Life and works of
Hazrat Inayat Khan
So fortunate to
find Phil Harris as my publisher— the publisher of All Things That Matter Press,
endowed with intellect, perception, inspiration, once again to lend voice to
the Sufic Wisdom of Hazrat Inayat Khan. For countless hours of his time,
expertise, dedication to give life to this book, I stay eternally grateful. This
book contains the aphorisms of Hazrat Inayat Khan during his years of travels
and Sufi teachings. His message of love, peace and harmony has been shared even
after his death by his disciples in the form of Quotations retrieved from his
book, Bowl of Saki. These quotations have been rewritten and circulated for
about a century and now through the medium of cyberspace to all who are
interested. His sayings have inspired many intellectuals through generations
and they still pulsate with positive energy to benefit the young and old in
century twenty-one. His unique expression of human virtues is timeless and
priceless to those who aspire to walk on the spiritual path of enlightenment.
He led the life of a contemplative who also was a great singer and a musician.
His songs and music were a rare feast to the souls hungry for peace after the
terrible war now known as WW1. He traveled far and wide in Europe, Russia and
America and gained many disciples whose progeny are continuing to share his
message of Sufi Wisdom. His grandson Pir Zia still carries the legacy of his
grandfather, Hazrat Inayat Khan, teaching Sufi practices at his Abode in
Richmond, Virginia.
“The message of
love, harmony and beauty is like a divine stream of spiritual evolution flowing
onward throughout our daily lives. And this awakening to purity and wisdom is
the true essence of all that is understood by the term Sufi.” Hazrat Inayat
Khan
A couple of excerpts
from Hazrat Inayat Khan’s writings:
“I was transported by destiny from the world of lyric and poetry to
the world of industry and commerce, on September 13, 1910. I bade farewell to
my motherland, the soil of India, the land of the sun, for America the land of
my future, wanderings: Perhaps I shall return some day, and yet I did not know
how long it would be before I should return. The ocean that I had to cross
seemed to me a gulf between the life that was passed and the life which was to
begin. I spent my moments on the ship looking at the rising and falling of the
waves and realizing in this rise and fall the picture of life reflected, the
life of individuals, of nations, of races, and of the world.
I tried to think where I was going, why I
was going, what I was going to do, what was in store for me. How shall I set to
work? Will the people be favorable or unfavorable to the Message which I am
taking from one end of the world to the other? It seemed my mind moved
curiously on these questions, but my heart refused to ponder upon them even for
a moment, answering apart one constant voice I always heard coming from within,
urging me constantly onward to my task, saying: Thou art sent on Our service,
and it is We Who will make thy way clear. This alone was my consolation.”
Hazrat Inayat Khan
“Among some of my
man-collaborators I saw a spirit of slight contempt toward the woman-workers,
as man has always thought that woman is superfluous or too tender, too much
devotional and unintelligent; and they have always sought for a man's
collaboration in the work. Nevertheless, however much qualified men proved to
be in the work, the valuable service that women have rendered to the Cause has
been incomparably greater. The way how some of them have worked unceasingly
with sincere devotion and firm faith, has been a marvel to me. If it was not
for some women as my collaborators in the Cause, the Sufi Movement would never
have been formed. How easily man forgets the place of woman in all walks of
life. It is his self that covers his eyes from recognizing the importance of
woman's collaboration in every work.” Hazrat Inayat Khan
“The emblem of the Sufi is a heart between two wings,
meaning that when the heart is cultivated man can soar up into heights of
heaven.” Hazrat Inayat Khan
