“I recall an old Sufi story of a good man who was granted one wish by God. The man said he would like to go about doing good without knowing about it. God granted his wish. And then God decided that it was such a good idea, he would grant that wish to all human beings.
And so it has been to this day.”

"Writing", p. 14
The Dyer's Hand, and Other Essays (1962)

Mordecai and Thomas of Hookton, p. 352
The Grail Quest, Vagabond (2002)

Too Busy Not to Pray (2008, InterVarsity Press)

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Source: Things Fall Apart (1958), Chapter 4 (p. 32)

Too Busy Not to Pray (2008, InterVarsity Press)

The Spiritual Espousals (c. 1340)
Context: You should watch the wise bee and do as it does. It dwells in unity, in the congregation of its fellows, and goes forth, not in the storm, but in calm and still weather, in the sunshine, towards all those flowers in which sweetness may be found. It does not rest on any flower, neither on any beauty nor on any sweetness; but it draws from them honey and wax, that is to say, sweetness and light-giving matter, and brings both to the unity of the hive, that therewith it may produce fruits, and be greatly profitable. Christ, the Eternal Sun, shining into the open heart, causes that heart to grow and to bloom, and it overflows with all the inward powers with joy and sweetness. So the wise man will do like the bee, and he will fly forth with attention and with reason and with discretion, towards all those gifts and towards all that sweetness which he has ever experienced, and towards all the good which God has ever done to him. And in the light of love and with inward observation, he will taste of the multitude of consolations and good things; and will not rest upon any flower of the gifts of God, but, laden with gratitude and praise, will fly back into the unity, wherein he wishes to rest and to dwell eternally with God.

Source: Orphans of Chaos (2005), Chapter 9, “Otherspace” Section 5 (p. 138)

Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.1, p. 106