Elif Şafak Quotes

أريد أن يعود الله صديقا لي كما كان ذات مرة.

If families resemble trees, as they say, arborescent structures with entangled roots and individual branches jutting out at awkward angles, family traumas are like thick, translucent resin dripping from a cut in the bark. They trickle down generations.

So I guess it is in my genes, this melancholy I can never quite shake off. Carved with an invisible knife into my arborescent skin.

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

We must do what we can to mend our lives, we owe that to ourselves – but we need to be careful not to break others while achieving that.

No matter who we are or where we live, deep inside we all feel incomplete. It’s like we have lost something and need to get it back. Just what that something is, most of us never find out. And of those who do, even fewer manage to go out and look for it.

لا يعنى الصبر أن تتحمل المصاعب سلبا، يل يعنى أن تكون بعيد النظر بحيث تثق بالنتيجة النهائية التي ستتمخض عن أي عملية.
ماذا يعني الصبر؟ إنه يعني أن تنظر إلى الشوكة وترى الوردة، أن تنظر إلى الليل وترى الفجر. أما نفاد الصبر فيعنى أن تكون قصير النظر ولا تتمكن من رؤية النتيجة.
إن عشاق الله لاينفد صبرهم مطلقا، لأنهم يعرفون أنه لكى يصبح الهلال بدرا، فهو يحتاج إلى وقت

One of the rules says, You can study God through everything and everyone in the universe, because God is not confined in a mosque, synagogue, or church. But if you are still in need of knowing where exactly His abode is, there is only one place to look for Him: in the heart of a true lover. There is no one who has lived after seeing Him, just like there is no one who has died after seeing Him. Whoever finds Him will remain with Him forever.

In order to gain mastery, you need to dismantle as much as you put together.'
'Then there'd be no buildings left in the world,' Jahan ventured. 'Everything would be razed to the ground.'
'We are not destroying the buildings, son. We are destroying our desire to possess them. Only God is the owner. Of the stone and of the skill.

إن الماضي تفسير, والمستقبل وهم. إن العالم لا يتحرك عبر الزمن وكأنه خط مستقيم, يمضي من الماضي إلى المستقبل. بل إن الزمن يتحرك من خلالنا وفي داخلنا.

It was always like this. When you spoke the truth, they hated you. The more you talked about love, the more they hated you.

الشيء الذي لا يمكن التعبير عنه بالكلمات لا يمكن إدراكه إلا بالصمت.

I have met lots of women who have grown up in Turkey who cannot bring themselves to swear in Turkish. But in English they use the F-word all the time. Writing is like that for me.

As I do next to all women who glow with this kind of femininity, I feel like an impostor, a poor imitation of my gender. To her, womanhood comes naturally, like a yawn or a sneeze, just as effortless. To me, womanhood is something I need to observe and study, learn and imitate, and still can never fully comprehend.

Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighbourhood of despair.
Even when all doors remain closed, God wil open up a new path only for you. Be thankful! It is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all that has been denied.