43+ Ibn Ata Allah Quotes On Friendship, Marriage And Mystic

Ibn Ata Allah was a 13th century Sufi scholar and mystic. He is best known for his collection of Sufi aphorisms, the Hikam, which has been widely studied and quoted by Sufis and non-Sufis alike. He is also credited with founding the Shadhili order of Sufism, which is still an active movement today. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Ibn Ata Allah on love, life, friendship.

Top 10 Ibn Ata Allah Quotes

1. My god how gentle you are with me in spite of my great ignorance and how merciful You are with me in spite of my ugly deeds
2. Nothing is difficult, if you seek it through your Lord; nothing is easy, if you seek it through your self.
3. If you do not know the blessings you have when you have them, then Allah will teach you about them by taking them away from you
4. When the invocation descends into the heart, if there is darkness within, it illuminates it; and if there is already light, the invocation increases the light and intensifies it.
5. The most beloved manifestation of obedience to God is trust in Him
6. A sign of the death of the heart: lack of sadness about beneficial actions you have missed, and lack of regret about your mistakes.
7. The ambition of the spiritual traveller never wants to stop with what it has been shown save that the voices of reality call to him, "what you seek is ahead of you.
8. If you are aware of your humility, then you are arrogant.
9. Invoking removes darkness and brings forth radiant lights.
10. It may well be that you are in a bad state, but to keep company with someone worse than you would allow to see good in yourself.

Ibn Ata Allah Short Quotes

• Actions are but lifeless forms whose soul is the secret of sincerity in them
• When Allah inspires your tongue to ask, know that He wants to give
• I seek refuge in Thee from every hope which would distract me.
• If you want a glory that does not vanish, then do not glory in a glory that vanishes
• So long as you are in this world, be not surprised at the existence of sorrows.
• One of the signs of relying on deeds is loss of hope when a misstep occurs.

Ibn Ata Allah Famous Quotes And Sayings

If you make intense supplication and the timing of the answer is delayed, do not despair of it. His reply to you is guaranteed; but in the way He chooses, not the way you choose, and at the moment He desires, not the moment you desire. — Ibn Ata Allah

God Most High has said, "Is the reward of virtue aught save virtue?" . . . Know, O man, that the covenant of servanthood is incumbent upon you, and that the covenant of Lordship is incumbent upon His magnanimity, as He Most High has said, ". . . and fulfill your covenant, I shall fulfill My covenant." — Ibn Ata Allah

I know of nothing more useful to you than four matters: surrender to Allah, to humbly entreat Him, to think the best of Him, and to perpetually renew your repentance to Him, even if you should repeat as in seventy times in a day. — Ibn Ata Allah

Paraphrased: The way of al-Junayd includes among other things abstaining constantly from resisting God Most High in whatever happens to one, whether good or bad. . . . — Ibn Ata Allah

The reality of the invocation is when the Invoked takes possession of the heart, and He is One. Separation and multiplicity exist before that for as long as the invoker is in the station of invoking with the tongue or with the heart. — Ibn Ata Allah

. . . persist in that invocation until the unity of the world is subsumed for you in a single sphere, so that with the eye of your heart you will see naught in the two worlds save the One. — Ibn Ata Allah

If you make demands on Him, you doubt Him. If you seek Him, you are absent from Him. If you seek other-than-Him, you are shameless before Him. If you make demands on other-than-Him, you are distant from Him. — Ibn Ata Allah

He whose wealth or children distract him from remembering God is lost; but the one who remembers God experiences delights sweeter than the pleasure of food and drink. — Ibn Ata Allah

Encompass with your mercy and compassion all animals and creatures. Do not say, "this is inanimate and has no awareness." Indeed, it does; it is you yourself who have no awareness! So let existence be as it is, and be merciful towards it with the mercifulness of the Creator in the midst of His creation. — Ibn Ata Allah

If you do not think well of Him because His qualities are beautiful then think well of Him because of the way He treats you. — Ibn Ata Allah

