Mansur al-Hallaj Quotes

I am the Truth.

Mansur Al-Hallaj (Ana 'l-Ḥaqq in Arabic)

I know Him by my inability to know Him.

Mansur Al-Hallaj (The Tawasin)

A path is between two points but there is nothing beside God!

Mansur Al-Hallaj

He is hidden in His manifestation, manifest in His concealing.

Mansur Al-Hallaj

The beloved does not drink a single drop of water without seeing His Face in the cup.

Mansur Al-Hallaj

Ignorance is only a veil, and gnosis is beyond the veil. If not, there is no reality to it.

Mansur Al-Hallaj (Tawasin - The Garden of Gnosis)

The expressions of his intimate moments with the Beloved are like a powerful thunderstorm that sweeps the heart with terrifying power and yet brings serenity, life-giving water, freshness, and renewal to the heart, and occasionally a rainbow upon the horizon.

Mansur Al-Hallaj


The Sunrise Ruby

In the early morning hour,
just before dawn, lover and beloved wake
and take a drink of water.

She ask, "Do you love me or yourself more?
Really, tell the absolute truth."

He says, "There’s nothing left of me.
I’m like a ruby held up to the sunrise.
Is it still a stone, or a world
made of redness? It has no resistance
to sunlight."

This is how Hallaj said, I am God,
and told the truth!

The ruby and the sunrise are one.
Be courageous and discipline yourself.

Completely become hearing and ear,
and wear this sun-ruby as an earring.

Work. Keep digging your well.
Don’t think about getting off from work.
Water is there somewhere.

Submit to a daily practice.
Your loyalty to that
is a ring on the door.

Keep knocking, and the joy inside
will eventually open a window
and look out to see who’s there.


Concealment does not veil Him
His pre-existence preceded time,
His being preceded not-being,
His eternity preceded limit.

Mansur Al-Hallaj

I saw my Lord with the eye of the heart
I asked, ‘Who are You?’
He replied, ‘You’

Mansur Al-Hallaj (Tawasin - The Ta-Sin of the Point)

I saw my Lord with the eye of my heart.
He said, "Who are you?" I said, "I am You."
You are He Who fills all place
But place does not know where You are.
In my subsistence is my annihilation;
In my annihilation, I remain You.

Mansur Al-Hallaj (Tawasin - The Ta-Sin of the Point)

He acts without contact,
instructs without meeting,
guides without pointing.
Desires do not conflict with Him,
thoughts do not mingle with Him:
His essence is without qualification (takyeef),
His action without effort (takleef).

Mansur Al-Hallaj

Gnosis is beyond the idea of beyond, and beyond spatial limit and beyond the intention, and beyond awareness, and beyond received traditions, and beyond perception. Because all of these are something which was not in existence before being, and came into being in a place. He has never ceased to be, was and is before dimensions, causes and effects. So how can these dimensions contain Him, or limitations comprehend Him?

Mansur Al-Hallaj (Tawasin - The Garden of Gnosis)

Love is in the pleasure of possession, but in the Love of Allah there is no pleasure of possession, because the stations of the Reality are wonderment, the cancelling of the debt which is owed, and the blinding of vision. The Love of the human being for God is a reverence which penetrates the very depths of his being, and which is not permitted to be given except to Allah alone. The Love of Allah for the human being is that He Himself gives proof of Himself, not revealing Himself to anything that is not He.

Mansur Al-Hallaj

On the side of the pure divinity of Allah, He remains, transcending all dependent things, praise be to Allah who is not touched by any secondary cause. His proof is strong, and His power glorious. He, the Lord of Splendor and Glory and Majesty. The Unaccountable One with arithmetical Unity. No definition nor counting nor beginning nor end touches Him. His existence is a marvel since He is removed from existence. He alone knows Himself, Master of Majesty and magnanimity. Creator of souls and bodies.

Mansur Al-Hallaj (Tawasin - The Ta-Sin of the Disconnection-From-Forms)

Gnosis is removed from the existential things, it remains constantly with the Divine permanence. Its paths are narrow, and there is no road of access to it. Its meanings are clear but there is no guide to it. The senses do not perceive it, and the descriptions of men do not attain to it.
He who possesses it is solitary and he who mixes it becomes a heretic. He who strips it away becomes blind and he who attaches himself to it, perishes. Its lightning is an unceasing supply of water, its blow gives freely, and its arrow sticks, and when it throws to the ground it silences. One who fears it becomes an ascetic and it makes a watcher of the careless. Its tent-ropes are the gnostics and the means of ascent.
Gnosis has no other analogy that itself. Allah has no other analogy than Himself, and He resembles it. He is like it and He is like Himself, as it is analogous to itself. He is only like Himself and it is only like itself.

Mansur Al-Hallaj (Tawasin - The Garden of Gnosis)

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Mansur al-Hallaj Biography

Mansur Al-Hallaj hanging scene

Born: 858
Died: 922

Mansur al-Hallaj was a Persian sufi mystic philosopher and poet. He is best known for his poetry and for the events that lead to his death by accusation of heresy.

Notable Works

Dīwān al-Hallāj
Kitāb al-Tawāsīn