Data Sahib, also known as Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh Ali Hajveri, was an influential Sufi saint and scholar in the 11th century, born in Ghazni, Afghanistan, and later residing in Lahore, Pakistan. Renowned in the Punjab region, he authored the seminal Sufi text “Kashf al-Mahjub” (Unveiling of the Hidden), which remains pivotal in Sufi literature. Data Sahib’s teachings emphasized love, devotion, and spiritual enlightenment under the guidance of a master. He attracted a large following of disciples and devotees. The shrine of Data Sahib in Lahore is a significant pilgrimage site, symbolizing religious harmony and visited by people of diverse faiths seeking blessings and spiritual solace. His teachings continue to inspire millions in South Asia, fostering love, tolerance, and the pursuit of inner peace, transcending cultural and religious boundaries.

Data Sahib Quotes

01. “Once Ibrahim Adham saw a stone on which was written – ‘turn me over and read.’ On the other side, he read – ‘you do not practice what you know, why then do you seek what you know not?'”
— Data Sahib

02. “Many shaikhs observe the following rule. When a novice joins them, they subject him to the spiritual discipline for three years. He can be admitted to the path only if he fulfills all the requirements of this discipline. The first year is devoted to the service of the people, the second year to the service of God, and the third year to watching over his own heart.”
— Data Sahib

03. “The term ‘Sufi’ has no derivation answering to etymological requirements inasmuch as Sufism is too exalted to have any genus from which it might be derived.”
— Data Sahib

04. “A saint is known only to a saint.”
— Data Sahib

05. “God alone can help a man to do good deeds.”
— Data Sahib

06. “Unless God exerts Himself towards a man, that man’s exertion is of no use.”
— Data Sahib

07. “Marriage is proper for those who prefer to associate with mankind, and celibacy is an ornament for those who seek retirement from mankind.”
— Data Sahib

08. “Dervishhood in all its meanings is a metaphorical poverty, and amidst all its subordinate aspects, there is a transcendent principle.”
— Data Sahib

09. “This world is the abode of trouble, the pavilion of affliction, the den of sorrow, the house of parting, and the cradle of tribulation.”
— Data Sahib

10. “Prayer requires purification of the body; gnosis requires purification of the heart.”
— Data Sahib

11. “The glory of poverty is this, that the poor man’s body is divinely preserved from base and sinful acts, and his heart from evil and contaminating thoughts.”
— Data Sahib

12. “Formerly, the practice of Sufism was known and the pretense unknown; nowadays the pretense is known, and the practice is unknown.”
— Data Sahib

13. “In the mystic path, he who says ‘I have arrived’ has gone astray.”
— Data Sahib

14. “Man, enamored of his gross environment, remains sunk in ignorance and apathy, making no attempt to cast off the veil that has fallen upon him.”
— Data Sahib

15. “Divine guidance involves self-mortification without which contemplation is unattainable.”
— Data Sahib

16. “Humanity is the greatest barrier that separates man from Divinity.”
— Data Sahib

17. “All human actions and inactions are the act and creation of God.”
— Data Sahib

18. “The spiritual path is hard to travel except for those who were created for the purpose.”
— Data Sahib

19. “Saintship is a divine mystery that is revealed only through conduct.”
— Data Sahib

20. “Gnosis is realized when its true nature is divinely revealed.”
— Data Sahib

21. “God has saints whom He has distinguished by His friendship.”
— Data Sahib

22. “When a man is satisfied with God’s decrees, it is a sign that God is satisfied with him.”
— Data Sahib

23. “Gnosis when sought by effort is a shackle and a veil.”
— Data Sahib

24. “Although hunger is an affliction to the body, it illumines the heart, purifies the soul, and leads the spirit into the presence of God.”
— Data Sahib

25. “The Divine knowledge penetrates what is hidden and comprehends what is manifest.”
— Data Sahib

26. “Poverty has a form and an essence. Its form is destitution and indigence, but its essence is fortune and free choice.”
— Data Sahib

27. “The highest pinnacle of knowledge is expressed in the fact that without it none can know God.”
— Data Sahib

28. “The affliction of poverty is a sign of presence, while the delight of riches is a sign of ‘absence’.”
— Data Sahib

29. “When you have obtained knowledge of the lower soul, you recognize that it can be controlled by discipline, but that its essence and substance do not perish.”
— Data Sahib

30. “Anyone who pretends to know God without lowliness and fear is an ignorant fool, not gnostic.”
— Data Sahib

31. “Seeking is the cause of finding, but finding is the cause of seeking.”
— Data Sahib

32. “A miracle is a token of a saint’s veracity, and it cannot be manifested to an imposter except as a sign that his pretensions are false.”
— Data Sahib

33. “Eternal life is gained by spiritual sacrifice and by renunciation of self-interest in fulfilling God’s commandments.”
— Data Sahib

34. “Love is an attribute of the beloved; therefore, no explanation of its real nature is possible.”
— Data Sahib

35. “There is no flame of lust that cannot be extinguished by strenuous effort because when vice proceeds from yourself, you possess the instrument that will remove it.”
— Data Sahib

36. “The miracles of a saint confirm the evidence of the prophet.”
— Data Sahib

37. “The way to God is like the blazing sun.”
— Data Sahib

38. “The essence of Sufism involves the annihilation of human qualities.”
— Data Sahib

39. “The Sufi is entirely present: his soul is where his body is, and his body where his soul is, and his soul where his foot is, and his foot where his soul is.”
— Data Sahib

40. “Knowledge and action cannot be divorced in any way, just as the light of the sun cannot be separated from the sun itself.”
— Data Sahib

41. “Knowledge of God is the science of gnosis; knowledge from God is the science of the sacred Law, and knowledge with God is the science of the Sufi path.”
— Data Sahib

42. “A man is united to God when God holds him in honor, and separated from God when God holds him in contempt.”
— Data Sahib

43. “Faith and gnosis are love, and obedience is a sign of love.”
— Data Sahib

44. “The animal soul is the greatest of all veils between God and man.”
— Data Sahib

45. “Mortification stands in the same relation to contemplation as Divine blessing to obedience.”
— Data Sahib

46. “The true object of pilgrimage is not to visit the Kaaba, but to obtain contemplation of God.”
— Data Sahib

47. “Religion is the root, and Sufism is the branch.”
— Data Sahib

48. “Lust is our shackle, and sin is our chain.”
— Data Sahib

49. “Unless Divine protection is predestined to a man, he cannot abstain from anything by his exertion”
— Data Sahib