21
" Salat
Most gracious Lord, Master, Messiah, and Savior of
humanity,
We greet Thee with all humility.
Thou art the First Cause and the Last Effect, the Divine Light
and the Spirit of Guidance, Alpha and Omega.
Thy Light is in all forms, Thy Love in all beings: in a loving
mother, in a kind father, in an innocent child, in a helpful
friend, in an inspiring teacher.
Allow us to recognize Thee in all Thy holy names and forms:
as Rama, as Krishna, as Shiva, as Buddha.
Let us know Thee as Abraham, as Solomon, as Zarathustra, as
Moses, as Jesus, as Muhammad, and in many other names
and forms, known and unknown to the world.
We adore Thy past; Thy presence deeply enlighteneth our
being, and we look for Thy blessing in the future. O
Messenger, Christ, Nabi, the Rasul of God!
Thou Whose heart constantly reacheth upward, Thou comest
on earth with a message, as a dove from above when
Dharma decayeth, and speakest the Word that is put into
Thy mouth, as the light filleth the crescent moon.
Let the star of the Divine Light shining in Thy heart be
reflected in the hearts of Thy devotees.
May the Message of God reach far and wide, illuminating and
making the whole humanity as one single Brotherhood in
the Fatherhood of God.
Amen. "
― Hazrat Inayat Khan , The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
22
" Khatum
O Thou, Who art the Perfection of Love, Harmony, and
Beauty,
The Lord of heaven and earth,
Open our hearts, that we may hear Thy Voice, which
constantly cometh from within.
Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls,
that we may know and understand life better.
Most Merciful and Compassionate God, give us Thy great
Goodness;
Teach us Thy loving Forgiveness;
Raise us above the distinctions and differences which divide
men;
Send us the Peace of Thy Divine Spirit,
And unite us all in Thy Perfect Being.
Amen. "
― Hazrat Inayat Khan , The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
26
" Life is progress, and stopping from progress is death. Failure does not matter in life for a progressive person, even a thousand failures do not matter. He has before his view success, and success is his even after a thousand failures. The greatest pity in life is the standstill when life does not move further. A sensible person prefers death to such a life. It is as a paralysis of the soul, of the spirit, and is always caused by holding bad impressions in mind. No soul is deprived of happiness in reality. The soul’s very being is happiness. Man brings unhappiness upon himself by holding in his hands the clouds of bad impressions, which fall as a shadow upon his soul. Once a person is able to clear from his mind, by whatever process, the undesirable impressions, a new power begins to spring from his heart, opening a way before him to accomplish all he wishes, attracting to him all he requires, clearing his path of all obstacles, and making his atmosphere clear, for him to live and move and to accomplish all he wishes to accomplish. "
― Hazrat Inayat Khan , The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
28
" What is religion to the mystic? The religion of the mystic is a steady progress towards unity. How does he make this progress? In two ways. In the first way, he sees himself in others, in the good, in the bad, in all; and thus he expands the horizon of his vision. This study goes on throughout his lifetime, and as he progresses he comes closer to the oneness of all things. And the other way of developing is to become conscious of one’s own self in God, and of God in one’s self, which means deepening the consciousness of our innermost being. This process takes place in two directions: outwardly, by being one with all we see, and inwardly, by being in touch with that one Life which is everlasting, by dissolving into it, and by being conscious of that one Spirit being the existence, the only existence. "
― Hazrat Inayat Khan , The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
30
" The soul is life, it never touches death. Death is its illusion, its impression, death comes to something which it holds, not to the soul itself. The soul becomes accustomed to identify itself with the body it adopts, with the environment which surrounds it, with the names by which it is known, with its rank and possessions, which are only the outward signs that belong to the world of illusion. The soul absorbed in its childlike fancies, in things that it values and to which it gives importance, and in the beings to which it attaches itself, blinds itself by the veils of its illusion. Thus it covers its own truth with a thousand veils from its own eyes. "
― Hazrat Inayat Khan , The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
31
" When a person begins to see all goodness as being the goodness of God, all the beauty that surrounds him as the divine beauty, he begins by worshiping a visible God, and as his heart constantly loves and admires the divine beauty in all that he sees, he begins to see in all that is visible one single vision; all becomes for him the vision of the beauty of God. His love of beauty increases his capacity to such a degree that great virtues such as tolerance and forgiveness spring naturally from his heart. Even things that people mostly look upon with contempt, he views with tolerance. The brotherhood of humanity he does not need to learn, for he does not see humanity, he sees only God. And as this vision develops, it becomes a divine vision which occupies every moment of his life. In nature he sees God, in man he sees His image, and in art and poetry he sees the dance of God. The waves of the sea bring him the message from above, and the swaying of the branches in the breeze seems to him a prayer. For him there is a constant contact with his God. He knows neither horror nor terror, nor any fear. Birth and death to him are only insignificant changes in life. Life for him is a moving picture which he loves and admires, and yet he is free from it all. He is one among all the world. He himself is happy, and he makes others happy. "
― Hazrat Inayat Khan , The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
32
" The symbol of the Sufi Movement, which is a heart with wings, denotes its ideal. The heart is both earthly and heavenly. The heart is a receptacle on earth of the divine Spirit, and when it holds the divine Spirit, it soars heavenward; the wings picture its rising. The crescent in the heart symbolizes responsiveness. It is the heart that responds to the spirit of God which rises. The crescent is a symbol of responsiveness because it grows fuller as the moon grows fuller by responding more and more to the sun as it progresses. The light one sees in the crescent is the light of the sun. As it gets more light with its increasing response, so it becomes fuller of the light of the sun. The star in the heart of the crescent represents the divine spark which is reflected in the human heart as love, and which helps the crescent towards its fullness. The Sufi Message is the message of the day. It does not bring theories or doctrines to add to those already existing and which puzzle the human mind. What the world needs today is the message of love, harmony, and beauty, the absence of which is the only tragedy of life. The Sufi Message does not give a new law; it awakens in humanity the spirit of brotherhood, with tolerance on the part of each for the religion of the other, with forgiveness from each for the fault of the other. It teaches thoughtfulness and consideration, so as to create and maintain harmony in life; it teaches service and usefulness, which alone can make life in the world fruitful, and in this lies the satisfaction of every soul. "
― Hazrat Inayat Khan , The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
34
" Spiritual knowledge is not in learning something; it is in discovering something, so to speak, in breaking the fetters of the false consciousness and allowing the soul to unfold itself with light and power. What does the word spiritual really mean? Spiritual is spirit-conscious. When a person is conscious of his body, he cannot be spiritual. He is like a king who does not know his kingdom. The moment he is conscious of being a king, he is a king. Every soul is born a king—afterwards he becomes a slave. Every soul is born with kingly possibility—by this wicked world it is taken away. This is told in symbolic stories, as in the story of Rama, from whom his beloved Sita was taken away. Every soul has to conquer this, has to fight for this kingdom. In that fight the spiritual kingdom is attained. No one will fight for you, neither your teacher nor anybody else. Yes, those who are more evolved than you can help you, but you have to fight your battle, your way to that spiritual goal. "
― Hazrat Inayat Khan , The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
