Mahmud Quotes & Sayings

The ways of the British are inscrutable but they always seem to obtain their own ends without compromising their dignity or their honor. — Mahmud Tarzi

Go sweep out the chamber of your heart.
Make it ready to be the dwelling place of the Beloved.
When you depart out, He will enter it.
In you, void of yourself, will He display His beauties. — Mahmud Shabistari

Each atom hides beneath its veil The soul amazing beauty of the Beloved's face. — Mahmud Shabistari

The tavern haunter wanders lonely in a desert
And sees the whole world as a mirage.
The desert is limitless and endless --
No one has seen its beginning or its end,
And even if you wandered in it a hundred years
You would not find yourself, or anyone else.
Those who live there have no feet or heads,
Are neither "believers" nor "unbelievers."
Drunk on the wine of selflessness,
They have given up good and evil alike.
Drunk, without lips or mouth, on Truth
They have thrown away all thoughts of name and fame,
All talk of wonders, visions, spiritual states,
Dreams, secret rooms, lights, miracles. — Mahmud Shabistari

I'm an old-timey gal. — Alaina Huffman

The group laughed, and Sidney's eyes met Vaughn's as he walked up the aisle alongside his
brother. She found herself momentarily holding her breath.
Then he looked away when Isabelle walked up to greet him and Simon.
Sidney exhaled and turned back around, when she saw Kathleen studying her.
"Does he know?" Kathleen asked softly.
Sidney opened her mouth to protest - but before she could say a word, Corinne, the wedding
planner, clapped her hands.
"All right, people. We've got a bride, a groom, and a pastor. Anyone who isn't here can get the
CliffsNotes later. Let's get this rehearsal started," Corinne said. — Julie James

Then, from somewhere above us, a voice yelled, "Hey, Bronze Butt!"
Over the Colossus's head, a cloud of darkness formed like a cartoon dialogue bubble. Out of the shadows dropped a furry black monster dog-a hellhound-and astride his back was a young man with a glowing bronze sword.
The weekend was here. Percy Jackson had arrived. — Rick Riordan

Penetrate the heart of just one drop of water, and you will be flooded by a hundred oceans. — Mahmud Shabistari

God's Mercy and Forgiveness is available for everyone however, your part is to accept it and mend your ways — Josephine Akhagbeme

When "I" and "You" are absent, I've no idea if this is a mosque, synagogue, church or temple — Mahmud Shabistari

Life does not proceed by the association and addition of elements, but by dissociation and division. — Henri Bergson

Knowing is passing from the false to the true and seeing the Absolute Whole in the part. — Mahmud Shabistari

Once Europe existed in a Dark Age and Islam carried the torch of learning. Now we Muslims live in a Dark age. — Mahmud Tarzi

I'd rather have a cup of coffee and a cigarette than live in all that honesty. — Benjamin Alire Saenz

I ran out of the apartment in a rage. Mahmud followed me, and we walked home, not speaking. Shortly before we reached the door to the house, he grabbed hold of me. "You're my friend, even if you've hurt me," he said.
I embraced him and asked his forgiveness. — Rafik Schami

Thinking

Thinking is passing from the false to the true
and seeing the Absolute Whole in the part.
When the idea enters the mind,
it is a reminiscence of a former state,
and passes on to interpretation.

. . . He who sees by illumination
discerns God first in everything.
But he who sees by logic only,
and seeks to prove the necessary,
is bewildered and sometimes travels
backward in a circle, or is imprisoned
in a chain of proofs.
Fool! He seeks the dazzling sun
by the dim light of a candle in the desert. — Mahmud Shabistari

Man wasn't made to inherit Paradise without effort. Rather, he was made to conquer Paradise, after proving his worthiness of it. — Mustafa Mahmud

If you're going to hope for a change, you'd better start to pray for a change. If you're just hoping, you ain't going anywhere. — Bobby Labonte

The next time you're tempted to overuse your powers, remember this, I will bring you back by any means necessary, so if you value your humanity, don't do that again. — Jeaniene Frost

In the empty heart, void of self can be heard the echoing cry, "I am the Truth." Thus is man one with the eternal. Travelling, travel and traveller have become one. — Mahmud Shabistari

The oppressed martyrs of our culture have shed blood that nourish the red tulips of our nation. — Mahmud Tarzi

Behold how this drop of seawater
has taken so many forms and names;
it has existed as mist, cloud, rain, dew, and mud,
then plant, animal, and Perfect man;
and yet it was a drop of water
from which these things appeared.
Even so this universe of reason, soul, heavens, and bodies,
was but a drop of water in its beginning and ending.

...When a wave strikes it, the world vanishes;
and when the appointed time comes to heaven and stars,
their being is lost in not being. — Mahmud Shabistari

Know the world from end to end is a mirror;
in each atom a hundred suns are concealed.
If you pierce the heart of a single drop of water,
from it will flow a hundred clear oceans;
if you look intently at each speck of dust,
in it you will see a thousand beings.
A gnat in its limbs is like an elephant;
in name a drop of water resembles the Nile.
In the heart of a barleycorn is stored a hundred harvests.
Within a millet-seed a world exists.
In an insects wing is an ocean of life.
A heaven is concealed in the pupil of an eye.
The core at the center of the heart is small,
yet the Lord of both worlds will enter there. — Mahmud Shabistari

The past has flown away. The coming month and year do not exist. Ours only is the present's tiny point. — Mahmud Shabistari

Although age has its normal limits, it may be extended by two things-the study of history and by travel. Reading history broadens one's perception of the creation of the world, while travel extends one's field of vision. — Mahmud Tarzi

Had I but written as many odes in praise of Muhammad and Ali as I have composed for King Mahmud, they would have showered a hundred blessings on me. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

In God there is no duality. In that Presence "I" and "we" and "you" do not exist. "I" and "you" and "we" and "He" become one ... Since in the Unity there is no distinction, the Quest and the Way and the Seeker become one. — Mahmud Shabistari

Mahmud's highly mobile army rarely fell below the force of 100,000 that he amassed to attack Balkh in 999.5 In recruiting and deploying his slave soldiers, Mahmud was blind to color, ethnicity, and religion. He did not hesitate, for example, to send Hindu forces against the Turkic, Persian, or Indian armies that were defending Muslim cities. Even his own household consisted mainly of slaves. Far from being constrained by his Muslim faith, Mahmud believed that the highest religious authority, the caliph, had validated his actions and confirmed all the dubious privileges he so freely exercised. — S. Frederick Starr

Every particle of the world is a mirror. In each atom blazes forth the light of a thousand suns. Open the heart of a raindrop and you will find a hundred oceans. In a grain of sand lies the seed of a thousand beings. — Mahmud Shabistari