Al-Ghazali (Abu Hamid al-Ghazali) was born in Ghazaleh in 1058 and died in 1111. Despite his relatively short life, he remains one of the most influential thinkers in human history.
Alongside Farid al-Din Attar, Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, Nasreddin Hodja, and a few others, he is remembered as one of the greatest Sufi teachers and mystics.
His father died when he was still a child, placing him under the care of a Sufi teacher from an early age. Later in life, he devoted himself to the search for truth, leaving behind his position and family and giving all his possessions to the poor.
He spent approximately ten years traveling through Palestine, Syria, and Egypt. The final years of his life were dedicated to teaching Sufism. During this period, he wrote Maqasid al-Falasifa (The Intentions of the Philosophers), a work that was later translated into numerous languages and became one of the most valued books associated with Sufism and the Islamic tradition.
Here are 25 excerpts attributed to his teachings:
- “Desires make servants out of kings, while patience makes kings out of servants.”
- “Knowledge without action is wastefulness, and action without knowledge is foolishness.”
- “To attain what you love, you must first learn to be patient with what you dislike.”
- “Do not let your heart delight in people’s praise, nor be saddened by their condemnation.”
- “The hypocrite looks for faults; the believer looks for excuses.”
- “A person of bad character punishes their own soul.”
- “If you do not prepare for the Hereafter now, when will you do so?”
- “Sometimes the love between two people grows stronger not because of beauty or advantage, but because of pure spiritual affinity.”
- “If you are occupied with yourself now, you will be occupied with yourself then. If you are occupied with Allah now, you will be occupied with Him then.”
- “Whoever says that all music is forbidden should also claim that the songs of birds are forbidden.”
- “You truly possess only what cannot be lost in a shipwreck.”
- “Half of the disbelief in Allah in this world is caused by people who make religion appear ugly through their ignorance and poor conduct.”
- “To trust completely in Allah is to be like a child who knows with certainty that even without calling for its mother, she is fully aware of its condition and cares for it.”
- “Human nature consists of four elements that produce four qualities: the beastly, the brutal, the satanic, and the divine. Within every person there is something of the pig, the dog, the devil, and the saint.”
- “The corruption of religions begins when they are reduced to mere words and outward appearances.”
- “Avoid arguing with others whenever possible, for disputes contain much harm and their evil outweighs their benefit.”
- “This visible world is a trace of the unseen world, and the former follows the latter as a shadow follows its source.”
- “The path to Paradise is uphill, while Hell lies downhill. That is why effort is required to reach Paradise, but not to reach Hell.”
- “The happiness of the drop is to die in the river.”
- “Whoever defines truth by people remains lost in the plains of confusion. Know the truth, and you will know its people.”
- “A human being is not truly human while self-indulgence, greed, anger, and aggression toward others dominate their nature.”
- “Whoever passes the age of forty without virtue overcoming vice should prepare for the fire of Hell. This advice is sufficient for those who possess understanding.”
- “Every breath you take is a priceless jewel, for each one is irreplaceable and, once gone, can never be returned.”
- “It is not the eyes that are blind, but the hearts within the chests that are blinded.”
- “Work for your earthly life according to the time you will spend in it, and work for your eternal life according to the eternity you will spend there.”
Author: Vasil Stoyanov
