Al-Ghazali Quotes on Love
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. This page collects quotes attributed to Al-Ghazali on the topic of love, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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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.”
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“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. -
“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.”
For those endowed with insight there is in reality no object of love but God, nor does anyone but He deserve love -
“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. -
“Al-Ghazali on Love, Longing, Intimacy & Contentment. Translated with an introduction and notes by Eric Ormsby. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society (2011), p. 25.”
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