Nazim

“I do not change anyone, I do not add to anyone.  I only pass on Divine Knowledge.  I give from you to you, from within yourself.  I make Connections.”
“If you refuse all and accept the One, You are not proud.  If you accept all and refuse the One, you are proud.”
“We are holders of the Attributes of God, not His partners.”
“The difference between you and your Master is that you are proud.”
“What shall I say about myself?  I am like the moon.  When the sun goes, the light of the moon goes.  If the light of my Master leaves me, I am in darkness.  I am nothing.  Whoever sees me as this one or that one sees me through the Light of my Master.”
“You are burning.  And what burns you is love or it is fire.”
“Whoever refuses to feed his soul is cruel.  Our soul nourishes itself through obedience to its Lord.  If you take away its nourishment, you shorten your life.”
“They say, ‘He died.’  What does this mean?  It means, ‘He was Taken away.  The Divine Spark was Taken from him.’  Then, he is nothing.”
“The Oneness of God is the basis of all prophetic religions.  It is the Criterion with which to distinguish a false prophet from a true one.  He who calls people to the Oneness of God calls them to the True Way and is a true emissary of God Almighty.  He who does not call them to this Way, but who calls them to another or to others, does not follow a Heavenly Way but runs after his ego.”
“I do not say, ‘Follow me,’ for I know who will follow.”
“We claim existence, and we cling to this existence.  Maybe the price for it is high, very high.  It does not Matter.  We keep saying, ‘We will Pay.’”
“Yes, I know all languages.  I understand them all.  There is also a kind of speaking without speaking, and I know what will be said before it is said.  I understand.”
“The love of the believers, of the saints, of the prophets, comes from the Love of God.  At first, God Loves them, then His servants love them.  When does this Love comes to us?  When we begin to obey.  When you dig, you find the water.  It is the same with obedience; it is like digging in the heart.”
“Even if you are photographed in 20,000 poses, You are still one.  Great wisdom lies in this.  To reach your one essence, you must die to yourself while you are still alive.   Die before you die', means to be in connection with the original.”
“It is impossible to understand yourself.  At least, you must look into a mirror.  No one recognizes the imperfections in himself.”
“What comes first, the pearl or the shell?”
“Doubt comes from pride.  You doubt when you are not humble enough to believe.”
“Pride is the greatest obstacle standing between us and our Destination.”
“All things except God are like shadows in a mirror.”
“Anger is a big tree in our heart.  It is difficult to uproot it.”
“Knowledge is not as important as transmission from heart to heart.”
“One of the Friends of God said, ‘When I see someone from behind, I know how he thinks.  When I see his face, I read his book of life.’'
“All praise, whatever its source, goes to Allah.  When I praise you, I praise your Creator.  For there is nothing praiseworthy about you, unless it comes from your Creator.”
“We ask to be no one and nothing.  For, as long as we are someone, we are not complete.”

~ Shaykh Nazim (1922-2014) was born in south-eastern Cyprus in city of Iskele (Larnaca) to Turkish Cypriot parents. He was a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad on both his mother's side and his father's side. Through his father, he was also a descendent of the great 11th century saint Abdulqadir Jilani. Through his mother, he was a descendent of 13th century mystic saint Jalaluddin Rumi. Therefore, through his parents, he inherited the traditions of both the Qadiriyya and Mevlevi Sufi Orders.