The Symbol of the Sufi Message
by Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan
The symbol of the Sufi message, which is a heart with wings, denotes its ideal. The
heart is both earthly and heavenly. The heart is a receptacle on earth of the divine Spirit,
and when it holds the divine Spirit, it soars heavenward; the wings picture its rising. The
crescent in the heart symbolizes responsiveness. It is the heart that responds to the spirit
of God, which rises. The crescent is a symbol of responsiveness because it grows fuller as
the moon grows fuller by responding more and more to the sun as it progresses. The light
one sees in the crescent is the light of the sun. As it gets more light with its increasing
response, so it becomes fuller of the light of the sun. The star in the heart of the crescent
represents the divine spark which is reflected in the human heart as love, and which helps
the crescent towards its fullness.
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