I have seen the movement of the sinews of the sky, And the blood coursing in the veins of the moon.
Muhammad IqbalRead
The revealed and mystic literature of mankind bears ample testimony to the fact that religious experience has been too enduring and dominant in the history of mankind to be rejected as mere illusion. There seems to be no reason, then, to accept the normal level of human experience as fact and reject its other levels as mystical and emotional.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Religious experiences have greatly influenced humanity and should not be dismissed as mere illusions.
This quote by Muhammad Iqbal emphasizes the significance of religious experiences in shaping human history, suggesting that such experiences are not to be disregarded as falsehoods. Instead, Iqbal invites us to reconsider our understanding of reality, as the mystical and emotional aspects of human experience can offer profound insights that are often overlooked in favor of conventional perceptions.
Themes
Religious ExperienceMysticismHuman ExperienceIllusionReality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on spirituality, one could reference this quote to illustrate the importance of acknowledging inner experiences.
More from Muhammad Iqbal
All quotes →let this be our beautiful departure from stagnation; let our minds come alive; enter another dimension; go beyond the stars eagerly struggling to find that... which our naked eyes did not know existed; rise like a falcon born to soar and not be alone but be present amongst others.
Muhammad IqbalRead
The soul is neither inside nor outside the body; neither proximate to nor separate from it.
Muhammad IqbalRead
The wing of the Falcon brings to the king, the wing if the crow brings him to the cemetery.
Muhammad IqbalRead
The truth is that the religious and the scientific processes, though involving different methods, are identical in their final aim. Both aim at reaching the most real.
Muhammad IqbalRead
The ultimate purpose of religious life is to make this evolution move in a direction far more important to the destiny of the ego than the moral health of the social fabric which forms his present environment.
Muhammad IqbalRead
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