MAGHRIBI: Learning is in activity. Learning through words alone is minor activity.

— Idries Shah

I am the Real, for I have not ceased to be real – through the Real.

— Idries Shah

As long as man was in the moolight he desired to reach the moon…there was bliss in the moonlight but the moon itself was distant. Moonlight was near but man longed for the moon…man reached the moon but there he was without moonlight. If one reaches the moon one does not find moonlight any longer and if one is in moonlight one does not find the moon. It is a strange fact that one is only because of the other…one is a sign of the other yet both are forever separate. If the Beloved is the Moon, moonlight is His remembrance. When the Beloved is present His remembrance is not and when His remembrance is present the Beloved is not. Proximity to one is distance from the other, Union with one is separation from the other. Thus union is hidden in every separation and separation in every union.

— Wasif Ali Wasif

Have the nature of a dervish: then wear a stylish cap.

— Idries Shah

It is necessary to note,' says Rumi, 'that opposite things work together, even though nominally opposed' (Fihi Ma Fihi).

— Idries Shah

Do not destroy anybody’s peace. You will find peace.

— Wasif Ali Wasif

He who is fortunately enlightened [the Sufi]Knows that sophistry is from the devil and love from Adam.

— Idries Shah

Sleep is a mirror of life in which can be seen the reflection of death.

— Wasif Ali Wasif

Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right effort, right time, right people, right materials.

— Idries Shah

The ocean sleeps. The ocean wakes. And the waking of the ocean is the waking of the soul. At midnight wakefulness springs from within the ocean.

— Wasif Ali Wasif