Al-Ghazali Quotes
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali was an 11th and early 12th-century Persian Sunni Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and Sufi mystic, regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Islam. His 40-volume The Revival of the Religious Sciences, written after he abandoned a prestigious teaching position to pursue Sufi spiritual practice, is a comprehensive synthesis of Islamic ethics, ritual, and inner spiritual life. The quotes below are attributed to Al-Ghazali, organized by topic.
Browse Al-Ghazali by topic
Al-Ghazali on God
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Attributed to Al-Ghazali:
“The greatest proof for the existence of God is the existence of the human mind.”
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“The man who makes his religion a means to the gaining of this world, will lose both worlds alike; whereas the man who gives up this world for the sake of religion, will get both worlds alike.”
The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghazali , Allen & Unwin (1963), p. 152. -
“For those endowed with insight there is in reality no object of love but God, nor does anyone but He deserve love”
Love, Longing, Intimacy and Contentment . Islamic Texts Society. 2011. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-903682-27-2 . Translated with an introduction and notes by Eric Ormsby. -
“A grievous crime indeed against religion has been committed by the man who imagines that Islam is defended by the denial of the mathematical sciences.”
Deliverance from Error | III. The Classes of Seekers, p. 23.
Al-Ghazali on Knowledge
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Attributed to Al-Ghazali:
“Knowledge without action is wastefulness, and action without knowledge is foolishness.”
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Attributed to Al-Ghazali:
“The deeper one travels into the path of knowledge, the further one is from being satisfied.”
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“There is no denying existence itself. Something must exist and anyone who says nothing exists at all makes a mockery of sense and necessity. The proposition that there is no denying being itself, then, is a necessary premise. Now this Being which has been admitted in principle is either necessary or contingent… What this means is that a being must be self-sufficient or dependent… From here we argu”
Fada’ih al-Batiniyya. Edited by Abdurahman Badawi. Kuwait: Muasassa Dar al-Kutub al-Thiqafa (1964), p. 82. -
“Tibawi, A.L. (ed. and tr.). (1965) Al-Risala al-Qudsiyya (The Jerusalem Epistle) “Al-Ghazali's Tract on Dogmatic Theology”. In: The Islamic Quarterly, 9:3–4 (1965), 3-4.”
How can even the lowest mind, if he reflects at all the marvels of this earth and sky, the brilliant fashioning of plants and animals, remain blind to the fact that this wonderful world with its settled order must have a maker to design, determine and direct it? -
“We attest that He is the Willer of all things that are, the ruler of all originated phenomena; there does not come into the visible or invisible world anything meager or plenteous, small or great, good or evil, or any advantage or disadvantage, belief or unbelief, knowledge or ignorance, success or failure, increase or decrease, obedience or disobedience, except by His will. What He wills is, and ”
Ihyaa ‘Ulum al-Deen. Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm (2005), p. 107. -
“if man’s love for himself be necessary, then his love for Him through whom, first his coming-to-be, and second, his continuance in his essential being with all his inward and outward traits, his substance and his accidents, occur must also be necessary. Whoever is so besotted by his fleshy appetites as to lack this love neglects his Lord and Creator. He possesses no authentic knowledge of Him; his gaze is limited to his cravings and to things of sense.”
Al-Ghazali on Love, Longing, Intimacy & Contentment. Translated with an introduction and notes by Eric Ormsby. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society (2011), p. 25. -
“[K]nowledge that is not Infallible is not certain knowledge.”
Deliverance from Error | I. Introduction, p. 7.
Al-Ghazali on Life
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“If you believe in the future life and, instead of preparing for it, sell it in order to buy this world, then that is folly! You do not normally sell two things for one; how can you give up an endless life for a limited number of days.”
Deliverance from Error | IV. The True Nature of Prophecy and the Compelling Need of All Creation for it, p. 67.
Al-Ghazali on Love
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“if man’s love for himself be necessary, then his love for Him through whom, first his coming-to-be, and second, his continuance in his essential being with all his inward and outward traits, his substance and his accidents, occur must also be necessary. Whoever is so besotted by his fleshy appetites as to lack this love neglects his Lord and Creator. He possesses no authentic knowledge of Him; his”
Al-Ghazali on Love, Longing, Intimacy & Contentment. Translated with an introduction and notes by Eric Ormsby. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society (2011), p. 25.
Al-Ghazali on Nature
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“How can even the lowest mind, if he reflects at all the marvels of this earth and sky, the brilliant fashioning of plants and animals, remain blind to the fact that this wonderful world with its settled order must have a maker to design, determine and direct it?”
Tibawi, A.L. (ed. and tr.). (1965) Al-Risala al-Qudsiyya (The Jerusalem Epistle) “Al-Ghazali's Tract on Dogmatic Theology”. In: The Islamic Quarterly, 9:3–4 (1965), 3-4.
Al-Ghazali on Truth
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“Do not know the truth by the men, but know the truth, and then you will know who are truthful.”
Deliverance from Error | III. The Classes of Seekers, p. 29. -
“The proximity between the counterfeit and the good coin does not make the good coin counterfeit nor the counterfeit good. In the same way the proximity between truth and falsehood does not make truth falsehood nor falsehood truth.”
Deliverance from Error | III. The Classes of Seekers, p. 33.
Al-Ghazali on Virtue
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Attributed to Al-Ghazali:
“Loneliness is far better than bad company.”
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Attributed to Al-Ghazali:
“Beware: do not lose your heart over money or position, for both shall pass away.”
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Attributed to Al-Ghazali:
“Treat the people in such a way that if you die they should weep over you, and if you are alive they should crave for your company.”