Bayazid Bastami

Bayazid Bastami (Persian بايزيد بسطامى ), also known as Abu Yazid Bistami or Tayfur Abu Yazid al-Bustami, (804 – 874 or 877/8 CE) was a Persian Sufi born in Bostam (alternate spelling: Bastam), Iran. The name Bastami means "from the city of Bastam." Bayazid Bastami had great influence on Sufi mysticism and is considered to be one of the important early teachers of Sufi Islam.

Quotes

 * The thing we tell of can never be found by seeking, yet only seekers find it.
 * Quoted in James Fadiman and Robert Frager, eds., Essential Sufism (Castle Books, 1998, ISBN 0-7858-0906-6, p. 37.
 * Quoted earlier in "Translations of Eastern Poetry and Prose" by RA Nicholson (p.140) (Macmillan, 1922)