not fall in despair.  Even if all the doors are closed, a secret path will be there for you that no one knows.  You cannot see it yet, but so many Paradises are at the end of this path.  Be grateful!  It is easy to thank after obtaining what you want; thank before having what you want.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “It is easy to love a Perfect God, Unblemished and Infallible that He is.   What is far more difficult is to love fellow human beings with all their imperfections and defects.   Remember, one can only know what one is capable of loving.   There is no wisdom without love.   Unless we learn to love God’s Creation, we can never truly love nor truly know God.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) wrote, in Manaqib al-‘Arifin , “At a gathering, people were discussing whether the world had existed eternally.  Shams ad-Din said, ‘Of what importance is the eternity of the world to you?  Find out whether you are eternal or newly Created!  Use your time in this life to discover your own situation, not to research the eternity of the world!   The purpose of the world is for good works, because a good action brings tranquillity to the soul.  Tranquillity of the soul opens one's need for God, and it causes faith in the life of the Hereafter.  A person might have a hundred thousand skills and artful knowledge, but if there are no good works, there is no need for God or belief in the Hereafter; one has nothing.  If there is no knowledge, no Arabic or Turkish, but there are good works, it is the honour and glory of this world and the world to come.  Everyone is ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz, ( q.s. ) said, “Only those people who are capable of being alone are capable of love, of sharing, of going into the deepest core into the other person without possessing the other, without becoming dependent on the other, without creating ‘the other’, reducing the other into a thing, and without becoming addicted with the other.  They allow the other absolute freedom, because they know if the other leaves, they will be as happy as they are now.  Their happiness cannot be taken by the other, because it is not given by the other.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “Surrendering is not a weakness.  On the contrary, it is strength.  The surrendered stops living in boiling water, and starts living in a secure place.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “Loneliness and solitude are two different things.  When you are lonely, it is easy to delude yourself into believing that you are on the right path.  Solitude is better for us, as it means being alone without feeling lonely.  But eventually it is the best to find a person who will be your mirror.  Remember only in another person’s heart can you truly see yourself and the Presence of God within you.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “We were all Created in His Image, and yet we were each Created different and unique.  No two people are alike.  No two hearts beat to the same rhythm.  If God had wanted everyone to be the same, He would have made it so.  Therefore, disrespecting differences and imposing your thoughts on others is tantamount to disrespecting God’s Divine Scheme.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “A life without love is of no account.  Do not ask yourself what kind of love you should seek: spiritual or material, divine or mundane, eastern or western.”  He also said, “Divisions only lead to more divisions.  Love has no labels, no definitions.  It is what it is, pure and simple.  Love is the water of life.  And a lover is a soul of fire!  The universe turns differently when fire loves water.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “The midwife knows that when there is no pain, the way for the baby cannot be opened, and the mother cannot give birth.  Likewise, for a new self to be born, hardship is necessary.  Just as clay needs to go through intense heat to become strong, love can only be perfected in pain.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) wrote:   “This is my nature; I pray for Goodness, And Guidance for everyone. And if I hear them cursing me, I ask God that He Bestow them, With what makes them happy, Hoping that it divert them from cursing, Towards an affair which is greater, And more beneficial.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “Love is a travel.  All travellers, whether they want or not, are changed.  No one can travel into love and remain the same.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) wrote, in his Diwan :   “How long will you watch Us from a distance? We offer help, and even love is helpless before us. What is the soul?   The tiniest infant in our cradle. What is the heart?   One of our wandering beggars.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “Fret not where the road will take you.   Instead, concentrate on the first step.   That is the hardest part and that is what you are responsible for.   Once you take that step, let everything do what it naturally does, and the rest will follow.   Do not go with the flow.   Be the flow.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “You can be everything in life, but the important thing is to be a good person.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ), the teacher of Mawlana Jalal a-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi ( q.s. ), said “The universe is a complete unique entity.  Everything, and everyone, is bound together with some invisible strings.  Do not break anyone’s heart; do not look down on anyone weaker than you.  One’s sorrow at the other side of the world can make the entire world suffer; one’s happiness can make the entire world smile.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said:   “Conquer anger by love, evil by good; Conquer the miser with liberality, and the liar with truth.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz ( q.s. ) said, “Patience is not sitting and waiting; it is foreseeing.   It is looking at the thorn and seeing rose, looking at the night and seeing the day.   Lovers are patient and know that the Moon needs time to become full.”