The true sufi

Funzo

What makes the Sufi? Purity of heart;
Not the patched mantle and the lust perverse
Of those vile earth-bound men who steal his name.
He in all dregs discerns the essence pure:
In hardship ease, in tribulation joy.
The phantom sentries, who with batons drawn
Guard Beauty's place-gate and curtained bower,
Give way before him, unafraid he passes,
And showing the King's arrow, enters in.

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Noor — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 - 18:04

You can live it, you can know it but you cannot define a Sufi - Persian Dictionary

Funzo — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 - 20:56

[quote=Sumaiya]@funzo :translation?[/quote]
translation of what?

Sumaiya — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 - 21:10

sorry to be old fashioned, but i dont speak spirituallish, you can only dream of being one?

Funzo — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 - 23:28

[quote=Sumaiya]sorry to be old fashioned, but i dont speak spirituallish, you can only dream of being one?[/quote]
its hard to explain, well basically being a sufi isnt being part of a group or jamah etc but rather its being at a certain spirtual level, having peace at heart and peace of mind being in touch with god and with oneself and having control of your nafs.

Ya'qub — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 02:33

[quote=Funzo]
its hard to explain, well basically being a sufi isnt being part of a group or jamah etc but rather its being at a certain spirtual level, having peace at heart and peace of mind being in touch with god and with oneself and having control of your nafs.[/quote]

Couldn't you just replace the word 'sufi' with '(very) good Muslim' in that sentence? I'm not being argumentative, I'm just genuinely interested.

What is the difference between being a Very Good Muslim and being a Sufi?

Is a Sufi ALWAYS a Very Good Muslim, and/or is a Very Good Muslim ALWAYS a Sufi?

Do you have to do anything in particular that is different from mainstream Islam to be a Sufi?

Is Sufism JUST about the inner self, and if so how come every Sufi wears a special type of turban (depending on whichever order they are affiliated to)? Is this assumption naive and incorrect (if so I would need evidence of a well-known Sufi order who don't have a hierachy of turbans)?

Could that uncle who I sat next to me in the Masjid be a Sufi and I would never have known? Or would I see something special in his eyes/face that would have told me?

I think there is a lot of negative views of Sufism amongst many Muslims. This could well be because not much is known about them/it. If this is true, then having very oblique/insubstantial definitions of them/it in dictionaries is perhaps not the best of ideas.

Just a few thoughts...

Funzo — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 17:05

[quote=Sumaiya]ive heard that sufis chant a lot.[/quote]
and spin in circles all day and night non stop? :roll:

Funzo — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 17:09

[quote=Sumaiya]great poem by the way, mashallah. wish i could write like that[/quote]
Rumi (r.a) did some fantastic poetry.

Funzo — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 18:18

[quote=Sumaiya]well yeah,do you?[/quote]
you do realise i was joking right?

Sumaiya — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 18:21

yeah, but ive heard and seen that before, or do you have sects within sufism that practise different methods of worship?

Funzo — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 18:25

what do you mean when you say "you"? im not a sufi i wouldnt know thats why i didnt even attempt to answer yaqubs questions it would naive and ignorant of me to do so, and in sufism there is different groups with different practises, the dancing is justified by the hadith when the etheopians went to the prophet ﷺ and started spinning in circles praising the prophet(saw) due to them being in wajd, but since its difficult to judge whether a person is or is not in wajd it is difficult to criticise the people who spin around.

Noor — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 19:04

[quote=Ya'qub]What is the difference between being a Very Good Muslim and being a Sufi?[/quote]

theres no difference.

[quote]Do you have to do anything in particular that is different from mainstream Islam to be a Sufi?[/quote]

nope. sufism/spirituality is a private matter between the person and their Lord. no one else. only Allah swt knows our level of imaan.

[quote]Is Sufism JUST about the inner self, and if so how come every Sufi wears a special type of turban (depending on whichever order they are affiliated to)? Is this assumption naive and incorrect (if so I would need evidence of a well-known Sufi order who don't have a hierachy of turbans)?[/quote]

not true. a sufi is someone who has conquered his nafs. just became a certain order has the name sufi/tasawwuf in it does not mean they are sufi.

[quote]Could that uncle who I sat next to me in the Masjid be a Sufi and I would never have known?[/quote]

yes.

Sumaiya — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 20:46

[quote=Funzo]what do you mean when you say "you"? im not a sufi [/quote]

whats is sufism in relation to you then?

Sumaiya — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 21:04

just curious, for a person who not a sufi, it pretty unusual for him to be displaying a poem based on sufism.

Funzo — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 21:06

why? i admire sufism. People who arent premier league footballers display admiration premier league footballers is that strange?

Sumaiya — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 21:13

true, but if u admire it so much, why arnt u one? (trust a guy to relate it to football)

Funzo — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 - 22:25

[quote=Sumaiya]true, but if u admire it so much, why arnt u one? (trust a guy to relate it to football)[/quote]
i thought i explained it to you i could only dream of being one.