Shams Tabrizi quotes
1185 – 1247 · Medieval Persia, 12th–13th century · Sufi mystic and spiritual teacher
About Shams Tabrizi
Born c.1185 (probably near Tabriz) and last attested around 1247–1248, Shams al‑Dīn Muḥammad was an itinerant Sufi teacher who emphasized direct spiritual realization, critique of religious formalism, and ecstatic love. His teachings survive mainly through Rumi, Sultan Walad and later compilers; the Maqālāt‑i Shams collects discourses associated with him.
Works: Maqālāt‑i Shams (Discourses associated with Shams)
Quotes
“The past is an interpretation. The future is an illusion. The world does not move through time as if it were a straight line, proceeding from the past to the future. Instead, time moves through and within us, in endless spirals. Eternity does not mean infinite time, but simply timelessness. If you want to experience eternal illumination, put the past and the future out of your mind and remain within the present moment.”
Source: no specific work is documented · Check the source
MisattributedWhat we know
- What is documented
- Evidence indicates the wording is not found in authenticated medieval texts of Shams and is chiefly circulated in modern collections tied to the 'forty rules' motif.
- What remains uncertain
- Attribution to Shams Tabrizi is apocryphal or unverified; the most plausible origin is modern literary sources rather than a direct medieval statement.
The passage urges living in the present as the path to illumination: time is felt inwardly, not as a straight line, and eternity as timelessness. These are Sufi-friendly themes, but the exact wording is modern and not reliably from Shams Tabrizi.