Farid Attar Quotes & Sayings

Come you lost Atoms to your Centre draw,
And be the Eternal Mirror that you saw:
Rays that have wander'd into Darkness wide
Return and back into your Sun subsid — Farid Al-Din Attar

I am alone; make me your single goal --
My presence is sufficient for your soul;
I am your God, your one necessity --
With every breath you breathe, remember Me. — Farid Al-Din Attar

This was no friendship, to forsake your friend, To promise your support and at the end Abandon him-this was sheer treachery. Friend follows friend to hell and blasphemy- When sorrow comes one's true friends are found; In times of joy ten thousand gather round. — Farid Al-Din Attar

A thousand for his love expired each day, And those who saw his face, in blank dismay Would rave and grieve and mourn their lives away- To die for love of that bewitching sight Was worth a hundred lives without his light. None could survive his absence patiently, None could endure this king's proximity- How strange it was that man could neither brook The presence nor the absence of his look! — Farid Al-Din Attar

Let love lead your soul. Make it a place to retire to, a kind of monastery cave, a retreat for the deepest core of your being. — Farid Al-Din Attar

The fruit of love's great tree is poverty; Whoever knows this knows humility. — Farid Al-Din Attar

If the eye of the heart is open, in each atom there will be one hundred secrets — Farid Al-Din Attar

Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse, Yourselves would know that, though you see him not, He is with you this Moment, on this Spot ... — Farid Al-Din Attar

When first you enter Wisdom's sea, beware-A wave of indecision floods you there. — Farid Al-Din Attar

To seek death is death's only cure. — Farid Al-Din Attar

Your coat is beautiful, but where's your brain? — Farid Al-Din Attar

In this valley, Love is represented by fire, Reason by smoke. When Love bursts into flame, Reason is forthwith dissipated like smoke. Reason cannot coexist with Love's mania, for Love has nothing whatever to do with human Reason. If ever you attain a clear vision of the unseen world, then only will you be able to realize the source of Love. By the odour of Love every atom in the world is intoxicated. It owes its existence to the existence of Love. If — Farid Al-Din Attar

A man whose eyes love opens risks his soul - His dancing breaks beyond the mind's control. — Farid Al-Din Attar

The people of this world are like the three butterflies
in front of a candle's flame.

The first one went closer and said:
I know about love.

The second one touched the flame
lightly with his wings and said:
I know how love's fire can burn.

The third one threw himself into the heart of the flame
and was consumed. He alone knows what true love is. — Farid Al-Din Attar

Yea, my friends, we have a king, whose name is Simurg, and whose residence is behind Mount Caucasus. He is close by, but we are far away from Him. The road to His throne is bestrewn with obstructions; more than a hundred thousand veils of light and darkness screen the throne. Hundreds of thousands of souls burn with an ardent passion to see Him, but no one is able to find his way to Him. Yet none can afford to do without Him. Supreme manliness, absolute fearlessness and complete self-effacement are needed to overcome those obstacles. If we succeed in getting a glimpse of His face, it will be an achievement indeed. If we do not attempt it, and if we fail to greet the Beloved, this life is not worth living." The — Farid Al-Din Attar

Wanderer, you are distraught; Be calm. Our
glorious King cannot admit
All comers to His court; it is not fit
That every rascal who sleeps out the night
Should be allowed to glimpse its radiant light.
Most are turned back, and few perceive the throne;
Among a hundred thousand there is one. — Farid Al-Din Attar

Strive to discover the mystery
before life is taken from you.
If while living you fail to find yourself,
to know yourself,
how will you be able to understand
the secret of your existence
after you die? — Farid Al-Din Attar

Cupbearer, fill the bowl with blood, not wine --
And if you lack the heart's rich blood, take mine.
Love thrives on inextinguishable pain;
Which tears the soul, then knits the threads again. — Farid Al-Din Attar

You have the colours of
Those jewels you so inordinately love,
And yet you seem -- like your excuses -- lame. — Farid Al-Din Attar

The ocean can be yours; why should you stop
Beguiled by dreams of evanescent dew?
The secrets of the sun are yours, but you
Content yourself with motes trapped in beams. — Farid Al-Din Attar

The home we seek is in eternity; The Truth we seek is like a shoreless sea, Of which your paradise is but a drop. This ocean can be yours; why should you stop Beguiled by dreams of evanescent dew? The secrets of the sun are yours, but you Content yourself with motes trapped in its beams. Turn to what truly lives, reject what seems
Which matters more, the body or the soul? Be whole: desire and journey to the Whole. — Farid Al-Din Attar

His part is mercy, ours is endless praise. — Farid Al-Din Attar

The Sea
Will be the Sea
Whatever the drop's philosophy. — Farid Al-Din Attar

If you will but aspire
You will attain to all that you desire.
Before an atom of such need the Sun
Seems dim and mirky by comparison.
It is life's strength, the wings by which we fly
Beyond the further reaches of the sky. — Farid Al-Din Attar