The signs of the soundness of the servant's love for his Lord are three: absence of self-willing; pleasure in every event which takes place through divine decree; and seeing the perfection of the Beloved in everything and being content with Him in everything through submission to Him in all things. — Ibn Ata Allah

Whenever there remains any support for the ego within, even if it be only an atom's weight, then you are pretentious and have a devil who leads you astray. — Ibn Ata Allah

If He opens a door for you, thereby making Himself known, pay no heed if your do not measure up to this. For, in truth, He has not opened if for you but out of a desire to make Himself known to you. Do you not know that He is the one who presented the knowledge of Himself to you, whereas you are the one who presented Him with deeds? What a difference between what He brings to you and what you present to Him! — Ibn Ata Allah

When the heart becomes empty, the mimbar of the Divine Oneness is placed therein and the sultan of gnosis sits upon it. — Ibn Ata Allah

The realization of 'La ilaha illa Allah' is one of the states of the heart that can be neither expressed by the tongue nor thought out by the mind. — Ibn Ata Allah

The covenant of your servanthood is that you be a servant to God, not to someone else, and that you know that everything except God is a servant to God, as He Most High has said, "There is none in the heaven and the earth but cometh unto the Compassionate as a servant." — Ibn Ata Allah

People praise you for what they suppose is in you; but you must blame your soul for what you know is in it. — Ibn Ata Allah

The lights of some people precede their dhikr, while the dhikr of some people precede their lights. There is the one who does (loud) dhikr so that his heart be illumined; and there is the one whose heart has been illumined and he does (silent) dhikr. — Ibn Ata Allah

The most excellent of those who perform good deeds are those who most often remember God in all situations. — Ibn Ata Allah

Do not despair when in spite of intense supplication, there is a delay in receiving the expected gift. He has guaranteed that he will respond in what He chooses for you, and not what you choose for yourself, and at the time He chooses not the time you desire. — Ibn Ata Allah

Invoking brings the heart closer to the hereafter and keeps the world away from the heart, even though the world is around it. Invoking warns the heedless heart to abandon its pleasures and deceptions. — Ibn Ata Allah

When He gives, He shows you His Kindness; when He deprives, He shows you His power. And in all that, He is making Himself known to you and coming to you with His gentleness. — Ibn Ata Allah

The gnosis of God is intermediate between immoderation, which is ascribing human characteristics to God, and negligence, which is denying any attributes to God. . . The Truth lies in the balance between the two extremes. — Ibn Ata Allah

Invoking the letters of God's Name without presence of mind is invocation of the tongue; invoking with presence of mind is invocation of the heart; and invoking with an absence of self-awareness because of absorption in the Invoked is the invocation of the Self - this is the hidden invocation! — Ibn Ata Allah

Extinction is the beginning of the path: it is traveling to God Most High. Guidance comes afterwards. What I mean by guidance is the guidance of God, as described by the Friend of God, Abraham: "Lo! I am going unto my Lord Who will guide me." — Ibn Ata Allah

It is impossible that this gnosis resulting in the heart should be achieved by man for any other purpose than to obey God, love Him, and worship Him. This gnosis should be sought for the sake of God, not for any other reason whatsoever, unlike the remaining external acts of devotion, which can be performed for other worldly interests, such as hypocrisy, praise, and commendation. — Ibn Ata Allah

Allah was when there was nothing else than Him, and His Throne was upon the water, and He wrote in the Reminder (al-dhikr) all things, and He created the heavens and the earth. — Ibn Ata Allah

Life Lessons by Ibn Ata Allah

1. Ibn Ata Allah taught that one should strive to be aware of and connected to God in order to achieve spiritual growth and fulfillment.
2. He emphasized the importance of humility, self-reflection, and contemplation in order to gain insight into one's true nature and purpose in life.
3. He also encouraged people to be mindful of their actions and to strive for balance in all aspects of life in order to achieve inner peace and harmony.