Abu Bakr Shibli, a revered early Sufi mystic from Khurasan (present-day Iran), lived during the 9th and 10th centuries. Renowned for his deep spiritual insight and devotion to God, Shibli is considered a pioneering figure in the development of Sufism. While the details of his life are often obscured by legend, his teachings emphasized spiritual poverty (faqr) and absolute submission to the Divine will.

Shibli’s concept of “annihilation in God” (fana fi Allah), wherein the individual ego is completely dissolved into the divine essence, became a cornerstone of Sufi philosophy and practice. His profound influence on Sufism resonates through generations, inspiring seekers to embark on the mystical journey of self-transcendence and union with the Divine. Though historical details may be scarce, Abu Bakr Shibli’s legacy endures as a beacon of spiritual wisdom within the rich tapestry of Islamic mysticism.

Abu Bakr Shibli Quotes

01. “Love is called ‘Mahabba’ because it obliterates everything but the Beloved from the heart. He also said: “Love means that you are jealous for the Beloved least one like yourself love Him.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

02. “The gnostic does not look to anything other than Him, does not speak by the speech of anything other than Him, and does not perceive any protector for himself other than God Most High.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

03. “Sincere recollection of God by a devotee lies in forgetting his recollection because awareness of recollection implies the devotee’s association to his own self.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

04. “Someone asked: “What is love?” He replied: “It is like a cup (of fire) which blazes terribly. When it takes root in the senses and settle in the heart; it annihilates.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

05. “Dissociate with all, for that is the sign of attaining to the nearness of God. Cherish no thought but of Him, for every thought besides Him is mere stupidity.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

06. “For the enlightened one, a moment’s forgetfulness of the Lord is the greatest heresy.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

07. “More precious than a thousand years past and a thousand years to come is this present moment for you. Be not deluded by anything material. Know that in the realm of the soul past and future are the same as present.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

08. “The Sufi is separated from mankind and united with God as He says (to Moses): “I have attached you to Myself.” (20:41)
— Abu Bakr Shibli

09. “The Sufis are children in the lap of God; Sufism is a flaming flash of lightning and Sufism is being protected from paying heed to creation.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

10. “God is indeed Merciful. I know His mercy, but I have never asked Him to be merciful to me.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

11. “Thankfulness is awareness of the Giver of blessings, not the blessings.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

12. “The enlightened saint (Aarif) sees none besides God, meets none besides Him and loves none besides Him.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

13. “Steadfastness means that you face every moment as if it were the Resurrection.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

14. “The greatest loss of an individual is to be deprived of His vision.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

15. “The very least sign of poverty (Faqr) is that if all the wealth of this world were given to one man and he spent it all in charity in one day, but then it occurred to him that he should have saved enough for one day’s food, he would not be truthful in this poverty.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

16. “He who delivers a sermon as a matter of routine and the audience who hear it in that spirit do not reap benefit from the discourse; they rather lose by doing so.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

17. “Nothing in the world can attract me, nor can anything enslave me by its virtue or beauty.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

18. “Once Shibli was confined to lunatic asylum. Dear friends came to visit him. Shibli started pelting them with stone, so they ran away. Shibli‘ laughed and said: “O you liars, if you were my dear friends, ‘you would have been patient when I put you to trial, but you ran away.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

09. “For a long time, I used to think that I was rejoicing the love of God and was intimate with contemplation of Him: now I know that intimacy is impossible except with a congener.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

10. “Shibli prayed to God: “O Allah, thou art Almighty and Great, resurrect me blind on the Day of Resurrection, so that even my eyes may not behold ‘Thee.’”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

11. “Sufi is separated from mankind and united with God, as God hath said: “And I chose thee for Myself, He separated him from all others,”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

12. “Sufism is polytheism, because it is the guarding of the heart from the vision of ‘other’ and ‘other’ does not exist.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

13. “The Lower self is a part of the external or the unreal world and thus the saint guards his inner self.
— Abu Bakr Shibli

14. “There are two kinds of jealousy: human jealousy for one another and divine jealousy for their hearts. Divine jealousy is for the breaths of men, lest they be wasted on other-than-God.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

15. “Someone asked: “Why does the sun pale at the time of sunset?” Shibli replied: “Because it has been cut off from the place of perfection. It becomes yellow for heart of standing before God.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

16. “Someone asked: “What kind of patience is most difficult for the patient?” He said: “Patience. onward God, patience for God, or patience with God. And finally, ‘Patience away from God?’ Saying this he shrieked, and his soul was almost destroyed.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

17. “One who sleeps an hour in the night in forgetfulness (of God) is left behind in the spiritual race by one thousand years in the end.”
— Abu Bakr Shibli

18. “That which is in your fate you shall receive in spite of all obstacles and that which is not in your destiny, by no effort on your part you can secure it. So, what is there against which you have to practice piety (Zuhd).
— Abu Bakr Shibli

19. “Tasawwuf is control of the faculties and observance of the breaths.
— Abu Bakr Shibli

20. “I am the dot under the letter be.
— Abu Bakr Shibli

21. “For the gnostic there is no attachment, for the lover there is no grievance, for the servant there is no claim, for the one who fears God, there is no rest, and for no one is there escape from God.
— Abu Bakr Shibli